Crystallization of Arthrobacter sp. strain 1C N-(1-D-carboxyethyl)-L-norvaline dehydrogenase and its complex with NAD+

The novel NAD+-linked opine dehydrogenase from a soil isolate Arthrobacter sp. strain 1C belongs to an enzyme superfamily whose members exhibit quite diverse substrate specificites. Crystals of this opine dehydrogenase, obtained in the presence or absence of co-factor and substrates, have been shown to diffract to beyond 1.8 ? resolution. X-ray precession photographs have established that the crystals belong to space group P21212, with cell parameters a = 104.9, b = 80.0, c = 45.5 ? and a single subunit in the asymmetric unit. The elucidation of the three-dimensional structure of this enzyme will provide a structural framework for this novel class of dehydrogenases to enable a comparison to be made with other enzyme families and also as the basis for mutagenesis experiments directed towards the production of natural and synthetic opine-type compounds containing two chiral centres.     

Thin layer distillation for matrix isolation in flow analysis

Analyte transfer from the matrix in a thin layer distillation (TLD) cell and its subsequent measurement were investigated in a flow injection configuration. We designed the cell such that the donor and acceptor streams flowed in parallel channels separated by a thin dividing wall. The matrix transfer process involved room-temperature distillation of the analyte into the headspace of the TLD cell and its subsequent condensation/uptake by a concurrently flowing acceptor stream. There are no membranes; hence there are no membrane-related problems. The TLD system design was optimized with respect to its dimensions and operational parameters. Throughput and sensitivity were compared with a conventional pervaporation flow injection (PFI) system for ammonia and five different amines. For the higher molecular mass amines, the TLD approach provided comparable or superior performance. The TLD technique should be an attractive approach for online analysis of volatile chemical species in ‘dirty’ samples, especially for volatile analytes of higher molecular mass.     

A polymer membrane potentiometric sensor for silver

Four new sulfur-containing compounds based on pyridine, benzene, 1,8-naphthyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline have been synthesized. These molecules have been incorporated into a polymeric matrix as neutral carriers and evaluated as silver sensors. Two of the compounds (pyridine and benzene) show high selectivity for Ag(+). The sensor with the pyridine-based compound, in particular, shows near-Nernstian response and good sensitivity towards Ag(+) with a short response time (<10s), making it ideal for use in flow analysis.     

Effect of ion pairing on steady-state voltammetric limiting currents at microelectrodes Part I. Theoretical principles

Voltammetric studies in solutions of high resistivity are facilitated by the use of microelectrodes under steady-state conditions. Such solutions are encountered with solvents of low permittivity because of the very sparing solubility of electrolytes. Moreover, in such media the supporting electrolyte, as well as the electroactive ionic species, is usually extensively ion paired. Here we predict the limiting current that will flow in these circumstances, when a monovalent ion undergoes a one-electron transfer at a hemispherical microelectrode to form a neutral product. The ion pairing equilibria are assumed to be fast but all diffusion coefficients are treated as distinct. An analytical solution is elusive in the general case, but a simple numerical procedure allows the limiting current to be predicted for any combination of the system parameters. Several special cases are also discussed, some of which yield explicit formulae for the limiting current. In a companion paper, experimental data are compared with the theoretical predictions.     

Speciation of dissolved phosphorus in environmental samples by gel filtration and flow-injection analysis

A study of the factors affecting separation and detection of dissolved organic and inorganic phosphorus species found in waters sediments is reported. The system involved the use of gel filtration and flow injection analysis (FIA). Orthophosphate and myo-inositol hexakisphosphate, as model solutes representative of low molecular weight P (LMWP) and high molecular weight P (HMWP), were separated on a Sephadex G25 column incorporated into a flow-injection manifold which utilized photo-oxidation and spectrophotometry for detection of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP). The influence of eluent pH and ionic strength on adsorption and anionic exclusion of the model solutes is described, and the optimum eluent composition and sample size are described. The method was used to determine LMWP and HMWP in natural and waste waters, and in sediment extracts. Potential limitations of this approach are discussed.     

Measurement of pH by flow injection over a wide dynamic range with PVC/neutral carrier electrodes

Two pH-sensitive neutral carrier/PVC electrodes are used simultaneously for the measurement of pH by flow injection. One of these is based on the neutral carrier tridodecylamine and the other on octadecyl isonicotinate, and together they allow the pH range 1–13 to be covered. These electrodes have been used in a very low dispersion miniature potentiometric flow cell designed specifically for use in flow injection in conjunction with a multi-channel data acquisition system. The effects of the solution ionic strength and buffer capacity on the pH measurement are discussed. A flow-injection manifold is proposed which can be used for high-accuracy pH measurements without ionic strength adjustment of the sample and for simultaneous pH and ion concentration measurements with ionic strength adjustment. This has been tested on some synthetic samples for the simultaneous determination of potassium and calcium and the measurement of pH.     

Flow-injection spectrophotometric determination of fluoride by using the zirconium/alizarin red S complex

A spectrophotometric flow-injection procedure is described for fluoride in aqueous samples. The method is based on the decrease in absorbance of the zirconium/alizarin red S complex at 520 nm; linear response is obtained for the range 0.1–10 mg l^?1 fluoride at a sampling rate of 100 h^?1. Aluminum(III), iron(III) and phosphate interfere.     

Flow-injection technique for the determination of low levels of phosphorus in natural waters

An inexpensive flow-injection instrument for determining low concentrations of dissolved reactive phosphorus in natural waters is reported. The unique feature is the use of an inexpensive detector consisting of a flow cell and a simple photometer that incorporates a super-bright light-emitting diode as the source and a photodiode as the detector. The tin(II) chloride-molybdate method was optimized using a modified simplex optimization method. Silicate interference up to 5 mg Si l^?1 was removed by addition of 0.10% (w/v) tartaric acid. Using the tartaric acid-modified optimized reagents, a detection limit of 0.6 μg P l^?1 was achieved. The method was linear over the range 0–100 μg P l^?1 with an excellent precision (r.s.d. 2.9% at 2.0 and 0.5% at 50 μg P l^?1). An in-line pre-concentration anion-exchange column was used to obtain an even lower detection limit of 0.1 μg P l^?1 and applied to the analysis of real samples.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance study of self-diffusion in liquid crystals

A simple and accurate pulsed-gradient nuclear magnetic resonance technique for measuring coefficients of self-diffusion in liquid crystals is described. It is based on exciting sharp response signals with long weak pulses. The method uses an extremely weak radio-frequency field, which eliminates the problem of radio-frequency heating of the sample. The temperature dependencies of coefficients of self-diffusion for two liquid crystals, 5CB (4-pentyl-4(')-cyanobiphenyl) and EBBA (N-(4-ethoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline), are presented.