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Chiral ligand-exchange chromatography is one of the elective strategies for the direct enantioresolution of small chelating compounds: amino acids, diamines, amino alcohols, diols, small peptides, etc. Unlike other methods, the interaction between chiral selector and analyte enantiomers is mediated by a cation, thus producing diastereomeric ternary complexes. Two main approaches are conventionally applied in chiral ligand-exchange chromatography. The first relies upon chiral stationary phases where the chiral selector is either covalently immobilized or physically adsorbed onto suitable packing materials (coated phases). In the second approach, chiral molecules are added to the eluent, thus generating chiral eluent systems. Among the advantages of chiral ligand-exchange chromatography, the generation of UV/vis-active metal complexes, and the use of commercially available or easy-to-synthesize chiral selectors, in combination to rather inexpensive achiral columns for coated phases and chiral eluents, are noteworthy. Besides amino acids and amino alcohols, other species have proven suitable for chiral ligand-exchange chromatography applications. Recently, the use of either chiral ionic liquids or micellar liquid chromatography systems as well as the successful off-column formation of diastereomeric complexes have expanded the selectivity profiles and application fields. All of these issues are touched in the review, shedding light to the contributions appeared in the last decade., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The non-encoded diaminomonocarboxylic acids, 3-N-methyl-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (syn: α-amino-β-methylaminopropionic acid, MeDAP; β-N-methylaminoalanine, BMAA) and 2,4-diaminobutanoic acid (2,4-DAB), are distributed widely in cyanobacterial species in free and bound forms. Both amino acids are neurotoxic in whole animal and cell-based bioassays. The biosynthetic pathway to 2,4-DAB is well documented in bacteria and in one higher plant species, but has not been confirmed in cyanobacteria. The biosynthetic pathway to BMAA is unknown. This review considers possible metabolic routes, by analogy with reactions used in other species, by which these amino acids might be biosynthesised by cyanobacteria, which are a widespread potential environmental source of these neurotoxins. Where possible, the gene expression that might be implicated in these biosyntheses is discussed., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

New bioactive substances were identified from several marine actinomycetes strains by LC-HRESI-MS based non-targeted metabolomics. A new siderophore and its derivative, named fradiamines A and B, were isolated from the extract of the deep-sea actinomycetes Streptomyces fradiae MM456M-mF7 by Diaion CHP-20P, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and HPLC. Fradiamine A was a new compound, but fradiamine B was previously patented as a sweetness enhancer. Their structures were determined by NMR and LC-HRESI-MS/MS analysis. Fradiamines A and B contained two alkyl amines asymmetrically bonded to citrate, a type of structure derived from actinomycetes and other bacteria and rarely observed in siderophores. Fradiamines A and B showed moderate antibiotic activity against Clostridium difficile with IC 50 values of 32 and 8 μg ml -1 , respectively.

Ethane-1,2-diamine (EA) and hexane-1,6-diamine (HA) are two important plastic restricted substances commonly existing in food contact materials. A capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C 4 D) method has been developed for direct determination of above analytes, and the detection sensitivity has been significantly improved based on electromembrane extraction (EME). Under the optimum conditions, EA and HA could be well separated from their aliphatic diamine homologs as well as the common inorganic cations within 25min. The limits of detection could reach sub-ng/mL level, and good linearity (r>0.998) between peak area and analyte concentration could be obtained at three orders of magnitude. This EME/CE-C 4 D method provided a novel application for determining these plastic restricted substances in different bottled soft drinks, providing an alternative for the sensitive analyses of diamine substances., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (M-MIPs) were synthesized as the sorbents for extracting hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) from milk samples. Molecular simulations were used to calculate the interaction energies of the template monomers. The physical properties of M-MIPs were characterized. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics were investigated. Gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was applied to determine the amount of HMT residue in milk samples. In the optimized method, a linear calibration curve was obtained using a matrix-matched standard in the range of 1.0-50.0μgL -1 . The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.3μgkg -1 and 1.0μgkg -1 , respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the intra-day assay ranged from 2.6% to 5.2%, while that of the inter-day assay ranged from 3.6% to 11.5%. The recovery of HMT in milk samples ranged from 88.7% to 111.4%., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Two new polycyclic alkaloids, neopetrocyclamines A and B (1 and 2), along with the known metabolites papuamine (3) and haliclonadiamine (4), were isolated from the Indonesian sponge Neopetrosia cf exigua. Neopetrocyclamine A contains a formamidinium moiety, a rare functional group. While these compounds share the same basic biosynthetic building blocks, the size of the ring system differs in 1 and 2 because of the formamidinium moiety. Biological evaluations of 1-4 revealed that papuamine is cytotoxic against glioblastoma SF-295 cells (GI50 = 0.8 μM).

