Effect of organotin compounds on trout AMP‐deaminases

The comparative toxicity of the organotin compounds tributyltin chloride (TBTC), dibutylin dichloride (DBTC) and monobutyltin trichloride (MBTC) was investigated on 5′ adenylic acid deaminase (AMP‐deaminase) purified from trout skeletal muscle and heart. Treatment with TBTC of both enzymatic forms of AMP‐deaminase rapidly decreases the enzyme activity, and the organotin derivatives DBTC and MBTC have a significant minor inhibitory effect. Differences were observed in TBTC inhibition rate between trout muscle and heart purified enzymes that could be related to the different cellular localization of the two AMP‐deaminases. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microbial transformation of tributyltin chloride by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain USS25 NCIM‐5224

A bacterial isolate capable of utilizing tributyltin chloride (TBTC) as sole source of carbon was isolated from marine water samples. The isolate, producing a soluble green pigment, was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain USS25 NCIM‐5224. The isolate showed maximum growth with 2 mM of TBTC in mineral salt medium. Time course results showed complete elimination of TBTC after 75 days of incubation. During the growth on TBTC, a product (280 mg) was found to accumulate, which was extracted with chloroform and detected on thin‐layer chromatography. Based on the IR, NMR spectra and GC‐MS analysis, the isolated product was identified as monobutyltin dichloro hydride. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential pulse-polarographic determination of organotin compounds coated on fishing nets

Summary The pulse-polarographic behaviour of tributyltin chloride (TBTC) and dibutyltin dichloride (DBTC) in ethanol-water mixtures has been studied. The effects of temperature, pH, modulation amplitude, solvent and supporting electrolyte compositions were investigated. The reduction processes are complicated and pH-dependent. DBTC gave one reversible reduction wave and TBTC showed a quasi-reversible one and also several irreversible waves. Both the organotin compounds in the concentration of 10^–7 mol/l were determined by differential pulse polarography. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of commercially available fishing nets. Detection limits were 2.2×10^–7 and 6.2×10^–8 mol/l for TBTC and DBTC, respectively.

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Differential-puls-polarographische Bestimmung von Organozinnverbindungen auf Fischernetzen

Zusammenfassung Das puls-polarographische Verhalten von Tributylzinnchlorid (TBTC) und Dibutylzinndichlorid (DBTC) in Ethanol-Wasser-Gemischen wurde untersucht und die Wirkung von Temperatur, pH, Modulationsamplitude sowie Zusammensetzung des Lösungsmittels und Leitelektrolyts geprüft. Die Reduktionsprozesse waren kompliziert und abhÄngig vom pH. DBTC ergab eine reversible Reduktionswelle, TBTC eine quasireversible Welle, sowie daneben einige irreversible Wellen. Beide Organozinnverbindungen konnten in einer Konzentration von 10^–7 mol/l durch Differential-Puls-Polarographie bestimmt werden. Die Methode wurde erfolgreich auf die Analyse von handelsüblichen Fischernetzen angewandt. Die Nachweisgrenzen lagen bei 2,2·10^–7 (TBTC) bzw. 6,2 · 10^–8 mol/l (DBTC).

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. 554164 from the Ministry of Education. The authors wish to thank Mr. Y. Komatsu, Clean Kagaku Co., Tokyo, who offered the fishing net samples.     

1′,3′,3′-Trimethyl-6-nitrospiro[2H-1-benzopyran-2,2′-indoline]: its thermal enantiomerization and the equilibration with its merocyanine

The enantiomers of the title compound, the important photochromic material (RS)-1b, have been enriched semipreparatively by liquid chromatography. As a consequence, we were able to determine the barrier of the thermal interconversion (R)-1b(S)-1b via time-dependent polarimetry, amounting to ΔG^≠=85.9 kJ/mol at 22.0°C in d⁶-DMSO (Table 2). The thermal equilibration of the corresponding merocyanine 2b was monitored in d⁶-DMSO by time-dependent ¹H NMR, resulting in ΔG₁^≠=102.8 and ΔG₂^≠=92.0 kJ/mol at 22°C (Table 1). This means that, starting from (RS)-1b, the opened isomer 2b is attained by a slow reaction (ΔG₁^≠=102.8 kJ/mol, Fig. 4). Therefore, the merocyanine 2b cannot be identified with the intermediate required for the fast process of C(sp³)–O bond cleavage (ΔG^≠=85.9 kJ/mol) upon the above enantiomerization of (RS)-1b. Apparently, these two thermal isomerizations (Fig. 4) are independent of each other. The structure of the unknown intermediate of the interconversion (R)-1b(S)-1b must therefore differ from the known one of merocyanine 2b.

Table 1. Equilibration between spiro compounds (RS)-1 and merocyanines 2 at 22°C, measured by time-dependent UV absorptions[3] for (RS)-1a2a and by time-dependent ¹H NMR intensities for the other compounds

Full-size table (8K)

Preliminary evidence for in vitro methylation of tributyltin in a marine sediment

