35 years in science communication
Spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, and related materials. Only occasionally updated.
Huángqà (huangqi) is a plant root used in one of the most common tonics of Chinese traditional herbal medicine with purported activity in cancer, diabetes, inflammation, and nephritis.
As such, there is a lot of interest in the active ingredients of this species as it might lead to novel pharmaceuticals against a range of illnesses. Now, researchers in China have used a powerful spectroscopic technique to identify the active chemical components of this remedy.
Read more…
Improving detection of toxic metals in the environment and trace elements in medical samples is often time-consuming and, worse, reagent demanding, as well as potentially having false positives as samples become contaminated by pre-treatment.Portuguese researchers have now overcome these drawbacks by using an online sample pre-treatment method.
The team has coupled an online high-intensity focused ultrasound system with a more conventional analytical technique, which they say is greener than conventional approaches because it needs less reagents but more importantly avoids contamination and cuts the amount of time taken to analyse metals such as mercury in water and urine samples. The approach should be generally applicable, the researchers say. You can read the full analysis of this research in the latest news round up from David Bradley at spectroscopyNOW.com
The first detailed structure of a crucial protein-cleaving component, the proteasome, commonly known as the cellular waste disposal unit, of the tuberculosis bacterium has been obtained by US researchers. The existence of a proteasome in this microbe, only hinted at previously, could offer new targets for drug research to treat the disease.
Read on…
For more science news with a spectral angle visit my spectroscopy news page.
Substituted pyridines are the starting materials in the manufacture of a wide range of chemical products from agrochemicals to pharmaceuticals.
As such, understanding the fundamentals of their structures is important in developing synthetic schemes for new compounds containing this component. Now, Indian chemists have used sophisticated analytical techniques to study the vibrational spectra of these compounds and have revealed nuances of the dynamics of such molecules for the first time.
Read the full story in SpectroscopyNOW.com
To record a useful spectrum in a reasonable time, the spectroscopist must juggle bandwidth, resolution, sensitivity, and acquisition times.
In a technique such as cavity-ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS), high detection limits are possible but this is offset by a narrowing of the range of frequencies that can be followed quickly. However, US researchers have now developed a broadband version of this technique that neatly combs over the issue of frequency limitations and can now achieve high sensitivity, broad spectral bandwidth, high resolution, and fast acquisition times simultaneously. The team reports in the journal Science a proof of principle experiment in recording CRDS spectra from the visible to near-infrared for species such as acetylene, dioxygen, water, ammonia and argon.
You can read about this latest research in the first April issue of SpectroscopyNOW. You can find more of my news reports for the spectroscopy site here.
In the latest issue of the Reactive Reports chemistry webzine, we interview NMR expert Gary Martin about his experiences with this powerful analytical technique and his views on the future of the technology and novel applications.
Martin spent the first 14 years of his career at the University of Houston before moving to Burroughs Wellcome, Co., in 1989, and then to Upjohn in 1996, which, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, left him working for Pfizer a few years ago. He has spent much of his career focused on the identification of natural product structures and subsequently synthetic compounds originating in drug discovery, and more recently the identification of impurity and degradant structures of drug molecules. In the Spring, he takes up a new position at Schering-Plough’s facility in Summit, New Jersey, where he will no doubt use his pioneering NMR techniques to the full once more.
Chemical analysis spots malfunctioning protein.
Jin-Shan Hu and colleagues at the University of Maryland, National Cancer Institute, the National Centre for Scientific Research, France, have used NMR to determine the structure of the protein thought to malfunction in premature aging conditions, such as Werner syndrome. The structure might one day lead to a better understanding of this rare genetic disorder as well as other aging-related diseases.