Stationary phase type and temperature effect on HPLC separation of lactic acid enantiomers

Lactic acid is a biologically important organic acid existing in two enantiomeric forms which are differently metabolized in the human body. In this paper, direct chiral separation of lactic acid by high performance liquid chromatography is presented. Five chiral stationary phases based on macrocyclic antibiotics were used for enantioseparation and chromatographic parameters, such as retention factors, resolution and selectivity factors, were determined under different column temperatures ranging from 5 to 45 °C. Optical isomers of lactic acid were efficiently separated using chiral stationary phases based on teicoplanin (R S = 1.9 ) and ristocetin (R S = 1.7 ) in reversed-phase separation mode at the column temperature of 25 °C.

A simple theoretical approach to converging of Myoglobin-Assay with different pH values

Many metal carbonyl complexes have been synthesized and analyzed as CO-releasing agents. As in many bioactivity assays, differences between in-vitro and in-vivo studies in Myoglobin Assay have been observed. Adjustment of in-vitro conditions to in-vivo conditions is one way to overcoming this problem. Changing the conditions of each in-vivo assay is not possible considering the available grant, material, and labor facilities. In-silico methods are suitable as they provide better in-vitro conditions before experimental procedures. A method which is easy to employ on a basic computer could be more suitable to observe the assay convergence. In this study, global reactivity descriptors were used as an approach to investigate pH differences in myoglobin assay. Global reactivity descriptors of the molecules were compared with myoglobin assay results at different pH values and molecular docking results performed with optimized molecules in different solvents. The following complexes were studied: [Mn(CO)3(bpy)(L)]PF6 (bpy: 2,2-bipyridyl, L: benzylbenzimidazole, 4-chlorobenzylbenzimidazole).

Nanostructured catalysts for BIOEthanol transformation to industrially important chemicals

Utilization of a low-cost biomaterial, such as bioethanol, to produce value–added compounds for current industry has been investigated. This work is focused on the catalytic transformation of bioethanol into industrially significant alkenes. Catalytic transformation of ethanol was studied using catalysts based mainly on nanostructured materials as Mg-Al hydrotalcites, sepiolites and zeolites doped with Cu, K, Sr, Zn and Mn. The catalytic tests were carried out in a plug-flow reactor in the temperature range of 350—550 °C. Undoped zeolites promote acid-catalyzed dehydration of ethanol, while in case of basic catalysts, such as hydrotalcites, the product distribution is shifted toward butadiene. The impact of the hydrotalcites preparation method on their structure and catalytic activity is reported. It was found that hydrotalcite with well-developed layered structure, prepared by slow hydrolysis, promotes the formation of butadiene (with butadiene yield of 28.2 % at 400 °C vs. ethylene yield of 17.2 % at 550 °C).

Predictive control of a cascade of biochemical reactors

Rapid growth of the human population has led to various problems, such as massive overload of wastewater treatment plants. Therefore, optimal control of these plants is a relevant subject. This contribution analyses control of a cascade of ten biochemical reactors using simulation results with the aim to design optimal and predictive control strategies and to compare the achieved control performance. The plant represents a complicated process with many variables involved in the model structure, reduced to the single-input and single-output system. The first implemented approach is linear offset-free model predictive control which provides the optimal input trajectory minimising a quadratic cost function. The second control strategy is robust model predictive control with similar features as model predictive control but including the uncertainty of the process. The final approach is generalised predictive control, mostly used in the industry because of its simple structure and sufficiently good control performance. All considered predictive controllers provide satisfactory control performance and remove the steady-state control error despite the constrained control inputs.

Influence of selected antibiotics on respirometric activity of activated sludge

The main topic of this study is to determine the effect of selected antibiotics on the respirometric activity of sewage sludge microorganisms. Within the practical part of the work, several respirometric measurements were performed with activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, while the influence of three selected antibiotics — sulfamethoxazole, sulfapyridine, and ciprofloxacin, on sludge activity was monitored. The aim of the work was to point out the inhibitory effect of all monitored compounds on sludge activity and to quantify the inhibitory effect. For sulfamethoxazole (in the concentration range of 0.142—1.42 mg·L−1), the determined inhibition was in the range of 9.67—27.7 %, depending on the concentration of the test substance and the type of respirometric measurements. For sulfapyridine, inhibition values ranged from 1.13 % to 31.9 % for the concentration range from 0.134 to 1.34 mg·L−1. Ciprofloxacin inhibited the activity of activated sludge microorganisms in the range of 4.55 % to 28.8 % (at CPX concentrations from 0.104 to 1.04 mg·L−1).

