A simple and sensitive extractive spectrophotometric method has been described for the determination of buprenorphine either in raw material or in pharmaceutical formulations. The developed method is based on the formation of a colored ion-pair complex (1 : 1 drug/dye) of buprenorphine and bromocresol green (BCG) in buffer pH 3 and extracting in chloroform. The extracted complex shows absorbance maxima at 415 nm. Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range of 1.32-100.81 μ g mL-1. The proposed method has been applied successfully for the determination of drug in commercial sublingual tablets and injectable dosage form. No significant interference was observed from the excipients commonly used as pharmaceutical aids with the assay procedure.

In this work, the effects of chemical treatment of polyimide films were studied by FT-IR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angles. The adhesion characteristics of the films were also investigated in the peel strengths of polyimide/aluminum films. The increases of surface functional groups of KOH-treated polyimide films were greatly correlated with the polar component of surface free energy. The peel strength of polyimides to metal substrate was also greatly enhanced by increasing the KOH treatment time, which can be attributed to the formation of polar functional groups on the polyimide surfaces, resulting in enhancement of the work of adhesion between polymer film and metal plate.

Raman and fluorescence spectroscopies were employed to study the coil effects on the intermolecular structure of a rod-coil liquid crystalline (LC) oligomer, the esterification products of ethyl 4-[4'-oxy-4-biphenylcarbonyloxy]- 4'-biphenylcarboxylate with poly(propylene)oxides (PPO) (DP=12) and poly(ethylene oxide)s (PEO) (DP=12). Three different vibrational modes (carbonyl, aromatic C-H, and aromatic C=C) obtained from the Raman experiment at variable temperature indicate that PPO and PEO coils induce the hydrogen bonding in a different manner. Further information about the micro-environment around the mesogenic unit obtained by fluorescence excitation spectra of P12-4 (LC with PPO coil) and 12-4 (LC with PEO coil) suggests that the mesogenic unit of P12-4 is quite different from that of 12-4 in intermolecular structure. This study supports the results obtained only from Raman spectroscopy, providing more accurate information about the intermolecular structural changes of liquid crystalline polymers at a molecular level during the phase transitions.

Pharmacophore models for lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase (P56 LCK) were developed using CATALYST HypoGen with a training set comprising of 25 different P56 LCK inhibitors. The best quantitative pharmacophore hypothesis comprises of one hydrogen bond acceptor, one hydrogen bond donor, one hydrophobic aliphatic and one ring aromatic features with correlation coefficient of 0.941, root mean square deviation (RMSD) of 0.933 and cost difference (null cost-total cost) of 66.23. The pharmacophore model was validated by two methods and the validated model was further used to search databases for new compounds with good estimated LCK inhibitory activity. These compounds were evaluated for their binding properties at the active site by molecular docking studies using GOLD software. The compounds with good estimated activity and docking scores were evaluated for physiological properties based on Lipinski's rules. Finally 68 compounds satisfied all the properties required to be a successful inhibitor candidate.

To identify structural or functional common subunit(s) in the CP1 (editing) domains of class Ia tRNA synthetases, five available structures were compared and analyzed. Through the sequence alignments and structural overlapping of the CP1 domains, three conserved regions were identified near the amino acid binding site in the editing domain. Structural overlapping of the three subunits clearly showed the existence of three common structural subunits in all of the five editing RS structures. Based on the established experimental results and our modeling results, it is proposed that subunits 1 and 3 accommodate the incoming amino acid binding, while subunit 2 contributes to the interactions with the adenosine ring of the A76 to stabilize the overall tRNA binding. Since these subunits are critical for the editing reaction, we expect that these key structures should be conserved through the most class Ia editing RSs.

The subtle but significant differences and thereby the lack of consensus in active site structures among the crystal structures of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) has hampered structure-based drug design. In this study, we devised a simple but effective ‘mutation, pharmacophore-guided docking, followed by mutation' strategy to generate an “average” CDK2 structure, which was used for ligand docking study to successfully reproduce 30 out of 32 X-ray ligand positions within 2.0 A of heavy atom RMSD. This novel docking method was applied for structure-based 3D QSAR with CoMSIA study of a series of structurally related ligands, which showed a good discrimination between CDK2 binders and nonbinders.

Second-order rate constants (kN) have been determined spectrophotometrically for reactions of 2,4-dintrophenyl 2-furoate (2) with a series of alicyclic secondary amines in 80 mol % H2O/20 mol % dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at 25.0 oC. The furoate 2 is more reactive than 2,4-dintrophenyl benzoate (1) toward all the amines studied. The higher acidity of 2-furoic acid (pKa = 3.16) compared with benzoic acid (pKa = 4.20) has been suggested to be responsible for the reactivity order, at least in part. The Brønsted-type plots for the reactions of 1 and 2 are curved downwardly, indicating that the aminolyses of both 1 and 2 proceed through a zwitterionic tetrahedral intermediate (T±) with a change in the rate-determining step on changing the amine basicity. Dissection of the kN values into their microscopic rate constants has revealed that the pKao and k2/k-1 ratios for the reactions of 1 and 2 are identical, indicating that the nature of the nonleaving group (i.e., benzoyl and 2-furoyl) does not affect the reaction mechanism. The k1 values have been found to be larger for the reactions of 2 than for those of 1, which is fully responsible for the fact that the former is more reactive than the latter.

