Spectroscopic investigation of β-cyclodextrin -metoprolol tartrate inclusion complexes

Aqueous-solution complexes of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) with metoprolol tartrate (MET) have been analysed with ¹H NMR and UV–vis spectroscopy. With ¹H NMR a [1:1] stoichiometry could be established for the β-CD-MET complex while its stability constant was determined with UV–vis spectroscopy. Powder diffraction data of a polycrystalline sample of the β-CD-MET complex show that a novel product has been formed, likely to be a β-CD-MET [1:1] inclusion complex. Also Hyperchem MM+ molecular-dynamics results suggest an inclusion complex and from ¹H NMR data it is inferred that probably the MET is docked in the CD with the formers methoxyethyl-benzene moiety in front. Mihaela Toma is Socrates/Erasmus student at UNED Madrid     

Hydrogen burning of 17O in classical novae

We report on the observation of a previously unknown resonance at E(lab)(R)=194.1+/-0.6 keV in the 17O(p,alpha)14N reaction, with a measured resonance strength omegagamma(palpha)=1.6 +/- 0.2 meV. We studied in the same experiment the 17O(p,gamma)18F reaction by an activation method and the resonance-strength ratio was found to be omegagamma(palpha)/omegagamma(pgamma) = 470 +/- 50. The corresponding excitation energy in the 18F compound nucleus was determined to be 5789.8 +/- 0.3 keV by gamma-ray measurements using the 14N(alpha, gamma)18F reaction. These new resonance properties have important consequences for 17O nucleosynthesis and gamma-ray astronomy of classical novae.     

Comparison of the effectiveness of solid-phase and ultrasound-mediated liquid-liquid extractions to determine the volatile compounds of wine

Two ultrasound-assisted liquid–liquid extraction (LLE-I, LLE-II) methods were compared to a solid-phase extraction (SPE) protocol to assess their effectiveness for the analysis of up to 44 volatile compounds in a synthetic and several commercial white, red and “cream” wines produced in the southwest of Spain. Regardless of the extraction protocol used the highest recoveries corresponded to acids and terpene alcohols and the lowest to lactones and alcohols. In any case, it was concluded that one of the liquid–liquid extraction protocols evaluated led to higher recoveries for a greater number of odorants that could be implicated in the aroma of the wines than the solid-phase extraction. However, the SPE method also presented some advantages that should not be overlooked, like higher repeatability and throughput and lower solvent consumption.     

Copper and iron interactions with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. A study by fast-atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry

Fast atom bombardment, combined with high-energy collision-induced tandem mass spectrometry, has been used to investigate gas-phase metal-ion interactions with captopril, enalaprilat and lisinopril, all angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.Suggestions for the location of metal-binding sites are presented. For captopril, metal binding occurs most likely at both the sulphur and the nitrogen atom. For enalaprilat and lisinopril, binding preferably occurs at the amine nitrogen. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ESI‐MS/MS of expanded porphyrins: a look into their structure and aromaticity

Electrospray mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry was used to investigate the gas‐phase properties of protonated expanded porphyrins, in order to correlate those with their structure and conformation. We have selected five expanded meso‐pentafluorophenyl porphyrins, respectively, a pair of oxidized/reduced fused pentaphyrins (22 and 24 π electrons), a pair of oxidized/reduced regular hexaphyrins (26 and 28 π electrons) and a regular doubly N‐fused hexaphyrin (28 π electrons). The gas‐phase behavior of the protonated species of oxidized and reduced expanded porphyrins is different. The oxidized species (aromatic Hückel systems) fragment more extensively, mainly by the loss of two HF molecules. The reduced species (Möbius aromatic or Möbius‐like aromatic systems) fragment less than their oxidized counterparts because of their increased flexibility. The protonated regular doubly fused hexaphyrin (non‐aromatic Hückel system) shows the least fragmentation even at higher collision energies. In general, cyclization through losses of HF molecules decreases from the aromatic Hückel systems to Möbius aromatic or Möbius‐like aromatic systems to non‐aromatic Hückel systems and is related to an increase in conformational distortion. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Retrieval of the zero-dispersion wavelength map of an optical fiber from measurement of its continuous-wave four-wave mixing efficiency

We present a novel algorithm for reconstruction of the longitudinal distribution of zero-dispersion wavelength in an optical fiber from low power, end-to-end measurements of four-wave mixing efficiency. It is based on a modified version of the error-reduction approach used in classic phase-retrieval problems. Experimental results demonstrate the validity of this algorithm.     

Investigating the vortex melting phenomenon in BSCCO crystals using magneto-optical imaging technique

Using a novel differential magneto-optical imaging technique we investigate the phenomenon of vortex lattice melting in crystals of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈ (BSCCO). The images of melting reveal complex patterns in the formation and evolution of the vortex solid-liquid interface with varying field (H)/temperature (T). We believe that the complex melting patterns are due to a random distribution of material disorder/inhomogeneities across the sample, which create fluctuations in the local melting temperature or field value. To study the fluctuations in the local melting temperature/field, we have constructed maps of the melting landscape T _m(H, r), viz., the melting temperature (T _m) at a given location (r) in the sample at a given field (H). A study of these melting landscapes reveals an unexpected feature: the melting landscape is not fixed, but changes rather dramatically with varying field and temperature along the melting line. It is concluded that the changes in both the scale and shape of the landscape result from the competing contributions of different types of quenched disorder which have opposite effects on the local melting transition.     

Energy dependence of multiplicity in proton-nucleus collisions and models of multiparticle production

This is a continuation of our earlier investigation (Gurtuet al 1974Phys. Lett. 50 B 391) on multiparticle production in proton-nucleus collisions based on an exposure of emulsion stack to 200 GeV/c beam at the NAL. It is found that the ratioR _em = 〈n _s〉/〈n _ch〉, where 〈n _ch〉 is the charged particle multiplicity in pp-collisions, increases slowly from about 1 at 10 GeV/c to 1·6 at 68 GeV/c and attains a constant value of 1·71 ± 0·04 in the region 200 to 8000 GeV/c. Furthermore,R _em = 1·71 implies an effectiveA-dependence ofR _A =A ^0.18,i.e., a very weak dependence. Predictions ofR _em on various models are discussed and compared with the emulsion data. Data seem to favour models of hadron-nucleon collisions in which production of particles takes place through adouble step mechanism,e.g., diffractive excitation, hydrodynamical and energy flux cascade as opposed to models which envisage instantaneous production.     

Spectroscopic investigations and crystal structure from synchrotron powder data of the inclusion complex of beta-cyclodextrin with atenolol

Inclusion complexes of atenolol with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) in aqueous solution have been investigated with (1)H NMR and UV-vis spectroscopy. The stoichiometry of this inclusion complex was established to be equimolar (1:1) and its stability constant was determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. The crystal structure of the beta-CD-atenolol (1:1) inclusion compound has been solved from synchrotron powder diffraction data using direct-space search techniques. The crystal structure model and (1)H NMR data are in good agreement and, with support of Hyperchem MM+ molecular dynamics results, suggest which protons are likely to be involved in the inclusion process that leads to the supramolecular architecture of this guest-host complex.