Pulsed electrochemical detection of penicillins using three and four step waveforms

Aided by the construction of a custom potentiostat, a series of different PAD waveforms were compared to find the optimum detector for penicillin oxidation. The waveforms included standard 3-step direct and indirect PAD in addition to reverse-PAD and 4-step PAD. Two new waveforms, the indirect reverse-PAD and the 4-step indirect PAD were examined in the study. Under the solvent conditions of the study (0.01M acetate buffer, pH 4.6) the indirect waveforms yielded the best detectability for penicillin G while the reverse-PAD waveforms yielded the worst performance. The 4-step PAD methods did not improve detectability when compared to the 3-step types, but they did provide output peak profiles with better shapes and less tailing. Although indirect waveforms gave better detectability than direct detection in the 0.01M acetate buffer solution, the limits of detection for each were found to be differing functions of ionic strength. At higher acetate concentrations, direct PAD was more favorable than indirect detection.     

Would Introductory Chemistry Courses Work Better with a New Philosophical Basis?

One of the main functions that introductory chemistry courses havefulfilled during the past century has been to provide evidence for the generalvalidity of 'the atomic hypothesis.' A second function has been to demonstratethat an analytical approach has wide applicability in rationalizing many kindsof phenomena. Following R.G. Collingwood, these two functions can be recognizedas related to a philosophical 'cosmology' (worldview, weltanshauung) thatbecame dominant in the late Renaissance. Recent developments in many areasof science, and in chemistry, have emphasized the central importance of understandingsynthetic, developmental, and evolutionary aspects of nature. This paperargues that these scientific developments, and changes in other aspects of culture,amount to a widespread shift to an alternative cosmology, a quite different generalworldview. To the extent that this is the case, introductory chemistry coursesought to be changed in fundamental ways. Rather than having a main focus onanalysis to microscopic components, introductory chemistry instruction shouldemphasize current scientific understanding of the (synthetic) evolutionary originsof the present world. This altered approach would provide good preparation forfuture professional work, while also making better contact with the perceivedconcerns of students.     

Kinetics of the reaction of Di-μ-acetatodi-μ-oxalatodiaquodiruthenium(II,III) anion with N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-ethylenediaminetriacetatoaquotitanium(III)

Reduction of [Ru₂(CH₃COO)₂(C₂O₄)₂(H₂O)₂]^? by N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-ethylenediaminetriacetatoaquotitanium(III) [Ti(HEDTA)] involves several distinct stages. The first stage has a half-time of less than 1 ms, and is interpreted as a substitution reaction leading to a multinuclear intermediate. The second stage has a second-order rate constant of 5 x 10₃M^?1s^?1 [25°C, μ = 0.1 m (LiCF₃SO₃)]. The rate-limiting process for the second stage is electron transfer within the assembled multinuclear complex. Subsequent slower stages correspond to breakup of the multinuclear Ru(II)₂-Ti(IV) complex formed by electron transfer. The overall rate of reduction of this oxidant by Ti(HEDTA) is less than the corresponding rate for the reaction in which Ti³⁺ acts as reductant, mainly because the stability of the binuclear complex is reduced by the presence of the aminoacid ligand. The data are consistent with the conclusion that the ligand increases the rate of intramolecular ET, probably by reducing geometric change associated with oxidation of Ti(III) to Ti(IV).     

How chemistry shifts horizons: element, substance, and the essential

In 1931 eminent chemist Fritz Paneth maintained that the modern notion of “element” is closely related to (and as “metaphysical” as) the concept of element used by the ancients (e.g., Aristotle). On that basis, the element chlorine (properly so-called) is not the elementary substance dichlorine, but rather chlorine as it is in carbon tetrachloride. The fact that pure chemicals are called “substances” in English (and closely related words are so used in other European languages) derives from philosophical compromises made by grammarians in the late Roman Empire (particularly Priscian [fl. ~520 CE]). When the main features of the constitution of isotopes became clear in the first half of the twentieth century, the formal (IUPAC) definition of a “chemical element” was changed. The features that are “essential” to being an element had previously been “transcendental” (“beyond the sphere of consciousness”) but, by the mid-twentieth century the defining characteristics of elements, as such, had come to be understood in detail. This amounts to a shift in a “horizon of invisibility” brought about by progress in chemistry and related sciences. Similarly, chemical insight is relevant to currently-open philosophical problems, such as the status of “the bundle theory” of the coherence of properties in concrete individuals.

Quinazolincs and 1,4-benzodiazepines. LXXXVI. The synthesis of imidazothienodiazepines and imidazopyrazolodiazepines

The thieno[3,2-e][1,4]diazepin-2-one ( 1a ), the thieno[2,3-e] [ 1,4] diazepin-2-one ( 1b ), the pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,4]diazepin-2-one ( 1c ) and a chloro analog of 1b , compound 1d , were each converted to derivatives of the novel tricyclic ring systems 4H-imidazo[1,5-a]thieno[2,3-f] [1,4]-diazepine, 4Himidazo[1,5a]thieno[2,3f][1,4]diazepine and 4H-imidazo[ 1,5-a]pyrazolo[4,3-f]-[1,4]diazepine. Depending on the substituents desired on the imidazo ring, two different synthetic pathways were employed.     

Synthesis of pyridazino[1,6-a]benzimidazoles

The synthesis of eight pyridazino[1,6-a]benzimidazoles by a novel synthetic route is described. This relatively unexplored heterocyclic ring system is readily accessible starting from benzoylpropionic acids and phenylhydrazines in five steps. The interactions of these compounds with the benzodiazepine receptor are briefly mentioned.