Validated Stability-Indicating GC-MS Method for Characterization of Forced Degradation Products of Trans-Caffeic Acid and Trans-Ferulic Acid

When dealing with simple phenols such as caffeic acid (CA) and ferulic acid (FA), found in a variety of plants, it is very important to have control over the most important factors that accelerate their degradation reactions. This is the first report in which the stabilities of these two compounds have been systematically tested by exposure to various different factors. Forced degradation studies were performed on pure standards (trans-CA and trans-FA), dissolved in different solvents and exposed to different oxidative, photolytic and thermal stress conditions. Additionally, a rapid, sensitive, and selective stability-indicating gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method was developed and validated for determination of trans-CA and trans-FA in the presence of their degradation products. Cis-CA and cis-FA were confirmed as the only degradation products in all the experiments performed. All the compounds were perfectly separated by gas chromatography (GC) and identified using mass spectrometry (MS), a method that additionally elucidated their structures. In general, more protic solvents, higher temperatures, UV radiation and longer storage times led to more significant degradation (isomerization) of both trans-isomers. The most progressive isomerization of both compounds (up to 43%) was observed when the polar solutions were exposed to daylight at room temperature for 1 month. The method was validated for linearity, precision as repeatability, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ). The method was confirmed as linear over tested concentration ranges from 1−100 mg L⁻¹ (r²s were above 0.999). The LOD and LOQ for trans-FA were 0.15 mg L⁻¹ and 0.50 mg L⁻¹, respectively. The LOD and LOQ for trans-CA were 0.23 mg L⁻¹ and 0.77 mg L⁻¹, respectively.     

Identification of metabolic markers in patients with type 2 Diabetes by Ultrafast gas chromatography coupled to electronic nose. A pilot study

Metabolomics is a potential tool for the discovery of new biomarkers in the early diagnosis of diseases. An ultra-fast gas chromatography system equipped to an electronic nose detector (FGC eNose) was used to identify the metabolomic profile of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) urine from Mexican population. A cross-sectional, comparative, and clinical study with translational approach was performed. We recruited twenty T2D patients and twenty-one healthy subjects. Urine samples were taken and analyzed by FGC eNose. Eighty-eight compounds were identified through Kovats's indexes. A natural variation of 30% between the metabolites, expressed by study groups, was observed in Principal Component 1 and 2 with a significant difference (p < 0.001). The model, performed through a Canonical Analysis of Principal coordinated (CAP), allowed a correct classification of 84.6% between healthy and T2D patients, with a 15.4% error. The metabolites 2-propenal, 2-propanol, butane- 2,3-dione and 2-methylpropanal, were increased in patients with T2D, and they were strongly correlated with discrimination between clinically healthy people and T2D patients. This study identified metabolites in urine through FGC eNose that can be used as biomarkers in the identification of T2D patients. However, more studies are needed for its implementation in clinical practice.     

Characterization and linear-time detection of minimal obstructions to concave-round graphs and the circular-ones property

A graph is concave-round if its vertices can be circularly enumerated so that the closed neighborhood of each vertex is an interval in the enumeration. In this study, we give a minimal forbidden induced subgraph characterization for the class of concave-round graphs, solving a problem posed by Bang-Jensen, Huang, and Yeo [SIAM J. Discrete Math., 13 (2000), pp. 179–193]. In addition, we show that it is possible to find one such forbidden induced subgraph in linear time in any given graph that is not concave-round. As part of the analysis, we obtain characterizations by minimal forbidden submatrices for the circular-ones property for rows and for the circular-ones property for rows and columns and show that, also for both variants of the property, one of the corresponding forbidden submatrices can be found (if present) in any given matrix in linear time. We make some final remarks regarding connections to some classes of circular-arc graphs.     

Dynamic Interactions in Synthetic Receptors: A Guest Exchange Saturation Transfer Study

The accumulated knowledge regarding molecular architectures is based on established, reliable, and accessible analytical tools that provide robust structural and functional information on assemblies. However, both the dynamicity and low population of noncovalently interacting moieties within studied molecular systems limit the efficiency and accuracy of traditional methods. Herein, the use of a saturation transfer-based NMR approach to study the dynamic binding characteristics of an anion to a series of synthetic receptors derived from bambusuril macrocycles is demonstrated. The exchange rates of BF₄⁻ are mediated by the side chains on the receptor (100 s⁻¹<k_ex<5000 s⁻¹), which play a critical role in receptor-anion binding dynamics. The signal amplification obtained with this approach allows for the identification of different types of intermolecular interactions between the receptor and the anion, something that could not have been detected by techniques hitherto used to study molecular assemblies. These findings, which are supported by a computational molecular dynamic study, demonstrate the uniqueness and added value of this NMR method.     

Current air quality analytics and monitoring: A review

This review summarizes the different tools and concepts that are commonly applied in air quality monitoring. The monitoring of atmosphere is extremely important as the air quality is an important problem for large communities. Main requirements for analytical devices used for monitoring include a long period of autonomic operation and portability. These instruments, however, are often characterized by poor analytical performance. Monitoring networks are the most common tools used for monitoring, so large-scale monitoring programmes are summarized here. Biomonitoring, as a cheap and convenient alternative to traditional sample collection, is becoming more and more popular, although its main drawback is the lack of standard procedures. Telemonitoring is another approach to air monitoring, which offers some interesting opportunities, such as ease of coverage of large or remote areas, constituting a complementary approach to traditional strategies; however, it requires huge costs.     

Design and development of a two‐dimensional system based on hydrophilic and reversed‐phase liquid chromatography with on‐line sample treatment for the simultaneous separation of excreted xenobiotics and endogenous metabolites in urine

In the present work we describe a two‐dimensional liquid chromatographic system (2D‐LC) with detection by mass spectrometry (MS) for the simultaneous separation of endogenous metabolites of clinical interest and excreted xenobiotics deriving from exposure to toxic compounds. The 2D‐LC system involves two orthogonal chromatographic modes, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) to separate polar endogenous metabolites and reversed‐phase (RP) chromatography to separate excreted xenobiotics of low and intermediate polarity. Additionally, the present proposal has the novelty of incorporating an on‐line sample treatment based on the use of restricted access materials (RAMs), which permits the direct injection of urine samples into the system. The work is focused on the instrumental coupling, studying all possible options and attempting to circumvent the problems of solvent incompatibility between the RAM device and the two chromatographic columns, HILIC and RP. The instrumental configuration developed, RAM‐HILIC‐RPLC‐MS/MS, allows the simultaneous assessment of urinary metabolites of clinical interest and excreted compounds derived from exposure to toxic agents with minimal sample manipulation. Thus, it may be of interest in areas such as occupational and environmental toxicology in order to explore the possible relationship between the two types of compounds. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.