Densanins A (1) and B (2) were isolated from the sponge Haliclona densaspicula. On the basis of spectral data and the Mosher ester method, the complete structures were characterized as hexacyclic diamine alkaloids, which were probably derived from 3-alkylpyridine. Compounds 1 and 2 showed relatively potent inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in BV2 microglial cells with IC(50) values of 1.05 and 2.14 μM, respectively.

The harlequin ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis has been introduced in many countries as a biological control agent, but has become an invasive species threatening the biodiversity of native ladybirds. Its invasive success has been attributed to its vigorous resistance against diverse pathogens. This study demonstrates that harmonine ((17R,9Z)-1,17-diaminooctadec-9-ene), which is present in H. axyridis haemolymph, displays broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity that includes human pathogens. Antibacterial activity is most pronounced against fast-growing mycobacteria and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the growth of both chloroquine-sensitive and -resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains is inhibited. Harmonine displays gametocytocidal activity, and inhibits the exflagellation of microgametocytes and zygote formation. In an Anopheles stephensi mosquito feeding model, harmonine displays transmission-blocking activity.

Filamentous fungi produce an impressive variety of secondary metabolites; many of them have important biological activities. The biosynthesis of these secondary metabolites is frequently induced by plant-derived external elicitors and appears to also be regulated by internal inducers, which may work in a way similar to that of bacterial autoinducers. The biosynthesis of penicillin in Penicillium chrysogenum is an excellent model for studying the molecular mechanisms of control of gene expression due to a good knowledge of the biochemistry and molecular genetics of β-lactam antibiotics and to the availability of its genome sequence and proteome. In this work, we first developed a plate bioassay that allows direct testing of inducers of penicillin biosynthesis using single colonies of P. chrysogenum. Using this bioassay, we have found an inducer substance in the conditioned culture broths of P. chrysogenum and Acremonium chrysogenum. No inducing effect was exerted by γ-butyrolactones, jasmonic acid, or the penicillin precursor δ-(L-α-aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine. The conditioned broth induced penicillin biosynthesis and transcription of the pcbAB, pcbC, and penDE genes when added at inoculation time, but its effect was smaller if added at 12 h and it had no effect when added at 24 h, as shown by Northern analysis and lacZ reporter studies. The inducer molecule was purified and identified by mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as 1,3-diaminopropane. Addition of pure 1,3-diaminopropane stimulated the production of penicillin by about 100% compared to results for the control cultures. Genes for the biosynthesis of 1,3-diaminopropane have been identified in the P. chrysogenum genome.

The recent development of a cell culture model of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection based on the JFH-1 molecular clone has enabled discovery of new antiviral agents. Using a cell-based colorimetric screening assay to interrogate a 1,200-compound chemical library for anti-HCV activity, we identified a family of 1,2-diamines derived from trans-stilbene oxide that prevent HCV infection at nontoxic, low micromolar concentrations in cell culture. Structure-activity relationship analysis of ~ 300 derivatives synthesized using click chemistry yielded compounds with greatly enhanced low nanomolar potency and a > 1,000:1 therapeutic ratio. Using surrogate models of HCV infection, we showed that the compounds selectively block the initiation of replication of incoming HCV RNA but have no impact on viral entry, primary translation, or ongoing HCV RNA replication, nor do they suppress persistent HCV infection. Selection of an escape variant revealed that NS5A is directly or indirectly targeted by this compound. In summary, we have identified a family of HCV inhibitors that target a critical step in the establishment of HCV infection in which NS5A translated de novo from an incoming genomic HCV RNA template is required to initiate the replication of this important human pathogen.

