Gravimetric determination of zirconium with a new azopyrazolone derivative

3-Methyl-5-oxo-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-4-ylazo-2'-(6',8'-naphthalenedisulfonic acid) (disodium salt) is proposed as a new reagent for the gravimetric determination of zirconium. The precipitate formed at pH 1–1.5 can be weighed directly and there are few interferences.     

Smallest maximal snakes of translates of convex domains

LetK be a convex domain. A maximal snake of sizen is a set of non-overlapping translatesK ₁, ...,K _N ofK, whereK _i touchesK _j if and only if |i –j|=1 and no translate ofK can touchK ₁ orK _n without intersecting an additionalK _i ,i=1, ...,n. The size of the smallest maximal snake is proved to be 11 ifK is a parallelogram and to be 10 otherwise.     

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of carbonyl compounds in cigarette mainstream smoke after derivatization with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine

An improved gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was described for the analysis of carbonyl compounds in cigarette mainstream smoke (CMS) after 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) derivatization. Besides formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, acrolein, propionaldehyde, methyl ethyl ketone, butyraldehyde, and crotonaldehyde that are routinely analyzed in cigarette smoke, this technique separates and allows the analysis of several C4, C5 and C6 isomeric carbonyl compounds. Differentiation could be made between the linear and branched carbon chain components. In cigarette smoke, the branched chain carbonyls are found at higher level than the linear chain carbonyls. Also, several trace carbonyl compounds such as methoxyacetaldehyde were found for the first time in cigarette smoke. For the analysis, cigarette smoke was collected using DNPH-treated pads, which is a simpler procedure compared to conventional impinger collection. Thermal decomposition of DNPH-carbonyl compounds was minimized by the optimization of the GC conditions. The linear range of the method was significantly improved by using a standard mixture of DNPH-carbonyl compounds instead of individual compounds for calibration. The minimum detectable quantity for the carbonyls ranged from 1.4 to 5.6 microg/cigarette.     

Results from solvophobic theory applied to methylene selectivity in reversed-phase HPLC

A significant amount of work has been previously dedicated to the understanding of methylene selectivity parameter. The conventional theory applied for this understanding was mostly based on the assumption that the difference in the Gibbs free energy of transfer from the mobile phase to the stationary phase is a constant for any two compounds in a homologous series that differ by a CH₂ group. In the present study, it is shown based on solvophobic theory that this assumption is indeed correct, but it provides a theoretical justification for it. Exemplification of the results of theory was obtained using the values for methylene selectivity (α(CH₂)) measured experimentally for seven different C18 chromatographic columns including two core–shell columns and using water and either methanol or acetonitrile as an organic component. Four different homologous series of compounds were used for evaluation. The study proved the theoretical prediction that the values for α(CH₂) obtained using different homologous series of compounds are only slightly different from those obtained using the toluene–butylbenzene series. Even using different homologous series, the same type of information regarding the columns comparison, and the changes in log α(CH₂) with the solvent composition was obtained.     

Crosslinked Networks Based on Polysaccharides and Collagen for Pilocarpine Sustained Release

The paper presents the experimental studies regarding synthesis and characterization of hydrogels based on gellan (Gel)/chitosan (CS) and collagen (Col), obtained by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde (GLA). The influence of the polysaccharide content and GLA ratio on the final composition and swelling characteristics was evaluated. Hydrogels swelling analysis, in distilled water and phosphate buffer (PBS, pH 7.2) has shown higher swelling degrees at increased concentration of polysaccharide into hydrogels. In vitro release of pilocarpine has demonstrated the possibility to use gellan-collagen and chitosan-collagen hydrogels as ophthalmic drug delivery matrix.     

Enhancement of Spin Relaxation in an FeDy2Fe Coordination Cluster by Magnetic Fields

Two [FeLn₂Fe(μ₃‐OH)₂(teg)₂(N₃)₂(C₆H₅COO)₄] compounds (where Ln=Y^III and Dy^III; teg=triethylene glycol anion) have been synthesized and studied using SQUID and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The magnetic measurements on both compounds indicate dominant antiferromagnetic interactions between the metal centers. Analysis of the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra complement the ac magnetic susceptibility measurements, which show how a static magnetic field can quench the slow relaxation of magnetization generated by the anisotropic Dy^III ions.