Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization, DFT studies and biological assays of a novel gold(I) complex with 2-mercaptothiazoline

A new gold(I) complex with 2-mercaptothiazoline (MTZ) with the coordination formula [AuCN(C₃H₅NS₂)] was synthesized and characterized by chemical and spectroscopic measurements, DFT studies and biological assays. Infrared (IR) and ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic measurements indicate coordination of the ligand to gold(I) through the nitrogen atom. Studies based on DFT confirmed nitrogen coordination to gold(I) as a minimum of the potential energy surface with calculations of the hessians showing no imaginary frequencies. Thermal decomposition starts at temperatures near 160 °C, leading to the formation of Au⁰ as the final residue at 1000 °C. The gold(I) complex with 2-mercaptothiazoline (Au-MTZ) is soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and is insoluble in water, methanol, ethanol, acetonitrile and hexane. The antibacterial activities of the Au-MTZ complex were evaluated by an antibiogram assay using the disc diffusion method. The compound showed an effective antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive) and Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram-negative) bacterial cells. Biological analysis for evaluation of the cytotoxic effect of the Au-MTZ complex was performed using HeLa cells derived from human cervical adenocarcinoma. The complex presented a potent cytotoxic activity, inducing 85% of cell death at a concentration of 2.0 μmol L⁻¹.     

紫激光作用下四甲基硅多光子电离TOF质谱研究

本文采用超声分子束技术，以飞行时间质谱仪，在３９６～３８７ｎｍ内的紫激光作用下对四甲硅进行了多光子电离飞行时间质谱的研究，在较高在激光能量作用下检测到了Ｓｉ（ＣＨ３）＾＋ｎ（ｎ＝１，２，３，）、Ｓｉ＾＋及Ｃ＾＋２等多种离子的信号，在较低的激光能量作用下只检测到了Ｓｉ＾＋、Ｃ＾＋２等离子的信号，表明四甲基硅在不同激光能量作用下经历了不同的多光子电离过程。     

Monitoring of progestins: Development of immunochemical methods for purification and detection of levonorgestrel

A polyclonal antibody (Ab) for the progestin levonorgestrel (LNG) was generated, and immunochemical assays for its detection, clean-up and concentration were developed. A highly specific microplate diagnostic assay for the detection of LNG was developed that used the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The LNG ELISA developed was sensitive and reproducible; it exhibited I₅₀ and I₂₀ values of 3.3 ± 1.8 ng mL⁻¹ and 0.6 ± 0.4 ng mL⁻¹, respectively, and the Abs did not cross react with any of the tested steroid hormones. The above Abs were used to develop a sol-gel-based immunoaffinity purification (IAP) method for concentration and clean-up of LNG that is compatible with subsequent immunochemical or instrumental chemical analytical procedures, such as liquid chromatography followed by mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Development of the columns included successful entrapment of Abs within a tetramethoxysilane (TMOS)-based SiO₂ polymer network. The Abs could bind the free analyte from solution, and the bound analyte could be easily eluted from the sol-gel matrix at high recoveries. The Ab selectivity towards the antigen was high, in both ELISA and the sol-gel columns, but the entrapped Abs cross-reacted with two other steroid hormones - ethynylestradiol (EE2) and nortestosterone (NT) - which share similar epitopes with LNG, despite the lack of cross reactivity in the ELISA. The validity of the method was investigated by LC-MS/MS and a good analytical correlation was obtained.     

Antimycobacterial and anticancer activity of newly designed cinnamic acid hydrazides with favorable toxicity profile

A series of twelve novel hybrids of cinnamic acid and thiocarbohydrazones were designed, synthesized in high yield using a simple coupling strategy via acid chlorides, and evaluated for their impact against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and cancer cells survival. Among them, compound 3 demonstrated strong anti-Mtb activity by reducing bacilli survival for>90 % in all three treated Mtb isolates, whereas isoniazid and rifampicin did not. Moreover, compound 3 didn’t affect vitality of HepG-2 cells, implying on advantageous hepatotoxicity profile compared to current therapeutic options for tuberculosis. Compounds 2a and 3b displayed as strong inducers of apoptosis in A549 cells, both activating intrinsic caspase pathway and cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Subsequent analyses disclosed differences in their activities, where 3b has ability to induce production of mitochondrial superoxide anions, while 2a significantly inhibited cellular mobility. More importantly, 3b considerably affected viability of HepG-2 and HaCaT cells, whereas 2a had moderate impact only on the later. Molecular modeling studies indicated high permeability and good absorption through the human intestine, and moderate aqueous solubility with poor blood–brain barrier permeability. In summary, our results reveal that novel compounds 3 and 2a represent promising agents for tuberculosis and cancer treatment, respectively, indicating that further investigation needs to be performed to clarify the mechanisms of their anti-Mtb and anticancer activity.     