A new BIS-1-oxaquinolizidine alkaloid, 9'- EPI-3 β,3' β-dimethylxestospongin C (2), and three known related analogues have been isolated from the Hainan sponge Neopetrosia exigua., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Polyamines are key regulators of cell development and many plant responses to environmental challenges, however, their functions still remain unclear in complex interactions with other hormones and in biotic or abiotic stress. This lack of knowledge derives from the difficulties on measuring natural polyamines in plants. Here, we present a fast multiresidue method for putrescine (Put), 1,3-diaminopropane (DAP), l-ornithine, spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spn) measurements in plant samples. Polyamine determination is based on a perchloric acid extraction followed by a simple filtration procedure without previous derivatization. Polyamines are resolved by HPLC in a C18 common column and quantified by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. (13)C(4)-putrescine and 1,7-diaminoheptane standards were added prior to sample extraction to achieve an accurate quantification in a single run. Chromatography of polyamines presents poor retention when reverse phase C18 common columns are used, because they are very polar compounds and contain several positive charges. To circumvent this problem ionic pairing technique has been used successfully with heptafluorobutyric acid (HFBA) at 1mM in the aqueous phase and 25mM in the sample. Improvement of the signal depleted by HFBA has been achieved by adding 1% of propionic acid to the aqueous and organic eluents. All together, gives a method accurate enough to determine polyamines in plants. To demonstrate the usefulness of the method it has been validated in Arabidopsis thaliana samples and polyamines have been determined in several genotypes that over express (35S::ADC2 line 3.6) or are disrupted (adc2) in the Arginine Decarboxylase2 (ADC2) gene.

Haliclonin A (1), a macrocyclic diamide of a novel skeletal class, was isolated from the marine sponge Haliclona sp. collected from Korean waters. The structure of this compound was determined using a combination of spectroscopic and chemical analyses. The new compound exhibited moderate cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity against diverse microbial strains.

This manuscript discusses the results of studies that were performed to determine optimum capillary electrophoresis (CE) conditions for the enantiomeric resolution of twelve chiral analytes with eight amino acid based polymeric surfactants. The parameters that were optimized include pH, buffer type, and concentration of surfactant. The results indicated that the optimum conditions for enantiomeric separations with the amino acid based polymeric surfactants examined in this study using CE were analyte dependent, not surfactant dependent. In other words, the optimum conditions for a particular analyte were the same for all the amino acid based polymeric surfactants examined in this study. The results of these studies indicate that when using a large group of related amino acid based polymeric surfactants only a few surfactants need to be optimized for each analyte under study. These studies were limited to anionic surfactants that contain the amino acids glycine, L-alanine, L-valine, and L-leucine only. No inference can be necessarily drawn about surfactants containing other types of amino acids such as threonine and serine, which contain extra heteroatoms, or phenylalanine that has an aromatic moiety.

The applicability of (-)-myrtenal as a chiral derivatizing agent in combination with (13)C NMR spectroscopy was investigated. (13)C NMR was found to be a valuable tool for the identification and enantiomer differentiation of primary amines including beta-amino alcohols and vicinal diamines. The enantiomeric excess could be determined via automated deconvolution and integration, and was found to be in good accordance with the expected values even in the cases, when enantiomer differentiation was not possible in (1)H NMR spectra.

Diastereomerically pure alpha-trifluoromethyl alpha-amino nitriles obtained by Strecker-type reactions from chiral CF3 imines and iminium proved to be very attractive versatile intermediates for the synthesis of various alpha-trifluoromethyl amino compounds. From these synthons, both enantiomers of alpha-trifluoromethyl alanine, trifluoromethyl 1,2-diamines, and amino alcohols were conveniently obtained in enantiopure form in high yields in a few steps.

A method of on-line chemiluminescence detection with capillary electrophoresis for biogenic amines (diaminopropane, putrescine, cadaverine and diaminohexane) labeled with N-(4-aminobutyl)-N-ethylisoluminol is reported for the first time. Two separation modes, capillary zone electrophoresis and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), were studied. The results show that excellent resolution was achieved in MEKC. Parameters affecting separation process and chemiluminescence detection have been examined in detail. Under the optimum conditions, the baseline separation of four amines was obtained within 7.5 min. The detection limits (S/N=3) of diaminopropane, putrescine, cadaverine and diaminohexane are 3.5 x 10(-8), 3.5 x 10(-8), 3.9 x 10(-8) and 1.2 x 10(-7) M, respectively. The method was applied to the analysis of biogenic amines in lake water.

