The pyrolytic identification of organic molecules: I. The pyrolytic behavior of organic molecules

Results of a study on the pyrolysis of about 70 organic compounds of varied composition are presented and discussed. Identification of the volatile products formed was accomplished by mass spectrometry. It is shown how the pyrolytic patterns may be employed to distinguish one molecule from another. Some attention has been given to isomeric compounds and to aromatic structures containing one or more functional groups.     

The pyrolytic identification of organic molecules: IV. The pyrolytic behavior of the isomeric butanols

A study of the pyrolytic behavior of the butanol isomers has been made in order to establish a basis for their identification from the thermolysis pattern of each butanol. The identity of the volatile products was established by gas chromatographic analysis. Each isomer was found to decompose via degradation reactions characteristic of the structural arrangement of each alcohol molecule for which mechanisms are proposed.     

Perchloric acid dissolution of graphite and pyrolytic carbon

Three procedures are described for the wet oxidation, with perchloric acid, of nuclear graphite, pyrocarbon-coated fuel particles, and other carbonaceous materials used in high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors (HTGRs). The first procedure is for dissolution of graphite and pyrolytic carbon, the second for dissolution of milligram quantities of HTGR fuel particles, and the last for dissolution of more easily oxidized carbonaceous materials such as charcoal. These procedures were developed primarily for the dissolution of irradiated materials before fission-product or burn-up analyses, but they are also used for dissolution of unirradiated materials.     

Microwave-assisted solid phase conversion study of Meldrum's acid to ethylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (C6O6)

Utilization of microwave irradiation provides an effective method for fast synthesizing of some important compounds. Microwave-assisted solid phase is an especial class in chemical synthesis. By the use of MW-irradiation on chemicals, sometimes interesting results can be seen. The synthesis of the interesting molecule ethylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (C₆O₆) was attempted with a few different methods. In this study, the microwave-assisted solid phase conversion of Meldrum's acid to ethylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride was reported. This conversion was characterized by FT-IR, GC/MS and NMR spectroscopy results.     

Crosslinking and pyrolytic behavior of natural and man-made cellulosic fibers

Pyrolysis rates, energies of activation, and DSC data were obtained for cellulosic fibers crosslinked with increasing amounts of formaldehyde. Pyrolysis rates are affected by the reduction in degree of polymerization, the breaking of intermolecular hydrogen bonds, and the introduction of covalent linkages that accompany the crosslinking process. Thermal stabilization of cellulose is related mainly to the formation of interchain crosslinks. The influences of the crystallinity and orientations of the polymers upon changes in thermal stability and pyrolytic behavior due to crosslinking are demonstrated.     

STM image of tungstosilicic acid molecular layer on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Molecular layer of tungstosilicic acid (H4SiW12O40) deposited on freshly-cleaved highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) was observed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in air at room temperature.The molecular dimension (11.5 A) of H4SiWi2O4o measured by STM is consistent with known crystallographic parameter.We also imaged the boundary of H4SiW12O40 molecular layer on HOPG showing that molecular layer of H4SiW12O40 was formed.It has been proved that individual tungstosilicic acid species is imaged.The probable reason for the formation of the molecular layer is also discussed.     

The structure of pyrolytic carbon of different types

Summary The structure of pyrolytic carbon of various types has been investigated by the following methods: microstructural, electron-microscopic, X-ray structural, and microdiffractional analysis. Inter-particle regions have been discovered in pyrolytic carbon, which determine its anisotropic structure. It has been shown that thermal treatment of pyrolytic carbon at temperatures above 3000° results in the formation of blocks having a mosaic sub-structure, which cause a reduction in the azimuthal disorientation of carbon produced at a temperature higher than 2000° in a vacuum, corresponding to the structure of amorphized natural carbon.Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 66–69, January–February, 1965 Original     

在线热辅助甲基化-气相色谱法分析棉籽仁中的脂肪酸组成

建立了分析棉籽仁中脂肪酸组成的在线热辅助甲基化-气相色谱法。将0.3 mg棉籽仁样品与2 μ L三甲基氢氧化硫（0.2 mol/L）加入裂解器,在350℃下进行甲基化反应,通过气相色谱仪进行分离分析,共检测到8种脂肪酸甲酯成分,分别为亚油酸（C18：2）、油酸（C18：1）、棕榈酸（C16：0）、硬脂酸（C18：0）、肉豆蔻酸（C14：0）、棕榈油酸（C16：1）、花生酸（C20：0）和二十二酸（C22：0）,不饱和脂肪酸的相对含量为66.30%~72.54%,其中亚油酸的相对含量为43.20%~53.61%,相对峰面积的相对标准偏差（RSD）小于10%（n=5）。通过分析5组棉籽仁样品与3种食用油中的脂肪酸组成,结果表明不同产地的棉籽仁中的脂肪酸组成差异不明显,且棉籽仁中的脂肪酸组成与玉米油最为接近,相似度为0.960~0.992。该方法简单、快速、准确,适合分析棉籽仁中的脂肪酸组成。     

