A study is presented on the reproducibility of mass spectral profiles of the whole bacterium E. coli resulting from laser sampling at different regions within and between matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) samples deposited onto the plate. Samples were prepared with different deposition methods and using different MALDI matrices. The three most common matrices used in MALDI-mass spectrometry (MS) bacteria profiling, α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA), sinapinic acid (SA), and ferulic acid (FA), were compared in this study along with two pipet-based sample deposition methods, dried-droplet and premix. Sample variability was determined by analysis of variances (ANOVA), principal component analysis (PCA), and multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA). For the two pipet-based sample deposition methods tested in this study, the intrasample variability (most commonly referred to as "spot-to-spot" reproducibility) was of the same magnitude as the intersample variability for all MALDI matrices tested. By incorporating a spray nebulizer sample deposition method to produce uniform sample/matrix mixtures onto the MALDI plate, we demonstrate that the crystalline morphology of the MALDI sample greatly influences the intrasample reproducibility (i.e., spot-to-spot) of the resulting whole cell MALDI-MS profiles. Overall, for the pipet-based deposition methods, results showed that the smallest variability in bacteria MALDI mass spectral profiles was obtained from samples deposited using the premix method, regardless of the MALDI matrix used, with the best reproducibility obtained with the CHCA matrix. It is concluded that a sample preparation strategy that reduces or eliminates the MALDI matrix morphology heterogeneity can reduce variability (i.e., spot-to-spot) of the bacteria mass spectral profiles by up to 90%.

Iron(II) and manganese(II) complexes of N'-(1-(pyridin-2-yl)ethylidene)nicotinohydrazide (LH) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The crystal structure of the ligand has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction and electronic spectroscopic techniques. Crystal data for LH, C13H12N4O: Orthorhombic, space group Pbcn (no. 60), a = 18.0824(3) Å, b = 7.86555(14) Å, c = 16.1614(3) Å, V = 2298.60(7) Å3, Z = 8, T = 103 K, μ(Mo Kα) = 0.093 mm-1, Dcalc = 1.388 g/cm3, 36729 reflections measured (5.042° ≤ 2Θ ≤ 54.966°), 2633 unique (Rint = 0.0224, Rsigma = 0.0124) which were used in all calculations. The final R1 was 0.0383 (F2>2σ(F2)) and wR2 was 0.0988 (all data). The ligand was found to chelate to the metal ions through the azomethine nitrogen and amide oxygen atoms in a bidentate manner. The anti-tubercular activity of the ligand, its iron (II) and manganese (II) complexes were studied against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (ATTC 27294). The results revealed higher activity of the iron (II) complex with MIC value of 8.00±0.83 µM and a moderate activity of the manganese (II) complex having MIC value of 14.20±1.40 µM, compared to the reference drugs having MIC values of 9.41±0.92, 10.74±1.02, 25.34±2.6 µM and parent ligand with MIC value of 17.60±1.80 µM.

A novel ligand N-4-hydroxyacetophenone isonicotinoyl hydrazone and its manganese(II) and nickel(II) metal complexes have been synthesized. The synthesized Schiff base and its metal complexes have been characterized by physical state determination, melting point and solubility measurements in different solvents, infrared, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometric and powder X-ray spectroscopic techniques. The thermal properties of the prepared compounds were obtained from TG/DTG measurements. On the basis of the analytical techniques, the ligand was found to be bidentate in nature coordinating to the metal ions through the azomethine nitrogen and carbonyl oxygen atoms leading to distorted octahedral geometries of the metal complexes which were modeled using MM2 force field. The ligand and its metal(II) complexes were evaluated for antifungal activity against Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Rhizopus stolonifera. The antifungal evaluation results revealed an enhanced activity upon coordination of the ligand with the metal(II) ions. The activity of the metal complex to the tested fungal strains was in the order Ni(II) > Mn(II).