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ACS Omega Nov 2022In this study, the aim was to prepare drug-releasing clay mineral particles using raw (CaMt) and purified (PMt) montmorillonite and to compare and determine the effects...
In this study, the aim was to prepare drug-releasing clay mineral particles using raw (CaMt) and purified (PMt) montmorillonite and to compare and determine the effects of purification on the properties of montmorillonite. Montmorillonite clay minerals are used in several pharmaceutical and cosmetic products due to their many favorable properties, such as cation exchange capacity, adsorption capability, high specific surface area, and biocompatibility. Recently, several types of clay minerals have been widely studied for drug delivery applications due to their unique properties. The purification of montmorillonite is considered as a potentially useful step which may decrease the toxicity of impurities but which may increase the adsorption capacity of the montmorillonite. However, the effects on the toxicity and drug-release properties of purified montmorillonite have never been compared to that of raw montmorillonite. Montmorillonite was purified through decomposition of carbonates, dissolution of hydroxides, oxidation of organic materials, dialysis, and sedimentation. The raw and the purified montmorillonite were characterized using XRD, FTIR, and cation exchange capacities. Then, the cytotoxicity of raw and purified montmorillonite on normal hFOB cells was investigated to assess their biocompatibility . Finally, the efficacy of montmorillonite as a drug-delivering agent was investigated using cytotoxicity assays with the MCF7 cell line. The antitumor drug doxorubicin was loaded onto particles through electrostatic forces at 97.99% for CaMt and 96.79% for PMt. The drug-loading efficiency and release behavior of both clay minerals were determined. Results showed that both raw and purified montmorillonite did not significantly reduce the viability of normal cells at low concentrations (<500 μg/mL). At high concentrations, both raw and purified montmorillonite showed significant toxicity and the effect of impurities on toxicity were also more pronounced. Although drug loading was successful for both clay minerals there were differences in their controlled drug-release behavior. Doxorubicin-loaded raw and purified clay minerals significantly reduced MCF7 cell viability similar to pure DOX.
PubMed: 36340105
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c04510 -
Life (Basel, Switzerland) Sep 2022Most experimental results that guide research related to the origin of life are from laboratory simulations of the early Earth conditions. In the laboratory, emphasis is... (Review)
Review
Most experimental results that guide research related to the origin of life are from laboratory simulations of the early Earth conditions. In the laboratory, emphasis is placed on the purity of reagents and carefully controlled conditions, so there is a natural tendency to reject impurities and lack of control. However, life did not originate in laboratory conditions; therefore, we should take into consideration multiple factors that are likely to have contributed to the environmental complexity of the early Earth. This essay describes eight physical and biophysical factors that spontaneously resolve aqueous dispersions of ionic and organic solutes mixed with mineral particles and thereby promote specific chemical reactions required for life to begin.
PubMed: 36143465
DOI: 10.3390/life12091429 -
Analytical Sciences : the International... Jan 2023Differential scanning calorimetry can be used to measure the impurity contents of pure organic substances on the principle of freezing-point depression. Impurity...
Differential scanning calorimetry can be used to measure the impurity contents of pure organic substances on the principle of freezing-point depression. Impurity determination by differential scanning calorimetry with a dynamic method, which has the advantages of speediness and convenience, remains to be explored. Here, a series of acetanilide and dibenzothiophene samples with various purities was prepared through zone melting, and the samples were then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A modified dynamic method, including encapsulating the analyte in a volatile pan through cold welding, remelting the analyte with a low heating rate, calculating the melted fraction considering the area of the tailing under the heat-flow curve, and reducing the error from solid-solution formation, is proposed. Encapsulating with a volatile pan using a proper torque gave an accurate result. Remelting gave a lower impurity content and a more narrow and sooth peak of heat-flow compared with the first melting. The impurity-content results calculated by the modified method were usually higher than those calculated by the ASTM standard method. For acetanilide and dibenzothiophene with impurity contents of less than 0.30%, the modified dynamic method showed good accuracy. The proposed method is applicable to determination of reference materials of organic substances with high purity owing to its accuracy and convenience.
Topics: Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Hot Temperature; Acetanilides
PubMed: 36266561
DOI: 10.1007/s44211-022-00205-4 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Aug 2022Metallic charge transport and porosity appear almost mutually exclusive. Whereas metals demand large numbers of free carriers and must have minimal impurities and...
Metallic charge transport and porosity appear almost mutually exclusive. Whereas metals demand large numbers of free carriers and must have minimal impurities and lattice vibrations to avoid charge scattering, the voids in porous materials limit the carrier concentration, provide ample space for impurities, and create more charge-scattering vibrations due to the size and flexibility of the lattice. No microporous material has been conclusively shown to behave as a metal. Here, we demonstrate that single crystals of the porous metal-organic framework Ln(2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaoxytriphenylene) (Ln = La, Nd) are metallic. The materials display the highest room-temperature conductivities of all porous materials, reaching values above 1,000 S/cm. Single crystals of the compounds additionally show clear temperature-deactivated charge transport, a hallmark of a metallic material. Lastly, a structural transition consistent with charge density wave ordering, present only in metals and rare in any materials, provides additional conclusive proof of the metallic nature of the materials. Our results provide an example of a metal with porosity intrinsic to its structure. We anticipate that the combination of porosity and chemical tunability that these materials possess will provide a unique handle toward controlling the unconventional states that lie within them, such as charge density waves that we observed, or perhaps superconductivity.
