Study of the acid-base properties of leaf litter extracts

The acid-base properties of four leaf litter extracts, LLE (eucalyptus, fern, oak and chestnut coverture), were characterized by synchronous fluorescence (SyF) spectroscopy and compared with those of two fulvic acids (FA) extracted from two different horizons (0–5 and 5–15 cm) of an oak forest soil. The characterization was based on the variation with the pH of the properties of the fluorescent structures present in the samples, which function as probes and provide a macroscopic image of their acid-base properties. These sets of SyF spectra collected as a function of the pH show fingerprinting potential. They were treated by a self-modeling curve resolution procedure, evolving factor analysis with a gradient concentration window (EFA-GCW), to reduce the raw spectral data to the number of components, their spectra, and SyF intensity profiles (pH distribution diagrams). Four acid-base systems were detected for all samples of LLE and FA with pKas ranging from 2.5 to 10.0 (pKas about 3, 5, 7 and 9, except for the fern LLE sample which showed pKas about 5, 7, 9 and 10). A similarity analysis of the spectra of the components, performed by cluster analysis, showed that the most acidic fluorescent structures of the LLE are not similar to those of the soil FA, but the less acidic are. Received: 20 June 1997 / Revised: 11 November 1997 / Accepted: 16 November 1977     

Monitoring of molecular transformations in acid-base reactions by evolving factor analysis of Fourier transform infrared spectral data

An evolving factor analysis procedure with concentration constraints (gradient concentration window) was applied to the analysis of data sets of aqueous Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra of carboxylic acids (acetic, malonic and succinic acids) collected in experiments with varying pH. Besides the calculation of the number of acid-base systems, this procedure allowed the calculation of the FT-IR spectra of the acid-base species present in equilibrium as well as the corresponding pK(a) values.     

Study of the complexation of Cu(II) by fulvic acids extracted from a sewage sludge and its compost

 The complexation of Cu(II) by two samples of fulvic acids (FA) extracted from the raw sewage sludge (RsFA) of a waste water processing plant and from the composted sludge (CsFA) obtained upon aerobical digestion was studied at pH 6.0. Synchronous molecular fluorescence spectroscopy was used to monitor the association of FA with Cu(II) and a self-modelling mixture analysis method (SIMPLISMA) was used to preprocess the spectral data to calculate the number of components with different quenching profiles as function of the Cu(II) concentration and their spectra. The stability constants and a rough estimation of the binding site concentrations were obtained by a Stern-Volmer analysis, by a non-linear least-square method and by a linear procedure. The analysis of the SyF spectra allowed the identification of two binding sites for both samples. The logarithm of the conditional stability constant corresponding to the 1:1 complex formed between the stronger binding site and Cu(II) is about 4 for both samples. Received: 22 April 1996 / Revised: 5 August 1996 / Accepted: 7 August 1996     

Study of acid-base properties of fulvic acids using fluorescence spectrometry and multivariate curve resolution methods

Samples of fulvic acids obtained from cultivated calcareous soils are analyzed using acid-base titrations with spectrofluorimetric detection. Observed changes in both synchronous and emission spectra of fulvic acids when pH is changed are explained in terms of a limited number of fluorescent contributions each defined by its specific fluorescent spectrum and a concentration profile (species distribution) recovered from the multivariate curve resolution analysis of experimental data. Information on equilibrium is estimated from concentrations of the acid-base species.     

Spectrophotometric determination of acidity constants of 4-(2′-thiazolylazo)-resorcinol (TAR) in water-organic mixtures

<正>The acidity constants of TAR in different water-organic solvent binary mixtures at 25℃have been determined spectrophotometrically. DATa ANalysis(DATAN) program was used for calculations of the acidity constants and pure spectra of all formed species and their concentration distribution diagram in applied pH interval.Results show that there are a fairly inverse relationship between acidity constants and the mole fraction of the organic solvent in the binary mixtures.Effects of solvent composition on the pK_as and pure spectrum of each component are also discussed.     

