Analytical Detectors Based on Microplasma Spectrometry

Miniaturizing all dimensions of apparatus, such as electronics and computers, is the current trend followed by scientists in various fields. The idea of Lab-on-a-Chip has significantly expanded and found its broad applications in analytical chemistry. Microplasmas can act as a sample excitation source and are the miniaturized versions of full-sized plasmas. These can be created in various forms, such as direct current, microwave induced, capacitively coupled and inductively coupled plasmas. Scaling down the size would reduce the amount of gases, liquids and consumables required, as well as the sample analysis time, which in turn would decrease the operating costs. Therefore, several research groups are involved in the development of microplasmas for utilisation in analytical instruments.     

Phase Transition and Crystal Structure of the Monomeric Europium(II) Thiolate Eu(SC36H49)2

Single crystal X‐ray diffraction of Eu(SC₃₆H₄₉)₂ has revealed a first order phase transition at a temperature of 119 K, that involves a reduction of the specific volume by 1 %. The transition corresponds to a doubling of the unit cell, as it is the result from reorientations of isopropyl groups that appear at peripheral sites of the organic ligands. It is argued that a denser packing is achieved at the expense of a less favourable conformation of one of the two crystallographically‐independent complexes in the low‐temperature phase. The Bond‐Valence method is used to show that interactions of equal strengths are present between europium and both sulphur atoms and both coordinating phenyl rings.     

Comprehensive chemical derivatization for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based multi-targeted profiling of the major phytohormones

In the present investigation we report selection of the N-methyl-N-(tert.-butydimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) reagent as the most comprehensive derivatization protocol among 17 tested reactions covering trifluoroacetylation, pentafluorobenzylation, methylations, and trimethylsilylations. MTBSTFA allowed easy and robust tert.-butyldimethylsilyl derivatization of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, indole-3-acetic acid, (+/-)-jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, (+/-)-abscisic acid, meta-topolin, and trans-zeatin. Detection limits as analysed by selected ion monitoring quadrupole GC-MS were 0.2, 0.01, 1.0, 0.02, 0.3, 0.3, and 0.9 pmol of injected substance, respectively. Analysis of gibberellic acid A3, trans-zeatin riboside and (+/-)-abscisic acid-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester was best when coupled by splitting extracts and trimethysilylation. The MTBSTFA derivatization protocol was optimised, and validated. The preparation was insensitive to 2% residual water and to < or = 1 day storage at room temperature. The final scheme was highly reproducible and successfully applied to extracts from approximately 300 mg (fresh mass) of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) root and Arabidopsis thaliana seedling.     

Determination of polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASH) in diesel fuel by high performance liquid chromatography and photodiode-array detection

An oxidation method (sulfone method) for the determination of polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASH) in diesel fuel is presented. The aromatic fraction of a diesel fuel, isolated by solid phase extraction, is oxidized under controlled conditions with hydrogen peroxide. The oxidation products, mainly methylated dibenzosulfone, are determined and quantified directly, without further clean-up, by HPLC with photodiode-array detection.     

Optisch aktive übergangsmetall-komplexe : XXXIX. Stereospezifische phenyl-addition an das C5H5(CO)2 Mo-Pyridin-Carbaldimin-Kation

The addition of C₆H₅^? to the NN' ligand (NN' = Schiff base of pyridine carbaldehyde-(2) and (S)-(—)-α-phenylethylamine) in [C₅H₅ Mo(CO)₂ NN'] PF₆ occurs stereospecific from the side opposite to the C₅H₅-ring.     

Direct Identification of the Carbon Skeleton of Organic Compounds using Double Quantum Coherence 13C-NMR Spectroscopy. The INADEQUATE Pulse Sequence

NMR spectroscopy plays an important part in the determination of the structures of organic compounds. The parameters of importance here are the chemical shifts of the ¹H and ¹³C nuclei and the spin-spin interactions both between ¹H nuclei and between ¹H and ¹³C nuclei. Couplings between ¹³C nuclei were almost completely neglected until a few years ago, since they were extremely difficult to observe because of the low natural abundance of ¹³C. However, it is these couplings which afford information directly on the carbon-carbon connectivities in the molecule. It is now possible to use a special NMR pulse sequence to make these couplings more readily visible: the result of using this sequence is a ¹³C-NMR spectrum from which the carbon skeleton concerned can be directly read off. Two-dimensional spectra in particular are very easy to evaluate. The pulse sequence involved, which bears the somewhat puzzling name INADEQUATE, produces double-quantum coherences from which the NMR signals of the coupled carbon nuclei can be obtained. In this article the principle of double-quantum coherence is described and a number of examples for the application of the INADEQUATE pulse sequences to problems in synthetic organic chemistry, biosynthesis and natural products chemistry are presented; in addition, the possibility of applying the INADEQUATE method to other nuclei is considered.     

Formation of protonic defects in perovskite-type oxides with redox-active acceptors: case study on Fe-doped SrTiO(3)

The thermodynamics of water incorporation into Fe-doped SrTiO(3) was investigated by thermogravimetric measurements. Changes in valence states of redox-active dopant ions (Fe(3+)/Fe(4+)) with water vapor pressure were taken into account in the defect chemical analysis. The proton solubility was significantly enhanced by the presence of the redox centers. The hydration enthalpies and entropies were -60 kJ mol(-1) and -122 J mol(-1) K(-1). The defect chemical model was applied to describe the water vapor dependence of the electrical conductivity in mixed ionic and electronic conducting Fe-doped SrTiO(3) single crystals.     

Bestimmung von Wasser in Dichloressigsäure

Water concentrations in dichloroacetic acid in the range of 0<C <1 % (C = percent by weight) can be determined directly by photometry at 1425 nm. The absorbance A at this maximum is described by the function A=1.267×C^0.93 (cell path d=5 cm, correlation coefficient r=0.997). The variation coefficient for water concentrations of ≈0.06% was found to be V=6.5%.