PubMed: 35969747
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2205127119 -
Nature Materials Feb 2021Commercial carbazole has been widely used to synthesize organic functional materials that have led to recent breakthroughs in ultralong organic phosphorescence,...
Commercial carbazole has been widely used to synthesize organic functional materials that have led to recent breakthroughs in ultralong organic phosphorescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence, organic luminescent radicals and organic semiconductor lasers. However, the impact of low-concentration isomeric impurities present within commercial batches on the properties of the synthesized molecules requires further analysis. Here, we have synthesized highly pure carbazole and observed that its fluorescence is blueshifted by 54 nm with respect to commercial samples and its room-temperature ultralong phosphorescence almost disappears. We discover that such differences are due to the presence of a carbazole isomeric impurity in commercial carbazole sources, with concentrations <0.5 mol%. Ten representative carbazole derivatives synthesized from the highly pure carbazole failed to show the ultralong phosphorescence reported in the literature. However, the phosphorescence was recovered by adding 0.1 mol% isomers, which act as charge traps. Investigating the role of the isomers may therefore provide alternative insights into the mechanisms behind ultralong organic phosphorescence.
Topics: Carbazoles; Temperature
PubMed: 32958877
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-0797-2 -
Environmental Science and Pollution... Feb 2023The presence of organic impurities hinders the resource utilization of industrial waste salt (IWS). In this study, pyrolysis treatment was chosen to remove these organic...
The presence of organic impurities hinders the resource utilization of industrial waste salt (IWS). In this study, pyrolysis treatment was chosen to remove these organic impurities. The optimal process parameters for the pyrolysis of organic impurities were as follows: a temperature of 500 °C and a holding time of 20 min. Under these optimal conditions, the total organic carbon (TOC) removal rate was 96.32%, inducing a decrease in the TOC mass fraction from 1.88 to 0.08%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results obtained during this process showed that prolonging the pyrolysis time (10-70 min) for IWS resulted in a gradual decrease in the relative content of characteristic functional group, such as C-O in ether groups, and the disappearance of functional group, such as benzophenone carbonyl group and ester carbonyl. Organic impurities can release gas-containing compounds that destroy the initially smooth IWS surface, and the resulting particles with rough and irregular shapes fuse into large or lumpy particles during the pyrolysis process. GC‒MS results clearly showed that the number of different semivolatile organic compounds in the IWS was reduced from 35 to 19 as a result of the pyrolysis process. Correspondingly, organic impurities with molecular formulas containing 5-10 carbon atoms converted into compounds containing 6-20 carbon atoms. These findings provide theoretical support for IWS resource utilization.
Topics: Industrial Waste; Pyrolysis; Temperature; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Carbon; Sodium Chloride; Sodium Chloride, Dietary
PubMed: 36272002
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23659-5 -
ChemNanoMat : Chemistry of... May 2019Metal oxide nanocomposites are non-equilibrium solids and promising precursors for functional materials. Annealing of such materials can provide control over impurity...
Metal oxide nanocomposites are non-equilibrium solids and promising precursors for functional materials. Annealing of such materials can provide control over impurity segregation and, depending on the level of consolidation, represents a versatile approach to engineer free surfaces, particle-particle interfaces and grain boundaries. Starting with indium-magnesium-oxide nanoparticle powders obtained via injection of an indium organic precursor into the magnesium combustion flame and subsequent particle quenching in argon, we investigated the stability of the trivalent In ions in the host lattice of MgO nanoparticles by determining grain growth, morphology evolution and impurity segregation. The latter process is initiated by vacuum annealing at 873 K and can be tracked at 1173 K on a time scale of minutes. In the first instance the surface segregated indium wets the nanoparticle interfaces. After prolonged annealing indium evaporates and leaves the powder via the gas phase. Resulting MgO nanocubes are devoid of residual indium, regain their high morphological definition and show spectroscopic fingerprints (UV Diffuse Reflectance and Photoluminescence emission) that are characteristic of electronically unperturbed MgO cube corner and edge features. The results of this combined XRD, TEM, and spectroscopy study reveal the parameter window within which control over indium segregation is used to introduce a semiconducting metal oxide component into the intergranular region between insulating MgO nanograins.
PubMed: 31231606
DOI: 10.1002/cnma.201900077 -
The Journal of Toxicological Sciences 2019Abuse of recreational drugs (i.e., synthetic chemicals with the structure or expected neurotropic effects, or both, similar to those of controlled substances) is a...