Fluorescence quenching of anthropogenic fulvic acids by Cu(II), Fe(III) and UO(2)(2+)

The quenching of the fluorescence of three anthropogenic fulvic acids (FA) provoked by Cu(II) (pH 6.0), Fe(III) (pH 4.0) and UO₂²⁺ (pH 3.5), was analyzed by a non-linear method and by Stern-Volmer plots. The FA samples were extracted from composted sewage sludges (csFA), composted municipal wastes (mwFA) and composted livestock wastes (lsFA). Synchronous-scan fluorescence (SyF) spectra were collected as a function of metal ion concentration. Spectral data were treated by a self-modeling mixture analysis method (SIMPLISMA) to detect the SyF spectral band with the strongest quenching and to calculate the corresponding quenching profile. The analysis of these profiles by a non-linear method allowed the estimation of conditional stability constants (K) and of the percentage of non-complexing fluorophores. The same quantitative information was obtained by the modified Stern-Volmer equation taking into account the existence of fluorophores that do not participate in the complexation. Good agreement was found between the results of the two procedures. The log K calculated by the non-linear method were (standard deviation in parenthesis): csFA, Cu(II), 4.22 (5); Fe(III), 5.0 (1); UO₂²⁺, 5.2 (2); mwFA, Cu(II), 4.21 (3); Fe(III), 5.6 (2); UO₂²⁺, 4.7 (3); lsFA, Cu(II), 4.51 (8); Fe(III), 5.5 (2); UO₂²⁺, 3.6 (2).     

Fast Interpretation Of 3D Liquid Chromatography Signals: Application To The Study Of Organic Matter In Wastewaters

Abstract

The aim of this work is to propose a very simple method for the selection and interpretation of the relevant individual spectra of a set of absorbance spectra, as for example in a 3D chromatogram. The method is based on the rank computation of the matrix of experimental values, after or during a chromatographic run. From a classical chromatographic system with a rapid scanning spectrophotometer (diode array detector for example), a computer is used for data acquisition of absorbances of the whole UV spectrum, and later computation. Firstly, acquisition is performed until the end of the elution and then the program gives the number and the corresponding spectra of relevant fractions. If another run is needed, for a different sample for example, the procedure makes it possible to check whether the detection signal is independent of the previous spectra. Different applications are presented for the study of organic matter in wastewaters by low pressure liquid chromatography.     

Factor analysis of 27Al MAS NMR spectra for identifying nanocrystalline phases in amorphous geopolymers

Nanostructured materials offer enhanced physicochemical properties because of the large interfacial area. Typically, geopolymers with specifically synthesized nanosized zeolites are a promising material for the sorption of pollutants. The structural characterization of these aluminosilicates, however, continues to be a challenge. To circumvent complications resulting from the amorphous character of the aluminosilicate matrix and from the low concentrations of nanosized crystallites, we have proposed a procedure based on factor analysis of ²⁷Al MAS NMR spectra. The capability of the proposed method was tested on geopolymers that exhibited various tendencies to crystallize (i) completely amorphous systems, (ii) X‐ray amorphous systems with nanocrystalline phases, and (iii) highly crystalline systems. Although the recorded ²⁷Al MAS NMR spectra did not show visible differences between the amorphous systems (i) and the geopolymers with the nanocrystalline phase (ii), the applied factor analysis unambiguously distinguished these materials. The samples were separated into the well‐defined clusters, and the systems with the evolving crystalline phase were identified even before any crystalline fraction was detected by X‐ray powder diffraction. Reliability of the proposed procedure was verified by comparing it with ²⁹Si MAS NMR spectra. Factor analysis of ²⁷Al MAS NMR spectra thus has the ability to reveal spectroscopic features corresponding to the nanocrystalline phases. Because the measurement time of ²⁷Al MAS NMR spectra is significantly shorter than that of ²⁹Si MAS NMR data, the proposed procedure is particularly suitable for the analysis of large sets of specifically synthesized geopolymers in which the formation of the limited fractions of nanocrystalline phases is desired. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Acid-base properties of the N3 ruthenium(ii) solar cell sensitizer: a combined experimental and computational analysis

