Structural,magnetic and Mössbauer spectral studies of nanosize aluminum substituted nickel zinc ferrites

Nanosize aluminum substituted nickel zinc ferrites were prepared through aerosol route and characterized using TEM, XRD, magnetic measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The particle size of as obtained samples was found to be ∼10 nm which increases up to ∼85 nm upon annealing at 1200 °C. The unit cell parameter ‘a’ decreases linearly with concentration of aluminum due to the small ionic radius of aluminum. The saturation magnetization for all the samples after annealing at 1200 °C lies in the range 12.9–72.6 emu/g and decreases linearly with concentration of aluminum. Room temperature Mössbauer spectra of all as obtained samples of ferrite compositions exhibited a broad doublet suggesting super paramagnetic nature. This doublet is further resolved into two doublets and assigned to the surface region and internal region atoms of the particles. The samples annealed at 1200 °C show broad sextets, which were fitted with five sextets, indicating different local environment of both tetrahedrally and octahedrally coordinated Fe cation.     

Bounds on charged lepton mixing with exotic charged leptons

We examine the effects of mixing induced light heavy charged lepton neutral currents on the partial wave amplitude for the process l⁺l⁻ →ZZ (withl = e,μ or τ). By imposing the constraints that the amplitude should not exceed the perturbative unitarity limit at high energy (√s = Λ), we obtain bounds on light heavy charged lepton mixing parameter sin²(2θ _L ^a ) where θ _L ^a is the mixing angle of the ordinary charged lepton with its exotic partner. For Λ = 1 TeV, no bound is obtained on sin² (2θ _L ^a ) form _E < 0.69 TeV. However, sin² (2θ _L ^a ) ≤ 1.52×10⁻⁵ form _E = 5 TeV, sin² (2θ _L ^a ) ≤ 2.41 ×10⁻⁷ form _E = 10 TeV. Similarity for Λ = ∞ no bound is obtained on sin² (2θ _L ^a ) for m_E < 1.97 TeV and sin² (2θ _L ^a ) ≤ 0.15 form _E = 5 TeV and sin² (2θ _L ^a ) ≤ 3.88×10^-2 form _E = 10 TeV.     

A sensitive solid-phase fluoroimmunoassay for detection of opiates in urine

An automated flow fluorometer designed for kinetic binding analysis was adapted to develop a solid-phase competitive fluoroimmunoassay for urinalysis of opiates. The solid phase consisted of polymer beads coated with commercial monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) raised against morphine. Fluorescein-conjugated morphine (FL-MOR) was used as the fluorescein-labeled hapten. The dissociation equilibrium constant (K _D ) for the binding of FL-MOR to the anti-MOR MAb was 0.23 nM. The binding of FL-MOR to the anti-MOR MAb reached steady state within minutes and was displaced effectively by morphine and other opiates. Morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G), the major urinary metabolite of heroin and morphine, competed effectively with FL-MOR in a concentration-dependent manner for binding to the antimorphine MAb and was therefore used to construct the calibration curve. The sensitivity of the assay was 0.2 ng/mL for M3G. The assay was effective at concentrations of M3G from 0.2 to 50 ng/mL, with an IC₅₀ of 2 ng/mL. Other opiates and heroin metabolites that showed >50% crossreactivity when present at 1 μg/mL included codeine, morphine-6-glucuronide, and oxycodone. Methadone showed very low crossreactivity (<5%), which is a benefit for testing in patients being treated for opiate addictions. The high sensitivity of the assay and the relatively high cutoff value for positive opiate tests allows very small sample volumes (e.g., in saliva or sweat) to be analyzed. A double-blind comparison using 205 clinical urine samples showed good agreement between this single-step competitive assay and a commercially performed enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique for the detection of opiates and benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine).     

Substituent electronic effects on the persistence and absorption spectra of (Z)-o-xylylenols. A nanosecond laser flash photolysis study

[reaction: see text] A systematic investigation on a broad set of aldehydes reveals that the lifetimes of (Z)-photoenols can be modulated by variation of the substituents. We have found that the lifetimes of (Z)-enols (in benzene) can be varied by more than 1 order of magnitude with a judicious choice of the substituents that exert mesomeric and inductive effects as, for example, in the case of pentamethylbenzaldehyde (tau = 35 ns) and dicyanomesitaldehyde (tau = 760 ns). This study thus points to the fact that the electronic factors in conjunction with hydrogen bonding stabilization can considerably broaden the uni- as well as bimolecular chemistry based on photoenolization. Further, we have shown that the photoenols exhibit dramatic shifts in their absorption properties with variation of the substituents; although the photoenols have long been considered to be colored, their absorption properties have not been heretofore comprehensively examined.     

