Tetrakis(4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzene)porphyrinato]manganese(III) acetate as a novel carrier for a selective iodide PVC membrane electrode.

[5,10,15,20-Tetrakis(4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzene)porphyrinato]Mn(III) acetate (MnTDPAc) was applied as an ionophore for an iodide-selective PVC membrane electrode. The influences of the membrane composition, pH of the test solution and foreign ions on the electrode performance were investigated. The sensor exhibited not only excellent selectivity to iodide ion compared to Cl- and lipophilic anions such as ClO4- and salicylate, but also a Nernstian response with a slope of -59.4 +/- 1.2 mV per decade for iodide ions over a wide concentration range from 1.0 x 10(-2) to 7.5 x 10(-6) M at 25 degrees C. The potentiometric response was independent of the pH of the solution in the pH range of 2 - 8. The electrode could be used for at least 2 months without any considerable divergence in the potential. Good selectivity for iodide ion, a very short response time, simple preparation and relatively long-term stability were the silent characteristics of this electrode. It was successfully used as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration of iodide ions, and also in the determination of iodide from seawater samples and drug formulations.     

Headspace SPME–GC Method for Acetone Analysis and its Biomedical Application

A new method for extraction and analysis of acetone in human urine based on headspace solid phase microextraction using a mixture of activated carbon and zeolite as sorbents in a PVC matrix coated on a silver wire and its application to the determination of ketone bodies is described. Unlike commercial fibers, which are coated on fused silica, the coating adheres strongly to the silver wire and is thermally stable up to 250 °C. After optimization of coating composition and microextraction conditions the fiber was used for the analysis of acetone in human urine.     

Modified carrageenan. 5. Preparation,swelling behavior,salt‐ and pH‐sensitivity of partially hydrolyzed crosslinked carrageenan‐graft‐polymethacrylamide superabsorbent hydrogel

The polysaccharide, kappa‐carrageenan (κC) was chemically modified to achieve a novel superabsorbent hydrogel via graft copolymerization of methacrylamide (MAM) onto the substrate followed by alkaline hydrolysis. Ammonium persulfate (APS) and N,N′‐methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) were used as a free‐radical initiator and a crosslinker, respectively. The saponification reaction was carried out using sodium hydroxide aqueous solution. Either κC‐g‐PMAM or hydrolyzed κC‐g‐PMAM (PMAM: polymethacrylamide) was characterized by FT‐IR spectroscopy. The effect of grafting variables (i.e. concentration of MBA, MAM, and APS) and alkaline hydrolysis conditions (i.e. NaOH concentration, hydrolysis time and temperature) were systematically optimized to achieve a hydrogel with swelling capacity as high as possible. The swelling capacity of these hydrogels was also measured in various salt solutions. Results indicated that the swelling ratios decreased with an increase in the ionic strength of the salt solutions. This behavior can be attributed to charge screening effect for monovalent cations, as well as ionic crosslinking for multivalent cations. Absorbency of superabsorbing hydrogels was examined in buffer solutions with pH range 1–13. Also, the pH reversibility and on–off switching behavior, at pH values 3.0 and 8.0, makes the synthesized hydrogels good candidates for controlled delivery of bioactive agents. Finally, swelling kinetics in distilled water and various salt solutions was preliminary investigated. Results showed that the swelling in water was faster than in saline solutions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microwave Assisted Deprotection of N,N-Dimethylhydrazones in Water Using Palladium Chloride–Tin Chloride as Catalyst

Summary.  N,N-Dimethylhydrazones of ketones and aldehydes undergo facile cleavage to the corresponding carbonyl compounds upon exposure to microwaves in water containing a catalytic amount of PdCl₂–SnCl₂ in high yields. Corresponding authors. E-mail: rahman@umz.ac.ir Received December 27, 2001. Accepted (revised) February 6, 2002     

Copper-catalyzed N-arylation of diazoles with aryl bromides using KF/Al2O3: an improved protocol

Copper-catalyzed N-arylation of diazoles can be accomplished using air-stable CuI as a copper source and 1,10-phenanthroline in the presence of KF/Al₂O₃ as a base. This is a simple and efficient method for the coupling of aryl bromide with diazoles. Different functionalized aryl bromides were coupled with diazoles using this system.     

Ketoconazol‐Triiodide Ion Pair Complex as a Suitable Carrier in an Iodide Selective Membrane Electrode

A novel membrane sensor for selective monitoring of iodide, consisting of a triiodide‐ketoconazole ion pair complex dispersed in a PVC matrix, plasticized with a mixture of 2‐nitrophenyl octyl ether and dioctylphtalate with unique selectivity toward iodide ions, is described. The influence of membrane composition, pH of test solution and foreign ions on the electrode performance were investigated. The optimized membrane demonstrates a near‐Nernstian response for iodide ions over a wide linear range from 1.0 × 10^?2 to 1.0 × 10^?5 M, at 25 ± 1 °C. The electrode could be used over a wide pH range 3–10 and has the advantages of high selectivity, fast response time and good lifetime (over 4 months). It was successfully used as indicator electrode in potentiometric titrations and direct potentiometric assay of iodide ions.     