We report a combined spectro-photometric and computational investigation of the acid-base equilibria of the N3 solar cell sensitizer [Ru(dcbpyH(2))(2)(NCS)(2)] (dcbpyH(2) = 4,4'-dicarboxyl-2,2' bipyridine) in aqueous/ethanol solutions. The absorption spectra of N3 recorded at various pH values were analyzed by Single Value Decomposition techniques, followed by Global Fitting procedures, allowing us to identify four separate acid-base equilibria and their corresponding ground state pK(a) values. DFT/TDDFT calculations were performed for the N3 dye in solution, investigating the possible relevant species obtained by sequential deprotonation of the four dye carboxylic groups. TDDFT excited state calculations provided UV-vis absorption spectra which nicely agree with the experimental spectral shapes at various pH values. The calculated pK(a) values are also in good agreement with experimental data, within <1 pK(a) unit. Based on the calculated energy differences a tentative assignment of the N3 deprotonation pathway is reported.     

Multiway chemometric decomposition of EEM of fluorescence of CdTe quantum dots obtained as function of pH

The effect of the pH (from 3 to 10) on the excitation emission matrices (EEMs) of fluorescence of CdTe quantum dots (QDs), capped with mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), were analyzed by multiway decomposition methods of parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), a variant of the parallel factor analysis method (PARAFAC2) and multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR-ALS). Three different sized CdTe QDs with emission maximum at 555 nm (QDa), 594 nm (QDb) and 628 nm (QDc) were selected for analysis. The three-way data structures composed of sets of EEMs obtained as function of the pH (EEMs, pH) do not have a trilinear structure. A marked deviation to the trilinearity is observed in the emission wavelength order—the emission spectra suffers wavelength shift as the pH is varied. The pH-induced variation of the fluorescence properties of QDs is described with only one-component PARAFAC2 or MCR-ALS models—other components are necessary to model scattering and/or other background signals in (EEMs, pH) data structures. Bigger sized QDs are more suitable tools for analytical methodologies because they show higher Stokes shifts (resulting in simpler models) and higher pH range sensitivity. The pH dependence of the maximum wavelength of the emission spectra is particularly suitable for the development of QDs/EEMs wavelength-encoded pH sensor bioimaging or biological label methodologies when coupled to multiway chemometric decomposition.     

Multi‐component analysis: blind extraction of pure components mass spectra using sparse component analysis

The paper presents sparse component analysis (SCA)‐based blind decomposition of the mixtures of mass spectra into pure components, wherein the number of mixtures is less than number of pure components. Standard solutions of the related blind source separation (BSS) problem that are published in the open literature require the number of mixtures to be greater than or equal to the unknown number of pure components. Specifically, we have demonstrated experimentally the capability of the SCA to blindly extract five pure components mass spectra from two mixtures only. Two approaches to SCA are tested: the first one based on ?₁ norm minimization implemented through linear programming and the second one implemented through multilayer hierarchical alternating least square nonnegative matrix factorization with sparseness constraints imposed on pure components spectra. In contrast to many existing blind decomposition methods no a priori information about the number of pure components is required. It is estimated from the mixtures using robust data clustering algorithm together with pure components concentration matrix. Proposed methodology can be implemented as a part of software packages used for the analysis of mass spectra and identification of chemical compounds. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of the pH on the complexation of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Fe(III) Ions by a vine leaf litter extract by fluorescence quenching

An extract of dead vine leaves (vitis viniferal) (VLE) was obtained by the extraction procedure for fulvic acids and its interaction (at a concentration of 25mg/L in 0.1 M KNO₃) with the Cu(II), Ni(II) and Fe(III) ions was studied in the pH range between 3 and 6. This interaction was monitored by synchronous molecular fluorescence, since bands due to the fluorescent ligands undergo quenching upon complex formation. After the chemometric isolation of the quenching profiles from the raw spectra by a self-modeling mixture analysis, SIMPLISMA, they were analyzed by two methods: (i) graphical procedures based on the Stern-Volmer model; and (ii) a non-linear least-squares procedure. For the Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions, the treatment by these two methods provided similar values both for the logarithm of the conditional stability constants (log Kc) and the percentage of fluorescent structures that do not participate in the complexation. The log Kc were (standard deviations in parenthesis): Cu(II) ion, 2.4 (3), 3.37(3), 4.4(1) and 4.92(9), respectively, for pH = 3, 4, 5 and 6; Ni(II)ion, 2.9(1), 3.3(2), and 4.09(3), respectively, for pH = 4, 5 and 6. For Fe(III) an interaction with VLE was observed, but no values for Kc could be obtained.     

