Ricerc@Sapienza

Increasing numbers of laboratories develop new methods based on gas-liquid and high-performance liquid chromatography to determine serum concentrations of oxygenated cholesterol metabolites such as 7α-, 24(S)-, and 27-hydroxycholesterol. We initiated a first international descriptive oxycholesterol (OCS) survey in 2013 and a second interventional survey 2014 in order to compare levels of OCS reported by different laboratories and to define possible sources of analytical errors.

The story of mass spectrometry applied to the nanoparticles world is very young but actually it is expected to evolve as one of the most powerful tool for the characterization of the smaller-size nanoparticles in terms of composition, size, shape, surface chemistry, because of its versatility, sensitivity, reliability and the possibility to be coupled with high performance chromatographic separation techniques. A short overview on different fields where liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, nanomaterials and nanotechnology come together is herein given.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) phenols represent a significant part of the intake of antioxidants and bioactive compounds in the Mediterranean diet. In particular, hydroxytyrosol (HTyr), tyrosol (Tyr), and the secoiridoids oleacein and oleocanthal play central roles as anti-inflammatory, neuro-protective and anti-cancer agents. These compounds cannot be easily obtained via chemical synthesis, and their isolation and purification from EVOO is cumbersome. Indeed, both processes involve the use of large volumes of organic solvents, hazardous reagents and several chromatographic steps.

N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are key intermediates in a variety of chemical reactions. Owing to their transient nature, the interception and characterization of these reactive species have always been challenging. Similarly, the study of reaction mechanisms in which carbenes act as catalysts is still an active research field. This Minireview describes the contribution of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) to the detection of charge‐tagged NHCs resulting from the insertion of an ionic group into the molecular scaffold.

Phyllanthus orbicularis (Phyllanthaceae) is an endemic evergreen tropical plant of Cuba that grows in the western part of the island and is used in traditional medicine as an infusion. The aqueous extract of this plant presents a wide range of pharmacological activitiessuch as antimutagenic, antioxidant and antiviral effects.

Platinum(IV) complexes are extensively studied for their activity against cancer cells as potential substitutes for the widely used platinum(II) drugs. Pt(IV) complexes are kinetically inert and need to be reduced to Pt(II) species to play their pharmacological action, thus acting as prodrugs. The mechanism of the reduction step inside the cell is however still largely unknown. Gas-phase activation of deprotonated platinum(IV) prodrugs was found to generate products in which platinum has a formal +3 oxidation state.

Advances in evolved gas analysis (EGA) techniques are periodically reported by our group to provide useful examples of their applications in many different fields. It is actually recognized that anytime is requested a correct interpretation of the thermally induced reaction mechanism, involving the formation of gaseous species, it is strongly recommended the characterization of the evolved products.

Photoelectron spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and electron–ion coincidence experiments combined with tunable synchrotron radiation have been used to study the decay and fragmentation of 2Cl-pyrimidine after Cl(2p), C(1s) and N(1s) excitations. The goal is to investigate how the state- and site-selected excitation and the chemical environment affect the fragmentation paths of the molecule and to make a comparison with fragmentation induced by direct valence ionization.

The electrochemical oxidation of theophylline was investigated by controlled potential electrolysis in two different organic solvents and in water for comparison. The anodic oxidation was monitored by cyclic voltammetry in situ and UV‐Vis spectrophotometry ex situ and the final electrolyzed solutions were analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry after chromatographic separation with an HPLC‐PDA‐ESI‐MS/MS system.