Subcritical Extracts from Major Species of Oil-Bearing Roses—A Comparative Chemical Profiling

A comprehensive chemical profiling of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (freon R134a) subcritical extracts from the main genotypes of oil-bearing roses, was performed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) in order to reveal the differences in their chemical composition. One hundred and three individual compounds were identified using GC/MS and their quantitative content was determined using GC-FID, representing 89.8, 92.5, 89.7 and 93.7% of the total content of Rosa gallica L., Rosa damascena Mill., Rosa alba L. and Rosa centifolia L. extracts, respectively. The compounds found in the extracts are representatives of the following main chemical classes: mono-, sesqui- and triterpenoids, phenylethanoids and phenylpropanoids and aliphatic hydrocarbons. Fatty acids, esters and waxes were found, as well. The study revealed that 2-phenylethanol is the most abundant component, ranging 9.0–60.9% followed by nonadecane and nonadecene with 5.1–18.0% geraniol (2.9–14.4%), heneicosane (3.1–11.8%), tricosane (0.1–8.6%), nerol (1.3–6.1%) and citronellol (1.7–5.3%). The extracts demonstrate a specific chemical profile, depending on the botanical species—phenylethanoids and phenyl propanoids are the main group for R. damascena, aliphatic hydrocarbons for R. alba and R. centifolia, while both are found in almost equal amounts in R. gallica. The terpenoid compounds show relatively broad variations: monoterpenes—11.9–25.5% with maximum in R. centifolia; sesquiterpenes—0.6–7.0% with maximum in R. gallica and triterpenes—0.4–3.7% with maximum in R. gallica extract.     

13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for determining the different components of epicuticular waxes of olive fruit (Olea europaea) Dritta cultivar

¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) was applied to determine the different components of apolar and polar fractions which were isolated by column chromatography from the crude chloroform-soluble waxes of olive fruits (Olea europaea) Dritta cultivar.¹³C NMR enabled the determination in the wax apolar fraction, of aliphatic aldehydes, and of benzyl, alkyl and glyceryl esters. In particular, the fatty acid composition of alkyl esters, comprising saturated and unsaturated oleic and linoleic acids, was determined. Acyl chain composition and the chain composition of 1,3- and 2-glycerol positions were also determined for triacylglycerols of olive fruit waxes.Oleanolic and maslinic acids were confirmed to be the major components of wax polar fraction. Complete assignments of ¹³C NMR chemical shifts of oleanolic and maslinic acids as a mixture were achieved by using homonuclear correlation spectroscopy with gradient (g-COSY), attached proton test (APT), inverse-detected heteronuclear single-quantum coherence with gradient (g-HSQC), high-resolution heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy (HETCOR) for C-H directly attached pairs and C-H long-range-coupled experiments.     

Composition of the floral waxes ofRosa gallica, Jasminum grandiflorumm, andViola odorata

The chemical compositions of the waxes of the flowers ofRosa gallica L., Jasminum grandiflorum L., andViola odorata L. have been characterized. The waxes of these plants mainly contained hydrocarbons and fatty and cyclic alcohols and their esters with fatty acids. The highest level of free fatty acids (12.4%) was found in theJ. grandiflorum wax. Depending on the plant species, the above-mentioned groups of substances differed in composition and amount, but hydrocarbons predominated.Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (371) 120 64 75. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 327–333, May–June, 1999.     

Phase behaviour of 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium bis[trifluoromethylsulfonyl]imide with thiophene and aliphatic hydrocarbons: The influence of n-alkane chain length

This paper reports the results of a new experimental study on the capacity of an ionic liquid to extract a sulfur compound from its mixtures with aliphatic hydrocarbons. With this aim, liquid + liquid equilibrium data of ternary systems containing 1-methyl-3-octyl-imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)-imide ([C₈mim][NTf₂]), thiophene and n-hexane, n-heptane or n-hexadecane have been determined at T = 298.15 K. All systems showed high solubility of thiophene in the ionic liquid and low solubility of the ionic liquid in the n-alkane. The solute distribution coefficient decreases and the selectivity increases as the chain length of n-alkane increases. Both parameters are higher than unity in most of the cases. The experimental results have been correlated using NRTL activity coefficient model, and large deviations from experimental data have been found at high concentrations of thiophene with the heaviest hydrocarbons.     

