ICP-MS determination of heavy metals in submerged cultures of wood-rotting fungi

Accumulation of five heavy metal ions by five species of wood-rotting basidiomycetes during a 9-day cultivation was studied. Contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were measured using ICP-MS; the amount of mercury was determined directly in solid samples using the Advanced Mercury Analyser. A standard operation procedure for the sample preparation and determination of metal content was developed and validated. Presence of Cd, Cu, Hg, and Pb decreased the accumulation of zinc by the fungi. The basidiomycete Pycnoporus cinnabarinus exhibited the highest metal binding capacity of all fungi tested.     

Polarography in solution of some problems in organic chemistry: recent applications

Applications of chromatographic and atomic absorption methods are compared with those of electroanalytical techniques. The limitations of electroanalytical procedures and their advantages, such as speed, sensitivity and speciation are discussed. Among applications of polarography and voltammetry to a solution of basic problems, attention has been paid to the possibility to distinguish the degree of conjugation (e.g. of compounds containing the grouping CNNC), to a contribution to understanding of solution chemistry of mitomycin C and to processes involved in the reduction of cephalosporins. Among practical applications, the possibility to analyze suspensions, which can be carried out without separation offers advantages. Examples are interactions in suspensions of bile salts in the presence of metal (II) ions, adsorptions of various pesticides and other toxic materials on lignin and the possibility to follow alkaline cleavage of lignin in buffers pH 8-12 at 25 °C. Most of these studies would not be possible to carry out using other techniques.     

Twofold discretization and reconstruction of an infinite radiation field

Discretization method for unfolding Fredholm equation of the first kind is suggested for the reconstruction of an infinite monoenergetic radiation field scanned by a directional detector. The method is readily applicable for scanning carried out in planes with constant radial angles.     

Determination of hydrochloric acid in organic solutions by gas chromatography

Summary A method is described for the determination of small quantities of hydrochloric acid in two chlorinated organic solvents (CHCl₃ and CCl₄). An excess of gaseous ethylene oxide is added to a liquid sample; the 2-chloroethanol formed is then analyzed by gas chromatography. The procedure is simpler and more sensitive in comparison with other conventional methods. It can be modified for other organic solvents.D.G.R.C.S.T. grant.     

Solvent-mediated folding of a doubly charged anion

The microsolvation of the suberate dianion, -O2C(CH2)6CO2-, with two separate charge centers was studied by photoelectron spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation one solvent molecule at a time for up to 20 waters. It is shown that the two negative charges are solvated in the linear suberate alternately. As the solvent number increases, the negative charges are screened and a conformation change occurs at 16 waters, where the cooperative hydrogen bonding of water is large enough to overcome the Coulomb repulsion and pull the two negative charges closer through a water bridge. This conformation change, revealed both from the experiment and from the simulation, is a manifestation of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic forces at the molecular level.     

Calcium-selective electrodes based on calcium tetra(4-chlorophenyl)borate complexes of macrocyclic polyether diamides

The preparation of macrocyclic 7,19-dibenzyl-7,19-diaza-1,4,10,13,16-pentaoxa-cycloheneicosane-6, 20-diones substituted in positions 2 and 3 with methyl groups, and their properties in PVC membranes as calcium sensors are described. Complexes of these polyether diamides (PEDA) with calcium and tetra(4-chlorophenyl)borate (TClPB) ions having the composition 2PEDA·Ca·2TClPB were prepared. Calcium electrodes based on these complexes have selectivity coefficients for calcium over barium up to 10³, and over alkali metals up to 3 × 10⁴.     

Preparation and NMR spectra of substituted 2-phenyl-5,5-dialkylimidazolinones

Eighteen substituted 2-phenyl-5,5-dialkylimidazolinones 2 have been prepared by cyclizations of substituted 2-(N-benzoylamino)alkanamides 1. The cyclization of methylamides 1 proceeds at room temperature whereas primary amides are cyclized on boiling. The ¹H and ¹³C nmr spectra of the imidazolinones are presented and the changes in their spectra connected with their protonation in hexadeuteriodimethyl sulfoxide-trifluoroacetic acid mixtures are discussed.     

Perturbation theory for open-shell systems: Simulation of the UHF states by means of the perturbed RHF wave functions

Second-, third-, and selected fourth-order contributions to the correlation energy were calculated for a series of simple open-shell systems by means of the previously developed double-perturbation theory in the restricted MO formalism. It was found possible to assign some of the diagrams to self-consistency effects and to approximate in this way the E – E energy difference. A comparison is made with a more rigorous approach, in which the UHF ground-state wave function is expressed as a first-order perturbation expansion based on the RHF reference wave function. Distinguishing between “self-consistency” and “correlation” diagrams for open-shell systems in the RHF formulation represents a special case of a more general problem met in any double-perturbation treatment, such as, e.g., treatments of systems in the external field or perturbation expansions with noncanonical orbitals.     

Asymmetric synthesis of [7]helicene-like molecules

[reaction: see text] A new approach to nonracemic [7]helicene-like molecules has been developed. Stereoselective Co(I)-mediated [2 + 2 + 2] cycloisomerization of aromatic triynes containing an asymmetric carbon atom produces [7]helicene-like scaffolds in diastereomeric ratios up to 100:0. This central-to-helical chirality transfer can be controlled by the absolute configuration at the asymmetric center and by the presence of carbon substituents.     

Synthesis of protected peptides from the human IgG1 hinge region on PEG support using disulfide bond synthons and alkaline or enzymatic detachment

Peptides from the hinge region of human IgG1 are potential defined carriers of synthetic immunogens. Their synthesis was carried out on the soluble support—PEG-OMe 2000 using disulfide bond synthons. The loading capacity of the polymer was increased twofold by anchoring the lysine as a simple branching unit. The amino acid leucine was used as an enzymatically cleavable linker. Peptide detachment from the polymer was performed either by classical ester bond saponification or newly by peptide bond cleavage catalyzed by thermolysin in water.