The NOtizer--a device for the convenient preparation of diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolates.

N-bound diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolates, also known as NONOates or "solid nitric oxide" (NO), have become popular tools in biomedical research since the discovery of NO as a very important multifunctional endogenous messenger. In contrast to other well-known NO donors, NONOates are capable of releasing NO spontaneously in aqueous media. The rate of NO liberation is determined by the molecular structure of the diazeniumdiolate and the pH value and temperature of the medium in which it is dissolved. In this chapter, we introduce a novel device (the NOtizer) for simple and convenient preparation of diazeniumdiolates. It not only enables the user to provide all the necessary conditions for reliable synthesis such as anaerobic conditions and high pressure of NO gas in the translucent reaction chamber but also includes software that records the course of pressure and temperature online and calculates the consumption of NO by the reaction. The plot of the pressure decay shows the user completion of the reaction and allows the user to study kinetic characteristics from synthesis of different NONOates. A brief guide for the synthesis of PYRRO/NO, DEA/NO, PAPA/NO, SPER/NO, and DETA/NO, which are the most widely applied diazeniumdiolates, is presented in this chapter. Finally, characteristics of NONOates that need to be considered concerning analytics and storage are mentioned.