Molecular behavior of the aptamer HJ24 self-assembled on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG)

Nucleic acid sensing analysis has been widely applied to the fields of food quality control, environmental monitoring, and medical diagnosis. A key step in developing effective DNA-based electrochemical biosensors is to obtain a biorecognition layer on the biosensor, which can be influenced by many factors. Hence, we constructed a series of HJ24 layers on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite to investigate the relation between the configuration of the adsorbed probe HJ24 and the redox property using atomic force microscopy and voltammetry. We used HJ24 for its diagnostic value as it specifically recognizes the SH2 domain-containing phosphatase, a critical contributor in many important signaling pathways. The results demonstrated that increasing K ions induced G-quartet oxidation peak occurrence/increase([K+]?400 mmol/L), and also resulted in the formation of more compact single strand sheets([K+]?300 mmol/L). Moreover, transitions of molecule configurations and redox currents of G-quartets were observed at low concentration [K+]=12 mmol/L, which may indicate the appearance of new configurations under this condition. Besides, by analyzing atomic force microscopy(AFM) images, it was found that the different adsorbed configurations are correlated with the HJ24 concentration, the basal configuration, and the linker group on the HJ24 sequence. This information may be useful for understanding the adsorption process of HJ24 as well as for the further development of practical applications for HJ24 films on DNA electrochemical sensors, and may ultimately help improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients with SHP2-related diseases.     

Simultaneous electrochemical sensing of ascorbic acid,dopamine and uric acid at anodized nanocrystalline graphite-like pyrolytic carbon film electrode

Nanocrystalline graphite-like pyrolytic carbon film (PCF) electrode fabricated by a non-catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process was used for the simultaneous electrochemical sensing of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA), and uric acid (UA). The electrode was studied with respect to changes in electrocatalytic activity caused by a simple and fast electrochemical pretreatment. The anodized electrode exhibited excellent performance compared to many chemically modified electrodes in terms of detection limit, linear dynamic range, and sensitivity. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used for the simultaneous determination of ternary mixtures of DA, AA, and UA. Under optimum conditions, the detection limits were 2.9 μM for AA, 0.04 μM for DA, and 0.03 μM for UA with sensitivities of 0.078, 5.345, and 6.192 A M⁻¹, respectively. The peak separation was 219 mV between AA and DA and 150 mV between DA and UA. No electrode fouling was observed and good reproducibility was obtained in all the experiments. The sensor was successfully applied for the assay of DA in an injectable drug and UA in human urine by using standard addition method.     

Catalytic effects of copper(II) chloride and aluminum chloride on the pyrolytic behavior of cellulose

The cellulose without and with catalyst (CuCl₂, AlCl₃) was subjected to pyrolysis at temperatures from 350 to 500 °C with different heating rate (10 °C/min, 100 °C/s) to produce bio-oil and selected chemicals with high yield. The pyrolytic oil yield was in the range of 37–84 wt% depending on the temperature, the heating rate and the amount of metal chloride. The non-catalytic fast pyrolysis at 500 °C gives the highest yield of bio-oil. The mixing cellulose with both metal chlorides results with a significant decrease of the liquid product. The non-catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose gives the highest mass yield of levoglucosan (up to 11.69 wt%). The great influence of metal chloride amount on the distribution of bio-oil components was observed. The copper(II) chloride and aluminum chloride addition to cellulose clearly promotes the formation of levoglucosenone (up to 3.61 wt%), 1,4:3,6-dianhydro-α-d-glucopyranose (up to 3.37 wt%) and unidentified dianhydrosugar (MW = 144; up to 1.64 wt%). Additionally, several other compounds have been identified but in minor quantities. Based on the results of the GC–MS, the effect of pyrolysis process conditions on the productivity of selected chemicals was discussed. These results allowed to create a general model of reactions during the catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose in the presence of copper(II) chloride and aluminum chloride.     

