The Photochemical Synthesis of Fine Chemicals with Sunlight

The light of the sun can be used directly for changing chemical structures photochemically. Any industrial application must conform to the limitations imposed by the spectral distribution of the photons from the sun, the interruptions to the radiation due to the day/night rhythm, and the weather. In this review, we describe the photochemical potential of the sun, give a fundamental treatment of the concept of photoreactors driven by sunlight (abbreviated to solar photoreactors), and give an account of the realization of this concept in the first pilot plant on the “Plataforma Solar de Almeria” in southern Spain and in other activities in this field. Based on experimental data from photochemical investigations on the pilot plant scale, possibilities, limitations, and the potential growth of solar photochemistry are described. Solar photochemistry, in our opinion, is a technique which could make a contribution to the chemistry of the future because of its photochemical synthesis potential, the avoidance of waste products, and the direct utilization of the sun, not only as a primary energy source, but also as a reaction partner.     

Synthesis and Odor of Chiral Partial Structures of Khusimone. Part 1

Khusimone (1), one of the main odor-donating compounds of vetiver oil is subject of the following study on structure/odor relationship. The omittance of the ethano bridge of the tricyclic khusimone leads to a bicyclic system. The stereoselective approach to this degraded structure is described, and the olfactory properties are studied. The key step of the synthesis of the hydrindane nucleus is based on a highly diastereoselective conjugate addition to a chiral oxo-cyclopentene-2-carboxylate.     

1,2-Bis-triphenylphosphoranylidenamino-äthan als zweizähniger Ligand in Übergangsmetallkomplexen

1,2-Bis-(triphenylphosphorane-ylidene-amino)ethane as a Bidentate Ligand in Transition Metal Complexes The reactions of Ph₃P?N? C₂H₄? N?PPh₃ with transition metal halogenides MX₂ give according to eq. (1) novel bisiminophosphorane complexes of the type M(Ph₃PNC₂H₄ NPPh₃)X₂ (M ? Co, X ? Cl 1 a , Br 1 b , J 1 c ; M ? Ni, X ? Cl 2 a , Br 2 b , J 2 c , M ? Hg, X ? Cl 3 , M ? Cd, X ? Cl 4 ). The preparation, properties, magnetic moments, and structure of the new complexes are reported     

A fluorimetric assay for cortisol

A simple, rapid and sensitive fluorimetric assay for the quantitative determination of cortisol is reported. The assay is based on the formation of a fluorescent dye when cortisol is incubated with a mixture of sulfuric acid and acetic acid. The fluorescence spectrum recorded for the resulting dye shows a maximum extinction at 475 nm and a maximum emission at 525 nm. The solvent 2-methyl-4-pentanone was used for extraction and was found to act as a fluorescence amplifier. A limit of detection of 2.7 μM was achieved, making it possible to forego solvent evaporation. The assay suffers minor interference from 11-deoxycortisol which exhibits low fluorescence at λ _ex: 460 nm; λ _em: 505 nm. Typical standard deviations were below 4%. We validated the assay using a biotransformation with recombinant Schizosaccharomyces pombe which regioselectively hydroxylates 11-deoxycortisol to cortisol. The method described herein is suitable for preliminary screening of microorganisms capable of steroid hydroxylation.     

A novel technique to specifically analyze the secretome of cells and tissues

The secretome of cells and tissues may reflect a broad variety of pathological conditions and thus represents a rich source of biomarkers. The identity of secreted proteins, usually isolated from cell supernatants or body fluids, is hardly accessible by direct proteome analysis, because these proteins are often masked by high amounts of proteins actually not secreted by the investigated cells. Here, we present a novel method for the specific detection of proteins secreted by human tissue specimen as well as cultured cells and chose liver as a model. The method is based on the metabolic labelling of proteins synthesized during a limited incubation period. Then, the cell supernatant is filtered, precipitated, and subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Whereas fluorography detected a large number of proteins derived from residual plasma and dead cells, the autoradiographs selectively displayed genuinely secreted proteins. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by means of the secretomes of the hepatocellular carcinoma-derived cell line HepG2 and human liver slices. The selective identification of cell- and tissue-specific protein secretion profiles may help to identify novel sets of biomarkers for wide clinical applications.     

Prerequisites for peptidomic analysis of blood samples: II. Analysis of human plasma after oral glucose challenge -- a proof of concept

Mass spectrometric plasma analysis for biomarker discovery has become an exploratory focus in proteomic research: the challenges of analyzing plasma samples by mass spectrometry have become apparent not only since the human proteome organization (HUPO) has put much emphasis on the human plasma proteome. This work demonstrates fundamental proteomic research to reveal sensitivity and quantification capabilities of our Peptidomics technologies by detecting distinct changes in plasma peptide composition in samples after challenging healthy volunteers with orally administered glucose. Differential Peptide Display (DPD) is a technique for peptidomics studies to compare peptides from distinct biological samples. Mass spectrometry (MS) is used as a qualitative and quantitative analysis tool without previous trypsin digestion or labeling of the samples. Circulating peptides (< 15 kDa) were extracted from 1.3 mL plasma samples and the extracts separated by liquid chromatography into 96 fractions. Each fraction was subjected to MALDI MS, and mass spectra of all fractions were combined resulting in a 2D-display of > 2,000 peptides from each sample. Endogenous peptides that responded to oral glucose challenge were detected by DPD of pre-and post-challenge plasma samples from 16 healthy volunteers and subsequently identified by nESI-qTOF MS. Two of the 15 MS peaks that were significantly modulated by glucose challenge were subsequently identified as insulin and C-peptide. These results were validated by using immunoassays for insulin and C-peptide. This paper serves as a proof of principle for proteomic biomarker discovery down to the pM concentration range by using small amounts of human plasma.     

Die Kristallstrukturen von KNdTe4, RbPrTe4 und RbNdTe4 — Untersuchungen zur thermischen Stabilität von KNdTe4 sowie Bemerkungen zu einigen anderen Vertretern der Zusammensetzung ALnTe4 (A = K,Rb, Cs und Ln = Seltenerd‐Metall)

Crystal Structures of KNdTe₄, RbPrTe₄, and RbNdTe₄ — Investigations concerning the Thermal Stability of KNdTe₄ as well as some Remarks concerning Additional Representatives of the Composition ALnTe₄ (A = K, Rb, Cs and Ln = Rare Earth Metal) Of the compounds ALnQ₄ (A = Na, K, Rb, Cs; Ln = Lanthanoid; Q = S, Se and Te) the crystal structures of the three new tellurides KNdTe₄, RbPrTe₄ and RbNdTe₄ were determined by X‐ray single‐crystal structure analysis and of the three additional new ones KCeTe₄, KPrTe₄ and CsNdTe₄ by X‐ray powder diffraction experiments. All six new compounds are isotypic with KCeSe₄. Characteristic for the crystal structure of the compounds mentioned above are layers built from (Q₂)^2— dumbbells in form of 4.3².4.3 nets with embedded cations A⁺ and Ln³⁺ between them, which are coordinated eightfold in form of square‐shaped antiprisms by Q ions. The distances Te‐Te within the dumbbells were found to be 277.8(2) pm for all investigated tellurides. By combination of X‐ray diffraction and DTA measurements it was shown that the compound KNdTe₄ is metastable at ambient temperature with a limited existence range between the temperatures 260 and 498 °C.