ESI outcompetes other ion sources in LC/MS trace analysis

Choosing an appropriate ion source is a crucial step in liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method development. In this paper, we compare four ion sources for LC/MS analysis of 40 pesticides in tomato and garlic matrices. We compare electrospray ionisation (ESI) source, thermally focused/heated electrospray (HESI), atmospheric pressure photoionisation (APPI) source with and without dopant, and multimode source in ESI mode, atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI) mode, and combined mode using both ESI and APCI, i.e. altogether seven different ionisation modes. The lowest limits of detection (LoDs) were obtained by ESI and HESI. Widest linear ranges were observed with the conventional ESI source without heated nebuliser gas. In comparison to HESI, ESI source was significantly less affected by matrix effect. APPI ranked second (after ESI) by not being influenced by matrix effect; therefore, it would be a good alternative to ESI if low LoDs are not required.

Graphical abstract

     

Changes of intracellular ionic concentrations and membrane transport in alga Hydrodictyon reticulatum

Algal nets of Hydrodictyon reticulatum have been cultivated in double or triple labelled medium as to investigate the change of the intracellular concentration and membrane transport of chloride, sulphate, phosphate and sodium ions. The change of the intracellular concentrations of potassium and ammonium ions has been studied using atomic absorption and spectrophotometric methods, respectively. The release of different ionic species from algal cells should be always taken into account during the membrane transport studies.     

The role of additional solvents in transition metal complex catalyzed asymmetric reductions in ionic liquid containing systems

When ionic liquids (ILs) are employed as solvents for transition metal complex (TMC) catalyzed reductions, a second solvent can be added to increase the efficiency of the catalytic cycle and the solubility of the reactant in the IL phase. Two industrially relevant asymmetric hydrogenations, the enantioselective reductions of methyl 2-acetamidoacrylate with Rh-EtDuPHOS and methyl acetoacetate with Ru-BINAP, were performed in different catalytic systems including 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate/ tetrafluoroborate as ILs. Product separation and TMC recycling was performed by extracting the product from the reaction mixture. This can be accomplished by cooling the system, by adding an excess of the second solvent or by adding a third solvent. A high solubility of the second solvent in the IL catalytic phase favors the reaction activity, but can induce leaching of the IL and TMC.     

Axial dispersion in a liquid fluidized bed of particles akin to immobilized enzymes

The axial dispersion of a liquid fluidized bed of controlled pore silica (CPS) particles has been determined by the pulse tracer method. The CPS used was the same as for enzyme immobilization, having an average diameter of 0.436 mm and mean pore size of 37.5 nm. The fluidization liquid is α-amylase liquefied manioc starch, 30% w/v, 45°C pH=4.5. Nominal bed porosities tested were 0.7 and 0.8. The results show that the axial dispersion coefficient increases with greater superficial liquid velocities. Various available correlations tested disagree with each other to a large extent and are unable to represent collected experimental data.     

In Situ Amperometric Detection of Vesicles and Microgel Phases in an Aggregating System: Calcium Alginate

In situ amperometric characterization of an aggregating system in terms of molecular adsorption and single microparticle interactions at the electrode interface is demonstrated using a model system: alginate/Ca(II) in an aqueous electrolyte solution. Recording of chronoamperometric curves of oxygen reduction at the dropping mercury electrode is designed for detection of dip‐shaped signals of individual gel microparticles. By addition of Ca(II) decrease of alginate adsorption is accompanied by appearance of signals indicating vesicle type association of alginate molecules and microparticles of gel phase. AFM imaging provided evidence of initial stage in calcium alginate gel formation.     

The LOV2 domain of phototropin: a reversible photochromic switch

Light, oxygen, or voltage (LOV) domains constitute a new class of photoreceptor proteins that are sensitive to blue light through a noncovalently bound flavin chromophore. Blue-light absorption by the LOV2 domain initiates a photochemical reaction that results in formation of a long-lived covalent adduct between a cysteine and the flavin cofactor. We have applied ultrafast spectroscopy on the photoaccumulated covalent adduct state of LOV2 and find that, upon absorption of a near-UV photon by the adduct state, the covalent bond between the flavin and the cysteine is broken and the blue-light-sensitive ground state is regained on an ultrafast time scale of 100 ps. We thus demonstrate that the LOV2 domain is a reversible photochromic switch, which can be activated by blue light and deactivated by near-UV light.     

Electronic detection of the enzymatic degradation of starch

[reaction: see text] The enzymatic degradation of starch can be monitored electronically using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as semiconducting probes in field-effect transistors (FETs). Incubation of these devices in aqueous buffer solutions of amyloglucosidase (AMG) results in the removal of the starch from both the silicon surfaces and the side walls of the SWNTs in the FETs, as evidenced by direct imaging and electronic measurements.     

Ultrafast energy-electron transfer cascade in a multichromophoric light-harvesting molecular square

A molecular square with dimensions of about 4 nm, incorporating sixteen pyrene chromophores attached to four ditopic bay-functionalized perylene bisimide chromophores, has been synthesized by coordination to four Pt(II) phosphine corner units and fully characterized via NMR spectroscopy and ESI-FTICR mass spectrometry. Steady-state and time-resolved emission as well as femtosecond transient absorption studies reveal the presence of a highly efficient (>90%) and fast photoinduced energy transfer (k(en) approximately equal to 5.0 x 10(9) s(-1)) from the pyrene to the perylene bisimide chromophores and a very fast and efficient electron transfer (>94%, k(et) approximately equal to 5 x 10(11) up to 43 x 10(11) s(-1)). Spectrotemporal parametrization indicates upper excited-state electron-transfer processes, various energy and electron-transfer pathways, and chromophoric heterogeneity. Temperature-dependent time-resolved emission spectroscopy has shown that the acceptor emission lifetime increases with decreasing temperature from which an electron-transfer barrier is obtained. The extremely fast electron-transfer processes (substantially faster and more efficient than in the free ligand) that are normally only observed in solid materials, together with the closely packed structure of 20 chromophoric units, indicate that we can consider the molecular square as a monodisperse nanoaggregate: a molecularly defined ensemble of chromophores that partly behaves like a solid material.     

Phase Equilibria in the Ni–Al–W System at 900°C

Multicomponent Ni-base alloys exhibit good mechanical properties even at elevated temperatures and they are widely used for industrial production of exertion-resistive parts of engines. These properties are mainly determined by the coexistence of a disordered γ matrix with a face centred cubic lattice and cuboidal domains of its ordered γ′ structure. Therefore it is useful to study phase equilibria in Ni-base systems, namely in the regions involving both mentioned phases. One of the conclusions of our recent work on Ni–Al–Cr–W system was a necessity of modification of selected thermodynamic parameters of the ternary Ni–Al–W subsystem in order to achieve a better agreement of our experimental observations with theoretical modelling. This involves new measurements of the microstructure of selected samples of the Ni–Al–W system at 900°C and the comparison of the results with existing literature data in order to confirm our conclusions on higher order system investigated before. It is a first step on the way to an assessment of the Ni–Al–W system, which has not been done before.     

Band structure of even and ions of odd polyenes

The analysis of experimental data for singlet transitions (E _n) of even polyenes (I), cations (II) and anions (III) of odd polyenes show that for infinite chains E (I)/E (II)=E (I)/E (III) = 2:1. It is shown that the energy gap is equal for the three systems. In cases (II) and (III) there is a level (NBMO) in the gap which is vacant in (II) and occupied in (III). That is why the first optical transition in (II) and (III) depends on the semiwidth of the gap.