Importance of REP values when comparing the CALUX bioassay results with chemoanalyses results Example with spiked vegetable oils

Differences between chemical activated luciferase gene expression (CALUX) bioassay and chemoanalyses results are observed.This paper shows that calculations of the TEQ values using REP values instead of WHO TEF values give different results. The REP values do affect the results obtained by the CALUX technique. These differences are more marked for the dioxin like PCB compounds (CALUX TEQ values are lower than WHO TEQ values) than for the dioxin compounds (CALUX TEQ values are higher than WHO TEQ values).The CALUX results were compared with the concentrations of the congeners’ spiked into the oil.     

Determination of Pt in urine of tram drivers by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The Platinum Group Elements (PGEs) used in automotive catalytic converters are partly emitted into the air during use and can enter the human respiratory system. Due to the increasing use of automotive catalytic converters, the importance of this problem cannot be overlooked.The goal of this investigation was to determine the concentration of Pt in the urine of individuals occupationally exposed to urban air with heavy traffic. Sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF–ICP–MS) was used for determination of Pt in the urine of tram drivers. 38 and 34 subjects were investigated in Vienna and Budapest, respectively. Samples were taken from the tram drivers both before and after the shift.The results for Pt were compared to those from a previous study performed by our team. The comparison showed that the concentration medians were 4 times higher than the previous ones. Moreover, the values in Budapest were about twice as high as those from Vienna. A partly significant change could be observed between the two sets of data: before, and after the shift.     

High pressure-promoted cycloadditions of ketene acetals and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones

Cycloadditions of ketene acetals with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are strongly promoted by high pressure. The influence of the solvent and the substitution pattern on the product distribution at 12 kBar has been investigated. In the polar solvent, acetonitrile, α,β-unsaturated aldehydes not having large β-substituents, yield mainly cyclobutane aldehydes, which are minor products at normal pressure. The products can be transformed under basic conditions without ring opening.     

Comparison of Pyrolysis and Microwave Acid Digestion Techniques for the Determination of Mercury in Biological and Environmental Materials

 Microwave digestion reduction-aeration and pyrolysis combined with cold vapour atomic absorption and cold vapour atomic fluorescence are compared for the determination of total mercury in several biological and environmental matrices. The biological samples were digested in a mixture of HNO₃/H₂O₂, the environmental samples in a mixture of HNO₃/HClO₄. After reduction with SnCl₂, the mercury was collected by two-stage gold amalgamation. After microwave digestion reduction-aeration, detection limits of 1.4 ng g⁻¹ and 0.6 ng g⁻¹ were obtained for cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) and cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS), respectively, for 250 mg of environmental samples. For biological samples (500 mg) the detection limits were 0.7 ng g⁻¹ (CVAAS) and 0.4 ng g⁻¹ (CVAFS). After pyrolysis, detection limits of 3.5 ng g⁻¹ and 1.6 ng g⁻¹ for CVAAS and CVAFS, respectively, were obtained for a 10 mg sample. Pyrolysis can only be applied when the organic content of the sample is not too high. Accurate results were obtained for 8 certified reference materials of both environmental and biological origin. In addition, a real sludge sample was analysed. Author for correspondence. E-mail: richard.dams@rug.ac.be Received September 18, 2002; accepted December 3, 2002 Published online May 5, 2003     

A New Preparation of 1,3,3‐Trimethylbicyclo[2.2.2]octan‐2,6‐dione,a Never Isolated Intermediate in a Total Synthesis of (+)‐Norpatchoulenol. Formal Total Synthesis of (±)‐Iso‐Norpatchoulenol

A new preparation and the isolation and spectroscopic characterization of 1,3,3‐trimethylbicyclo[2.2.2]octan‐2,6‐dione ( 3 ), a so far elusive key intermediate in the Liu–Ralitsch total synthesis of (+)‐norpatchoulenol ((+)‐ 1a ), is described. The preparation of 3 constitutes also a formal total synthesis of (±)‐iso‐norpatchoulenol ((±)‐ 1b ), since 3 is correlated to an intermediate in the Monti and co‐workers synthesis of (±)‐ 1b .     

Über die Reaktionen von Guanidin bzw. Harnstoff mit Cyanhydrinen

Action of guanidine or urea on cyclohexanone-, cyclopentanone-, cycloheptanone-and acetonecyanohydrine3 a?3 d generates very different products: 3 a reacts with guanidine inDMF to yield 1,3-diazaspiro[4.5]decane-2,4-diimine (5 a). Heating the components without solvent affords 7,14-diazadispiro[5.1.5.2]pentadecan-15-one(7)^15–17, the guanidine not participating in the reaction; similarly3 b is transformed by guanidine to a pentacyclic dispirocompound (possible formulae19 and20), whereas3 d reacts to give 3,3,5,5-tetramethylpiperazine-2,6-dione(21)¹⁹. In 3-pentanone guanidine-cyanide condensates itself to give 2,4-diamino-triazine (22)^{21, 22}. Action of urea on3 a?3 d yields the 4-imino-1,3-diazaspiroalkan-2-ones6 a?6 c and the 4-imino-5,5-dimethylimidazolidin-2-one6 d ^6–8 resp. If the reaction of urea and3 d is carried out inDMF, however, 5,5-dimethyl-4-ureido-3-imidazolin-2-one (28) (or the tautomeric carbamoyliminoimidazolidinone27) is produced. The structures of the compounds prepared are proved by NMR-, IR- and mass spectra.     

Beitrag zur Frage der qualitativen und quantitativen Bestimmung einiger Pyridinderivate mit Hilfe der IR-Absorptionsspektroskopie

Zusammenfassung Es wird die Möglichkeit einer qualitativen und quantitativen Reinheitsprüfung mit Mitteln der IR-Absorptionsspektroskopie an einer Anzahl von Pyridinderivaten untersucht. Zu diesem Zweck werden die IR-Absorptionsspektren der reinen Substanzen, sowie von binären und ternären Gemischen aufgenommen. Die Spektren werden aus-gewertet und die Nachweisgrenzen angegeben.Dem Verband der Chemischen Industrie und der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft danken wir für die Unterstützung dieser Arbeit.     

Über substituierte 1,6-Dihydro-1,3,5-triazin-2,4-diamine, 1′,5′,6′,7′-Tetrahydrospiro[cyclopentan-1,4′-cyclopentapyrimidin]-2′(3′ H)-imine und das 6-Phenyl-2,4-pyrimidindiamin

Guanidine reacts with cyclohexanone, cycloheptanone, acetone and 3-pentanone, resp., in a molar ratio 2∶1 to give the 1,3,5-triazaspiro[5.5]undeca-and [5.6]dodeca-1,3-dien-2,4-diamines3 a and3 b resp. and the 6,6-dimethylresp. diethyl-1,6-dihydro-1,3,5-triazin-2,4-diamines3 d and3 e resp. On the contrary, action of guanidine on cyclopentanone yields not3 c, but the 1′,5′,7′-tetrahydrospiro[cyclopentane-1,4′-cyclopentapyrimidine]-2′(3′H)-imines2 c, 5 c and6 c resp., which are 1∶2- and 1∶3-condensates. Phenylacetone is transformed by guanidine (1∶2) to give 6-phenyl-2,4-pyrimidindiamine (8 f). The structure of the compounds cited is proved by NMR-, IR-, and (partially) mass spectra. The different courses of the formation of3 a, b, d, e, 2 c, 5 c and6 c resp. and8 f are also discussed. The structural formulae of some additional bases, which were synthesized from guanidine and cyclopentanone, 3-pentanone and phenylacetone resp. could not be established.