The term amines encompasses a wide variety of compounds: monovalent or polyvalent amines, hydrophobic or hydrophilic amines, and combinations of all of these. Due to their charge, polyvalent amines such as the biogenic amines have very strong cation-exchange interaction with the cation-exchange groups in the stationary phase. Very high acid concentrations are required to elute them effectively from a high-capacity, carboxylated cation-exchange column. The eluent must contain a divalent ion to elute them from a sulfonated cation-exchange column due to its selectivity. Chromatography for these amines with a new "tailored" amine column of moderate capacity using a simple acidic eluent is described. The hydrophobic nature of other amines, such as long-carbon-chained amines, results in partitioning into the polymeric substrate of previous carboxylated stationary phases, so that organic solvent is required to elute them effectively. The substrate resin of this new "tailored" amine column is first coated so that, when it is functionalized in a subsequent step, this type of interaction is minimized. Examples are given. Methods that require eluent gradients and/or step changes of eluent concentration are especially well suited to this column because the background conductivity remains almost unchanged under gradient conditions.

This paper describes the applications which are used to automate the analysis of encoded combinatorial libraries. Commercial packages from MDL, Oracle and Agilent are linked with application software written in C/C++, in Microsoft Access and in ChemStation macro language. Encoding correspondence lists for each of up to three synthetic steps are conveniently associated with building block lists using the first application, CodeGen. The second application Decode allows the user to identify the individual beads picked onto a 96-well plate and the pool number for each bead. The decoding chromatography data for each well is then loaded into the program. The chromatography data is used to identify the tags used in the synthesis. Along with the building block information from ISIS/Host, the building block used in each step of the synthesis can be identified. A third routine, Code-to-Structure, takes the coded library building blocks and creates the connection table in ISIS for each structure found by the decode program. For quality control of encoded library synthesis, the decoded structures on a set of beads is compared to the LC/UV/MS data for the ligand cleaved from the same bead. CAPTURE, a GlaxoSmithKline proprietary application, is used to display and analyze the decoded structures and associated mass spectral data. This application uses simple isotopic composition and electrospray ionization rule sets to predict mass spectra and judge the concordance of a structure- mass spectrum data set. An ancillary program, EIC, is used to extract predicted single ion chromatograms from the full scan LC/MS data.

1,3-Diaminopropane has been identified as the major polyamine of Acanthamoeba culbertsoni. N-acetylputrescine and spermidine were present in appreciable amounts and putrescine as well as N-acetylspermidine were also detected, but spermine was absent. Changes in polyamine levels were observed during the growth of amoebae. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was detected in cell-free extracts but there was very low activity of arginine and lysine decarboxylases. A potent polyamine oxidase was demonstrated which preferentially acted on N8-acetyl-spermidine as the substrate while N1-acetylspermidine was a poor substrate; free polyamines did not serve as a good substrate for this enzyme. Active uptake of polyamines by the amoebae was also demonstrated.

A simple, specific, and reliable method has been developed for the determination of L-lysine in blood plasma and tissue. The L-lysine in the sample is decarboxylated enzymatically, and fluorescamine is added to a pentan-1-ol extract of the cadaverine formed. This produces a stable product which is measured fluorometrically.

Capillary gas chromatography (GC) on chiral stationary phases, i.e., Chirasil-Val [L-valine-tert.-(R)-alpha-butylamide] and XE-60-S-valine-(R)-alpha-phenylethylamide, has been applied to the resolution of various substituted analogues of putrescine as their N,N'-perfluoroacyl derivatives. The influence of the nature of the substituent on the retention behaviour and on the resolution of the enantiomers was studied. The results are discussed in terms of volatility and interaction with the chiral stationary phase. The 1,4-disubstituted putrescine analogues with two chiral centres were also clearly resolved into their corresponding stereoisomers. When the chain length between the two amino groups was increased, no clear resolution was obtained of the monosubstituted cadaverine analogues as their N,N'-perfluoroacyl derivatives. However, resolution was obtained after derivatization of the cadaverine analogues with (-)-alpha-methoxy-alpha-trifluoromethylphenylacetyl chloride, followed by GC analysis on an achiral phase.

By reaction in hot xylene of ethyl benzoylacetate with N-methyl-o-phenylenediamine (I a) and N-benzyl-o-phenylenediamine (I b) three five-membered ring compounds and one seven-membered ring compound were obtained. Compounds isolated were: 1-alkyl-2-phenacylbenzimidazoles (III), 1-alkyl-2-phenylbenzimidazoles (V), 1-alkyl-2-methylbenzimidazoles (VI) and 1-alkyl-4-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,5-benzodiazepine-2-ones (IV). In the reaction with N-benzyl-o-phenylenediamine we isolated also the N-benzyl-2-benzoylacetamidoaniline (II b), which by further heating in xylene gave (IV b). The structures of compounds were elucidated from their chemical reactivity and their N.M.R. and I.R. spectra.