Separation of dideoxyribonucleosides in trace amounts by automated liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis.

No satisfactory high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is currently available for the separation of the major dideoxyribonucleosides (ddNs) and their derivatives. A method involving HPLC has been developed for the separation of five major ddNs [ddA, ddC, ddI, azT and 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydrothymidine (d4T)]. Elution of the common and modified components of DNA was also examined under the selected separation conditions of HPLC. The elution characteristics of these compounds were studied using serum plasma samples spiked with ddN derivatives. In addition, capillary electrophoresis (CE) was investigated for the separation of ddNs and their derivatives. Picomolar amounts of the five major ddNs and the metabolic product of azT [5'-O-glucuronide-3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (Glo-azT)] were satisfactorily resolved in 10 min by using a modification of CE. The spectral properties of the ddNs were characterized under different pH conditions and compared with those of their parent deoxyribonucleosides (dNs) because these compounds are commonly measured in HPLC by their spectral properties. The spectra of ddC and ddT derivatives resemble very closely those of dC and dT, but those of ddA and ddI differ to some extent from their parent dNs. The HPLC method was extensively examined for satisfactory resolutions of these compounds. For example, an isocratic elution method, although simple, failed to resolve these compounds and ion-pair chromatography did not offer any advantage. Gradient elution involving buffered solutions and increasing amounts of an organic modifier yielded satisfactory results. Methanol appeared to be the organic modifier of choice. A reversed-phase matrix with smaller than octadecyl alkyl chains did not produce the necessary interactions. Uniform spherical beads of smaller diameter produced superior resolutions. The separation of these compounds on three commercially available columns is discussed. The separation of human plasma samples spiked with dideoxynucleoside derivatives by HPLC was accomplished in ca. 16 min. The presence of the dNs did not interfere in their separations.     

Oxidations with IBX: benzyl halides to carbonyl compounds, and the one-pot conversion of olefins to 1,2-diketones

A variety of benzyl halides were converted to the corresponding aldehydes/ketones in respectable yields by IBX in DMSO at 65 °C. The bromohydrin reaction of olefins using NBS-H₂O in DMSO can be nicely adapted to IBX-mediated oxidation of benzyl halides in such a way that olefins are converted to the corresponding 1,2-diketones in good isolated yields in one-pot.     

Spin crossover studies in tris(N,N′-dialkyldithiocarbamato)iron(III) complexes

A series of fifteen complexes of the type [Fe(RRNCS₂)₃] with symmetric (R=R=n- C₆H₁₃, n-C₈H₁₇, CH₂–CH=;CH₂, C₆H₅, C₆H₁₁ and C₆H₅CH₂), unsymmetric (R = CH₃; R = n-C₄H₉, C₆H₁₁, C₆H₅ and R = C₂H₅; R = n-C₄H₉, C₆H₁₁, C₆H₅ and i-C₃H₇) and ring substituents (RNR=pyrrolidyl and piperidyl) have been synthesized and their magnetic moments and Mössbauer spectra recorded from room temperature (RT) to liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT). Room temperature Mössbauer spectra of all the complexes exhibit an asymmetric doublet, which could be resolved into two doublets, each corresponding to low and high spin states in equilibrium. The crystal structure of tris(N, N-diallyldithiocarbamato)iron(III) shows it to be monoclinic with trigonally distorted octahedral geometry and space group C2/c. Fe–S stretching vibrations in the far i.r. region also show equilibria, HS LS. Depending on the nature of the alkyl group substituent, variable temperature magnetic moment and Mössbauer spectral studies, all the complexes may be divided into three groups; high spin complexes exhibiting spin-crossover (⁶A_1g ²T_2g), high spin complexes exhibiting spin transition (⁶A_1g ⁴T_1g) and intermediate spin complexes showing spin transition (⁴A_1g ²T_2g). On the basis of areas of the two doublets corresponding to high and low spin states, their percent contributions were calculated. Furthermore, magnetic moments of the equilibrium mixture calculated on the basis of respective areas compare well with the experimentally determined _eff values. E_Q values for both high and low spin states show linear decrease with increasing temperature.