Radical reactions with selected organic compounds in the gas phase

Several organic compounds for which radical reactions prior to ionization under chemical ionization (CH₄) have been discussed were subjected to gas-phase reactions with methyl and ethyl radicals. The results and their implications for proposed reaction mechanisms in a methane plasma will be discussed.     

Determination of the deuterium content in organic compounds by gas chromatography

A gas-chromatographic method was developed for determining deuterium in organic compounds at its atomic fraction of 1 to 99%. The accuracy of the method is 0.1–0.5%.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Khimii, Vol. 77, No. 8, 2004, pp. 1346–1350.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Egorov, Matyukhova, Demidova, Platonov, Proskuryakov.     

大气有机物热脱附-全二维气相色谱-火焰离子化分析方法

全二维气相色谱（GC×GC）是20世纪90年代发展起来的具有高分辨率、高灵敏度、高峰容量等优势的分离技术,在我国将其用于大气挥发性有机物（VOCs）研究方面才刚刚起步.本文将GC-GC与氢火焰离子化检测器（FID）联用,构建了用于测量大气有机物的热脱附-全二维气相色谱-氢火焰离子化分析系统（TD-GC×GC-FID）.采用HP-5MS和HP-INNOWAX色谱柱,建立了C5-C15大气有机物分析方法,实现了一次分析过程同时分离非甲烷烃（NMHCs）、含氧挥发性有机物（OVOCs）和卤代烃等多种组分.利用标准物质和四级杆质谱（qMS）进行定性,外标法结合FID质量校正因子定量.目标物在GC-GC谱图中第一和第二维保留时间变化分别小于0.6s和0.02s,峰体积平均相对标准偏差为14.3%,其中烷烃和芳香烃为4.5%.标准曲线r2均值大于0.99,平均检出限为6.04ng,平均回收率为111%.利用该方法检测到2010年1月北京市区大气中400多种有机物（信噪比大于50）,鉴定了其中的103种物质,包括烷烃、烯烃、芳香烃、卤代烃、醛、酮、酯、醇和醚等.所测定有机物平均总浓度为51.3×10-9V/V,其中OVOCs约占51%,芳香烃约占30%,烷烃约占15%,卤代烃和烯烃分别占3%和1%.平均浓度最高的前3个组分是乙醇（9.84×10-9V/V）、丙酮（6.72×10-9V/V）和甲苯（3.48×10-9V/V）.     

Calculation of entropy and heat capacity of organic compounds in the gas phase. Evaluation of a consistent method without adjustable parameters. Applications to hydrocarbons

The purpose of this study has been to determine how well a consistent ab initio thermostatistical method reproduces experimental values of heat capacity and entropy. The method has been applied to calculation of heat capacity and entropy of a representative set of hydrocarbons that includes compounds consisting of multiple conformers. All Cp and S values are for the gaseous state at 1 atm; units are cal K-1 mol-1. A detailed sensitivity (error) analysis has been performed to determine the root mean square (rms) values of errors expected of the calculated values: these are 0.27 cal for Cp and 0.36 cal for entropy. In comparing calculated values with experimental values, it is necessary to consider also the uncertainties of the experimental data. When these are included, the expected rms values of Cp(experimental) - Cp(calculated) values at 298.15 K range from 0.21 to 0.73. For S(experimental) - S(calculated), they range from 0.36 to 0.72. Calculations with frequencies derived with the 6-31G(d,p) basis set and scaled by 0.91 yielded rms values for Cp(experimental) - Cp(calculated) of individual compounds from 0.14 to 0.84 cal and rms values for S(experimental) - S(calculated) of individual compounds from 0.07 to 1.11 cal. Calculated Cp values for 7 out of 16 compounds agree with experimental values within the rms uncertainty estimated for the compound, and 11 fall within twice that estimate. For entropy, the calculated values for 13 of 18 compounds agree with the very limited available experimental data within the rms estimated uncertainty for the compound, and 16 of 18 fall within twice the uncertainty.     