Monte Carlo simulation for the adsorption of symmetric triblock copolymers I. Configuration distribution and density profiles of adsorbed chains

Monte Carlo simulations for the adsorption of symmetric triblock copolymers from a nonselective solvent at a solid-liquid interface have been performed on a lattice model. In simulations, triblock copolymer molecules are modeled as self-avoiding linear chains composed of m segments of A and n segments of B arranged as A_m/2B_nA_m/2. Either segment A or segment B is attractive, while the other is non-attractive to the surface. The microstructure of the adsorbed layers, including the segment-density profiles and the size distribution of loops, tails and trains are presented. The effect of the adsorption energy, the bulk concentration, the chain composition, as well as the chain length on various adsorption properties has been studied. The results have shown that the size distribution of various configurations is dependent of the adsorption energy, the chain composition and the chain length. The mean length of the loops, trains and tails is insensitive to the bulk concentration. The mean length of the trains increases and that of the tails decreases as the adsorption energy and the length of the attractive segments increase. The mean length of the loops for the end-adsorbed copolymers appears a maximum and that for middle-adsorbed copolymers appears a minimum as the length of attractive segments increases. The length of the non-attractive segments affects mostly the size distribution of the tails. The longer the chain is, the larger the tail appears. The mean length of the tails and loops increases linearly as the length of the non-attractive segments increases, but that of the trains approximately is unchanged.     

High temperature gas chromatography for the analysis of fossil fuels: A review

For the past two or three decades geochemists have been concerned with the analyses and characterization of compounds, generally hydrocarbons, ranging from C₁? C₄₀. Significant amounts of information have resulted from these studies which have been extremely useful in many geochemical and environmental studies. However, in the past two or three years the commercial development and availability of high temperature gas chromatography columns has lead to the investigation of the occurrence and distribution of high molecular weight hydrocarbons (HMWHC), and other compounds, in the carbon number range C₄₀? C₁₀₀, present in oils, waxes, bitumens and rock extracts. The ability to study these compounds represents a major advance in organic geochemistry. In some samples these compounds may represent the bulk of the organic components but prior to development of the high temperature columns it was impossible to study their distributions. This paper will review advances that have occurred in terms of the application of high temperature gas chromatography (HTGC) to the analyses of fossil fuel samples and discuss the possible origin and significance of these compounds that have been identified. In addition, some of the potential problems involved in the analyses of these compounds will also be discussed.     

Supercritical CO2 Extraction of Narcissus poeticus L. Flowers for the Isolation of Volatile Fragrance Compounds

The flowers of Narcissus poeticus are used for the isolation of valuable fragrance substances. So far, as the majority of these substances consist of volatile and sensitive to heat compounds, there is a need of developing effective methods for their recovery. In this study, freeze-dried N. poeticus inflorescences were extracted with pure supercritical CO₂ (SFE-CO₂) and its mixture with 5% co-solvent ethanol (EtOH) at 40 °C. Extract yields varied from 1.63% (12 MPa) to 3.12% (48 MPa, 5% EtOH). In total, 116 volatile compounds were identified by GC-TOF/MS in the extracts, which were divided into 20 different groups. Benzyl benzoate (9.44–10.22%), benzyl linoleate (1.72–2.17%) and benzyl alcohol (0.18–1.00%) were the major volatiles among aromatic compounds. The amount of the recovered benzyl benzoate in N. poeticus SFE-CO₂ extracts varied from 58.98 ± 2.61 (24 MPa) to 91.52 ± 1.36 (48 MPa) mg/kg plant dry weight (pdw). α-Terpineol dominated among oxygenated monoterpenes (1.08–3.42%); its yield was from 9.25 ± 0.63 (12 MPa) to 29.88 ± 1.25 (48 MPa/EtOH) mg/kg pdw. Limonene was the major monoterpene hydrocarbon; (3E)-hexenol and heneicosanol dominated among alcohols and phenols; dihydroactinidiolide and 4,8,12,16-tetramethyl heptadecan-4-olide were the most abundant lactones; heptanal, nonanal, (2E,4E)-decadienal and octadecanal were the most abundant aldehydes. The most important prenol lipids were triterpenoid squalene, from 0.86 ± 0.10 (24 MPa) to 7.73 ± 0.18 (48 MPa/EtOH) mg/kg pdw and D-α-tocopherol, from 1.20 ± 0.04 (12 MPa) to 15.39 ± 0.31 (48 MPa/EtOH) mg/kg pdw. Aliphatic hydrocarbons (waxes) constituted the main part (41.47 to 54.93%) in the extracts; while in case of a 5% EtOH the percentage of alkanes was the lowest. The fraction of waxes may be removed for the separation of higher value fragrance materials. In general, the results obtained are promising for a wider application of SFE-CO₂ for the recovery of fragrance substances from N. poeticus flowers.     

