Square-wave voltammetric determination of cefoperazone in a bacterial culture,pharmaceutical drug,milk, and urine

Use of square-wave voltammetry (SWV) for determination of cefoperazone (CFPZ) in some buffers, bacterial culture, urine, and milk is described. CFPZ provides a specific voltammetric signal which is affected by pH and solution components. Determination of CFPZ in Britton–Robinson buffer, pH 4.4, is sensitive with a low detection limit (about 0.5 nmol L^–1). In a more complex medium (bacterial 2YT medium, pH 7.2) the detection limit was approximately 1.5 mol L^–1. We provide evidence that SWV is a suitable and quick method for CFPZ determination in a culture of living bacteria without separation of biomass. We have found big differences between methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) in cultivation in the presence of CFPZ, depending on time. When CFPZ is cleaved by penicillinase, a new SWV peak b appears at more positive potentials. This peak rises both with increasing concentration of enzyme and with cleavage time while the original CFPZ peak is simultaneously decreasing. We determined the concentration of CFPZ in the drug Pathozone by the standard addition method and achieved good agreement with the declared value of CFPZ in the drug. With a simple pretreatment procedure it is possible to determine CFPZ in milk; for urine no pretreatment was required. Using SWV we could detect CFPZ concentrations as low as 500 nmol L^–1 in bovine milk and human urine.     

Direct and simultaneous voltammetric analysis of heavy metals in tap water samples at Assiut city: an approach to improve the analysis time for nickel and cobalt determination at mercury film electrode

Tap water samples (Assiut city, lie in the middle north of upper Egypt, approx. 370 km from Cairo, January-March, 2002) were taken from the eight sampling sites of different locations at Assiut city. The samples are analyzed to determine the total content of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) while nickel and cobalt are determined by a new simple differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV), using dimethylglyoxime (DMG) as the complexing agent. This method uses sodium sulfite as the supporting electrolyte, which facilitates the removal of oxygen interference without the traditional necessity of purging with inert gas. The effect of various parameters was studied using DPASV (for Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn) and AdSV (for Ni and Co) methods. Subsequently, under the so found experimental conditions, the stability of calibration curves and the detection limits (μg/l) have been determined. The data achieved (for all metals utility) are comparable to those measured by the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometric (GF-AAS) method. The effects of the interferences between these metal ions have been investigated. Moreover, the effect of storage was discussed and the obtained results were compared favorably with standard official methods. Statistical analysis of the database exhibits applicability and the accuracy of the techniques. The results obtained from the two techniques (Voltammetry and GF-AAS) are in very good agreements in the most tap water samples.     

Nickel determination in osteoblast-like cell culture medium by adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry with a mercury microelectrode

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of nickel, which is an alloying element in commonly used metallic biomaterials, on the biomaterials mineralization process. An electrochemical method was developed to quantify this metal ion in osteoblast-like cell culture medium (OST) by performing adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) with dimethylglyoxime (DMG) at a mercury film microelectrode (MFM). The optimized analytical conditions and the square-wave CSV parameters for the analysis are: DMG concentration: 5.00 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹; ammonium chloride buffer: 0.10 mol L⁻¹ (pH 9.2); frequency: 50 Hz, amplitude 20 mV; step: 2 mV; adsorption time: 10 s, deposition potential: −0.70 V and reduction potential: −1.20 V. The limit of detection was 7.70 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹ for an adsorption time of 10 s. The results achieved by CSV using the MFM were compared to those obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) to ensure the reliability of the electrochemical method. The mineralization process was evaluated by biochemical and histochemical assays.     

C NMR spectra of cyclomercurated ferrocenylimines: Substituent effects and conformations in the ferrocenes

Three series of cyclomercurated ferrocenylimines (2-chloromercurio-ferrocenylimines) have been studied using ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Good to excellent linear relationships have been found to exist between the chemical shifts of the carbon atoms in the ferrocenyl moiety and normal Hammett substituent constants σ_m and σ_p. The δ values of the iminyl carbon atoms show excellent linear correlations with the σ values. In three series of the ferrocenes, the sensitivity of the carbon atoms to the substituent effect is different, which is discussed in terms of the twist angle between the N-phenyl ring and the C---C=N---C plane. The relative sensitivity of the chemical shifts on different positions in ferrocenyl moiety to the substituent effect has also been presented.     