A simplified prediction of entropy of melting for energetic compounds

A new widely applicable model for the prediction of the entropy of melting of organic compounds is presented. The use of three simple geometry based parameters: rotational symmetry, flexibility, and eccentricity enables the simple and accurate prediction of this important property. This paper demonstrates the use of the model for energetic compounds.     

Investigations of solid phase transitions of low molecular organic compounds by differential scanning calorimetry

For the purpose of finding temperature standards for DTA at the temperature below 150°, some solid transitions of low molecular organic compounds were measured by differential scanning calorimetry. Among fourteen materials, we have concluded to select transitions for hexachloroethane (71°) and hexamethylbenzene (110°) as candidates for such standards.

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Zusammenfassung Zur Temperaturnormung unter 150° die DTA Methode wurden verschiedene organische Verbindungen von niedrigem Molekulargewicht und geeigneten Umwandlungen in fester Phase durch Differential Scanning Kalorimetrie geprüft. Von 14 verschiedenen Substanzen wurden Hexachloräthan (71°) und Hexamethylbenzol (110°) zum gesuchten Zweck geeignet gefunden.

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Résumé Pour le but de trouver des étalons de température au-dessous de 150°C pour l'ATD, on a examiné les transitions en phase solide de différents composés organiques de bas poids moléculaire à l'aide d'un analyseur enthalpique différentiel. Sur les 14 échantillons étudiés, on propose l'hexachloroéthane (71°) et l'hexaméthylbenzène (110°) comme étalons.

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150° . , 14 (71°) (110°), .

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The authors wish to thank Dr. H. G. McAdie of the Ontario Research Foundation, Canada, for his kind suggestions on this work.     

Polycyclic croissant-like organic compounds are powerful superbases in the gas phase and acetonitrile--a DFT study

A new type of the π-electron polycyclic organic superbases is proposed exhibiting very high proton affinities in the gas phase spanning the range from 280 to 323 kcal mol(-1) and the pK(a) up to 41.4 units in the MeCN solutions. Their salient feature is formation of the (H(+))-bridge upon protonation and a strong cationic resonance effect in the corresponding conjugate acids.     

Structural information content of networks: graph entropy based on local vertex functionals

In this paper we define the structural information content of graphs as their corresponding graph entropy. This definition is based on local vertex functionals obtained by calculating j-spheres via the algorithm of Dijkstra. We prove that the graph entropy and, hence, the local vertex functionals can be computed with polynomial time complexity enabling the application of our measure for large graphs. In this paper we present numerical results for the graph entropy of chemical graphs and discuss resulting properties.     

Stability of workroom air volatile organic compounds on solid adsorbents for thermal desorption gas chromatography

The storage stability of the occupationally frequently occurring compounds, methylethylketone, methylisobutylketone, benzene, toluene, tetrachloroethylene, n-butylacetate, -pinene, β-pinene, limonene and n-decane, has been investigated on the adsorbents Tenax TA, Chromosorb 106 and Carbotrap using thermally desorbable tube type samplers, commonly utilized in ambient and workroom atmospheric measurements. Fifty and 500 ng of each compound were loaded on the various adsorbents tubes, stored at both ambient (20 °C) and refrigerated (4 °C) temperatures and analysed by means of thermal gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection on days 0, 7, 14 and 28 after exposure. A 90% storage recovery was chosen as acceptance criteria for storage stability, and statistical testing by Student's t-test, analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc tests were employed to investigate the effect of the categorical variables storage time, storage temperature and analyte loading on the different adsorbents. Chromosorb 106 showed the overall best behaviour with recoveries of 90% or better for all analytes during the 28-day test period. Tenax TA and Carbotrap yielded lower recoveries and were more influenced by variations in storage time, storage temperature and analyte loading. Refrigerated temperatures were best avoided for storage on Tenax TA, but may increase the recovery of some compounds on Carbotrap (e.g. n-butylacetate). The blank build-up on the adsorbents was also investigated, and Carbotrap and Tenax TA showed no signs of artefact development over time. Chromosorb 106, however, contained inherently more artefacts that build up over time, which in spite of the excellent storage capability, may limit its use in field studies where long storage times are normal.     