Chemical, spectroscopic characterization, DFT studies and initial pharmacological assays of a silver(I) complex with N-acetyl-l-cysteine

A new silver(I) complex with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) of composition AgC₅H₈NO₃S·H₂O was synthesized and characterized by a set of chemical and spectroscopic measurements. Solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) and infrared (IR) analyses indicate the coordination of the ligand to Ag(I) through the sulfur atom. The Ag-NAC complex is slightly soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide. It is insoluble in water, methanol, ethanol, acetone and hexane. Antibacterial activity of the silver complex with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (Ag-NAC) was evaluated by antibiogram assays using the disc diffusion method. The compound showed an effective antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive), Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram-negative) bacterial cells. Biological analysis for evaluation of a potential cytotoxic effect of Ag-NAC was performed using HeLa cells derived from human cervical adenocarcinoma. The complex presented a significant cytotoxic activity, inducing 80% of cell death at a concentration of 200 μmol L⁻¹.     

Low-temperature heat capacity of TMS monolayers adsorbed on graphite and MgO+

The heat capacity obtained below 30 K for the tetramethylsilane monolayers, which are adsorbed either on graphite or on the (100) surface of MgO, is analyzed to investigate the vibrational properties. The 2-D Debye temperatures are approximately 60% of the Debye temperature of the bulk solid (γ -phase), reflecting the dimensionality of lattice vibrations. The contributions from the vibrations perpendicular to the surface as well as the librational motions are determined by fitting the experimental heat capacities. All the results are consistent with those obtained from the incoherent inelastic neutron scattering and the molecular dynamics simulation. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thin film deposition from plasmas of tetramethylsilane–helium–argon mixtures with oxygen and with nitrogen

Films were produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of tetramethylsilane (TMS)–helium–argon mixtures with either oxygen or nitrogen in a vacuum system fed with radiofrequency power. Actinometric optical emission spectroscopy was used to determine trends in the concentrations of plasma species of interest (H, CH, O, CO, and CN) as a function of the ratio of the inorganic reactive gas (oxygen or nitrogen) to the monomer (TMS) in the system feed. As the ratio of oxygen to TMS in the feed is increased, the degree of oxygenation of the deposited material, as revealed by transmission infrared spectroscopy, is also increased. Similarly, the degree of nitrogenation of the films increases with increasing nitrogen to monomer ratio in the feed. Strong correlations exist between the plasma concentrations of the above-mentioned plasma species and film structure and composition. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 1873–1879, 1998     

Specific features of the behavior of α- and β-glycosylfluoride tetraacetates during chemical ionization in isobutane and tetramethylsilane

Reactions of - and -glycosylfluoride tetraacetates with trimethylsilicenium ion in the gas phase during chemical ionization have been studied. The [M+SiMe₃]⁺ ions formed from the glycosylfluorides are more stable than the corresponding [M+H]⁺ ions. The cleavage of the weakest glycosidic bond leading to the generation of glycosidic ions is not dominant for the trimethylsilylated ions, as it has been observed in the corresponding protolytic reactions. The ratio of the intensities of the [M+SiMe₃]⁺ and [M–F]⁺ ions characterizes the probability of the initial localization of the trimethylsilyl ion at the glycosidic center; the equatorial orientation of fluorine at C(1) makes it possible for the electrophile to bond with this substituent. Generation of the glycosidic ions is rather weakly affected by increasing temperature, whereas [M-AcO]⁺ formation is significantly intensified.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 629–633, April, 1994.This work was carried out with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.     

Noncovalent interactions and copper(II) coordination in systems containing l-aspartic acid and triamines

Interactions between l-aspartic acids (Asp) and polyamines (PA): 3,3-tri (1,7-diamino-4-azaheptane) or spermidine (Spd, 1,8-diamino-4-azaoctane) are investigated in metal-free systems as well as between Cu(II) ions in ternary systems with Asp and 3,3-tri or Spd. The composition and stability constants of the complexes formed have been determined by a potentiometric method, while the centres of interactions in the ligands have been identified by NMR, UV–Vis, IR, and EPR spectroscopy. The centres are the potential sites of metal ion coordination. In the Asp/PA systems, formation of molecular complexes (Asp)H_x(PA) was observed. Comparison of the log K_e of the adducts showed that the stability of the adducts significantly depends on the steric factor contributed by the length of PA. In the (Asp)H₃(PA) species, an inversion effect was observed where one of the amine groups (deprotonated) of 3,3-tri or Spd becomes a negative reaction centre and reacts with the protonated amino group of Asp. Therefore, depending on pH, the amino group of the PA can act as a positive or negative reaction centre. In the ternary systems of Cu(II)/Asp/PA the heteroligand-protonated complexes and molecular complexes are formed. In the molecular complexes ML?L′, where L = Asp and L′ = PA, the metallation involves oxygen atoms from the carboxyl groups and the amino group of the amino acid, while the fully protonated PA is located outside the inner coordination sphere and reacts with the anchoring binary complex CuH(Asp) or Cu(Asp). Introduction of metal ions into the Asp/3,3-tri system was found to change the character of the interaction and in the Cu(Asp)H₂(3,3-tri) complex, the oxygen atoms from the Asp carboxyl groups do not take part in coordination.