Investigation of the acid-base properties of mononitro-calix[4]arene with chemometric methods

The acid-base properties of mononitro-calix[4]arene was studied with chemometric methods by measurement of its UV absorbance under different pH. The chemometric method-iterative target transformation factor (ITTFA) was employed to resolve the acid-base fraction curves. Combining with other chemometric methods-principal component analysis (PCA) and evolving factor analysis (EFA), the proton dissociation behavior of the derivative was investigated in detail. The pK(a) values of the derivative were determined and the fraction curves and pure absorbing spectra of each absorbing component were obtained.     

Determination of acid-base dissociation constants of very weak zwitterionic heterocyclic bases by capillary zone electrophoresis

Thermodynamic acid-base dissociation (ionization) constants (pK(a)) of seven zwitterionic heterocyclic bases, first representatives of new heterocyclic family (2,3,5,7,8,9-hexahydro-1H-diimidazo[1,2-c:2',1'-f][1,3,2]diazaphosphinin-4-ium-5-olate 5-oxides), originally designed as chiral Lewis base catalysts for enantioselective reactions, were determined by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). The pK(a) values of the above very weak zwitterionic bases were determined from the dependence of their effective electrophoretic mobility on pH in strongly acidic background electrolytes (pH 0.85-2.80). Prior to pK(a) calculation by non-linear regression analysis, the CZE measured effective mobilities were corrected to reference temperature, 25°C, and constant ionic strength, 25 mM. Thermodynamic pK(a) values of the analyzed zwitterionic heterocyclic bases were found to be particularly low, in the range 0.04-0.32. Moreover, from the pH dependence of effective mobility of the bases, some other relevant characteristics, such as actual and absolute ionic mobilities and hydrodynamic radii of the acidic cationic forms of the bases were determined.     

Comprehensive description of the photodegradation of bromophenols using chromatographic monitoring and chemometric tools

A general procedure for the study of complex photodegradation processes of environmental pollutants based on chromatographic monitoring and chemometric method is proposed. The procedure consists of multiset data analysis of aliquots collected at different reaction times and injected in High-Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to diode array detection and mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS). In this study, photodegradation of six bromophenols with different degrees of bromination has been investigated in order to find out their photodegradation pathways and kinetics and to show the potential of the procedure proposed. Multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) has been used to resolve chromatographic elution profiles and pure spectra of species involved in the photodegradation process and, hence, to elucidate the photodegradation mechanism and to propose the chemical structure of the main photoproducts. This study shows that chromatographic monitoring is the preferred option when photochemical systems with large number of components with similar spectra and kinetic evolution are analyzed. This work reveals the advantages of the double DAD and MS detection to provide mechanistic and structural information about these complex photodegradation processes.     

Acid-base titrations of functional groups on the surface of the thermophilic bacterium Anoxybacillus flavithermus: comparing a chemical equilibrium model with ATR-IR spectroscopic data

Acid-base functional groups at the surface of Anoxybacillus flavithermus (AF) were assigned from the modeling of batch titration data of bacterial suspensions and compared with those determined from in situ infrared spectroscopic titration analysis. The computer program FITMOD was used to generate a two-site Donnan model (site 1: pKa = 3.26, wet concn = 2.46 x 10(-4) mol g(-1); site 2: pKa = 6.12, wet concn = 6.55 x 10(-5) mol g(-1)), which was able to describe data for whole exponential phase cells from both batch acid-base titrations at 0.01 M ionic strength and electrophoretic mobility measurements over a range of different pH values and ionic strengths. In agreement with information on the composition of bacterial cell walls and a considerable body of modeling literature, site 1 of the model was assigned to carboxyl groups, and site 2 was assigned to amino groups. pH difference IR spectra acquired by in situ attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy confirmed the presence of carboxyl groups. The spectra appear to show a carboxyl pKa in the 3.3-4.0 range. Further peaks were assigned to phosphodiester groups, which deprotonated at slightly lower pH. The presence of amino groups could not be confirmed or discounted by IR spectroscopy, but a positively charged group corresponding to site 2 was implicated by electrophoretic mobility data. Carboxyl group speciation over a pH range of 2.3-10.3 at two different ionic strengths was further compared to modeling predictions. While model predictions were strongly influenced by the ionic strength change, pH difference IR data showed no significant change. This meant that modeling predictions agreed reasonably well with the IR data for 0.5 M ionic strength but not for 0.01 M ionic strength.     

