Simultaneous assay of four stereoisomers of diltiazem hydrochloride. Application to in vitro chiral inversion studies

Summary The simultaneous stereospecific assay of four stereoisomers of diltiazem hydrochloride in bulk drug and aqueous solution was developed using HPLC on a Chiralcel OF column. The four isomers were quantitated with good precision by the internal standard method. The chiral inversion of (+)-cis-diltiazem hydrochloride in vitro, stability of its (2S, 3S) configuration in the solid and aqueous states was examined by HPLC. Chiral inversion of (+)-cis-diltiazem hydrochloride was not observed in the solid state, and its (2S, 3S) configuration was stable to heat, humidity and light. Chiral inversion of (+)-cis-diltiazem hydrochloride (2S, 3S) was observed in aqueous solution under UV, but not in aqueous solution stored at 80°C for 5h nor under visible light for 10 h. The (+)-cis-diltiazem hydrochloride (2S, 3S) epimerized to (+)-trans-diltiazem hydrochloride (2R, 3S) with a half-life of 5h in aqueous solution under UV but the reverse chiral inversion of (+)-trans-diltiazem hydrochloride (2R, 3S) to (+)-cis-diltiazem hydrochloride (2S, 3S) was not observed.     

Expression and Purification of ZNF191（243-368） in Three Expression Systems

ZNF191 （243-368）, a new human zinc finger protein, probably relates to some hereditary diseases and cancers, To obtain adequate amount of ZNF191（243-368） for the study of its property, structure and function, three different expression systems of inclusion-body, glutathione S-transferase （GST）, and hexahistidine （6 × His） were used and compared. Among these systems, the expression level of ZNFI91（243-368） was increased in inclusion body system under a higher isopropylthio-β-D-galactoside （IPTG） concentration, but the non-target proteins were also increased more, which made its purification more difficult and the yield lower. The expression of His-tag fusion protein was almost not affected by IPTG concentration, temperature and inducing time. At a high IPTG concentration the highest expression yield for GST fusion protein was obtained. And the fusion proteins can be partially purified by a single affinity chromatography step. The fusion protein systems show advantages for expression of these proteins.     

Development and Validation of a Liquid Chromatographic Method for Determination of Efavirenz in Human Plasma

A simple, rapid, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for estimation of efavirenz in human plasma has been developed and validated. Chromatography was performed with C₁₈ analytical column and 50:50 acetonitrile–phosphate buffer (pH 3.5) as mobile phase. Compounds were monitored by UV detection at 247 nm. The retention time for efavirenz was 6.45 min and that for the internal standard, nelfinavir, was 2.042 min. Response was a linear over the concentration range of 0.1 μg–10 μg mL⁻¹ in human plasma. The method was simple, specific, precise and accurate and was useful for bioequivalence and pharmacokinetic studies of efavirenz.     

Effects of annealing treatment on the properties of MEH-PPV/titania hybrids prepared via in situ sol-gel reaction

A uniform poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV)/titania hybrid film was successfully prepared by an in situ sol-gel reaction of titanium isopropoxide (TIP) in the presence of MEH-PPV/2-chlorophenol solution. The annealing treatment increased the conversion of TIP to titania as determined from evidence of the formation of Ti-O-Ti bonds in the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum. Scanning electronic microscope (SEM) photographs showed that the morphology and distribution of titania in the hybrid film were strongly related to the amount of water in the in situ sol-gel reaction. The thermal stability of MEH-PPV/titania hybrids was enhanced by the annealing treatment. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses indicated that annealing treatment promoted the ordered aggregation of the MEH-PPV chains and crystallization of titania to a certain extent. The blue shift in Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption of pure MEH-PPV after annealing was ascribed to the small extent of decomposition and coil conformation which occurred at high temperature. A more-obvious blue shift for the hybrids was observed, which resulted from irregular aggregation and coil conformation of the MEH-PPV chains induced by heterogeneous point, TIP (titania). The red shift in the photoluminescent (PL) emission for pure MEH-PPV resulted from a certain extent of ordered aggregation after annealing. However, only a slight red shift in the PL emission peak for the hybrids was found due to the hindrance of ordered aggregation of MEH-PPV chains in the presence of TIP (titania).     