Lipoic acid (LA) is a multifunctional antioxidant against a variety of ROS. Nitrone acts as free radical spin trap and exhibits neuroprotective activity. Thus, LA-nitrone derivatives (6, 7, 8, and 9) were synthesized and screened as an antioxidant and inhibitors for cholinesterases. Even though the antioxidant effect of LA-nitrone derivatives was not improved, they turned out to be effective inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) in μM range.

One new compound, 3,7,11,19,23,27-hexamethyl-15-hydroxymethylene-n-octacos-5,8,20-triene-10β,18α- diol-10β-D-glucopyranoside (1), along with the three known compounds, 3-epibetulinic acid (2), n-pentadecanyl octa-dec-19-en-oate (3) and β-sitosterol (4) were isolated from the methanolic extract of the cultured Catharanthus roseus hairy roots. The structures of the one new and three known compounds were elucidated using one- and two-dimensional NMR in combination with IR, EI/MS, FAB/MS. To the best of our knowledge, 3,7,11,19,23,27-hexamethyl-15-hydroxymethylene-n-octacos-5,8,20-triene-10β,18α-diol-10β-D-glucopyranoside, 3-epibetulinic acid and n-pentadecanyl octa-dec-19-en-oate were identified for the first time from the hairy roots of C. roseus.

Molecular structures were optimized for the 1,3-diethoxycalix[4]crown-5-ether (2) in the various isomers and their potassium-ion complexes by using B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p)//B1LYP/6-31G(d,p) method after ab initio RHF/6-31G calculation. The cone-shaped isomer of 2 with cr-binding mode has shown the strongest binding efficiency among the six different complexes attributed to seven electrostatic interactions between the potassium cation and the oxygen atoms of crown-5-ether and ethoxy groups of the host (2). The vibrational spectra of 2 and its K+-complexes were obtained by restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) calculations with the 6-31G basis set. The characteristic vibrational frequencies of various C-O-C stretching and bending motions are analyzed.

The electronic structures of the new organic conducting salts, the β'- and β''-phases of (BEDT-TTF)2[(IBr2)0.2(BrICl)0.1(ICl2)0.7], were examined by calculating their electronic band structures, Fermi surfaces and HOMO-HOMO interaction energies using the extended Huckel tight binding method. On the basis of these calculations, we probed why the β'-phase is semiconducting while the β ''-phase is metallic.

The crude extract of kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea gongylodes) was prepared as a rich source of peroxidase and its enzymatic and specific activities in the presence of cross-linked polyvinylpyrrolidone as a stabilizer were determined. This extract was used to catalyze the oxidation of thiamine in the presence of hydrogen peroxide to thiochrome at pH 8.0. Thiochrome shows strong fluorescence at 436 nm with excitation at 370 nm. Based on the obtained results, a sensitive and simple spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of thiamine. In the optimum conditions, the calibration graph was linear from 2 × 10-7 to 1 × 10-4 mol L-1, with a detection limit of 6.2 × 10-8 mol L-1. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.2% for 5 × 10-6 mol L-1 thiamine. The method was successfully applied to the determination of thiamine in vitamin B1 and vitamin B complex tablets and vitamin B complex syrup.

The crystal structure of fully dehydrated partially Cs+-exchanged zeolite X, [Cs52Na40Si100Al92O384], a = 24.9765(10) A, has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques in the cubic space group Fd3 at 21 °C. The crystal was prepared by flow method for 5 days using exchange solution in which mole ratio of CsOH and CsNO3 was 1 : 1 with total concentration of 0.05 M. The crystal was then dehydrated at 400 °C and 2 × 10-6 Torr for 2 days. The structure was refined to the final error indices, R1 = 0.051 and wR2 (based on F2) = 0.094 with 247 reflections for which Fo > 4σ (Fo). In this structure, about fifty-two Cs+ ions per unit cell are located at six different crystallographic sites with special selectivity; about one Cs+ ion is located at site I, at the centers of double oxygen-rings (D6Rs), two Cs+ ions are located at site I', and six Cs+ ions are found at site II'. This is contrary to common view that Cs+ ions cannot pass sodalite cavities nor D6Rs because six-ring entrances are too small. Ring-opening by the formation of ?OH groups and ring-flexing make Cs+ ions at sites I, I', and II' enter six-oxygen rings. The defects of zeolite frameworks also give enough mobility to Cs+ ions to enter sodalite cavities and D6Rs. Another six Cs+ ions are found at site II, thirty-six are located at site III, and one is located at site III' in the supercage, respectively. Forty Na+ ions per unit cell are located at two different crystallographic sites; about fourteen are located at site I, the centers of D6Rs and twenty-six are also located at site II in the supercage. Cs+ ions and Na+ ions at site II are recessed ca. 0.34(1) A and 1.91(1) A into the supercage, respectively. In this work, the highest exchange level of Cs+ ions per unit cell was achieved in zeolite X by conventional aqueous solution methods and it was also shown that Cs+ ion could pass through the sixoxygen rings.

