Sensitive CE-MS method for monitoring of riociguat and desmethylriociguat levels in human serum

Riociguat is novel antihypertensive drug for treatment of pulmonary hypertension. As such, it is still being tested in many clinical and pharmacokinetic trials. Existing methods that determine serum riociguat and desmethylriociguat (DMR) are based solely on liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Therefore, we present a novel capillary electrophoresis with mass spectrometry method (CE-MS) for their determination in human serum as alternative method for ongoing trials. Complete resolution of both analytes was achieved by means of pH optimization of ammonium formate background electrolytes that are fully compatible with ESI/MS detection. Simple liquid-liquid extraction was used as sample pretreatment. The calibration dependence of the method was linear (in the range of 10–1000 ng/mL), with adequate accuracy (90.1–114.9%) and precision (13.4%). LOD and LOQ were arbitrarily set at 10 ng/mL for both analytes. Clinical applicability was validated using serum samples from patients treated with riociguat in pharmacokinetic study and the results corresponded with reference HPLC-MS/MS values. Capillary electrophoresis proved to be sensitive and selective tool for the analysis of riociguat and DMR.     

Quinazoline Derivatives Designed as Efflux Pump Inhibitors: Molecular Modeling and Spectroscopic Studies

Multidrug resistance of bacteria is a worrying concern in the therapeutic field and an alternative method to combat it is designing new efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs). This article presents a molecular study of two quinazoline derivatives, labelled BG1189 and BG1190, proposed as EPIs. In silico approach investigates the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profile of BG1189 and BG1190 quinazolines. Molecular docking and predicted ADMET features suggest that BG1189 and BG1190 may represent attractive candidates as antimicrobial drugs. UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy was employed to study the time stability of quinazoline solutions in water or in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), in constant environmental conditions, and to determine the influence of usual storage temperature, normal room lighting and laser radiation (photostability) on samples stability. The effects of irradiation on BG1189 and BG1190 molecules were also assessed through Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. FTIR spectra showed that laser radiation breaks some chemical bonds affecting the substituents and the quinazoline radical of the compounds.     

Dynamic Interactions in Synthetic Receptors: A Guest Exchange Saturation Transfer Study

The accumulated knowledge regarding molecular architectures is based on established, reliable, and accessible analytical tools that provide robust structural and functional information on assemblies. However, both the dynamicity and low population of noncovalently interacting moieties within studied molecular systems limit the efficiency and accuracy of traditional methods. Herein, the use of a saturation transfer-based NMR approach to study the dynamic binding characteristics of an anion to a series of synthetic receptors derived from bambusuril macrocycles is demonstrated. The exchange rates of BF₄⁻ are mediated by the side chains on the receptor (100 s⁻¹<k_ex<5000 s⁻¹), which play a critical role in receptor-anion binding dynamics. The signal amplification obtained with this approach allows for the identification of different types of intermolecular interactions between the receptor and the anion, something that could not have been detected by techniques hitherto used to study molecular assemblies. These findings, which are supported by a computational molecular dynamic study, demonstrate the uniqueness and added value of this NMR method.     

FEM study of palladium and molybdenum clusters on an alumina covered field emitter

Palladium and molybdenum polycrystalline layers (clusters) have been deposited in a stainless steel UHV system onto a layer of alumina (Al₂O₃). This layer has been prepared by high temperature oxidation of an aluminium layer. The interaction of this system with nitrogen has been investigated at room temperature by an FEM technique. Under these conditions nitrogen spillover from molybdenum to palladium has been observed.     

Infrared picosecond absorption spectroscopy of microcrystalline silicon: separation between carrier recombination in crystalline and amorphous fractions

We have studied ultra-fast carrier dynamics of photo-excited carriers in hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon prepared by a very high frequency glow-discharge technique. We report on direct observation of two types of dynamics using selective photo-excitation in picosecond pump and probe measurements. One type of the observed dynamics has been found to be independent of the sample preparation, while the other reflects the relative weights of crystalline and amorphous fractions. We propose a simple rate-equation model that describes the carrier dynamics in microcrystalline silicon in terms of the composition of those in Si microcrystallites and in the a-Si:H tissue which surrounds the microcrystallites. The model without any fitting parameters reproduces the experimental data very well when the dynamics are scaled with relative volume fractions as obtained from Raman spectra. Received: 23 November 2000 / Accepted: 17 March 2001 / Published online: 23 May 2001     

An optodynamic method for the real-time determination of the depth of a laser-drilled hole

An experimental method for determining the real-time depth of laser-drilled holes is presented. The proposed method involves detecting the laser-induced optoacoustic waves generated during the interaction of the laser beam with the material. Our optodynamic study involved measuring the propagation times of these waves as they traveled through the material and analyzing their temporal behavior during the drilling process. The experimental observations revealed an exponential relationship between the propagation time of the longitudinal stress wave and the number of consecutive laser pulses. Received: 25 October 2001 / Accepted: 27 October 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001