New products

A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers. A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.


Titroprocessor
Combinatorial chemistry The 726 Titroprocessor is the latest member of the Metrohm titrator family. It performs kinetically slow reactions, such as diazotizations and nonaqueous titrations, as well as fast reactions, such as acid-base titrations.
In addition to this it also performs end-point and Karl Fischer titrations (moisture content), plus measures pH, U/mV and temperature and it can be used as an independent dosing unit.
Results and methods for back titrations, determinations of pK or HNP (half neutralization potential), amperometric titrations, and complex dosing regimes can be stored within the instrument or on a memory card (SRAM card). To facilitate rapid use of the instrument after installation, each instrument comes with a read-only memory card containing a large number of tried and tested methods.
The 726 Titroprocessor is available with one or two sets of measuring inputs, each set comprising two inputs for high impedance electrodes, one for the temperature sensor and one for the polarized electrode. There are also four connections for dosing instruments which can be used as titrating or auxiliary burettes. Two RS 232 interfaces ensure quick communication with the outside world.
On the LCD screen, titration curves in real time, Verification of Drug Candidates from 96-Well Plates. With the advent of combinatorial chemistry, the pharmaceutical industry has radically altered its approach to drug discovery. The aim is to vastly increase the number of potentially useful organic compounds synthesized, with many more compounds being screened for biological activity, resulting in more drugs being found more quickly. This stands in contrast to the traditional situation of labour-intensive, step-wise synthesis of individual compounds and their analogues, which would be followed by meticulous isolation, purification and characterization.
Covering several quite different concepts, combinatorial chemistry originally evolved out of the necessity to generate a diverse range of large numbers of organic compounds, the structures of which can be guided by computer-aided design. The technique has three basic methods, for which libraries have been created, consisting of either individual compounds in separate vessels or an entire mixture of reaction products. These libraries are then screened for biological activity, and any indication of a positive response results in the isolation, identification and characterization of a compound. Its efficacy is then studied by drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies.
As the approach to the synthesis of drug candidates has had to change to meet the high numbers of compounds required, so has the approach to compound characterization. Previously, when limited numbers of organic compounds were individually synthesized, each was The 726 Titroprocessor from Metrohm connected to the company's 717 Sample changer. See text for details. 0142-0453/97 $12.00 (C) 1997 Taylor & Francis Ltd completely characterized using multiple analytical methods. These included melting point determination, combustion analyses, infra-red spectrophotometry, ultraviolet spectrophotometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry.
The increase in the number of drug candidates has made the complete analysis process far too time-consuming and perhaps even unnecessary at the time of initial synthesis, as the majority of compounds synthesized do not exhibit suitable biological activity. A new analytical technique is needed, to state categorically--yes or 'no'--and confidently whether any of the expected synthetic products are present at the end of the syntheses.
Atmospheric Pressure Ionization (API) mass spectrometry is the most suitable analytical technique capable of meeting these criteria. It can be applied with equal ease to both single and multi-component samples, the latter of which may require on-line liquid chromatography (LC), and it also generates unambiguous molecular weight information for the majority of organic compounds. software on CD ROM for all their spectroscopy products. FAST software gives instant access to text and video clips (with sound) explaining the routine operation and maintenance of the instrument and accessories, as well as instrument theory.
FAST is a new concept in training designed to provide the operator with virtually all of the information normally given during an intensive training course. However, FAST allows training at the operator's convenience, and can instantly access specific bits of information pertaining to immediate topics of interest. FAST is normally resident on the instrument's computer and operates in the Windows environment. Therefore, immediate visual and spoken help is available for adjustments or optimization parameters that would normally require an operator's manual and/or a phone call. They can also be considered as alternatives for PFCs (perfluorocarbons) in some applications where these have been adopted because of the lack of timely alternatives to CFC-13. The new products are designed to be used in existing equipment, subject to certain DuPont recommended modifications to minimize emissions. They are suitable for removal of a large spectrum of contaminants in the field of printed circuit board assembly, metal cleaning, decontamination, displacement drying prior to metalization, high precision cleaning, and also as carrier fluids for lubricant deposition or as dielectric fluids.
Currently manufactured in the company's Ponca City plant in Oklahoma, US, the products will be shipped to Europe from a new plant recently started up at the DuPont Mitsui Shimizu fluorochemicals complex in Japan.