Determination of captopril in human blood by gas chromatography-negative-ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry with [18O4]captopril as internal standard

A method for the quantitative measurement of captopril in human blood is described. Blood was immediately treated with N-ethylmaleimide to prevent oxidative degradation. The carboxyl moiety was derivatized to the pentafluorobenzyl ester, which shows excellent properties for negative-ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry. A stable isotope-labelled standard was prepared from the intact target molecule in quantitative yield by exchanging the oxygen atoms of the free carboxylic acid and the imide moiety against 18O. The detection limit under negative-ion chemical ionization conditions is ca. 100 times lower than under electron-impact or positive-ion chemical ionization conditions, therefore only very small amounts of the original sample have to be analysed. The method was applied to be quantitative determination of unchanged captopril in human plasma after oral administration of a 25-mg dose.     

Electron Probe Microanalysis of HfO2 Thin Films on Conductive and Insulating Substrates

Quantitative electron probe microanalysis of highly insulating materials is a complicated problem, partially solved by coating samples with grounded thin conductive layers or using novel scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques, such as low-voltage and/or variable pressure SEM. In this work, some problems of quantitative X-ray microanalysis of thin HfO₂ films, in particular the possibility to determine mass thickness correlated to the density of the layer material, are discussed. For comparison, Al₂O₃, Ta₂O₅ and TiO₂ films grown onto both semiconductive Si and insulating quartz substrates were also analysed. All the films studied were synthesized by atomic layer deposition method.     

Gas chromatography/negative-ion chemical ionisation mass spectrometry for the quantitative analysis of morphine in human plasma using pentafluorobenzyl carbonate derivatives

A sensitive and specific method for the quantitative determination of morphine in human plasma is presented. Morphine was extracted from plasma by solid phase extraction on C18 and converted to its pentafluorobenzyl carbonate trimethylsilyl derivative. The derivatives were analysed without further purification. Using gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionisation mass spectrometry, a useful diagnostic fragment ion at m/z 356 is obtained at high relative abundance. Deuterated morphine was used as internal standard. Calibration graphs were linear within the range 1.25 to 320 nmol/L. Intra-day precision was 3.82% (15 nmol/L), 2.85% (75 nmol/L) and 4.13% (225 nmol/L), inter-day variability was found to be 1.77% (15 nmol/L), 4.95% (75 nmol/L) and 9.88% (225 nmol/L). Inter-day accuracy showed deviations of 2.18% (15 nmol/L), -0.72% (75 nmol/L) and -0.13% (225 nmol/L). The method is rugged and robust and has been applied to the batch analysis of morphine during pharmacokinetic profiling of the drug.     

Quantitative analysis of memantine in human plasma by gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization/mass spectrometry

A sensitive and specific method for the determination of memantine in human plasma is presented. Memantine was extracted from plasma and derivatized to the pentafluorobenzoyl derivative in a one-step procedure avoiding any sample concentration steps. Amantadine was used as an internal standard. The compounds were measured by gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry without any further processing. Using this detection mode, the fragment ions at m/z 353 and 325 were obtained at high relative abundance. Calibration graphs were linear over the range 0.117-30 ng ml(-1). At the limit of quantification (LOQ), the inter-assay precision was 2.00% and the intra-assay variability was 3.22%. The accuracy at the LOQ showed deviations of -1.42% (intra-assay) and -2.47% (inter-assay). The method is rugged, rapid and robust and was applied to the batch determination of memantine during pharmacokinetic profiling of the drug.     

Synthesis of the methanesulfonates of α-(4-chlorophenyl)-α-[1-(2-chlorophenyl)emenyl]-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol and α-[1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethenyl]-α-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol,alpha styryl carbinol antifungal agents

The methanesulfonates of (α-(4-chlorophenyl)-α-[1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethenyl]-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol and α-[1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethenyl]-α-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol ( 1a, b ) are orally effective α-styryl carbinol derivatives developed for the treatment and prevention of systemic fungal infections. Practical new processes amenable for the large-scale production of these compounds are described. Of note is the selection of dichlorostyrene as a convenient precursor of the styryl portion, modification of a sensitive Grignard addition into a realistic preparative reaction and the use of 1,2,4-triazole simultaneously as a base transfer agent and nucleophile.     

