Plasmon heating mediated Friedel-Crafts alkylation of anisole using supported AuNP@Nb2O5 catalysts

Two different hybrid materials composed of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) supported on either commercial niobium oxide HY 340 or mesoporous niobium oxide catalyzed the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of anisole by benzyl chloride. Excitation of the surface plasmon of the supported AuNPs allowed the reaction to occur at lower temperatures by acting as an alternative heat source. The localized heating produced via plasmon excitation permitted the acid catalyzed reaction to occur - at the Lewis acid sites on the Nb₂O₅ support - at 80 °C while thermal-dark reactions using a conventional heat source, required temperatures of 120 °C or higher. The catalytic activity of the tested hybrid materials decreased with storage time. However, the deactivation showed to be reversible upon lyophilisation indicating that the nature of the deactivation could be due to water adsorption.     

Determination of total arsenic in seawater by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

In this work, the determination of total As in seawater by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry was studied. The influence of the chemical, flow and instrumental parameters were investigated and optimized. The pre-reduction of As(V) to As(III) was performed using KI plus ascorbic acid in 3.5 mol L^− 1 HCl medium. No multiplicative interference was present and external aqueous calibration could be used. The limit of detection was 36 ng L^− 1, while the repeatability was 2% (n = 10), at a 500 ng L^− 1 concentration level. The sample throughput was 15 h^− 1 if triplicate measurements were made. The accuracy was assessed by the analysis of a seawater certified reference material and excellent agreement between the obtained and certified values was verified. The procedure was used for the analysis of seawater offshore samples collected at the Brazilian coast and results ranging from 860 to 1200 ng L^− 1 were found.     

Ethanol Production from Sugarcane Bagasse by Zymomonas mobilis Using Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) Process

Considerable efforts have been made to utilize agricultural and forest residues as biomass feedstock for the production of second-generation bioethanol as an alternative fuel. Fermentation utilizing strains of Zymomonas mobilis and the use of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process has been proposed. Statistical experimental design was used to optimize the conditions of SSF, evaluating solid content, enzymatic load, and cell concentration. The optimum conditions were found to be solid content (30%), enzymatic load (25 filter paper units/g), and cell concentration (4 g/L), resulting in a maximum ethanol concentration of 60 g/L and a volumetric productivity of 1.5 g L^?1?h^?1.     

Trace determination of sulfonylurea herbicides in water and grape samples by capillary zone electrophoresis using large volume sample stacking

A sensitive and reliable method using capillary zone electrophoresis with UV-diode array detection has been developed and validated for trace determination of residues of sulfonylurea herbicides in environmental water samples and grapes from different origins. The analytes included are triasulfuron, rimsulfuron, flazasulfuron, metsulfuron-methyl, and chlorsulfuron. Optimum separation has been achieved on a 48.5-cm × 50-μm (effective length 40 cm) bubble cell capillary using 90 mM ammonium acetate buffer, pH 4.8, by applying a voltage of 20 kV at 25 °C and using p-aminobenzoic acid as the internal standard. In order to increase sensitivity, large volume sample stacking with polarity switching has been applied as on-line preconcentration methodology. For water samples, a solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure based on the use of Oasis HLB cartridges was applied for off-line preconcentration and cleanup. For grape samples, the SPE procedure was achieved with C₁₈ sorbent, after extraction of the compounds with MeOH:H₂O (1:1) by sonication. The limits of detection for the studied compounds were between 0.04 and 0.12 μg/L for water samples and 0.97 and 8.30 μg/kg in the case of grape samples, lower in all cases than the maximum residue limits permitted by the EU for this kind of food. The developed methodology has demonstrated its suitability for the monitoring of these residues in environmental water and grape samples with high sensitivity, precision, and satisfactory recoveries.     

Metabolic probes for imaging endosymbiotic bacteria within toxic dinoflagellates

Fluorescence microscopy offers an important tool for the study of complex biological phenomena such as symbiosis. Here we identify a strategy that adapts the unique differences between the secondary metabolism in host and guest symbiotic species to selectively image endosymbiotic organisms. The method is demonstrated by application to the complex symbiotic relationships in toxic marine dinoflagellates.     