Alachlor — ecotoxicity of ozonation by-products

This work focuses on the assessment of alachlor toxicity, its impact on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, non-target organisms, and humans, as well as with pesticide legislation in the European Union and Slovakia. In the experimental part, the pesticide alachlor was degraded by various ozone-based processes. Toxicity of the original substance and its degradation products was evaluated by ecotoxicity tests on white mustard and bulb onion. Respirometric measurements were performed to assess their effect on the microorganisms of activated sludge process. From the results it is possible to evaluate that the degradation of alachlor by ozonation at alkaline pH resulted in less toxic substances compared to the original pesticide.

Decrease of cholesterol content in milk by sorption onto β-cyclodextrin crosslinked with tartaric acid; considerations and implications

Elevated cholesterol intake can induce the development of cardiovascular diseases in man, especially with long term animal origin foods consumption. Therefore, this work deals with the possibility of cholesterol content decrease in milk applying β-cyclodextrin crosslinked with tartaric acid (βCDcTA) as a removal agent. Evaluation of statistic data on food consumption in the Slovak Republic in 2018 aimed at total cholesterol daily intake and effects of “milky” cholesterol content decrease on total cholesterol balance. During the experiments, various amounts of βCDcTA addition to milk were studied resulting in optimal 5 % addition resulting in the cholesterol content decrease by 85.4 % in comparison to original cholesterol content. For monitoring purposes, an HPLC method analysing cholesterol content in saponified milk was employed. The food consumption data analysis showed that total per capita daily cholesterol intake was 369.8 mg, from which 86 mg was assigned to the cholesterol contained in milk and dairy products while the application of cholesterol removal procedure could decrease the total per capita daily cholesterol intake to 296.3 mg (“milky” cholesterol amount equal to 12.6 mg), which in below the recommended value of 300 mg daily intake still valid in the Slovak Republic. This approach might prove as a meaningful step to weaken health problems associated with high long term intake of cholesterol contained in foods of animal origin.

Inhibition of staphylococci and S. aureus in wastewater by ferrates and electrochemical methods

Increasing concentration of antibiotics in environment and their subinhibitory concentrations in wastewater may result in increased antibiotic resistance of present bacteria. Therefore, this study was aimed to analyze the efficiency of coagulase-positive staphylococci and Staphylococcus aureus inhibition in wastewater by electrochemical methods and addition of ferrates. Advanced electrochemical oxidation by boron doped diamond electrodes in anode; cathode and anode-cathode connection were used for wastewater disinfection. Results showed that the most effective connection was the anodic one, as complete inhibition of coagulase-positive staphylococci as well as of S. aureus was observed after 40 min. Energy consumption was 3.69 kWh/m3 for effluent wastewater disinfection. The second studied method of wastewater disinfection was the application of powdered ferrates. Addition of 100 mg of ferrates resulted in the inhibition of 84—96 % of coagulase-positive staphylococci and 97—99 % of S. aureus in influent water, while the inhibition of coagulase-positive staphylococci and S. aureus was 61—83 % and 83—86 %, respectively, in effluent wastewater.

Theoretical modeling of optical spectra of N(1) and N(10) substituted lumichrome derivatives

A systematic study of (7,8-dimethylated) alloxazine, isoalloxazine, and their derivatives with substituted N(1) and N(10) positions was conducted using the density functional theory. The main aim of this work was the direct investigation of substituent effect on the molecular structure. Furthermore, HOMED aromaticity indices were calculated to describe the scope of the geometry changes. Frontier molecular orbitals of reference alloxazine, isoalloxazine and lumichrome derivatives were discussed by means of changes in their shape and energy levels. Photophysical properties were analyzed by determination of optical transition energies using the TD-DFT method. Obtained results were compared with previously published experimental data.

Spectro-chemometric determination of panthenol enantiomeric excess in pharmaceutical products

Antibiotic, soothing and healing properties of panthenol are exploited in various pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Only D-panthenol is biologically active while its L-form might counteract the biological effectiveness of the D-enantiomer. Hydrating and moisturizing effects are exhibited by both enantiomers. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a rapid and cheap method for the determination of panthenol enantiomeric excess in pharmaceutical preparations. In this study, b-cyclodextrin was used as a chiral selector for the recognition of panthenol enantiomers. Inclusion complexes formed by b-cyclodextrin and the analyte showed small differences in NIR and UV/VIS spectra compared by chemometric assessment. Based on the figure of merit and model characteristics, PLS calibration model in the selected range of NIR spectra is preferred. UV/VIS spectrometry has the disadvantage of complicated sample preparation compared to NIR spectrometry. Results reached by both proposed methods were in good agreement. Statistical investigation of the results (by Student t-test and Fisher F-test) confirmed that the proposed methods are comparable and applicable to chiral analysis of panthenol pharmaceutical preparations.