Mercury Speciation in Fish by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Post-Column Ultraviolet (UV)-Photochemical Vapor Generation (PVG): Comparison of Conventional Line-Source and High-Resolution Continuum Source (HR-CS) Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS)

An ultraviolet-photochemical generator (UV-PVG) capable of post-column on-line transformation of both organic and inorganic mercury species to cold vapor (Hg⁰) with subsequent detection by quartz tube-atomic absorption spectrometry (QT-AAS) was developed. Mercury(II), methylmercury(I), ethylmercury(I), and phenylmercury(I) were successfully detected after separation by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Two types of AAS detectors were compared. The first was a commonly used line-source instrument while the second was a high-resolution continuum source (HR-CS) AAS. The latter provided better limits of detection: 0.47?µg?L^?1 for Hg(II), 0.84?µg?L^?1 for methylmercury(I), 0.80?µg?L^?1 for ethylmercury(I), and 2.0?µg?L^?1 for phenylmercury(I). The repeatability at 30?μg?L^?1 was 3.6%, 4.1%, 6.2%, and 4.5% for these species (n?=?10). These figures of merit were comparable with those reported for more sensitive atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Nine sample extraction procedures were investigated. Extraction by tetramethylammonium hydroxide and HCl at 75?°C was selected as the only method compatible with the proposed separation and detection steps providing high extraction efficiency and no changes in mercury speciation. The applicability of the proposed high-performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet-photochemical vapor generation–quartz tube-atomic absorption spectrometry method was demonstrated using fish samples and certified reference materials (CRM) DOLT-4 (dogfish liver) and ERM-CE464 (tuna fish). The results were comparable to those obtained by a reference method based on L-cysteine extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HPLC–ICP-MS) determination.     

Molecular entity vacancy model

A novel molecular entity vacancy model was proposed to describe thermodynamic properties in a multicomponent solution system using its binary interaction parameters only. A derivation of the model for its general expression has been shown in detail. Under some special conditions, this model may be reduced to Flory–Huggins equation, Wilson equation and non-random two liquids (NRTL) equation as well as molecular interaction volume model (MIVM), respectively, and can be verified by Gibbs–Duhem equation, and can express thermodynamic properties of partially miscible systems. The predicted activities are in good agreement with experimental data of some liquid alloys. The results show that the model is of better predictability and reliability because it has a certain physical basis.     

The catanionic system dodecyltrimethylammonium hydroxide–n-dodecanephosphonic acid–water. Triangular phase diagram

 The triangular phase diagram of the system dodecyltri-methylammonium hydroxide (DTAOH)–dodecanephosphonic acid (H₂DP)–water was studied by several techniques. The DTAOH-rich zone could not be studied because DTAOH decomposed when it was dried. Pure H₂DP only forms lamellar mesophases with water. The inclusion of DTAOH in the system produces the appearance of cubic and hexagonal mesophases. The gradual increase in DTAOH proportion lead to the gradual reduction in the existence of the lamellar mesophase domain, and increase of the hexagonal liquid crystal domain. At high DTAOH content, the lamellar mesophase disappeared. This behavior was explained by the gradual destruction of the hydrogen-bonded structure in the polar headgroup layer of liquid crystal aggregates. H₂DP-rich anhydrous crystals were triclinic. Received: 8 September 1997 Accepted: 17 February 1998     

钴离子在P507为载体的支撑液膜中的传输

本文用国内的膜材料设计了以2-乙基已基膦酸单(2-乙基已基)酯(HEH(EHF),P_(507))为载体的支撑液膜迁移钴的实验,获得的数据为深入实验提供了依据.基本原理支撑液膜(SLM)是依靠微孔塑料薄膜(支撑体)微孔的毛细管作用将含萃取剂(载体)的有机溶液吸附在支撑体上.P_(507)萃取钴表示为:     

A simple optimization strategy based on Rs-minimum and information theory of chromatography

Summary A simple optimization method based on the well-known Rs-minimum method and on the information theory of FUMI Φ is proposed. Resolution (Rs), peak area and height (or width) are the only parameters necessary for the calculation of the information Φ and information flow ϑ. The most precise analysis can be selected as the chromatogram having maximal ϑ. Mobile phase composition, column length, flow rate, detection wavelength, amount of internal standard, etc. can be optimized by this method.     