Recent reports from our laboratory on the occurrence of methylbutyltins in marine sediments and seawater suggest that these compounds are formed in the environment by the methylation of both tributyltin (TBT) and that­of its degradation products, i.e. dibutyltin and monobutyltin, to give Me_nBu_(4?n)Sn for which n = 1, 2 and 3 respectively. We investigated the possibility of inducing methylation of TBT in seawater–sediment mixtures in experiments carried out in vitro using environmental materials collected from a yacht marina in Msida, Malta. Three water–sediment mixtures, which were shown to contain TBT, dibutyltin and monobutyltin but no other organotins, were spiked with tributyltin chloride (90 mg in 100 ml sea‐water/100 ml sediment); to one mixture was added sodium acetate and to another methanol, to act as possible additional carbon sources, and all mixtures were allowed to stand at 25 °C in stoppered clear‐glass bottles in diffused light for a maximum of 315 days. Speciation and quantification of organotins was performed using aqueous phase boroethylation with simultaneous solvent extraction followed by gas chromatography with flame photometric detection. The atmosphere inside the bottles quickly became reducing with abundant presence of H₂S, and after an induction period of about 112 days, and only in the reaction mixture containing methanol, methyltributyltin (MeBu₃Sn) was observed in both sediment (maximum concentration 0.87 µg_Sn g^?1) and overlying water (maximum concentration 6.0 µg_Sn l^?1). The minimum conversion yield of TBT into MeBu₃Sn was estimated to be 0.3%. MeBu₃Sn has a significantly lower affinity for sediment than TBT and, therefore, is more mobile in the marine environment, possibly also migrating into the atmosphere to generate a hitherto unsuspected flux of organotin into that phase. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spermatocyte chromosome alterations in truncatella subcylindrica (L., 1767) (Mollusca,Mesogastropoda) following exposure to dibutyltin(IV) and tributyltin(IV) chlorides

In order to analyze chromosomes for possible numerical and structural alterations in response to exposure to organotin(IV) compounds, gastropod Truncatella subcylindrica specimens were treated with dibutyltin(IV) and tributyltin(IV) chloride solutions with different exposure times. Experimental evidence suggests that tributyltin(IV) chloride is more toxic to this organism than dibutyltin(IV) dichloride at low concentrations. Furthermore, the toxicity responses to these organotin(IV) derivatives seem to be proportional to both concentration and exposure time. The following structural lesions have been identified by comparative analysis of spermatocyte chromosomes from untreated specimens and specimens treated with organotin(IV) compounds: (1) breakages; (2) bridging; (3) irregular outline; and (4) light areas after staining with acetic orcein. In this respect, dibutyltin(IV) and tributyltin(IV) chlorides seem to have an effect similar to that of colchicine.     

Detecting “bad” regression models: multicriteria fitness functions in regression analysis

Regression models with good fitting but no predictive ability are sometimes chance correlations and often show some pathological features such as multicollinearity, overfitting, and inclusion of noisy/spurious variables. This problem is well known and of the utmost importance. The present paper proposes some criteria that are to be fulfilled as conditions for model acceptability, the aim being to recognize linear regression models with pathology. These criteria have been thought of in order to face the following problems:

•

model instability due to outliers and influential objects;

•

predictor multicollinearity;

•

redundancy in explanatory variables;

•

overfitting due to chance factors.

A multicriteria fitness function based on the maximization of the Q² statistics under a set of tests is proposed here. This new fitness function can also be used in model searching by variable selection approaches in order to obtain a final optimal population of models. Computations on the Selwood data set are reported to illustrate the use of this multicriteria fitness function in model searching.     

Speciation of butyltin compounds by on-line HPLC-ETAA of tropolone complexes in environmental samples

Tropolone (Trop) forms in solution stable complexes with monobutyltin (MBT Trop₂) and dibutyltin (DBT Trop). This property has been used to develop a separation procedure of butyltin compounds by liquid chromatography on cyanopropyl-bonded silica columns with a solution of tropolone in toluene as eluent. Tin-specific detection by on-line ETAA allowed the development of a simple procedure suitable for the determination of tributyltin and dibutyltin in water and sediment samples.     

Second-order and higher-order multivariate calibration methods applied to non-multilinear data using different algorithms

We discuss and evaluate the current state of second-order and higher-order multivariate calibration methods devoted to the determination of compounds in non-multilinear data systems. We examine possible causes of multilinearity deviations:

(1)

a non-linear relationship between signal and analyte concentration;

(2)

a signal for a given sample that is non-multilinear; and,

(3)

component profiles that are not constant across the different samples.

We discuss the advantages and the limitations of the algorithms available to cope with these different situations.The review covers relevant analytical problems found in samples of environmental and biological interest, highlighting some significant examples, and evaluating the advantages and the limitations of the different algorithms available.     

Certification of mono-, di-, and tributyltin compounds in marine sediment certified reference material by species-specific isotope dilution mass spectrometric analysis using synthesized <Superscript>118</Superscript>Sn-labeled butyltins

A new marine sediment reference material (NMIJ CRM 7301-a) for butyltins analysis was prepared and certified by the National Metrological Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (NMIJ/AIST). The original material of the sediment was collected at a bay near industrial activities in Japan. The sediment material was air-dried, sieved, homogenized, and packaged into 1,000 glass bottles (60 g each). Certification of NMIJ CRM 7301-a was carried out at NMIJ using two different types of species-specific isotope dilution mass spectrometry: isotope dilution–ethylation–gas chromatography/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (GC/ICPMS) and isotope dilution–ethylation–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A mixture of ¹¹⁸Sn-enriched monobutyltin, dibutyltin, and tributyltin was synthesized in our laboratory and was used as a spike for both techniques. Certified values are given for tributyltin (0.044±0.004 mg kg^–1 as Sn), dibutyltin (0.056±0.006 mg kg^–1 as Sn, and monobutyltin (0.058±0.013 mg kg^–1 as Sn), being at lower levels than currently available sediment CRMs for the analysis of organotins.