Near-infrared fluorimetric determination of nucleic acids by shifting the ion-association equilibrium between heptamethylene cyanine and Alcian blue 8GX

A new method based on near-infrared (near-IR) fluorescence recovery, employing a two-reagent system which is composed of an anionic heptamethylene cyanine (HMC) and a polycationic phthalocyanine dye, Alcian blue 8GX, is presented for the determination of nucleic acids. With a maximum excitation wavelength at 766 nm and a maximum emission wavelength at 796 nm, the fluorescence recovery is linear with the concentration of nucleic acids added. Factors including the acidity of the medium, the reaction time, the optimal ratio of the two reagents, as well as the influence of foreign substance were all investigated. Meanwhile, the mechanism of fluorescence recovery was also studied. Under the optimal conditions, the linear ranges of the calibration curves were 10-250 ng ml⁻¹ for calf thymus DNA (CT DNA) and 10-200 ng ml⁻¹ for yeast RNA. The detection limits were 6.8 ng ml⁻¹ for CT DNA and 6.3 ng ml⁻¹ for yeast RNA, respectively. The method has been applied to the analysis of practical samples and the recovery results were satisfactory.     

Lipids from Five Cotton Varieties

Seed characteristics and the lipid and fatty-acid compositions were determined for the new cotton varieties ASh-25, Omad, 9771-I, Termez-43, and Bukhara-6.     

N- and O-Alkylation of 3-indolylcyclopropylacetic acid derivatives

2,2-Dimethyl-3-(2-methyl-3-indolyl)cyclopropylacetic acid, its amide and esters, and the corresponding alcohol, viz., the product of ester reduction by LiAlH₄, were synthesized. The chemoselectivity of N- and O-alkylation of these compounds was studied. Selective monoalkylation at the nitrogen atom of the heterocycle, O-alkylation to the side chain, or dialkylation at both nucleophilic sites can be carried out under conditions of phase-transfer catalysis. The N-acylation at the indole fragment of nitrile of this acid occurs only under the Vilsmeier—Haak formylation conditions.     

Effective Methods for the Synthesis of N‐Methyl β‐Amino Acids from All Twenty Common α‐Amino Acids Using 1,3‐Oxazolidin‐5‐ones and 1,3‐Oxazinan‐6‐ones

N‐Methyl β‐amino acids are generally required for application in the synthesis of potentially bioactive modified peptides and other oligomers. Previous work highlighted the reductive cleavage of 1,3‐oxazolidin‐5‐ones to synthesise N‐methyl α‐amino acids. Starting from α‐amino acids, two approaches were used to prepare the corresponding N‐methyl β‐amino acids. First, α‐amino acids were converted to N‐methyl α‐amino acids by the so‐called ‘1,3‐oxazolidin‐5‐one strategy’, and these were then homologated by the Arndt–Eistert procedure to afford N‐protected N‐methyl β‐amino acids derived from the 20 common α‐amino acids. These compounds were prepared in yields of 23–57% (relative to N‐methyl α‐amino acid). In a second approach, twelve N‐protected α‐amino acids could be directly homologated by the Arndt–Eistert procedure, and the resulting β‐amino acids were converted to the 1,3‐oxazinan‐6‐ones in 30–45% yield. Finally, reductive cleavage afforded the desired N‐methyl β‐amino acids in 41–63% yield. One sterically congested β‐amino acid, 3‐methyl‐3‐aminobutanoic acid, did give a high yield (95%) of the 1,3‐oxazinan‐6‐one ( 65 ), and subsequent reductive cleavage gave the corresponding AIBN‐derived N‐methyl β‐amino acid 61 in 71% yield (Scheme 2). Thus, our protocols allow the ready preparation of all N‐methyl β‐amino acids derived from the 20 proteinogenic α‐amino acids.     

Analysis of dinitro- and amino-nitro-toluenesulfonic acids in groundwater by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

A reversed-phase LC–MS method with quadrupole-time of flight (QTOF) detection has been developed for the determination of four dinitro-toluenesulfonic acids and two amino-nitro-toluenesulfonic acids in groundwater. The analytes were separated by HPLC with 0.1% (v/v) formic acid as mobile phase modifier compatible with mass spectrometric detection. QTOF-MS analysis with negative ion electrospray ionization afforded good selectivity and sensitivity for analysis of the dinitro- and amino-nitro-toluenesulfonic acids. Structure elucidation and confirmation were accomplished by tandem mass spectrometry. Characteristic ions resulting from the loss of NO, NO₂, and SO₂ from the [M–H]^– ions were detected. An intense fragment ion at m/z 80 representing the [SO₃]^– ion was detected for all dinitro- and amino-nitro-toluenesulfonic acids. Solid-phase extraction using a co-polymer cartridge was developed for preconcentration of the analytes from water. Good recovery (>85%) was achieved when 0.1% formic acid was added into the water samples before extraction. Method detection limits ranged from 10 to 76 ng L^–1 for the targeted compounds when 10 mL water was analyzed. Groundwater samples collected from wells close to a former ammunition plant in Stadtallendorf, Germany, were analyzed for the dinitro- and amino-nitro-toluenesulfonic acids.     

