Natural abundance 13C - 13C coupling constants observed via double quantum coherence. Structural elucidation by the one- and the two-dimensional NMR experiements of velloziolone,a new seco-diterpene.

With the help of Natural Abundance ¹³C - ¹³C Coupling Constants, observed via double quantum coherence, the structural determination of VELLOZIOLONE (1), a new diterpene, has been carried out.     

Ionen-Cyclotron-Resonanz-Messungen von Ion/Molekül-Reaktionen bei Chinonen

At a pressure of 10^?6 Torr the ion cyclotron resonance spectra of p-benzoquinone, methyl-p-benzoquinone, tetramethyl-p-benzoquinone and tetrafluoro-p-benzoquinone are identical to the normal mass spectra. Above 10^?5 Torr the spectra show a variety of signals for product ions. From double resonance measurements it was shown that all the product ions are formed by addition of the molecular ion or of a fragment ion to a neutral quinone molecule. In most cases the addition is accompanied by the elimination of carbon monoxide.     

Statistical properties of chaos demonstrated in a class of one-dimensional maps

One-dimensional maps with complete grammar are investigated in both permanent and transient chaotic cases. The discussion focuses on statistical characteristics such as Lyapunov exponent, generalized entropies and dimensions, free energies, and their finite size corrections. Our approach is based on the eigenvalue problem of generalized Frobenius-Perron operators, which are treated numerically as well as by perturbative and other analytical methods. The examples include the universal chaos function relevant near the period doubling threshold. Special emphasis is put on the entropies and their decay rates because of their invariance under the most general class of coordinate changes. Phase-transition-like phenomena at the border state of chaos due to intermittency and super instability are presented.     

On the parallel mechanism of the dissociation of energy-selected P(CH3)3+ ions

Energy selected trimethyl phosphine ions were prepared by threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence (TPEPICO) spectroscopy. This ion dissociates via H, CH(3), and CH(4) loss, the latter two involving hydrogen transfer steps. The ion time-of-flight distribution and the breakdown diagram are analyzed in terms of the statistical RRKM theory, which includes tunneling. Ab initio and DFT calculations provide the vibrational frequencies required for the RRKM modeling. CH(3) loss could produce both the P(CH(3))(2)(+) by a simple bond dissociation step, and the more stable HP(CH(2))CH(3)(+) ion by a hydrogen transfer step. Quantum chemical calculations are extensively used to uncover the reaction scheme, and they strongly suggest that the latter product is exclusively formed via an isomerization step in the energy range of the experiment. The data analysis, which includes modeling with the trimethyl phosphine thermal energy distribution, provides accurate onset energies for both H (E(0K) = 1024.1 +/- 3.5 kJ/mol) and CH(3) (E(0K) = 1024.8 +/- 3.5 kJ/mol) loss reactions. From this analysis, we conclude that the Delta(f)H(298K) degrees [HP(CH(2))(CH(3))(+)] = 783 +/- 8 kJ/mol and Delta(f)H(298K) degrees [P(CH(2))(CH(3))(2)(+)] = 711 +/- 8 kJ/mol.     

Conformational dependence of the intrinsic acidity of the aspartic acid residue sidechain in N-acetyl- -aspartic acid-N′-methylamide

The sidechain conformational potential energy hypersurfaces (PEHS) for the γ_L, β_L, α_L, and α_D backbone conformations of N-acetyl- -aspartate-N′-methylamide were generated. Of the 81 possible conformers initially expected for the aspartate residue, only seven were found after geometric optimizations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. No stable conformers could be located in the δ_L, _L, γ_D, δ_D, and _D backbone conformations. The ‘adiabatic’ deprotonation energies for the endo and exo forms of N-acetyl- -aspartic acid-N′-methylamide were calculated by comparing their optimized relative energies against those found for the seven stable conformers of N-acetyl- -aspartate-N′-methylamide. Sidechain conformational PEHSs were also generated for the estimation of ‘vertical’ deprotonation energies for both endo and exo forms of N-acetyl- -aspartic acid-N′-methylamide. All backbone–sidechain (N–H⁻O–C) and backbone–backbone (N–HO=C) hydrogen bond interactions were analyzed. A total of two backbone–backbone and four backbone–sidechain interactions were found for N-acetyl- -aspartate-N′-methylamide. The deprotonated sidechain of N-acetyl- -aspartate-N′-methylamide may allow the aspartyl residue to form strong hydrogen bond interactions (since it is negatively charged) which may be significant in such processes as protein–ligand recognition and ligand binding. As a primary example, the molecular geometry of the aspartyl residue may be important in peptide folding, such as that in the RGD tripeptide.     

Liquid chromatographic analysis of vitamin B6 in reconstituted infant formula: collaborative study

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method was validated for the determination of total vitamin B6 in infant formula. Total vitamin B6 was quantified by converting the phosphorylated and free vitamers into pyridoxine. Pyridoxine was determined by ion pair reversed-phase LC with fluorescence detection. The method was subjected to an AOAC collaborative study involving a factory-manufactured, milk- and soy-based infant formula. Each was spiked at 3 concentrations in the range of 0-1 microg/g and sent as blind duplicate to participant laboratories. Nine laboratories returned valid data which were statistically analyzed for outliers and precision parameters. The repeatability relative standard deviation (RSD(r)) ranges were 2.0-4.0 and 3.5-5.9% for fortified milk- and soy-based formulas, respectively. The reproducibility relative standard deviation (RSD(R)) ranges were 8.2-8.4 and 6.7-11.2% for fortified milk- and soy-based formulas, respectively. HORRAT values ranged from 0.42 to 0.53, indicating that the precision of the method is acceptable. The mean RSD(r):RSD(R) values were 0.60 and 0.55 for milk- and soy-based formulas, respectively. As expected, RSDs for the unfortified samples were higher, but their HORRAT values (0.81 and 2.06) helped define a realistic limit of quantitation as 0.05 microg/g. Recovery data were quantitative and varied between 81.4 and 98.0% (mean = 89.8%) for each of 6 spiked materials.     

Investigation of Matrix Effects on the Determination of Carbadox and Olaquindox in Feed by LC–MS/MS

A comprehensive survey of matrix effects on the LC–MS/MS analysis of the banned antibiotic growth promoters carbadox and olaquindox in feed was carried out. Various factors of sample preparation procedure and measurement were systematically investigated by pre- and post-extraction addition and postcolumn infusion experiments. In general, strong signal suppression up to 70 % for carbadox and up to 90 % for olaquindox was observed when using different extraction solvents and techniques as well as different chromatographic conditions. Reduction of matrix effects was achieved by SPE clean-up and dilution of sample extracts. Nevertheless, matrix effect profiles determined by postcolumn infusion revealed, that reduction of signal suppression at a respective retention time cannot guarantee improvement of the methods performance. If high variability of matrix effects is present along the chromatographic run, accuracy might decrease despite reduced signal suppression. Besides method parameters, different feedingstuffs were investigated and showed similar matrix effects.