Determination of benzoic acid in soft drinks by gas chromatography with on-line pyrolytic methylation technique

A new application of pyrolytic methylation was developed to determine benzoic acid in soft drinks by gas chromatography (GC) without using any pretreatment procedures and special pyrolyzer. With the on-line pyrolytic methylation by tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), benzoic acid was converted into its corresponding methyl ester in the injector at 280 °C. Thus, samples containing benzoic acid could be well determined by direct-injection in GC on the medium polar stationary phase column. To obtain optimum methylation conditions, important factors were investigated and then applied to the following experiments. The results were obtained as following: 280 °C as reaction temperature, 2:1 as the proportion of TMAH to benzoic acid. The storage time of mixed solution had no obvious effect on the area of benzoic acid methyl ester peak. With the p-xylene as an inter-standard, GC behaviors were investigated under these optimum conditions. The linear range achieved for benzoic acid was 1-10,000 mg/l with the correlation coefficient of 0.9985. The precision was quite high with the R.S.D. of 2.8% and the limit of detection reached 0.1 mg/l. The potential of the proposed method was assessed by applying it to the determination of benzoic acid in soft drinks. The results obtained coincided with the statement on the labels and all of the detected data were below the maximum permitted concentration of the European Union Legislation. This on-line pyrolytic methylation technique was proved to be simple to implement, sensitive and selective.     

An amperometric sensor for uric acid based on ordered mesoporous carbon-modified pyrolytic graphite electrode

A novel amperometric sensor for uric acid based on ordered mesoporous carbon modified pyrolytic graphite electrode was developed. Uric acid oxidation was easily catalyzed by this electrode in a phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.0, with an anodic potential decrease about 140 mV compared to bare pyrolytic graphite electrode. The uric acid level was determined by the amperometric method, at a constant potential of 0.31 mV, the catalytic current of uric acid vs. its concentration showed a good linearity in the range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁶−1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. The detection limit was 4.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. The proposed method could be effectively used for uric acid amperometric sensing in human urine.     

Simultaneous voltammetric detection of ascorbic acid, dopamine and uric acid using a pyrolytic graphite electrode modified into dopamine solution

Pyrolytic graphite electrodes (PGE) were modified into dopamine solutions using phosphate buffer solutions, pH 10 and 6.5, as supporting electrolyte. The modification process involved a previous anodization of the working electrode at +1.5 V into 0.1 mol L⁻¹ NaOH followed by other anodization step, in the same experimental conditions, into dopamine (DA) solutions. pH of the supporting electrolyte performed an important role in the production of a superficial melanin polymeric film, which permitted the simultaneous detection of ascorbic acid (AA), (DA) and uric acid (UA), ΔE_AA-DA = 222 mV; ΔE_AA-UA = 360 mV and ΔE_DA-UA = 138 mV, avoiding the superficial poisoning effects. The calculated detection limits were: 1.4 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹ for uric acid, 1.3 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ for ascorbic acid and 1.1 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹ for dopamine, with sensitivities of (7.7 ± 0.5), (0.061 ± 0.001) and (9.5 ± 0.05) A mol⁻¹ cm⁻², respectively, with no mutual interference. Uric acid was determined in urine, blood and serum human samples after dilution in phosphate buffer and no additional sample pre-treatment was necessary. The concentration of uric acid in urine was higher than the values found in blood and serum and the recovery tests (92-102%) indicated that no matrix effects were observed.     

Theoretical study on the electrochemical behavior of norepinephrine at Nafion multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified pyrolytic graphite electrode

DFT-B3LYP/6-31G (d, p) and HF/6-31G (d, p) calculations are performed for deoxidized norepinephrineat (NP(R)) and its oxidized form (NP(O)). The electrochemistry of norepinephrineat (NP) was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) at a pyrolytic graphite electrode modified by Nafion multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) in phosphate buffers at pH 6.0, showing that the standard electrode potential of half reaction for NP(O), H+/NP(R) is 0.75l V. This experimental standard electrode potential of half reaction is consistent with that calculated using the energies of solvation and sum of electronic and thermal free energies of NP(R) and NP(O). The frontier orbital theory and Mülliken charges of molecular explain the electrochemical behavior of CV at modified electrode well. The singlet vertical excited states for NP(R) and NP(O) are also discussed.     

Simple and complex lattices of N-alkyl fatty acid amides on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface

STM investigations of three N-alkyl fatty acid amide molecules have been carried out to get information of their molecular arrangement on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface. With variable positions of amide along the alkyl chain, complex lattices with different lattice constants were observed. Besides the lattices with a repeat unit matching one or two molecular lengths, a lattice with a repeat unit corresponding to three molecular lengths was found. In addition, the portion of different lattices depends on the length of the shorter alkyl chain. DFT-D calculations point to interactions of antiparallel oriented dipoles due to the amide group, which are distance dependent and thus larger for shorter N-alkyl chains.