Multicommuted flow-through fluorescence optosensor for determination of furosemide and triamterene

Multicommutation implemented with flow-through optosensors is a very promising area of research. This recent approach benefits from the advantages of both methods and results in high sensitivity, selectivity, and speed, and little waste generation. This paper reports the simultaneous determination of furosemide and triamterene, two widely used diuretics, by measurement of their native fluorescence. The system has been proved to be useful for determination of both analytes in pharmaceutical preparations and for determination of triamterene in human urine and serum. A minicolumn filled with Sephadex SPC-25 microbeads was used to achieve separation of both analytes before detection in a flow-through cell filled with the same resin. The sensor is linear in the range 50–1200 and 0.4–8 ng mL⁻¹ with detection limits of 15 and 0.1 ng mL⁻¹ for furosemide and triamterene, respectively.     

Thermal oxidation of cellulose investigated by chemiluminescence. The effect of magnesium and calcium carbonates and of different pHs

Whatman cellulose impregnated with calcium and magnesium carbonates was oxidized and chemiluminescence accompanying this oxidation has been measured. It was shown that magnesium ions in deacidified cellulose pulp promote the light emission significantly. On the other hand, acid papers give the more pronounced light signals at temperatures close to ambient. The relation between chemiluminescence runs and paper degradation has been implicated, with an attempt to extrapolate half-lives of paper samples to conditions close to ambient. To cite this article: J. Rychlý et al., C. R. Chimie 9 (2006).     

Synthesis, biological activity and modelling studies of two novel anti HIV PR inhibitors with a thiophene containing hydroxyethylamino core

An efficient method has been developed for the synthesis of a versatile intermediate bearing azido, hydroxyl and ester functions, a useful precursor for peptidomimetic compounds. The two main features for this synthesis were the use of the Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation on thiophene acrylate and the subsequent regioselective ring opening by sodium azide of the cyclic sulfite. Highly chemoselective reduction of the azido alcohol led to a key compound which was utilized for the synthesis of two analogues of commercial anti HIV PR such as nelfinavir and saquinavir. The biological activity and molecular modelling study on these two new potential drugs have been evaluated.     

A microwave-assisted sequential extraction of water and dilute acid soluble arsenic species from marine plant and animal tissues

This paper describes the use of dilute nitric acid for the extraction and quantification of arsenic species. A number of extractants (e.g. water, 1.5 M orthophosphoric acid, methanol-water and dilute nitric acid) were tested for the extraction of arsenic from marine biological samples, such as plants that have proved difficult to quantitatively extract. Dilute 2% (v/v) nitric acid was found to give the highest recoveries of arsenic overall and was chosen for further optimisation. The optimal extraction conditions for arsenic were 2% (v/v) HNO₃, 6 min⁻¹, 90 °C. Arsenic species were found to be stable under the optimised conditions with the exception of the arsenoriboses which degraded to a product eluting at the same retention time as glycerol arsenoribose. Good agreement was found between the 2% (v/v) HNO₃ extraction and the methanol-water extraction for the certified reference material DORM-2 (AB 17.1 and 16.2 μg g⁻¹, respectively, and TETRA 0.27 and 0.25 μg g⁻¹, respectively), which were in close agreement with the certified concentrations of AB 16.4 ± 1.1 μg g⁻¹ and TETRA 0.248 ± 0.054 μg g⁻¹.To preserve the integrity of arsenic species, a sequential extraction technique was developed where the previously methanol-water extracted pellet was further extracted with 2% (v/v) HNO₃ under the optimised conditions. Increases in arsenic recoveries between 13% and 36% were found and speciation of this faction revealed that only inorganic and simple methylated species were extracted.     

Synthesis, structure, catalytic transfer hydrogenation and biological activity of cyclometallated ruthenium(III)2-(arylazo)phenolate complexes

A series of mononuclear organoruthenium complexes of the type [RuX(PPh₃)₂(L)] (X = Cl or Br; L = 2-(arylazo)phenolate ligand) have been synthesized from the reaction of five 2-(arylazo)phenol ligands with ruthenium(III) precursors, viz. [RuCl₃(PPh₃)₃] and [RuBr₃(PPh₃)₂(CH₃OH)] in benzene under reflux. In all these reactions, the 2-(arylazo)phenolate ligand replaces one triphenylphosphine molecule, two chlorides or bromides and one methanol from the precursors leading to five-membered cyclometallated species. The 2-(arylazo)phenol ligands behave as dianionic tridentate C, N, O donors and coordinated to ruthenium by dissociation of the phenolic proton and the phenyl proton at the ortho position of the phenyl ring. The compositions of the complexes have been established by elemental analysis, magnetic susceptibility measurement, FT-IR, UV-Vis and EPR spectral data. These complexes are paramagnetic and shows intense d-d and charge transfer transitions in chloroform. The solution EPR spectrum of the complex 7 in dichloromethane at 77 K shows rhombic distortion around the ruthenium ion. The structural conformation of the complex 1 has been carried out by X-ray crystallography. The redox behavior of the complexes has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and the potentials are observed with respect to the electronic nature of substituents (R) in the 2-(arylazo) phenolate ligands. These complexes catalyze transfer hydrogenation of benzophenone to benzhydrol with up to 99.5% in the presence of i-prOH/KOH. Further, these complexes have shown great promise in inhibiting the growth of both Gram +ve and Gram −ve bacteria, viz. Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 2079 and Escherichia coli NCIM 2065 and fungus Candida albicans NCIM 3102.     