Development of a mild mercaptoethanol extraction method for determination of mercury species in biological samples by HPLC–ICP-MS

A mild, efficient and convenient extraction method of using 2-mercaptoethanol contained extractant solution combined with an incubator shaker for determination of mercury species in biological samples by HPLC–ICP-MS has been developed. The effects of the concentration of 2-mercaptoethanol, the composition of the extractant solution and the shaking time on the efficiency of mercury extraction were evaluated. The optimization experiments indicated that the quantitative extraction of mercury species from biological samples could be achieved by using 0.1% (v/v) HCl, 0.1% (v/v) 2-mercapoethanol and 0.15% (m/v) KCl extractant solution in an incubator shaker for shaking overnight (about 12 h) at room temperature. The established method was validated by analysis of various biological certified reference materials, including NRCC DOLT-3 (dogfish liver), IAEA 436 (tuna fish), IAEA MA-B-3/TM (garfish filet), IAEA MA-M-2/TM (mussel tissue), GBW 08193 (bovine liver) and GBW 08572 (prawn). The analytical results of the reference materials were in good agreement with the certified or reference values of both methyl and total mercury, indicating that no distinguishable transformation between mercury species had occurred during the extraction and determination procedures. The limit of detection (LOD) for methyl (CH₃Hg⁺) and inorganic mercury (Hg²⁺) by the method are both as 0.2 μg L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.s) for CH₃Hg⁺ and Hg²⁺ are 3.0% and 5.8%, respectively. The advantages of the developed extraction method are that (1) it is easy to operate in HPLC–ICP-MS for mercury species determination since the extracted solution can be directly injected into the HPLC column without pH adjustment and (2) the memory effect of mercury in the ICP-MS measurement system can be reduced.     

Selenium and mercury bioaccessibility in fish samples: an in vitro digestion method

The assessment of hazard from selenium (Se) and mercury (Hg) contaminants in the food chain based on their potential bioaccessibility and on estimate of their actual content in fish is reported under an in vitro model. Atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (AFS) was applied for total selenium and mercury quantification. Selenium and mercury bioaccessibility varied depending on the type of fish analyzed. Se solubility in the gastrointestinal supernatants was higher in swordfish and sardine (76 and 83%, respectively) than in tuna (50%). A low Hg bioaccessibility (9-17%) was found for all the samples.Simulated human gastric and intestinal digestion led to the identification of selenomethionine (SeMet) and organic mercury in the three digested fish. Furthermore, these species were not modified during the digestion. Speciation of selenium compounds was done by liquid chromatography in conjunction with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LC-ICP-MS).Sardine had the most favorable Se:Hg, [Se:Hg]_{bioaccessible} and [SeMet:Hg]_{bioaccessible} molar ratios, making it preferable to tuna and swordfish.The effect of cooking was also evaluated.     

Mercury(II) mediated cyclisation of R-1-(1′-hydroxyethyl)-2-(1″-propenyl)-3-alkoxy-4-methoxybenzenes to chiral isochromanes

A protocol has been established for the transformation of chiral ortho 1-hydroxyethyl propenyl benzenes under both anaerobic and oxidative mercury(II) mediated conditions to produce chiral isochromanes. Further transformations of the former products yielded chiral isochromanquinones, while the latter afforded the corresponding chiral 4-hydroxyisochromanquinones.     

Metal‐Xenon Complexes

Long after the first isolation of a xenon compound in 1962 the first compounds with metal‐xenon bonds are prepared. The metal atoms are so far Au and Hg. The most stable metal xenon compounds decompose under loss of xenon slightly above room temperature. They can only exist if solvents and counter ions are weaker bases than atomic xenon. Solvents and counter ions used so far are HF, (SbF₆)^—, and (Sb₂F₁₁)^—.     

A novel derivatisation procedure for inorganic mercury(II) for HPLC analysis

Summary A new procedure for derivatisation of inorganic mercury(II) to diphenylethynylmercury with simultaneous extraction into dichloromethane is proposed. The organomercury derivative is effectively analysed by HPLC using UV detection. The calibration curve is linear over three orders of magnitude (0.02–50 mg L^–1 Hg); the detection limit is 0.1 ng Hg. A preliminary study of the effect of potential interfering agents, in particular Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Pb(II), and cysteine, and applications of the present methodology to real environmental samples are presented.     

共价氢化物与汞离子反应的研究 Ⅰ 痕量锑高灵敏度的分析新方法

本文提出了一个氢化物发生一冷原子荧光法间接测定痕量锑的新方法。考察了各种实验条件,并将此法用于水及沉积物标样分析,结果令人满意,对水中锑检出限为0.1μg/L,回收率96％～102％。