A study of embolizing materials for chemo-embolization therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma: embolic effect of cisplatin albumin microspheres using chitin and chitosan in dogs, and changes of cisplatin content in blood and tissue.

Hepatic artery of dogs was embolized with cisplatin (CDDP) albumin microspheres containing chitin and chitosan to investigate the in vivo CDDP release kinetics from CDDP albumin microspheres, the CDDP cumulative characteristics in the liver, and the influence of microsphere administration on hepatic tissue. Results showed that changes in blood CDDP content were dependent on CDDP albumin microsphere type and that release kinetics were better sustained when chitin was added to the microspheres or when the microspheres were treated with chitosan. In particular, the administration of CDDP in the chitin-containing CDDP chitosan albumin microspheres showed a blood CDDP content of approximately 0.26 micrograms Pt/ml 14 d after administration. The administration of chitin-containing or chitosan treated CDDP microspheres showed a CDDP content in the hepatic tissue of 0.14 to 0.23 micrograms Pt/g 28 d after administration. They also showed better control of CDDP release than those without chitin or chitosan treatment. No CDDP influence on hepatic tissue was observed. We conclude that, even in vivo, chitin and chitosan are effective embolic materials.     

NMR studies on the stereospecific polymerization of methyl vinyl ether. Part I. Polymerization by metal halides: Penultimate effect

Methyl vinyl ether (MVE) was polymerized under various conditions by BF₃·O(C₂H₅)₂ and SnCl₄·CCl₃CO₂H catalysts. The effect of polymerization conditions on the steric structure of poly(methyl vinyl ether) (PMVE) was studied by NMR spectra. It was found that the triad isotacticity of PMVE decreased and the syndiotacticity and heterotacticity increased with increasing polarity of the solvent and increasing polymerization temperature. This result coincided with the qualitative conclusion estimated from softening point and infrared spectra. However, the variation of tacticity by the change of the polarity of a solvent was not so large as expected. There was no large difference between the behavior of BF₃·O(C₂H₅)₂ and SnCl₄·CCl₃CO₂H as catalysts. From the relation between the difference of free energy of monomer addition due to the steric structure of the polymer and the polymerization temperature, it was concluded that the penultimate effect really existed and was due to only the difference in enthalpy in the MVE–BF₃. O(C₂H₅)₂ or MVE–SnCl₄·CCl₃CO₂H systems. The penultimate effect was not greatly changed by the polymerization conditions in these systems.     

A new class of C1-symmetric monosulfoximine ligands for enantioselective hetero Diels-Alder reactions

Quinoline-based C1-symmetric sulfoximines have been used as chiral ligands in copper-catalyzed asymmetric hetero Diels-Alder reactions leading to cycloadducts with up to 96% ee.     

Synthesis and NMR studies of (13)C-labeled vitamin D metabolites

Isotope-labeled drug molecules may be useful for probing by NMR spectroscopy the conformation of ligand associated with biological hosts such as membranes and proteins. Triple-labeled [7,9,19-(13)C(3)]-vitamin D(3) (56), its 25-hydroxylated and 1 alpha,25-dihydroxylated metabolites (58 and 68, respectively), and other labeled materials have been synthesized via coupling of [9-(13)C]-Grundmann's ketone 39 or its protected 25-hydroxy derivative 43 with labeled A ring enyne fragments 25 or 26. The labeled CD-ring fragment 39 was prepared by a sequence involving Grignard addition of [(13)C]-methylmagnesium iodide to Grundmann's enone 28, oxidative cleavage, functional group modifications leading to seco-iodide 38, and finally a kinetic enolate S(N)2 cycloalkylation. The C-7,19 double labeling of the A-ring enyne was achieved by the Corey-Fuchs/Wittig processes on keto aldehyde 11. By employing these labeled fragments in the Wilson-Mazur route, the C-7,9,19 triple-(13)C-labeled metabolites 56, 58, and 68 as well as other (13)C-labeled metabolites have been prepared. In an initial NMR investigation of one of the labeled metabolites prepared in this study, namely [7,9,19-(13)C(3)]-25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) (58), the three (13)C-labeled carbons of the otherwise water insoluble steroid could be clearly detected by (13)C NMR analysis at 0.1 mM in a mixture of CD(3)OD/D(2)O (60/40) or in aqueous dimethylcyclodextrin solution and at 2 mM in 20 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) aqueous micellar solution. In the SDS micellar solution, a double half-filter NOESY experiment revealed that the distance between the H(19Z) and H(7) protons is significantly shorter than that of the corresponding distance calculated from the solid state (X-ray) structure of the free ligand. The NMR data in micelles reveals that 58 exists essentially completely in the alpha-conformer with the 3 beta-hydroxyl equatorially oriented, just as in the solid state. The shortened distance (H(19Z))-H(7)) in micellar solutions as compared to that in the solid state is most easily rationalized on the basis that the 5(10)-torsion angle in 58 is decreased in micellar solutions as compared to that in the solid state.     

Influence of drawing and heat treatment on surface free energies of polyethylene terephthalate fibers

The surface free energies of polyethylene terepthalate fibers with different draw ratios were experimentally determined by contact angle measurements inn-alkane/water systems. The dispersive component of the surface free energy increased with increasing draw ratio, whereas the nondispersive one remained almost constant. After heat treatment, the dispersive surface free energy increased, but was reduced above 140°C. The nondispersive component increased by heat treatment at 190°C. The increases in the density and birefringence of the fibres due to the drawing and heat treatment suggested that the increase in the dispersive surface free energy was caused by the increase in the atomic density at the fiber surface due to drawing and heat treatment. ESCA results indicated that the increment in the nondispersive surface free energy due to heat treatment was caused by the addition of functional groups to the fiber surface due to heat treatment.     

Determination of the chiral structure of [Formula: see text] using anomalous x-ray scattering near the Cs K absorption edge

A structural study of [Formula: see text], grown from aqueous solution, was performed using anomalous x-ray scattering near the Cs K absorption edge to determine an absolute configuration of constituent atoms. The sense of the helical structure of the [Formula: see text] chain was found to be predominantly right-handed through a comparison of observed Bragg Bijvoet ratios with calculated ones. Assuming that [Formula: see text] consists of the two domains (i.e. right- and left-handed helices), we estimate that the volume fraction for the right-handed helix is [Formula: see text].