Development of a new fluorimetric bulk optode membrane based on 2,5-thiophenylbis(5-tert-butyl-1,3-benzexazole) for nickel(II) ions

A highly sensitive and selective fluorimetric optode membrane for the determination of ultra trace amounts of Ni²⁺ ions was prepared. The plasticized PVC-membrane incorporating potassium tetrakis(p-chlorophenyl)borate (KTpClPB) and 2,5-thiophenylbis(5-tert-butyl-1,3-benzexazole) (TTBB), as a highly fluorescent chromoionophore, displays a calibration response for Ni²⁺ ions over a wide concentration range of 1.0×10⁻³ to 1.0×10⁻⁸ M. It has a relatively fast response of <40 s. In addition to high stability and reproducibility, and relatively long working lifetime, the sensor possesses good selectivity for nickel ions over several common diverse ions. The fluorescence signal of the optode membrane can be easily recovered by immersion in EDTA solution. The optode was applied successfully to the determination of traces of Ni²⁺ ion in edible oil and a wastewater sample from nickel electroplating industries.     

Potential Mechanisms of Photodynamic Inactivation of Virus by Methylene BlueI. RNA–Protein Crosslinks and Other Oxidative Lesions in Qβ Bacteriophage

A spectrum of oxidative lesions was observed in a bacteriophage-based model system that is very sensitive to the photodynamic activity of selected dyes. When suspensions of the intact bacteriophage Qβ were exposed to methylene blue plus light (MB+L), inactivating events, or "hits" occurred that were oxygen-dependent and that were associated with the formation of several specific lesions: (1) carbonyl moieties on proteins, (2) 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoGua), and (3) single-strand breaks (ssb) in the RNA genome and (4) RNA-protein crosslinks. Formation of carbonyl groups associated with protein in the Qβ phage preparation correlated positively with photoinactivation of the phage with increasing doses of either of the sensitizers MB or rose bengal. Strand breaks in the Qβ genomic RNA were observable at high MB concentrations but appeared not to be significant at the lower concentrations of MB, as full-length Qβ RNA was observable well beyond the 99% inactivation point in MB dosage. It was shown that the number of 8-oxoGua lesions were unlikely to be sufficient to account for the number of lethal events. Following exposure to MB+L, crosslink formation between Qβ RNA and protein was observed by virtue of the location of RNA at the interface of phenol-aqueous extractions of phage suspensions. A significant increase over background of RNA-protein complexes (including full-length Qβ RNA) was observed at the lowest concentration of MB tested (0.5 μ M ), which corresponded roughly to an average of 2 lethal hits per phage or approximately 13% survival compared to the zero MB control (100% survival). Due to its close correlation with Qβ inactivation and its expected lethality, RNA-protein crosslink formation may be important as an inactivating lesion in bacteriophage Qβ following MB+L exposure.     

Effect of monomer and hydrocarbon content and polarity of the medium on the preparation of nonspherical particles via seeded dispersion polymerization in the presence of saturated hydrocarbon droplets

In this work, the preparation of micron-sized polymer particles with nonspherical shapes via seeded dispersion polymerization of 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate (EHMA) with polystyrene (PS) seed particles in the presence of decane droplets and evaporation of decane after the polymerization under various polymerization conditions was discussed. The effect of monomer and decane content and polarity of the medium on the shape of the obtained particles was investigated. The experimental results showed that decreasing the amount of monomer and hydrocarbon volume of PEHMA/hydrocarbon domains, the particles decreased but they grew symmetrically, resulting in symmetric shapes. Furthermore, it was suggested that because of changing the solubility of the oligoradicals and hydrocarbon in the medium, the shape of the particles changed with changing the polarity of the medium. With decreasing the polarity of the medium, solubility of the oligoradicals in the medium increases and bigger polymer domains form on the surface of PS particles which can absorb higher amounts of decane. All of these can contribute to an increase in volume reduction after extraction of PEHMA/decane, resulting in various particle shapes. Further decreasing in polarity of the medium leads to an increase in the solubility of decane in the medium and decreasing the absorbed amount of decane by PS particles and PEHMA domains, resulting in lower volume reduction after evaporation of decane.     

Topological efficiency under graph operations

In this paper we present explicit formulas for computing the topological efficiency index of the most important graph operations such as the Cartesian product, composition, corona, join and hierarchical product of two graphs. We apply our results to compute this distance-related invariant for some important classes of molecular graphs and nano-structures by specializing components of these graph operations.