Sequential injection analysis system for on-line monitoring of l-cysteine concentration in biological processes

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) system was developed to monitor the concentration of l-cysteine in biological processes on-line. It is based on the redox reaction of l-cysteine with iron(III) in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and the detection of the red-iron(II)-phen complex with a spectrophotometry. The system was fully automated using software written in the LabVIEW™ development environment. A number of system variables such as the flow rate of the carrier buffer solution, the volume ratio of the sample to the reagents, and the reaction coil length, etc., were evaluated to increase the sensitivity and performance of the SIA system. Under partially optimized operating conditions the performance of the SIA system was linear up to a concentration of l-cysteine of 1 mM (R² = 0.998) with a detection limit of 0.005 mM and a sample frequency of 15 hr⁻¹. The SIA system was employed to monitor the concentration of l-cysteine on-line in a continuously stirred reactor and a fermentation process of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The on-line monitored data were in good agreement with the off-line data measured by a HPLC with a fluorescence detector (n = 15, R² = 09899).     

Extremely facile ring inversion and rearrangement in fluorobicyclo[2.1.0]pentanes

cis-1,2,3,4,5,5-Hexafluorobicyclo[2.1.0]pentane and 1,2,4,5-tetrafluorobicyclo[2.1.0]pentane have been synthesized from hexafluorobenzene. The former hydrofluorocarbon, which exists entirely in the endo configuration, rearranges to cis-1,2,3,3,4,5-hexafluorocyclopentene below room temperature (E_a = 21.9 kcal/mol, log A = 13.4). The latter undergoes degenerate ring inversion with extraordinary ease (ΔG^‡ = 6.8 ± 0.2 kcal/mol at −55 °C). Density functional calculations indicate that significant bonding between the bridgehead carbons is retained in the ring inversion transition state. Analogous calculations predict for hexafluorobicyclo[1.1.0]butane a considerably lower barrier for ring inversion and more 1,3-bonding in the transition state.     

Gould-Jacobs reaction of 6-amino-2,3-diphenylquinoxaline

Summary Catalytic hydrogenation of 2,3-diphenyl-6-nitroquinoxaline led to the corresponding amine1 which in turn afforded products3a-i on reaction with alkoxymethylene derivatives2a-i. Thermal cyclization of3b and3f yielded substituted pyrazinoquinolones5b and5f, respectively. Optimal conditions for the successful hydrolysis of ester5b were found. The structures of all products were deduced from their IR, UV,¹H, and¹³C NMR spectroscopic data.Dedicated to Prof.F. Sauter on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Eco-dyeing and functional finishing of wool fabric based on Portulaca oleracea L. as colorant and Musa basjoo as natural mordant

Biomass energy is the most acknowledged renewable resource due to its universality, richness, and renewability. This study utilized a Portulaca oleracea L. plant as a natural colorant for wool fabric dyeing with a high color yield at optimum extraction and dyeing conditions. To evaluate the dyeing mechanism and feasibility of the extracted dyes, we analyzed and characterized the molecular structure and nano-level particle size. The dyeing kinetics and the morphology of dyed fabrics were integratedly explored; the adsorption process of wool fabric on natural colorant molecules was increasingly in line with the pseudo-second-order kinetic adsorption model. Further, the dyeing effects of wool fabrics were compared to that of Musa basjoo mordant and synthetic dyes to confirm the superior color depth (K/S value 23.53), biological function as anti-ultraviolet (UPF value 253.47), and anti-bacterial activity (antibacterial rate of Staphylococcus aureus/Escherichia coli was 71.3%/37%). Our findings provide a feasible scheme for providing deep color and biological activity to wool fabrics. This has broad application prospects in the field of eco-friendly textile materials.     

Physical and radiobiological parameters of proton beams up to 31 MeV

Summary Frequency distributions of energy deposition in microscopic tissue volumes determined by means of a ?Rossi type? proportional counter for 31, 12 and 8 MeV proton beams and, dose response curves for mortality and chromosome aberrations in cultured human cells exposed to the same beams are analysed with a view to determining suitable parameters to specify radiation quality. The behaviour of quantities LET,Z ^*2/β² and the microdosimetric parameter as a function of energy are compared with the corresponding behaviour of the most significant radiobiological parameters as mean lethal dose per targetD ₀, mean inactivation dose , intensity of chromosome aberrations, and dicentrics. It is shown that is the most suitable physical parameter to characterize the relative effectiveness of protons in the (8÷31) MeV range. Work partially supported by grant No. 8000165896 for the Finalized Project ?Tumor Growth Control?.