新型纤维素衍生物手性固定相的制备及其对几种对映异构体的高效液相色谱分离

合成了一种经环十二烷修饰的纤维素酯，将其涂敷于小粒径的氨丙基化硅胶（APS）上，制备出高效液相色谱手性固定相，以正己烷、异丙醇为流动相拆分了2-对氯苯基丙腈、1-对氟苯基乙醇、1-对叔丁基苯氧基-2-丙醇、2-对氯苯基辛腈及三唑醇等5种外消旋对映体，并考察了流动相中异丙醇含量对分离效果的影响。     

Thermal and mechanical properties of UV irradiated collagen/chitosan thin films

The thermal and mechanical properties of collagen/chitosan blends before and after UV irradiation have been investigated using thermal analysis and mechanical (Instron) techniques. Comparisons were made with the thermal and mechanical properties of both collagen and chitosan films. Air-dried collagen, chitosan and collagen/chitosan films were exposed to UV irradiation (wavelength 254 nm) for different time intervals. Thermal properties of collagen/chitosan blends depend on the composition of the blend and are not significantly altered by UV irradiation.Mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength and ultimate percentage of elongation were much better for collagen films than for collagen/chitosan films. The results have shown that the mechanical properties of the blends were greatly affected by the duration of UV irradiation. Ultimate tensile strength and ultimate percentage elongation decreased after UV irradiation of the blend. Increasing UV irradiation leads to an increase in Young's modulus of the collagen/chitosan blend.     

Indene and pseudoazulene discotic liquid crystals: a synthetic and structural study

Several new liquid-crystalline indene and pseudoazulene systems are reported. These molecules give rise to either columnar hexagonal mesophases and/or columnar plastic phases. The unique nature of these compounds stems from their non-classical discotic structure. Although the molecules have rigid aromatic cores, they lack terminal tails and instead the polarizable atoms (S, halogens) or polar groups (CN, CO) act as unusual soft parts. On the basis of many structurally related materials, we conclude that for this type of compound molecular stacking in the solid state is a prerequisite for the appearance of a columnar mesophase, although other intermolecular interactions within the layers are also important in establishing liquid-crystalline order. The behavior reported for these mesomorphic molecules opens up new possibilities in the search for related molecular interactions that might be useful for the construction of supramolecular architectures with particular properties.     

Affinity Chromatography of Insulin with a Heptapeptide Ligand Selected from Phage Display Library

A heptapeptide phage display library was screened with insulin to find its ligands for affinity chromatography. The peptide was synthesized and coupled to EAH Sepharose 4B (5.4 mol mL^–1 bed). Then, insulin chromatography was carried out with mobile phases of different pH values and by the addition of urea and ethylene glycol. It was found that electrostatic interactions were predominant for the affinity binding, and hydrogen bonding might also contribute somewhat to the affinity. Finally, frontal analysis was performed and the dynamic binding capacity of the affinity column for insulin at 50% breakthrough was estimated at 60.6 mg mL^–1 bed, which was about two times higher than the theoretical binding capacity of the monomeric insulin. The result suggests that insulin was bound in dimer state in a stoichiometric relationship with the coupled peptide, indicating the high binding efficiency of the peptide ligand for insulin.     

Sensitive Determination of Felodipine in Human and Dog Plasma by Use of Liquid–Liquid Extraction and LC–ESI–MS–MS

Summary A sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic method coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI–MS–MS) has been developed for quantification of felodipine in human and dog plasma. Compounds were separated on a 2.0 mm × 150 mm, 5.0 m particle, C₈ column with 1 m m ammonium acetate–acetonitrile, 20:80, pH 6.0, as mobile phase at a flow rate of 200 L min^–1. Nifedipine was used as internal standard. Plasma samples were extracted with diethyl ether, the centrifuged upper layer was evaporated, the residue was reconstituted with mobile phase, and the reconstituted samples were injected. The analytical column lasted for at least 1000 injections. By use of multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode in MS–MS felodipine and nifedipine were detected without severe interference from the human or dog plasma matrix. Felodipine produced a protonated precursor ion ([M + H]⁺) at m/z 384 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 338. And internal standard (nifedipine) produced a protonated precursor ion ([M + H]⁺) at m/z 347 and a corresponding product ion at m/z 315. Detection of felodipine in human and dog plasma was accurate and precise, with a limit of quantification of 0.05 ng mL^–1. The method has been successfully applied to preliminary pharmacokinetic study of felodipine in human and dog plasma.     

Fluidized-bed extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from contaminated soil samples

Summary Due to the carcinogenity and ubiquity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the environment they are of ongoing interest to analytical chemistry. In this study, a comparison of the classic Soxhlet extraction and, fluidized-bed extraction, has been conducted. The extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by this technique has been optimized considering as experimental variables the variation of the number of extraction cycles and the holding time after reaching the heating temperature by means of a surface response design. The significance of the operational parameters of the fluidized-bed extraction on the performance characteristics has been investigated. For the determination of the analytes a selective clean-up of the extracts followed by a fast gas chromatography method with mass spectrometric detection was used, resulting in low limits of detection (0.2 pg μL⁻¹). The accuracy of the complete analytical method was established by extraction and analysis of reference materials.