Mass spectral study of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and potential alternatives (HCFCs and HFCs)

Owing to high ozone depletion potential of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the production of such substances has been regulated worldwide by the Montreal Protocol in 1987. There is an urgent need to find other suitable products to replace them and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are considered to be the most probable candidates as CFC alternatives. The HCFCs and HFCs are more susceptible to decomposition during use than CFCs because they contain hydrogen. Toxicological data on these alternative fluorocarbons are being developed. A systematic investigation of these compounds has been undertaken to establish the fragmentation patterns. Electron impact mass spectra are reported for HCFCs and HFCs. Fragmentation mechanisms are presented and discussed on the basis of variable energy (11 to 30 eV) spectra. At low ionization energy, it is possible to describe an order of fragmentation for each compound. This may lead to the possibility of classifying them according to characteristic behaviors.

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity against L1210 leukemia of new aminocyclopenta[c]thiophenones

Synthesis of some new hydroxyaminocyclopenta[c]thiophenones was achieved via halogenation reaction, then formation and finally cleavage of an aziridino ring. The in vitro cytotoxic activity of these compounds was evaluated against L1210 leukemia. The importance of the ketohydroxyethylamino sequence for their activities is discussed.

Mutagenicity of nitro- and amino-substituted carbazoles in Salmonella typhimurium. I. Monosubstituted derivatives of 9H-carbazole

Mononitro, monoamino and monoacetamido carbazoles were assayed for mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA1535, TA1538, TA1537, TA1977, TA98 and TA100, with and without the addition of S9 from phenobarbital-induced rat liver. The role of bacterial metabolism of the nitro group was also studied using the additional strains TA98NR and TA98/1,8DNP6. None of the compounds was active in TA1535, while only 2-nitrocarbazole and 3-nitrocarbazole presented a weak mutagenicity towards its pKM101 derivative, TA100. All four nitrocarbazole isomers were mutagenic for TA1538 and TA98, their activities decreasing in the order: 2-nitrocarbazole approximately 3-nitrocarbazole > 1-nitrocarbazole > 4-nitrocarbazole. Direct-acting mutagenicities for TA1537 were lower than for TA1538, but varied in the same order. Nitro reduction was an important step of metabolic activation of nitrocarbazoles, as indicated by the dramatic reduction of activity with TA98NR, as compared to TA98. Results obtained with TA98/1,8DNP6 showed that O-acetyltransferase was only partly required for the expression of mutagenic potency of these compounds. 2-Aminocarbazole was a weak direct-acting mutagen for TA1538 and TA98. Its activity was strongly increased in the presence of S9 mix, while 3-aminocarbazole became active in these conditions. The acetamido derivatives were consistently less mutagenic than their parent amines. These results show that nitrocarbazoles and aminocarbazoles behave as reactive frameshift mutagens, acting mainly through the formation of esterified hydroxylamines. The very low activity of 4-nitrocarbazole might be related to an orientation of the nitro group perpendicular to the aromatic ring.

Comparative molecular field analysis of CCK-A antagonists using field-fit as an alignment technique. A convenient guide to design new CCK-A ligands

Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) has been used as a three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) method to correlate the affinities of several antagonists towards CCK-A receptors with their steric and electrostatic fields. In this publication, we describe, for the first time, a field-fit operation as an alignment technique. These results could serve as a guide for the design of new non-peptide antagonists.