Solvent- and temperature-dependent functionalisation of enantioenriched aziridines

A highly stereo‐ and regioselective functionalisation of chiral non‐racemic aziridines is reported. By starting from a parent enantioenriched aziridine and finely tuning the reaction conditions, it is possible to address the regio‐ and stereoselectivity of the lithiation/electrophile trapping sequence, thereby allowing the preparation of highly enantioenriched functionalised aziridines. From chiral N‐alkyl trans‐2,3‐diphenylaziridines (S,S)‐ 1 a , b , two differently configured chiral aziridinyllithiums could be generated (trans‐ 1 a , b‐Li in toluene and cis‐ 1 a , b‐Li in THF), thus disclosing a solvent‐dependent reactivity that is useful for the synthesis of chiral tri‐substituted aziridines with different stereochemistry. In contrast, chiral aziridine (S,S)‐ 1 c showed a temperature‐dependent reactivity to give chiral ortho‐lithiated aziridine 1 c‐ ortho ‐Li at ?78 °C and α‐lithiated aziridine 1 c‐α‐Li at 0 °C. Both lithiated intermediates react with electrophiles to give enantioenriched ortho‐ and α‐functionalised aziridines. The reaction of all the lithiated aziridines with carbonyl compounds furnished useful chiral hydroxyalkylated derivatives, the stereochemistry of which was ascertained by X‐ray and NMR spectroscopic analysis. The usefulness of chiral non‐racemic functionalised aziridines has been demonstrated by reductive ring‐opening reactions furnishing chiral amines that bear quaternary stereogenic centres and chiral 1,2‐, 1,3‐ and 1,5‐aminoalcohols. It is remarkable that the solvent‐dependent reactivity observed with (S,S)‐ 1 a , b permits the preparation of both the enantiomers of amines ( 11 and ent‐ 11 ) and 1,2‐aminoalcohols ( 13 and ent‐ 13 ) starting from the same parent aziridine. Interestingly, for the first time, a configurationally stable chiral α‐lithiated aziridine ( 1 c‐α‐Li ) has been generated at 0 °C. In addition, ortho‐hydroxyalkylated aziridines have been easily converted into chiral aminoalkyl phthalans, which are useful building blocks in medicinal chemistry.     

New method for determination of trihalomethanes in exhaled breath: Applications to swimming pool and bath environments

A method for the estimation of the human intake of trihalomethanes (THMs), namely chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform, during showering and bathing is reported. The method is based on the determination of these compounds in exhaled breath that is collected by solid adsorption on Tenax using a device specifically designed for this purpose. Instrumental measurements were performed by automatic thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography with electron capture detection. THMs in exhaled breath samples were determined during showering and swimming pool attendance. The levels of these compounds in indoor air and water were also determined as reference for interpretation of the exhaled breath results. The THM concentrations in exhaled breath of the volunteers measured before the exposure experiments showed a close correspondence with the THMs levels in indoor air where the sampler was located. Limits of detection in exhaled breath were dependent on THM analytes and experimental sites. They ranged between 170 and 710 ng m⁻³ in the swimming pool studies and between 97 and 460 ng m⁻³ in the showering studies. Application of this method to THMs determination during showering and swimming pool activities revealed statistically significant increases in THMs concentrations when comparing exhaled breath before and after exposure.     

Breaking away: violation of distortion emission phase-frequency invariance at low frequencies

The phase versus frequency function of the distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) at 2f(1) - f(2) is approximately invariant at frequencies above 1.5 kHz in human subjects when recorded with a constant f(2)/f(1). However, a secular break from this invariance has been observed at lower frequencies where the phase-gradient becomes markedly steeper. Apical DPOAEs, such as 2f(1)?- f(2), are known to contain contributions from multiple sources. This experiment asked whether the phase behavior of the ear canal DPOAE at low frequencies is driven by the phase of the component from the distortion product (DP) region at 2f(1)?- f(2), which exhibits rapid phase accumulation. Placing a suppressor tone close in the frequency to 2f(1)?- f(2) reduced the contribution of this component to the ear canal DPOAE in normal-hearing adult human ears. When the contribution of this component was reduced, the phase behavior of the ear canal DPOAE was not altered, suggesting that the breaking from DPOAE phase invariance at low frequencies is an outcome of apical-basal differences in cochlear mechanics. The deviation from DPOAE phase invariance appears to be a manifestation of the breaking from approximate scaling symmetry in the human cochlear apex.     

A general framework for the construction of piecewise-polynomial local interpolants of minimum degree

In this paper we consider the problem of designing piecewise polynomial local interpolants of non-uniformly spaced data. We provide a constructive approach that, for any assigned degree of polynomial reproduction, continuity order, and support width, allows for generating the fundamental spline functions of minimum degree having the desired properties. Finally, the proposed construction is extended to handle open sets of data and to the case of multiple knots.