Use of blowing catalysts for integral skin polyurethane applications in a controlled molecular architectural environment: Synthesis and impact on ultimate physical properties

Polyurethane elastomers of a controlled molecular architecture were synthesized using a two‐step polymerization technique. The building blocks of the elastomeric materials included urea–urethane prepolymers end‐capped with diisocyanate groups and had an exact number of urea groups at both ends. Two‐dimensional bifurcated hydrogen‐bonding networks incorporating the urea groups were, with differential scanning calorimetric and dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer techniques, responsible for the increase in the glass‐transition temperature (T_g) of the hard block and sharp interface morphology between the pure “hard” domains and pure “soft” domains. The higher extent of the phase separation between the two phases contributed to higher elastic moduli for the hard blocks and higher tensile strength for the elastomeric samples. Higher elongation values were attributed to the liberation of the elastomeric chain ends that otherwise would have been constrained in the interface region. The higher T_g values of the hard blocks corresponded to an increase in the hardness values and a decrease in the tear‐strength values. The increase in the amount of urea groups within the hard segments, as a result of the increased amount of water and blowing catalyst, resulted in elastomeric foams with higher open‐cell content. This resulted in lower resilience values as measured using the pendulum rebound test and was attributed to the ability of the open cells to absorb and dissipate energy. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2526–2536, 2002     

Solid phase extraction and analysis of horse urine for aminocaproic acid

Summary A rapid and efficient procedure is described for extraction and determination of aminocaproic acid in horse urine. Urine was extracted by passing through a bonded silica column (Bond-Elut). The adsorbed drug was washed free of endogenous materials before being eluted. The extract was then examined by thin-layer chromatography and HPLC. The purity of the extract was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.     

Quantitation of agmatine by liquid chromatography with laser-induced fluorescence detection

A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is described for the determination of agmatine, an endogenous neuromodulator. The method involves pre-column derivatization of the sample with a fluorescent tagging reagent, 7-fluoro-4-nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD-F). The resulting agmatine derivative is stable and can be readily extracted into ethyl acetate at pH 8.5. The extraction enhances the quantification of low level agmatine because it eliminates chromatographic peaks caused by endogenous amino acids. The HPLC separation is carried out on a C₈ reversed phase column and completed in less than 10 min. With laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection, the detection limit is 5×10⁻⁹ M agmatine. Method precision (coefficient of variation) is 5% for agmatine in human plasma at the sub-μM level. This method has been validated by determination of agmatine in biological samples including human plasma and rat brain and stomach tissues.     

Development and validation of HPLC methods for enantioseparation of mirtazapine enantiomers at analytical and semipreparative scale using polysaccharide chiral stationary phases

Novel HPLC methods were developed for the analytical and semipreparative resolution of new antidepressant drug mirtazapine enantiomers. At analytical scale, the separation of the mirtazapine enantiomers was investigated using both cellulose and amylose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (CDMPC and ADMPC) chiral stationary phases under normal-phases and polar organic modes. Good baseline enantioseparation was achieved using cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phases under both normal-phases and polar organic modes. Furthermore, the elution order of mirtazapine enantiomic pairs was found reversed by changing the stationary phase from the amylose-based ADMPC–CSPs to its cellulose-based counterpart, CDMPC–CSPs. The validation of the analytical methods including linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), recovery and precision, together with the semipreparative resolution of mirtazapine racemate were carried out using cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phases and methanol as mobile phase without any basic additives under polar organic mode. At analytical scale, the elution times of both enantiomers were less than 6 min at normal temperature and 1.0 ml/min, with the separation factor () 1.99 and the resolution factor (Rs) 3.56. Then, the analytical methods were scaled up to semipreparative loading to obtain small quantities of both mirtazapine enantiomers. At semipreparative scale, about 16 mg/h enantiomers could be isolated and elution times of both enantiomers were less than 10 min at 2.0 ml/min. To increase the throughput, the technique of boxcar injections was used. One enantiomer ((−)-(R)-mirtazapine) was isolated with purity of >99.9% e.e. and >98.0% yield and another ((+)-(S)-mirtazapine) was isolated with purity of >97.0% e.e. and >99.0% yield. In addition, optical rotation and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy of both mirtazapine enantiomers isolated were also investigated.     

Determination of interferon-gamma in Chinese hamster ovary cell culture supernatant by coupled-column liquid chromatography

A robust tandem HPLC method coupling size-exclusion (Shodex Asahipak GS-320HQ) and reversed phase (Vydac 218TP54) columns with ultraviolet detection was developed for quantitative determination of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in Chinese hamster ovary cell culture supernatant. The 2D-HPLC system was linked up by a 6-port 2-position low hold-up volume switch valve. Compared to a commercial ELISA kit for IFN-gamma, the coupled column LC approach was able to detect and quantify soluble IFN-gamma, regardless of the glycoprotein's molecular/conformational variability and sample background. Each LC-LC analysis took 90 minutes inclusive of column regeneration. The relative standard deviation of measurements (n = 5) was less than 3%. The limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be 0.35 microg IFN-gamma.     