Characterization of cyclodextrin-modified infrared chemical sensors: Part I. Modeling the mechanisms of interaction

To explore the properties of cyclodextrins (CDs) as an optical sensing phase, the behavior of immobilized CD in interaction with analytes was studied in this work. CDs having different cavity sizes were immobilized onto the surface of infrared (IR) internal reflection-sensing element (IRE) to kinetically monitor the behavior of CD in interaction with analytes. Several aromatic compounds having various molecular sizes and functional groups were used to characterize the interaction mechanism. A two-layer modification method was proposed in this work, which utilized a thin hydrophobic film (polyvinyl benzyl chloride) to stick on the IRE and to covalently bond to the CDs through an ethylene diamine linker. The synthesized CD phases exhibited high stability in aqueous solution. To analyze the behavior during the formation of complexes between the guest molecules and the CD phases, we modeled the interaction behavior and treated the kinetic data with the theoretical equations developed in this work. The results indicate that the behavior of the interaction between guest molecules and CDs was explained by considering the formation of two types of complexes: adsorbed complexes and inclusion complexes. The formation of the inclusion complexes was relatively fast, the time required to reach equilibrium could be shorter than a few minutes. The adsorbed complexes were also observed, but their rate of formation was relatively slow; equilibrium could be reached at times greater than 60 min. Based on the signals observed under equilibrium conditions, the concentration of inclusion complexes was approximately three times than that of the adsorbed complexes.     

Novel selenium-containing non-natural diamino acids

The general synthesis of a new class of non-natural diamino acids, 2-amino-3-[(2′-aminoalkyl)seleno]propanoic acids, or Se-(aminoalkyl)selenocysteines, is reported. Under the conditions devised, enantiopure N-Boc-protected β-l-iodoamines, which are readily generated from proteinogenic α-amino acids, were treated with the selenolate anion obtained from NaBH₄ splitting of the Se-Se bond in commercial l-selenocystine. The Se-alkylation products were enantiomerically pure and the reaction is high yielding (92-98%), without any detectable traces of accompanying by-products.     

1-Acyldeoxyvasicinone salts as effective intermediate C-and N-acylating agents for alkaloids and amino acids

The reaction of deoxyvasicinone with acid chlorides of aliphatic (acetylbromide) and aromatic (benzoyl-, o-, p-methoxy-, p-nitrobenzoylchlorides) acids was studied. It was shown that 1-deoxyvasicinone salts were formed at room temperature; α-aroyloxymethylidenedeoxyvasicinones, in the presence of triethylamine at 80–85°C. It was found that acid chlorides cause 1-acyldeoxyvasicinone salts to transform into α-hydroxy-or α-aroyloxyarylidenedeoxyvasicinones, which indirectly confirmed their acylating properties. It was found that 1-acyldeoxyvasicinone salts were effective acylating agents for alkaloids (cytisine, 1,2-dihydrodeoxyvasicinone) and amino acids (glycine, β-alanine, α-aminobutyric acid) and can be used to acylate primary and secondary aliphatic and heterocyclic amines. __________ Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 585–589, November–December, 2006.     

High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Analysis of Amino Acids in Edible Seaweeds after Derivatization with Phenyl Isothiocyanate

Summary A reversed-phase high-performance liquid-chromatographic method has been used for analysis of the amino acids in edible seaweed. Sample proteins were hydrolysed with hydrochloric acid and the amino acids produced were derivatized with phenyl isothiocyanate. The resulting phenylthiocarbamyl amino acids were chromatographed on an ODS2 column with UV detection at 254 nm. The mobile phase was a mixture of 0.14 M ammonium acetate buffer, pH 6.4, containing 0.05% triethylamine (A) and 60:40 (v/v) acetonitrile–water (B), at a flow rate of 1.1 mL min^–1; the elution gradient (min:A%) was: 0:90, 8:90, 10:70, 12:70, 18:52, 20:0, 25:0, 28:90, 35:90. Method precision for the different amino acids was between 1.33 and 3.88% (relative standard deviation); detection limits were between 6.9 and 14.3 ng mL^–1. The amino acid content of the algae analysed ranged from 22.4 ± 1.9 to 138.0 ± 5.6 mg g^–1 d.w. The amino acids present at highest concentrations were glutamic acid, alanine, and phenylalanine.     

Direct high-performance liquid chromatographic method for enantioselective and diastereoselective determination of selected pyrethroic acids

This study reports on the direct HPLC stereoisomer separation of selected pyrethroic acids employing commercial cinchona alkaloid derived chiral stationary phases (CSPs). cis/trans-Chrysanthemic acid (cis/trans-CA), cis/trans-chrysanthemum dicarboxylic acid (cis/trans-CDCA), cis/trans-permethrinic acid (cis/trans-PA), and fenvaleric acid (FA) were resolved into the individual stereoisomers, i.e. enantiomers and diastereomers as well. To achieve satisfactory baseline separation an optimisation of the variables of the chromatographic method including chemical structure of the cinchona carbamate CSP, mobile phase composition, and flow rate was required. All four stereoisomers of PA were successfully separated in a single run (alphacis = 1.20, alphatrans = 1.26, critical Rs = 1.65) with an acetonitrile (ACN)-based polar-organic eluent. The complete baseline resolution of all CA stereoisomers succeeded in polar-organic (alphacis = 1.20, alphatrans = 1.35, critical Rs = 3.03) as well as in acetonitrile-based reversed-phase media (alphacis = 1.24, alphatrans = 1.22, critical Rs = 2.73). The latter elution mode was also found to be suitable for the enantio- as well as diastereoselective resolution of CDCA (alphacis = 1.09, alphatrans = 1.50, critical Rs = 1.43), which is to the best of our knowledge the first reported enantiomer separation of this analyte. The enantiomers of FA could be baseline separated employing also reversed-phase mode (alpha = 1.16, Rs = 2.91). These separation methods may be applied for quality control processes in the production of stereoisomerically pure insecticides as well as stereoselective toxicokinetic studies, as CDCA, PA, and FA are suitable biomarkers for monitoring human pyrethroid burden.