Since it was first isolated, the oil extracted from seeds of neem (Azadirachtin indica A juss) has been extensively studied in terms of its efficacy as an insecticide. Several industrial formulations are produced as emulsifiable solutions containing a stated titer of the active ingredient azadirachtin-A (AZ-A). The work reported here is the characterization of a formulation of this insecticide marketed under the name of Neem-azal T/S and kinetic studies of the major active ingredient of this formulation. We initially performed liquid-liquid extraction to isolate the neem oil from other ingredients in the commercial mixture. This was followed by a purification using flash chromatography and semi-preparative chromatography, leading to (13)C NMR identification of structures such as azadirachtin-A, azadirachtin-B, and azadirachtin-H. The neem extract was also characterized by HPLC-MS using two ionization sources, APCI (atmospheric pressure chemical ionization) and ESI (electrospray ionization) in positive and negative ion modes of detection. This led to the identification of other compounds present in the extract-azadirachtin-D, azadirachtin-I, deacetylnimbin, deacetylsalannin, nimbin, and salannin. The comparative study of data gathered by use of the two ionization sources is discussed and shows that the ESI source enables the largest number of structures to be identified. In a second part, kinetic changes in the main product (AZ-A) were studied under precise conditions of pH (2, 4, 6, and 8), temperature (40 to 70 degrees C), and light (UV, dark room and in daylight). This enabled us to determine the degradation kinetics of the product (AZ-A) over time. The activation energy of the molecule (75+/-9 kJ mol(-1)) was determined by examining thermal stability in the range 40 to 70 degrees C. The degradation products of this compound were identified by use of HPLC-MS and HPLC-MS-MS. The results enabled proposal of a chemical degradation reaction route for AZ-A under different conditions of pH and temperature. The data show that at room temperature and pH between 4 and 5 the product degrades into two preferential forms that are hydrolyzed to a single product over time and as a function of pH change.
In this work we have optimized the analysis of 18 human corticosteroids, some endogenous (tetrahydrocortisol, tetrahydrocortisone, cortisol, and cortisone) and others synthetic (betamethasone, budesonide, cortisone acetate, desonide, dexamethasone, dexamethasone acetate, flunisolide, fluocinolone acetonide, halcinonide, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, prednisone, triamcinolone, and triamcinolone acetonide). Three analytical techniques were developed: ELISA, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Several sample-preparation methods were optimized for each technique and enabled compounds of interest to be extracted from small urine samples (several mL). The results enabled us to assess the possibilities and the sensitivity of each technique for application to doping tests.
This work describes the development of a method for analyzing pesticide residues in olive oil by GC-MS and HPLC-MS. Pesticides were separated from the oily matrix by size-exclusion chromatography. After extraction, 20 pesticides were separated and analyzed by GC-MS and 11 others HPLC-MS in electrospray mode. The development of this method enabled us to identify and quantify the pesticides of interest.
To elucidate the photochemical behavior of two sulfonylureas (cinosulfuron and triasulfuron) for which the chemical formulas are relatively close, their photodegradation was studied in water. All experiments were carried out under laboratory conditions using a xenon arc lamp as the source of radiation to simulate environmental conditions. Polychromatic quantum efficiencies were calculated to determine the photochemical pesticide lifetimes at pH 7, and a comparison with hydrolysis lifetimes has been performed. The results obtained showed clearly that at pH 7, photodegradation becomes a more important pathway than chemical degradation. HPLC-DAD was used to study the kinetics for both sulfonylureas and their photoproducts, whereas HPLC-MS (ESI in positive and negative modes) was used to identify photoproducts. These results suggest that the photodegradation of these two sulfonylureas proceeds via a number of reaction pathways: (1) cleavage of the sulfonylurea bridge; (2) desulfonylation, which can proceed either by a carbon-sulfur cleavage or a nitrogen-sulfur cleavage; (3) O-demethylation of methoxy moieties present on the triazine ring; and (4) O-dealkylation of benzene derivatives. In addition, it was found that the desulfonylation represented the main step and that it was wavelength dependent.
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