The efficient synthesis of a tetrasaccharide, the suitably protected form of the repeat unit, →2)-α-D-Manp-(1→2)-β-D-Manp-(1→3)-α-D-GlcpNAc-(1→6)-α-D-Manp-(1→, of the O-antigen polysaccharide of the lipopolysaccharide from E. coli O77 has been accomplished. Glycosylation reactions for the coupling of four monosaccharide building blocks of the tetrasaccharide were carried out employing the CB glycoside method, the mannosyl 4-pentenoate/PhSeOTf method, and the glycosyl trichloroacetimidate method with complete stereoselectivities in excellent yields.

New mono- and bis-Cu(II)-triazacyclononane(tacn) complex that conjugated with 9-aminoacridine were synthesized, and their binding modes and DNA cleavage activity were investigated in this study. When the classic intercalator, 9-aminoacridine, was conjugated to mono- and bis-Cu(II)-tacn complexes, a significant red-shift and hypochromism in absorption spectrum was apparent in the acridine absorption region upon binding to DNA. Furthermore, the magnitude of the negative reduced linear dichroism signal in the substrate absorption region appeared to be larger than that in the DNA absorption region. These spectral observations indicated that the acridine moiety intercalated when the Cu(II)-tacn complex was conjugated. In contrast, from a close analysis of the circular and linear dichroism spectrum, the aminoacridine-free bis-Cu(II)-tacn complex was concluded to bind at the phosphate groups of DNA. The 9-aminoacridine-free-bis-Cu(II)-tacn complex produces the nicked and linear DNA. On the other hand, 9-aminoacridine conjugated mono-and bis-Cu(II)-tacn complexes showed unspecific binding with negligible DNA cleavage.

γ -Glutamyl transpeptidase (EC 2.3.2.2) plays a key role in glutathione metabolism by catalyzing the transfer of the γ -glutamyl residue and hydrolysis of glutathione. The functional residues at the active site of the rat kidney γ -glutamyl transpeptidase were investigated by kinetic studies at various pH, the treatment of diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC), and photooxidation in presence of methylene blue. An ionizable group affecting the enzymatic activity with an apparent pKa value of 7.1, which is in the range of pKa values for a histidine residue in protein, was obtained by examining the pH-dependence of kinetic parameters. The pH effect on the photoinduced inactivation rate of the enzyme corresponds to that expected for the photooxidation of the free histidine. The involvement of a histidine in the catalytic site of the enzyme was further supported by DEPC modification accompanied by an increase in absorbance at 240 nm, indicating the formation of Ncarbethoxyhistidine. The histidine located at the position of 382 in the precursor of the enzyme is primarily suspected based on the amino acid sequence alignment of the transpeptidases from various organisms.

In this work, caffeine and some catechin compounds + C, EC, EGC, and EGCG were extracted from green tea by using molecular imprinted polymers (MIP) as sorbent materials in a solid-phase extraction (SPE) process known as MISPE (molecular imprinted solid-phase extraction). For synthesis of MIP, caffeine was employed as the template, MAA as the monomer, EGDMA as the crosslinker, and AIBN as the initiator. A solution of caffeine (0.2 mg/mL in methanol) was utilized in the solid extraction cartridges following loading, washing, and elution procedures with acetonitrile, methanol, and methanol-acetic acid (90/10, %v/v) as the solvents, respectively. This solid-phase extraction protocol was applied for the extraction of caffeine and some catechin compounds from green tea. A comparison was made between the results obtained with the MIP cartridges and a traditional C18 reversed-phase cartridge. It was thereupon found that the recovery of caffeine by the MIPbased sorbent used in this work was almost two and four times greater than that by a commercially available C18 material. A quantitative analysis was conducted by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a C18 column (5 μm, 250 × 4.6 mm) with methanol/water (40/60, %v/v) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min.

Neopentyl arenesulfonates react with secondary alkylmagnesium chlorides in the presence of dppfNiCl2 to produce the corresponding arenes via the reductive cleavage of carbon-sulfur bond. Highest yield is obtained by using three equivalents of Grignard reagent to a mixture of arenesulfonate and dppfNiCl2 in Et2O at room temperature. This reaction represents a novel method allowing the efficient hydrogenolysis of sulfur-containing groups in aromatic compounds.

The 5-HT6 antagonists are mainly related to the treatment of cognitive dysfunction or impairment associated with Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. There have been lots of efforts to develop 5-HT6 antagonists. As in our efforts, arylsulfonylpiperazine derivatives 1-3 were designed, synthesized and biologically evaluated against the human recombinant 5-HT6 serotonin receptor. Total 36 compounds were synthesized and the most active compound among the synthesized compounds is compound 2h with an IC50 value of 1.5 μM. The compound 2h is novel as 5-HT6 receptor ligand and could act as lead for the novel 5-HT6 receptor ligands.