Determination of rimantadine in pharmaceutical preparations by capillary zone electrophoresis with indirect detection or after derivatization

Summary Rimantadine is synthetic analog of amantadine; both are antiviral agents used for prophylaxis and treatment of influenza A. A capillary zone electrophoretic (CZE) procedure for the determination of rimantadine has been developed. As the direct determination of rimantadine is poorly sensitive because the compound is almost transparent in the UV/Vis range, several indirect methods were studied. Two were found to be the particularly useful: (a) indirect detection using 5 mM 4-methylbenzylamine in 1:4 methanol-water as absorbing background electrolyte, with detection at 210 nm, and (b) derivatization of rimantadine with 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid in alkaline medium and subsequent determination of the derivative by CZE (40 mM tetraborate, pH 9.2, detection at 280 nm). Uncoated capillary tubing, 44 cm length ×75 μM i.d., was used for both determinations. The detection limits were 0.1 and 2 ppm for methods a and b, respectively. The methods were used to determine rimantadine in pharmaceutical products and for dissolution testing of Flumadin^? tablets.     

Analysis of carbohydrates by anion exchange chromatography and mass spectrometry

A versatile liquid chromatographic platform has been developed for analysing underivatized carbohydrates using high performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC) followed by an inert PEEK splitter that splits the effluent to the integrated pulsed amperometric detector (IPAD) and to an on-line single quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS). Common eluents for HPAEC such as sodium hydroxide and sodium acetate are beneficial for the amperometric detection but not compatible with electrospray ionisation (ESI). Therefore a membrane-desalting device was installed after the splitter and prior to the ESI interface converting sodium hydroxide into water and sodium acetate into acetic acid. To enhance the sensitivity for the MS detection, 0.5 mmol/l lithium chloride was added after the membrane desalter to form lithium adducts of the carbohydrates. To compare sensitivity of IPAD and MS detection glucose, fructose, and sucrose were used as analytes. A calibration with external standards from 2.5 to 1000 pmole was performed showing a linear range over three orders of magnitude. Minimum detection limits (MDL) with IPAD were determined at 5 pmole levels for glucose to be 0.12 pmole, fructose 0.22 pmole and sucrose 0.11 pmole. With MS detection in the selected ion mode (SIM) the lithium adducts of the carbohydrates were detected obtaining MDL's for glucose of 1.49 pmole, fructose 1.19 pmole, and sucrose 0.36 pmole showing that under these conditions IPAD is 3-10 times more sensitive for those carbohydrates. The applicability of the method was demonstrated analysing carbohydrates in real world samples such as chicory inulin where polyfructans up to a molecular mass of 7000 g/mol were detected as quadrupoly charged lithium adducts. Furthermore mono-, di-, tri-, and oligosaccharides were detected in chicory coffee, honey and beer samples.     

Synthesis of β3‐Homophenylalanine‐Derived Amino Acids and Peptides by Suzuki Coupling in Solution and on Solid Support

β‐Peptides and, to a certain extent, also mixed α,β‐peptides, are resistant to degradation by a variety of proteolytic enzymes that rapidly degrade natural α‐peptides. This is one of many characteristics that make β‐peptides an attractive class of compounds for drug‐discovery studies. On the other hand, modern organometallic reactions such as the Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling have become standard tools in industry laboratories to derivatize side chains of α‐peptidic compounds to build up libraries of unnatural peptides. Combining both features, we prepared (4‐bromo)‐β³‐homophenylalanine derivatives 3 – 5 and 12 as precursors for Suzuki–Miyaura couplings. From these bromo compounds, we synthesized biaryl‐substituted β‐homoamino acids 6 , and analogs 13 and 15 of the anti‐AIDS drug Saquinavir.     

A microfabricated capillary electrophoresis chip with multiple buried optical fibers and microfocusing lens for multiwavelength detection

We present a new microfluidic device utilizing multiwavelength detection for high-throughput capillary electrophoresis (CE). In general, different fluorescent dyes are only excited by light sources with appropriate wavelengths. When excited by an appropriate light source, a fluorescent dye emits specific fluorescence signals of a longer wavelength. This study designs and fabricates plastic micro-CE chips capable of performing multiple-wavelength fluorescence detection by means of multimode optic fiber pairs embedded downstream of the separation channel. For detection purposes, the fluorescence signals are enhanced by positioning microfocusing lens structures at the outlets of the excitation fibers and the inlets of the detection fibers, respectively. The proposed device is capable of detecting multiple samples labeled with different kinds of fluorescent dyes in the same channel in a single run. The experimental results demonstrate that various proteins, including bovine serum albumin and beta-casein, can be successfully injected and detected by coupling two light sources of different wavelengths to the two excitation optic fibers. Furthermore, the proposed device also provides the ability to measure the speed of the samples traveling in the microchannel. The developed multiwavelength micro-CE chip could have significant potential for the analysis of DNA and protein samples.     

Preconcentration and Determination of Chromium Species Using Octadecyl Silica Membrane Disks and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A novel and selective method for the fast determination of trace amounts of chromium species in water samples has been developed. The procedure is based on the selective formation of chromium diethyldithiocarbamate complexes at different pH in the presence of Mn(II) as an enhancement agent of chromium signals followed by elution with organic eluents and determination by atomic flame absorption spectrometry. The maximum capacity of the employed disks was found to be (396±3) µg and (376±2) µg for Cr(III) and Cr(VI), respectively. The detection limit of the proposed method is 49 and 43 ng·L^?1 for Cr(III) and Cr(VI), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for determination of chromium species Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in different water samples.