Evaluation of nutritional parameters in infant formulas and powdered milk by Raman spectroscopy

It has been made a critical evaluation of the application of near infrared Fourier transform-Raman spectroscopy for the simultaneous determination of the most important nutritional parameters such as energetic value, carbohydrate, protein and fat contents of infant formula and powdered milk samples based on the use of partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis. A highly heterogeneous population of 23 samples, covering a wide range of infant food formula and powdered milk, were obtained from the Spanish market. Raman spectra, obtained by excitation with a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm, show no disturbing fluorescence effects; therefore sample spectra can be recorded without any previous preparation step. After correcting the spectra, hierarchical cluster analysis was performed in order to select a representative calibration set and the corresponding validation sample set. Different PLS models and several spectral windows were tested in order to evaluate their prediction capabilities for the validation set. Considering a calibration set comprised of three replicate spectra of 15 samples and a validation data set of eight samples, the procedure developed provided figures of merit which complied with the statutory values declared by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).     

Multivariate curve resolution of rapid-scan FTIR difference spectra of quinone photoreduction in bacterial photosynthetic membranes

Photosynthetic reaction centres and membranes are systems of particular interest and are often taken as models to investigate the molecular mechanisms of selected bioenergetic reactions. In this work, a multivariate curve resolution by alternating least squares procedure is detailed for resolution of time-resolved difference FTIR spectra probing the evolution of quinone reduction in photosynthetic membranes from Rhodobacter sphaeroides under photoexcitation. For this purpose, different data sets were acquired in the same time range and spectroscopic domain under slightly different experimental conditions. To enable resolution and provide meaningful results the different data sets were arranged in an augmented matrix. This strategy enabled recovery of three different species despite rank-deficiency conditions. It also results in better definition (identity and evolution) of the contributions. From the resolved spectra, the species have been attributed to: 1. the formation of ubiquinol, more precisely the disappearance of Q/appearance of QH₂; 2. conformational change of the protein in the surrounding biological medium; 3. oxidation of diaminodurene, a redox mediator. Because, moreover, results obtained from augmented data sets strategies enable quantitative and qualitative interpretation of concentration profiles, other effects, for example the consequence of repeated light excitation of the same sample, choice of illumination power, or the number of spectra accumulated could be compared and discussed.     

化学演讲过程数据的自动分辨: 复杂石油样品的GC－MS分析

基于几种新化学计量学方法,提出了可自动解析化学演进数据的新途径。在该法中,首先选择关键向量。通过子空间比较法确定数据的化学秩。以关键向量为起点,通过初等变换不断迭代而实现对数据的解析。并利用数据非负性等检验解析结果的可靠程度。结合GC－MS数据的特点,选择的关键变量可为关键质谱或关键浓度曲线。该方法能极大地减少人为干预,大大降低数据分析时间,对文中的石油样本共解析出557个成分。     

On-Line Multicomponent Determination of the Flux of Mixtures of Phenols Through a Liquid Membrane in Real Time

 The analysis of mixtures of four phenolic compounds in an on-line system using UV-visible measurements with a fibre optic probe is discussed in this work. The aim of this system is to provide accurate real time concentration profiles in order to monitor the transport of phenols across a solid supported liquid membrane in both the feed and stripping phases. Different calibration models are taking into account the pH of the solution, using experimental designs and the first derivative in combination with different multivariate approaches like multiple linear regression (MLR), inverted least squares (ILS) and partial least squares regression (PLS). The comparison of all these combinations is carried out by means of the predictive residual error sum of squares (PRESS) evaluated from an independent set of spectra. From this comparison it is concluded that a PLS model using first derivative spectra offers the most accurate and robust prediction in the permeation experiments. Additionally, the stability of the model and the figures of merit obtained are also discussed. Received July 22, 1999. Revision October 23, 2000.