Summary
The presence of the phenylpropanoid polymer lignin in plant cell walls impedes breakdown of polysaccharides to the fermentable sugars that are used in biofuel production. Genetically modified ...plants with altered lignin properties hold great promise to improve biomass degradability. Here, we describe the generation of a new type of lignin enriched in 5‐hydroxy‐guaiacyl units by over‐expressing ferulate 5‐hydroxylase in a line of Arabidopsis lacking caffeic acid O‐methyltransferase. The lignin modification strategy had a profound impact on plant growth and development and cell‐wall properties, and resulted in male sterility due to complete disruption of formation of the pollen wall. The modified plants showed significantly improved cell‐wall enzymatic saccharification efficiency without a reduction in post‐harvest biomass yield despite the alterations in the overall growth morphology. This study demonstrated the plasticity of lignin polymerization in terms of incorporation of unusual monomers that chemically resemble conventional monomers, and also revealed the link between the biosynthetic pathways of lignin and the pollen wall‐forming sporopollenin.
We propose that the NMR solvent signal be utilized as a universal concentration reference because most solvents can be observed by NMR and solvent concentrations can be readily calculated or ...determined independently. In particular, a highly protonated solvent such as water can serve as a primary concentration standard for its stability, availability, and ease of observation. The potential problems of radiation damping associated with a strong NMR signal can be alleviated by small pulse angle excitation. The solvent signal then can be detected by the NMR receiver with the same efficiency as a dilute analyte. We demonstrated that the analyte’s proton concentration can be accurately determined from 4 μM to more than 100 M, referenced by solvent (water) protons of concentrations more than 10 M. The proposed method is robust and indifferent to probe tuning and does not require any additional concentration standard.
Modifiers are commonly used in natural, biological, and synthetic crystallization to tailor the growth of diverse materials. Here, we identify tautomers as a new class of modifiers where the dynamic ...interconversion between solute and its corresponding tautomer(s) produces native crystal growth inhibitors. The macroscopic and microscopic effects imposed by inhibitor-crystal interactions reveal dual mechanisms of inhibition where tautomer occlusion within crystals that leads to natural bending, tunes elastic modulus, and selectively alters the rate of crystal dissolution. Our study focuses on ammonium urate crystallization and shows that the keto-enol form of urate, which exists as a minor tautomer, is a potent inhibitor that nearly suppresses crystal growth at select solution alkalinity and supersaturation. The generalizability of this phenomenon is demonstrated for two additional tautomers with relevance to biological systems and pharmaceuticals. These findings offer potential routes in crystal engineering to strategically control the mechanical or physicochemical properties of tautomeric materials.
Amorphous materials are high-energy solids that can potentially enhance the bioavailability of poorly soluble compounds. A major impediment to their widespread use as a formulation platform is the ...tendency of amorphous materials to crystallize. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative crystallization tendency of six structural analogues belonging to the dihydropyridine class, in an aqueous environment in the absence and presence of polymers, using wide-angle X-ray scattering synchrotron radiation and polarized light microscopy. The crystallization behavior of precipitates generated from supersaturated solutions of the active pharmaceutical ingredients was found to be highly variable ranging from immediate to several hours in the absence of polymers. Polymers with intermediate hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity were found to substantially delay crystallization, whereas strongly hydrophilic or hydrophobic polymers were largely ineffective. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy experiments supported the supposition that polymers need to have affinity for both the drug-rich precipitate and the aqueous phase in order to be effective crystallization inhibitors. This study highlights the variability in the crystallization tendency of different compounds and provides insight into the mechanism of inhibition by polymeric additives.
