Simultaneous determination of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid in human urine by automated precolumn derivatization and semi-microbore column liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

An improved high-performance liquid-chromatographic (HPLC) assay for the simultaneous determination of serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA) in human urine is reported. Following the automated precolumn derivatization of urinary 5-HT and 5-HIAA with benzylamine, the derivatives are separated by isocratic elution on a reversed-phase C18 semi-microbore column, and are fluorometrically detected at an excitation wavelength of 345 nm and an emission wavelength of 480 nm. The detection limits of 5-HT and 5-HIAA are 7 and 5 nmol/l in urine (0.7 and 0.5 fmol/20-microl injection). The proposed automatic method permits a highly selective and sensitive determination of 5-HT and 5-HIAA in human urine without any sample purification.     

Syntheses and characterization of 16‐arm star and star diblock copolymer and AB8 9‐miktoarm star copolymer via NMRP and ROP from dendritic multifunctional macroinitiators

A dendritic macroinitiator having 16 TEMPO‐based alkoxyamines, Star‐16 , was prepared by the reaction of a dendritic macroinitiator having eight TEMPO‐based alkoxyamines, [G‐3]‐OH , with 4,4′‐bis(chlorocarbonyl)biphenyl. The nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) of styrene (St) from Star‐16 gave 16‐arm star polymers with PDI of 1.19–1.47, and NMPR of 4‐vinylpyridine from the 16‐arm star polymer gave 16‐arm star diblock copolymers with PDI of 1.30–1.43. The ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone from [G‐3]‐OH and the subsequent NMRP of St gave AB₈ 9‐miktoarm star copolymers with PDI of 1.30–1.38. The benzyl ether linkages of the 16‐arm star polymers and the AB₈ 9‐miktoarm star copolymers were cleaved by treating with Me₃SiI, and the resultant poly(St) arms were investigated by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The SEC results showed PDIs of 1.23–1.28 and 1.18–1.22 for the star polymers and miktoarm stars copolymers, respectively, showing that they have well‐controlled poly(St) arms. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1159–1169, 2007.     

Synthesis of 3-hydroxyindolin-2-one alkaloids, (±)-donaxaridine and (±)-convolutamydines A and E, through enolization-Claisen rearrangement of 2-allyloxyindolin-3-ones

Claisen rearrangement triggered by enolization of 2-allyloxyindolin-3-ones with DBU was performed in order to prepare 3-allyl-3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones. Total synthesis of 3-hydroxyindolin-2-one alkaloids, (±)-donaxaridine, as well as (±)-convolutamydines A and E, was achieved by transformation of the allyl moiety of 3-allyl-3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones.     

Alternating copolymers consisting of arylalkyl methacrylates. I. Fluorescence properties of poly(arylalkyl methacrylate-alt-styrene) in organic solution

Alternating and random copolymers of 9-phenanthrylmethyl methacrylate or 2-(9-carbazolyl)ethyl methacrylate with styrene were synthesized and their fluorescence properties were examined. There was no noticeable difference in the spectral features of the alternating and random copolymers in tetrahydrofuran (THF), demonstrating that this type of polymers have no quenching sites in the polymer chains. The fluorescence quenching studies indicated that the alternating copolymers permitted singlet-state energy migration as efficiently as the corresponding random copolymers but less efficiently than the random copolymers with higher chromophore contents. These results strongly suggest that to be chromophores close to each other is most important for facilitation of an intramolecular energy migration. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.