In-capillary micro solid-phase extraction and capillary electrophoresis separation of heterocyclic aromatic amines with nanospray mass spectrometric detection

A miniaturised technique to analyse and detect heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAs) using micro solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled on-line (in-capillary) to capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation with nanospray (nESI) mass spectrometry (MS) detection has been developed. HAs are mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds formed at low levels in protein-rich food during cooking. Due to the low concentrations of HAs and the high complexity of the matrix in which they exist, sensitive and selective analytical methods are required for quantification. SPE was performed on a packed bed of C₁₈ particles inside the CE capillary, which minimised the dead volume. The on-line coupling of SPE, CE and nESI-MS reduced the time for extraction and identification to less than half an hour, which will allow for screening of several samples per day. The new technique provides short analysis time, low sample and solvent consumption, and HAs in standard solutions were easily detected at 12–17 fmol injections, and in spiked urine samples at 750–810 fmol injections.     

Analysis of NAD(P) and NAD(P)H cofactors by means of imprinted polymers associated with Au surfaces:: A surface plasmon resonance study

Crosslinked films consisting of the acrylamide-acrylamidophenylboronic acid copolymer that are imprinted with recognition sites for β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺), β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate NADP⁺, and their reduced forms (NAD(P)H), are assembled on Au-coated glass supports. The binding of the oxidized cofactors NAD⁺ or NADP⁺ or the reduced cofactors NADH or NADPH to the respective imprinted sites results in the swelling of the polymer films through the uptake of water. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy is employed to follow the binding of the different cofactors to the respective imprinted sites. The imprinted recognition sites reveal selectivity towards the association of the imprinted cofactors. The method enables the analysis of the NAD(P)⁺ and NAD(P)H cofactors in the concentration range of 1×10⁻⁶ to 1×10⁻³ M. The cofactor-imprinted films associated with the Au-coated glass supports act as active interfaces for the characterization of biocatalyzed transformations that involve the cofactor-dependent enzymes. This is exemplified with the characterization of the biocatalyzed oxidation of lactate to pyruvate in the presence of NAD⁺ and lactate dehydrogenase using the NADH-imprinted polymer film.     

Vertical proton affinities of CH2O and CH2OH+ in their ground singlet,excited triplet and ionized doublet states

Vertical proton affinities were calculated with closed and open shell direct SCF-MO methods for the ground, excited triplet and ionized doublet states of CH₂O and CH₂OH⁺.The computed gas phase basicity of CH₂O follows the order: CH₂O(¹ A ₁) > CH₂O*(³ A ₁ or ³ A ₂) > CH₂O⁺(² B ₂ or ² B ₁).     

Liquid–paper interactions during liquid drop impact and recoil on paper surfaces

The spreading and recoiling of water drops on several flat and macroscopically smooth model surfaces and on sized paper surfaces were studied over a range of drop impaction velocities using a high-speed CCD camera. The water drop spreading and recoiling results on several model hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces were found to be in agreement with observations reported in the literature. The maximum drop spreading diameter for those model surfaces at impact was found to be dependent upon the initial drop kinetic energy and the degree of hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of the surface. The extent of the maximum drop recoiling was found to be much weaker for hydrophilic substrates than for hydrophobic substrates. Sized papers, however, showed an interesting switch of behaviour in the process of water drop impaction. They behave like a hydrophobic substrate when a water drop impacts on it, but like a hydrophilic substrate when water drop recoils. Although the contact angle between water and hydrophilic or hydrophobic non-porous surfaces changes from advancing to receding as reported in literature, the change of contact angle during water impact on paper surface is unique in that the level of sizing was found to have a smaller than expected influence on the degree of recoil. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to probe fibres on a sized filter paper surface under water. The AFM data showed that water interacted strongly with the fibre even though the paper was heavily sized. Implications of this phenomenon were discussed in the context of inkjet print quality and of the surface conditions of sized papers. Results of this study are very useful in the understanding of inkjet ink droplet impaction on paper surfaces which sets the initial condition for ink penetration into paper after impaction.     