Some properties of a microwave boosted glow discharge source using neon as the operating gas

The use of neon as the operating gas for the analysis of aluminium samples with the microwave boosted glow discharge source has been studied. A new type of anode tube allowed the gas to enter the source near the sample surface so that more material was transported into the discharge. Erosion rates have been measured under conditions optimised for high line-to-background ratios and found to be lower than with argon (9 and 21 n/s, respectively). Despite the lower erosion rate the detection limits measured for a number of elements in aluminium are in the range 0.02-1 microg/g and comparable to those obtained with argon as the operating gas.     

Ab initio and DFT calculations for the structure and vibrational spectra of cyclopentene and its isotopomers

Ab initio calculations using the MP2/cc-pVTZ basis set do an excellent job of predicting the inversion barrier (247 vs. 232 cm⁻¹) and dihedral angle (26°) of cyclopentene. DFT calculations also do an excellent job of predicting the vibrational frequencies of the d₀, d₁, d₄, and d₈ isotopomers. They have also allowed the reassignments of several of the vibrational frequencies.     

S0 ring-puckering potential energy function for coumaran

With the aid of a reported inversion splitting value, the far-infrared spectrum resulting from the ring-puckering vibration of coumaran has been reassigned and the one-dimensional potential energy function has been determined. The barrier to planarity is 155 +/- 4 cm(-1) and the dihedral angle is 25 degrees . These results agree well with the millimeter wave spectra values of 152 cm(-1) and 23 degrees , which utilized different data and a different type of potential function for the calculations. The MP2/cc-pvtz ab initio values of 238 cm(-1) and 26.5 degrees agree more poorly. If the benzene ring is assumed to remain rigid, the calculated barrier drops to 204 cm(-1). The puckering potential functions for the ring-flapping and ring-twisting vibrationally excited states were also determined and the barriers were found to be 149 and 156 cm(-1), respectively.     

Die Lösung der Prae-Maxwellschen Gleichungen mit Hilfe vollständiger Lösungssysteme

This paper deals with the Neumann problem of the pre-Maxwell partial differential equations for a vector field v defined in a region G ? R ³. We approximate its uniquely determined solution (integrability conditions assumed) uniformly on G by explicitly computable particular integrals and linear combinations of vector fields with a “fundamental” sequence of points .     

Mechanism for basic hydrolysis of N-nitrosoguanidines in aqueous solution

A kinetic study was carried out on the hydrolysis of two N-nitrosoguanidines, 1-nitroso-1-methyl-3-tolylsulfonylguanidine (TSGNO) and 1-nitroso-1-methyl-3-benzoylguanidine (BCGNO). We observed an absence of buffer catalysis using H(2)PO(4)(-)/HPO(4)(2)(-), H(3)BO(3)/H(2)BO(3)(-), and HCO(3)(-)/CO(3)(2)(-) regulators and a complex dependency of the rate constant on the pH. We discovered the existence of three simultaneous reaction paths: spontaneous decomposition of the neutral form of the N-nitrosoguanidine, decomposition of the monoanion, and decomposition through the form of the dianion. The analysis of the kinetic data has allowed us to obtain the acidity constant for the formation of the monoanion of the N-nitrosoguanidine, with values of p = 11.5. The reaction rate for the process through the monoanion, k(2), decreases as the acidity increases. The application of the principle of nonperfect synchronization shows that the basicity and reactivity do not correlate when there exists a possibility of stabilization of the negative charge by resonance. This behavior is consistent with the mechanism E1cB whereby the stabler the negative charge, the slower the elimination reaction. When dealing with the case of the elimination through the neutral form we observe that the reaction rate increases together with the capacity of stabilization of the positive charge on the nitrogen atom adjacent to the imino group. For the reaction through the dianion we used a maximum value of k(3) = 10(10) s(-)(1) to estimate the value of p for the formation of the dianion of the N-nitrosoguanidine, obtaining values of p < 24.