It has been observed that certain amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs), upon dissolution, generate drug-rich amorphous nanodroplets. These nanodroplets, present as a dispersed phase, can potentially ...enhance oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs by serving as a drug reservoir that efficiently feeds the continuous aqueous solution phase following absorption of drug. The purpose of this study is to probe the formation mechanism of the nanodroplets. The model system studied was nifedipine (NFD) formulated as an ASD with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose E5 Premium LV or polyvinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate. Dissolution of ASDs prepared with proteated nifedipine (H-NFD) was carried out in a medium saturated with deuterated nifedipine (D-NFD) at the amorphous solubility. Upon dissolution, the H/D composition of NFD aqueous solution was determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The results suggested that isotopic scrambling (equilibrium in the distribution of deuterated and proteated form of the drug) had occurred. Thus, as the H-NFD was brought into the aqueous solution via ASD dissolution, the drug concentration in solution exceeded the amorphous solubility. Subsequent precipitation of the drug, a process which does not differentiate H-NFD from D-NFD, generated NFD nanodroplets and resulted in redistribution of the isotopes. Thus, nanodroplets of NFD are formed due to dissolution of these homogenous ASDs followed by precipitation of the drug from aqueous solutions.
Strong associations between drug and polymeric carriers are expected to contribute to higher drug loading capacities and better physical stability of amorphous solid dispersions. However, molecular ...details of the interaction patterns and underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In the present study, a series of amorphous solid dispersions of clofazimine (CLF), an antileprosy drug, were prepared with different polymers by applying the solvent evaporation method. When using hypromellose phthalate (HPMCP) as the carrier, the amorphous solid dispersion system exhibits not only superior drug loading capacity (63% w/w) but also color change due to strong drug–polymer association. In order to further explain these experimental observations, the interaction between CLF and HPMCP was investigated in a nonpolar volatile solvent system (chloroform) prior to forming the solid dispersion. We observed significant UV/vis and 1H NMR spectral changes suggesting the protonation of CLF and formation of ion pairs between CLF and HPMCP in chloroform. Furthermore, nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) and diffusion order spectroscopy (DOSY) were employed to evaluate the strength of associations between drug and polymers, as well as the molecular mobility of CLF. Finally, by correlating the experimental values with quantum chemistry calculations, we demonstrate that the protonated CLF is binding to the carboxylate group of HPMCP as an ion pair and propose a possible structural model of the drug–polymer complex. Understanding the drug and carrier interaction patterns from a molecular perspective is critical for the rational design of new amorphous solid dispersions.
A simple and rapid NMR method is described to determine the logP of pharmaceutical agents. This method is highly versatile and efficient, because it does not require the use of deuterated solvents or ...the addition of any internal/external standards to the sample. We demonstrate that logP can be accurately measured using NMR for pharmaceutical agents with known logP values. Our proposed method is made possible by the combination of state-of-the-art NMR techniques including the solvent concentration reference and robust solvent suppressions.
A convenient and fast method for quantifying urea in biofluids is demonstrated using NMR analysis and the solvent water signal as a concentration reference. The urea concentration can be accurately ...determined with errors less than 3% between 1 mM and 50 mM, and less than 2% above 50 mM in urine and serum. The method is promising for various applications with advantages of simplicity, high accuracy, and fast non-destructive detection. With an ability to measure other metabolites simultaneously, this NMR method is also likely to find applications in metabolic profiling and system biology.
Liquid transportation fuels in the middle distillate range contain thousands of hydrocarbons making the predictions and calculations of properties from composition a challenging process. We present a ...new approach of hydrogen content determination by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC×GC-FID) using a weighted average method. GC×GC-FID hydrogen determination precision was excellent (0.005 wt% repeatability). The method accuracy was evaluated by high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique, which is non-biased, measures the H signal directly and was independently validated by controls in the current study. The hydrogen content (in the range of 12.72–15.54 wt%) in 28 fuel samples were determined using GC×GC-FID. Results were within ± 2% of those obtained via NMR. Owing to the fact that NMR is accepted as an accurate technique for hydrogen content determination, the GC×GC method proposed in this study can be considered precise and accurate.
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•Quantification of total hydrogen content in middle distillate fuels via GC×GC-FID.•Comparison of GC×GC-FID to high-resolution NMR and ASTM D3343 standard methods.•Utilization of weighted average method in GC×GC-FID output interpretation.•Good accuracy and repeatability of the method.
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