Abuse of recreational drugs (i.e., synthetic chemicals with the structure or expected neurotropic effects, or both, similar to those of controlled substances) is a serious and continuous social harm. Designer drugs are often manufactured or synthesized in small-scale clandestine laboratories with impure starting materials, poor handling skills and inferior storage conditions. Therefore, in addition to the objective compound, diverse impurities may be present, for example, from the starting material, intermediates, catalytic metals formed during chemical synthesis, and materials from the environment. Impurity profiling of drug seizures is a useful scientific tool to obtain information on the clandestine manufacturers and drug trafficking networks. 1-Phenyl-2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-1-pentanone (α-PVP), a novel psychoactive substance of the cathinone type that is banned in many countries, is still supplied and distributed within the illicit drug market. By using GC-MS and ICP-MS, we identified and estimated the relative contents of organic and inorganic impurities in the bulk powder of 15 batches of α-PVP. We then conducted multivariate data analyses to reveal characteristic patterns of the profiles. Hierarchical cluster analysis of both the organic and inorganic impurities revealed two groups that showed similar impurity profiles, which suggested that the batches in these groups were synthesized in similar routes under similar synthetic environments. The initial groups revealed by the organic impurities were further divided when combined with the data from the inorganic impurities. The present study, therefore, demonstrated the effectiveness of integrated analyses of organic and inorganic impurities for the accurate clustering of designer drugs, to provide precise information to drug investigation authorities.
Topics: Cluster Analysis; Designer Drugs; Drug Contamination; Drug and Narcotic Control; Inorganic Chemicals; Organic Chemicals; Pentanones; Pyrrolidines
PubMed: 31813904
DOI: 10.2131/jts.44.849 -
Biomedical Chromatography : BMC Oct 2022Amitriptyline hydrochloride is an antidepressant drug with sedative effects used to treat the symptoms of anxiety, agitation with depression and schizophrenia with...
Stability-indicating liquid chromatography method development for assay and impurity profiling of amitriptyline hydrochloride in tablet dosage form and forced degradation study.
Amitriptyline hydrochloride is an antidepressant drug with sedative effects used to treat the symptoms of anxiety, agitation with depression and schizophrenia with depression. A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed to separate and quantitatively determine the assay and four organic impurities of amitriptyline in tablet dosage form and bulk drugs using a C column in an isocratic elution mode with mobile phase consisting of a mixture of pH 7.5 phosphate buffer and methanol. The pH conditions used in the chromatographic separation are discussed. The stability-indicating characteristics of the proposed method were proved using stress testing [5 m HCl at 80°C/1 h, 5 m NaOH at 80°C/1 h, H O (v/w) at 80°C/1 h, 6% H O (v/v) at 25°C/1 h, dry heat at 105°C/24 h and UV-vis light/4 days] and validated for specificity, detection limit, quantitation limit, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness. For amitriptyline and its four known organic impurities, the quantitation limits, linearity and recoveries were in the ranges 0.25-3.0 μg/ml (r > 0.999) and 87.9-107.6%, respectively. The mass (m/z) spectral data of amitriptyline hydrochloride and its impurity are discussed. The proposed LC method is also suitable for impurity profiling and assay determination of amitriptyline in bulk drugs and pharmaceutical formulations.
Topics: Amitriptyline; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Chromatography, Liquid; Drug Stability; Tablets
PubMed: 35766584
DOI: 10.1002/bmc.5436 -
Journal of Hazardous Materials Aug 2021The recovery of waste glass is an important issue in the fields of social sustainable development and resource recovery. The removal of organic impurity is the first...
The recovery of waste glass is an important issue in the fields of social sustainable development and resource recovery. The removal of organic impurity is the first step in the recovery of waste glass. Currently, desiccation-dissociation technology is advised to remove the organic impurity from waste glass. However, the risks of the organic impurity desiccation-dissociation process of waste glass have not been reported in the literature. In this paper, the environmental risks of the organic impurity desiccation-dissociation process of waste glass were assessed. The assessment results indicated that none of TSP (0.143 mg/m), PM (0.090 mg/m), heavy metals in air and residue after desiccation-dissociation were contaminated. However, the gas contained abundant organic contaminants, especially benzene, whose content was up to 5.26%. Molecular dynamics simulation and contaminant formation pathways analysis indicated that the formation of gaseous organic contaminants was because overmuch small molecular free radicals were generated at 200 °C and combined with each other. Hence, reducing the temperature of desiccation-dissociation, wearing gas masks, and placing organic gas contaminant absorption liquids are necessary protective measures. This paper provides scientific data for the green development of organic impurity desiccation-dissociation technology of waste glass. Meanwhile, this paper makes up for the shortage of the environmental information of the organic impurity desiccation-dissociation of waste glass.
Topics: Desiccation; Metals, Heavy
PubMed: 34492821
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125881