Peculiarities of the effect of the electronic nature of substituents on the basic properties of aliphatic amines

Changes in the hybrid state of atomic orbitals of nitrogen and p-character of LEP, which occur under the effect of saturated hydrocarbon radicals and polar substituents in aliphatic amines, differ substantially. Therefore, the effect of the both substituents on the basicity constants of amines cannot be described by the single formal type of interaction. The anomalous changes in the basicity in the series of primary, secondary, and tertiary alkylamines, which are discussed in the literature, and the correlations pK _BH+ = f(*) and G _B = f(*) are, in fact, imaginary, because the alkyl radicals at the N atom do not manifest the electron-donor properties.     

Some thermodynamic aspects of highT c superconductors

Thermochemical and thermodynamical properties of HTSC phases are reviewed for the Y-Ba-Cu-O system and also presented for the newly calculated Bi-Sr-Cu-O system stressing out stoichiometric and phenomenological viewpoints. Simulated data are listed for (H ₂₉₈ ^o -H _o ^o , phase transformation temperatures, standard entropies, standard enthalpies of formation, heat capacities in crystalline phase, etc. Pseudobinary phase diagrams are treated showing the effect of oxygen partial pressure particularly illustrated on the (Sr, Bi, Ba)-Cu-O system.The work was carried out under the project No. A 2010532 supported by the Grant Agency of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the grant No. 104/97/0589 financed by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.     

Quantum chemistry study on B32 and B32H2–32

The structures of B32 and B₃₂H^2–₃₂ with I_h symmetry have been investigated by means of ab initio calculations at STO-3G level. The relationship between molecular orbitals of them has been analyzed and their bonding properties have been discussed. Then the possibility of their existence, as well as the similarity and difference between B₃₂ (B₃₂H^2–₃₂) and C₆₀ (C₆₀H₆₀) have been inferred.     

Components of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Artemisia pontica</Emphasis>

Chemical components from the aerial part of the Kazakhstan population of Artemisia pontica, from which the rarely encountered flavonoids 7-O-methyl- and 4′,7-di-O-methyl-esters of apigenin were isolated for the first time, were identified. The complete chemical composition of the essential oil was established using GC-MS.__________Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 143–145, March–April, 2005.     

Kinetics and mechanism of mercury(II)-catalysed replacement of cyanide in hexacyanoferrate(II) by p-nitrosodiphenylamine

The mercury(II)-catalysed replacement of cyanide in hexacyanoferrate(II) by p-nitrosodiphenylamine (p-NDA) in aqueous solution has been investigated spectrophotometrically by measuring the change in absorbance of the green complex ion, [Fe(CN)(5).p-NDA](3-), at 640 nm. Activation parameters of the catalysed and uncatalysed reactions have been calculated. The effects of the dielectric constant and water content of the medium on reaction rates are used to explain the formation of a polar activated complex and suggest an I(d) mechanism for the catalysed reaction. The varying catalytic activity of Hg(II) as a function of concentration has been discussed.     

Thermodynamic and spectroscopic properties of mixtures of β-lactoglobulin and dioleylphosphatidylcholine

 The behavior of the single spreading monolayers of β-lacto-globulin (β-LG) and dioleyl-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC), as well as their mixtures, has been studied on subphases containing Na⁺ or Ca⁺⁺ ions. The results show an influence of temperature and subphase on the studied systems. The behavior of the areas as a function of the weight fraction of the two components shows significative and prevalently positive deviations from the additivity and their bidimensional miscibility. The variation of ΔG ^ex, ΔH ^ex and ΔS ^ex calculated for the DOPC–β-LG mixture having maximum deviation on two different supports allows to deduce that the interactions are prevalently repulsive. FTIR–ATR spectra of transferred plurilayers show that DOPC has a surface orientation which can originate the miscibility between the protein and DOPC. Received: 3 February 1997 Accepted: 3 June 1997