Isolation and structure characterization of related impurities in Sodium Tanshinone IIA Sulfonate by LC/ESI-MSn and NMR

Synthesis and Properties of Amphoteric Amide Surfactants with Reactive Group

Three reactive amphoteric surfactants (M10, M12 and M14) with different alkyl chain lengths have been synthesized using N,N'-dimethyl-1,3-propyldiamine, maleic anhydride and alkyl bromide as raw materials. The compounds had been characterized by mass spectrometry and 1H-NMR. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the corresponding surface tension (γCMC) of M10, M12 and M14 were measured at temperatures from 298 K to 313 K. The results showed that the CMC of M10, M12 and M14 are 5,89 × 10−4 mol L−1, 2,63 × 10−4 mol L−1 and 1,35 × 10−4 mol L−1. The γCMC of M10, M12 and M14 are 31.26 mN m−1, 28.79 mN m−1, and 26.87 mN m−1 at 298 K respectively. As the temperature rises, the CMC and the minimum molecule area (Amin) increased gradually, but the γCMC and the maximum surface adsorption capacity (Γmax) decreased moderately. The micelle aggregation number (Nm) was determined and changed slightly in the temperature range of 298 K–313 K, which showed that the micelle aggregation number was insensitive to the temperature change.

Tanshinones, Critical Pharmacological Components in Salvia miltiorrhiza

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, a member of the Lamiaceae family, is valued in traditional Chinese Medicine. Its dried root (named Danshen) has been used for hundreds of years, primarily for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Tanshinones are the main active ingredients in S. miltiorrhiza and exhibit significant pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity, cardiovascular effects, and antitumor activity. Danshen dripping pill of Tianshili is an effective drug widely used in the clinical treatment of cardiovascular diseases. With the increasing demand for clinical drugs, the traditional method for extracting and separating tanshinones from medicinal plants is insufficient. Therefore, in combination with synthetic biological methods and strategies, it is necessary to analyze the biosynthetic pathway of tanshinones and construct high-yield functional bacteria to obtain tanshinones. Moreover, the biosynthesis of tanshinones has been studied for more than two decades but remains to be completely elucidated. This review will systematically present the composition, extraction and separation, pharmacological activities and biosynthesis of tanshinones from S. miltiorrhiza, with the intent to provide references for studies on other terpenoid bioactive components of traditional Chinese medicines and to provide new research strategies for the sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine resources.

Determination of Sodium Tanshinone IIA Sulfonate in human plasma by LC-MS/MS and its application to a clinical pharmacokinetic study

An assay based on protein precipitation and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has been developed and validated for the quantitative analysis of Sodium Tanshinone IIA Sulfonate (STS) in human plasma. After the addition of dehydroepiandrosterone-D5-3-sulfate sodium salt (DHEAS-D5) as internal standard (IS) and formic acid, plasma samples were prepared by one-step protein precipitation with a mixture of acetonitrile and methanol. Isocratic mobile phase consisted of 0.4 mmol/L ammonium formate buffer (16 ppm formic acid)/acetonitrile (40/60, v/v) on a XSELECT™ HSS T3 column. Detection was performed on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer utilizing an electrospray ionization (ESI) interface operating in positive ion and selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode with the precursor to product ion transitions m/z 373.3→357.1 for STS and m/z 373.0→97.8 for the IS. Calibration curves of STS in human plasma were linear (r=0.9957-0.9998) over the concentration range of 2-1000 ng/mL with acceptable accuracy and precision. The lower limit of quantification in human plasma was 2 ng/mL. The validated LC-MS/MS method has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of STS in Chinese healthy male volunteers.

Chemical Analysis of the Herbal Medicine Salviae miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Danshen)

Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae et Rhizoma, known as Danshen in China, is one of the most popular traditional Chinese medicines. Recently, there has been increasing scientific attention on Danshen for its remarkable bioactivities, such as promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, and clearing away heat. This review summarized the advances in chemical analysis of Danshen and its preparations since 2009. Representative established methods were reviewed, including spectroscopy, thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography, liquid chromatography (LC), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), capillary electrophoresis, electrochemistry, and bioanalysis. Especially the analysis of polysaccharides in Danshen was discussed for the first time. Some proposals were also put forward to benefit quality control of Danshen.

Pharmaceutical impurities and degradation products: uses and applications of NMR techniques

Current standards and regulations demand the pharmaceutical industry not only to produce highly pure drug substances, but to achieve a thorough understanding of the impurities accompanying their manufactured drug substances and products. These challenges have become important goals of process chemistry and have steadily stimulated the search of impurities after accelerated or forced degradation procedures. As a result, impurity profiling is one of the most attractive, active and relevant fields of modern pharmaceutical analysis. This activity includes the identification, structural elucidation and quantitative determination of impurities and degradation products in bulk drugs and their pharmaceutical formulations. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has evolved into an irreplaceable approach for pharmaceutical quality assessment, currently playing a critical role in unequivocal structure identification as well as structural confirmation (qualitative detection), enabling the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the formation of process and/or degradation impurities. NMR is able to provide qualitative information without the need of standards of the unknown compounds and multiple components can be quantified in a complex sample without previous separation. When coupled to separative techniques, the resulting hyphenated methodologies enhance the analytical power of this spectroscopy to previously unknown levels. As a result, and by enabling the implementation of rational decisions regarding the identity and level of impurities, NMR contributes to the goal of making better and safer medicines. Herein are discussed the applications of NMR spectroscopy and its hyphenated derivate techniques to the study of a wide range pharmaceutical impurities. Details on the advantages and disadvantages of the methodology and well as specific challenges with regards to the different analytical problems are also presented.

Synthesis and Properties of Monododecyl Diphenyl Methane Disulfonate

A gemini surfactant with asymmetric molecular structure, monododecyl diphenyl methane disulfonate surfactant (MDDMDS), was synthesized by Friedel-Crafts reaction of dodecanol with diphenyl methane in the presence of active bleach clay, followed by sulfonation with liquid sulfur trioxide. The surface activity, salinity and hardness tolerance, wettability alteration and spontaneous emulsification of this asymmetric gemini surfactant were investigated. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) was 9.1 × 10−5 mol · L−1, the surface tension (γcmc) was 38.4 mN · m−1. Sodium chloride tolerance and calcium chloride tolerance reached 20.55 wt.% and 17.01 wt.%, respectively. This surfactant altered the wettability of the PTFE-film surface from oil-wet to less oil-wet or intermediate wet and show preferable property of emulsifying the crude oil.