Effect of drying temperature and blanching on the degradation of chlorophyll a and b in mint (Mentha spicata Huds.) and basil (Ocimum basilicum): Analysis by high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection

Summary The effect of drying conditions on the preservation of chlorophyll pigments in mint and basil have been investigated in order to determine the effects of drying temperature and whether or not there was a prior blanching.Pigments extracted from fresh and dried samples were analyzed by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a photodiode array detector; isocratic separation was performed on a Zorbax ODS C18 column.The purity of the chromatographic peaks of chlorophylls and breakdown products was investigated. The visible spectra of standard samples of chlorophylls and pheophytins were compared, using least squares normalization with those of peaks from the extracts of fresh and dried mint and basil. The study has shown that chlorophylls were better preserved when drying was preceded by a short blanching; if samples were not blanched before drying, the degradation of chlorophylls a and b was best prevented by drying at low temperatures.     

Influence of silica gel pretreatment and bonding technique on PAH selectivity of octadecyl bonded phases

Summary The effect of silica gel pretreatment and of different bonding techniques, on the chromatographic properties of octadecyl bonded phases is described. The experiments show that a monomeric octadecyl bonded phase, prepared from silica gel that has not been treated before bonding, has a poor selectivity towards polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and shows high adsorption of basic components. Silica gel treatment before the bonding of the monofunctional silane does not give a substantial improvement. Polymeric phases on the other hand show a much better PAH selectivity and a lower adsorptivity towards basic components. Further improvement can be achieved with the polymeric modification if silica gel treatment is carried out before bonding.     

Molecular shape recognition capability of liquid-crystal bonded phases in reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography

Summary The chromatographic retention behaviour of two liquidcrystal bonded phases have been evaluated using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as the probe samples in reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The results clearly indicate that these phases have better planarity and shape recognition capabilities than commercially-avaialble polymeric octadecylsilica (ODS) phases whose strong planarity and shape selectivities were found earlier. It can also be concluded from the chromatographic observations that the shape recognition capability of these phases is dependent on both mobile phase composition and column temperature, but that the effect of mobile phase and temperature on the shape selectivity work independently. The retention behaviour can be explained by changes in the phase structure with changes of eluent composition and temperature.     

Structural studies of the allelic wheat glutenin subunits 1Bx7 and 1Bx20 by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Structural studies of the high molecular mass (HMM) glutenin subunits 1Bx7 (from cvs Hereward and Galatea) and 1Bx20 (from cv. Bidi17) of bread wheat were conducted using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC/ESI-MS). For all three proteins, MALDI-TOFMS analysis showed that the isolated fractions contained a second component with a mass about 650 Da lower than the major component. The testing and correction of the gene-derived amino acid sequences of the three proteins were performed by direct MALDI-TOFMS analysis of their tryptic peptide mixture. Analysis of the digest was performed by recording several MALDI mass spectra of the mixture at low, medium and high mass ranges, optimizing the matrix and the acquisition parameters for each mass range. Complementary data were obtained by RP-HPLC/ESI-MS analysis of the tryptic digest. This resulted in coverage of about 98% of the sequences. In contrast to the gene-derived data, the results obtained demonstrate the insertion of the sequence QPGQGQ between Trp716 and Gln717 of subunit 1Bx7 (cv. Galatea) and a possible single amino acid substitution within the T20 peptide of subunit 1Bx20. Moreover, the mass spectrometric data demonstrated that the lower mass components present in all the fractions correspond to the major components but lack about six amino acid residues, which are probably lost from the protein C-terminus. Finally, the results obtained provide evidence for the lack of glycosylation or other post-translational modifications of these subunits.     

Application of ionic liquids as low-volatility plasticizers for PMMA

Room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) based on imidazolium salts, were found to be excellent plasticizers for poly(methyl methacrylate), with improved thermal stability, and the ability to reduce glass transition temperatures to near 0 °C. Because ILs have environmentally benign properties, they can be used in place of traditional chemicals in numerous products and processes. In this work, PMMA was formulated using dioctyl phthalate, DOP, as a traditional plasticizer, and properties were compared to PMMA plasticized with two ILs: butyl methylimidazolium/hexafluorophosphate, [bmim⁺][PF₆⁻], and hexyl methylimidazolium/hexafluorophosphate, [hmim⁺][PF₆⁻]. Formulations incorporated up to 30 vol.% DOP and 50 vol.% ILs. Bulk and plasticized polymers were characterized for glass transition temperature, elastic modulus, and the thermal stability of the plasticizers.