Determination of the water content in organic compounds by gas chromatography using back flush technique

Summary A technique has been developed for the determination of water in various organic compounds by gas chromatography using back-flush. Relative standard deviations were in the range of 0.2 to 3%. Comparison with Karl Fischer titration showed consistently better precision of the new technique, in particular for water contents of more than 50%.     

Indirect photolysis of organic compounds: prediction of OH reaction rate constants through molecular orbital calculations

The MOOH approach is a perturbational molecular orbital method to predict rate constants of indirect photolysis of organic compounds through reaction with OH radicals. It employs the semiempirical AM1 scheme as the underlying quantum chemical model. The original method introduced by Klamt has been reparametrized using an up-to-date set of 675 compounds with experimental rate constants and outperforms the prominent Atkinson increment scheme for this training set as well as for an extended set of 805 compounds, yielding an overall root-mean-square error of 0.32 log units. The discussion includes detailed comparative analyses of the model performances for individual compound classes. The present model calibration refers mainly to monofunctional compounds but performs already reasonably well for multifunctional compounds. For predictive applications, both the Atkinson scheme and the alternative, independent AM1-MOOH model can be used as components of a consensus modeling approach, arriving at increased confidence in cases where the different models agree.     

Kinetics of the reactions of singlet molecular oxygen (O21Δg) with organic compounds in the gas phase

The reactions of singlet molecular oxygen (O₂¹Δ_g) with a series of organic compounds have been studied in the gas phase at 298°K. The concentration of singlet molecular oxygen was determined by titration with 2,5-dimethylfuran. The titration technique was checked using a photoionization technique. Absolute rate constants were measured on the basis of the loss of organic reactant and, in some cases, of singlet molecular oxygen. It was found that the usual method of producing singlet molecular oxygen in the gas phase can also, under some conditions, allow reactive species other than singlet molecular oxygen to enter the reactor, leading to serious errors in the determination of rate constants. This problem was eliminated by carrying out the rate measurements in the presence of a small amount of nitrogen dioxide a radical scavenger.     

Use of semiconductor oxide films for the detection of volatile organic compounds in the gas phase

A new type of flow-sensitive detectors of volatile organic compounds based on tin dioxide films modified by transition metal oxides has been proposed. The change on the film electric conductivity upon its contact with a flow of carrier gas containing a detectable compound has been used as an analytical signal. Dependences of analytical signals for some organic compounds on the temperature and film composition have been studied. Gas-chromatographic separation of model mixtures using a thermal catalytic detector has been performed. The possibility of the identification of organic compounds by the relationship between the analytical signals of two films of different compositions has been demonstrated.     

The determination of volatile organic compounds in soils using solid phase microextraction with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) was applied in the development of a protocol for the analysis of a number of target organic compounds in landfill site samples. The selected analytes, including aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbous, and unsaturated compounds, were absorbed directly from a headspace sample above a soil layer onto a fused silica fiber. Following exposure, the fiber was thermally desorbed in the injection port of the gas chromatograph and eluted compounds were detected using a mass selective detector. The stability and sensitivity of the extraction technique were examined at five temperatures (22–60°C) using a 100μm polydimethylsiloxane fiber. Calibrations, using soil samples spiked with selected solvents (0.5–30 μg/g), were linear; trichloroethene (r² = 0.992) and benzene (r² = 0.998). SPME was applied to the examination of a municipal landfill where 8 sites were sampled, at three depths, resulting in the detection of xylene (maximum 2.8 μg/g) and a number of other non-target organic contaminants.     

Feasibility studies for the detection of volatile organic compounds in the gas phase using microelectrode sensors

The use of microelectrode sensors to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air is demonstrated. In general, VOCs that oxidize easily to form protons gave a larger electrochemical response. The use of voltammetry for speciation and the effect of electrode size on the electrochemical response are discussed. We demonstrate that surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can be used to monitor the electrochemical reactions in situ and discuss its applicability in identifying the electroactive species.