π-Selective stationary phases: (I) Influence of the spacer chain length of phenyl type phases on the aromatic and methylene selectivity of aromatic compounds in reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography

Phenyl type stationary phases of increasing spacer chain length (phenyl, methyl phenyl, ethyl phenyl, propyl phenyl and butyl phenyl, with 0–4 carbon atoms in the spacer chain, respectively) were synthesised and packed in house to determine the impact that the spacer chain length has on the retention process. Two trends in the aromatic selectivity, q_aromatic, were observed, depending on whether the number of carbon atoms in the spacer chain is even or odd. Linear log k′ vs ? plots were obtained for each stationary phase and the S coefficient was determined from the gradient of these plots. For the phenyl type phases, the S vs n_c plots of the retention factors of linear polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons vs the number of rings exhibit a distinct discontinuity that between 3 and 4 rings, which increases with increasing spacer chain length for even phases but decreases for odd phases. Accordingly, we suggest that the retention factors depend differently on the number of carbon atoms in the spacer chain depending on whether this number is even or odd and that this effect is caused by different orientations of the aromatic ring relative to the silica surface.     

Multivariate Composition Distribution in Free‐Radical Multicomponent Polymerization, 1

Statistical multicomponent polymerization is a typical example of a Markovian process for which the generating function approach can be applied. Up to the present, generating functions have been used mainly to obtain analytical solutions. However, recent advances of computer software capable of handling symbolic calculations can throw new light on the old mathematical technique. After formulating the equations representing the instantaneous composition distribution of polymers for a given chain length, r, the illustrative numerical calculations are conducted by using the symbolic calculator. For a multicomponent polymerization consisting of more than two components, the second component distribution is dependent on the composition of the first component (F₁), which is represented by the conditional probability given r and F₁, . It is found that is well approximated by the Gaussian distribution with the variance following the relationship, , as in the case of the first component distribution , where A and B are the constants. With the knowledge of chain length distribution, it is now possible to conduct the full analysis of multivariate distribution of chain length and compositions for multicomponent free‐radical polymerization.

Bivariate distribution of composition F₁ and F₂ for chain length r = 100 in a three‐component system.     

Geochemical Characteristics and Significance of Organic Matter in Hydrate-Bearing Sediments from Shenhu Area,South China Sea

Rock-Eval pyrolysis and the biomarker composition of organic matter were systematically studied in hydrate-bearing sediments from the Shenhu area, South China Sea. The n-alkane distribution patterns revealed that the organic matter in the sediments appeared to originate from mixed sources of marine autochthonous input, terrestrial higher plants, and ancient reworked organic matter. The low total organic carbon contents (average < 0.5%) and the low hydrogen index (HI, <80 mg HC/g TOC) suggested the poor hydrocarbon-generation potential of the deposited organic matter at a surrounding temperature of <20 °C in unconsolidated sediments. The abnormally high production index and the fossil-originated unresolved complex mixture (UCM) accompanied by sterane and hopane of high maturity indicated the contribution of deep hydrocarbon reservoirs. Preliminary oil-to-source correlation for the extracts implied that the allochthonous hydrocarbons in the W01B and W02B sediments might have originated from the terrestrial source rocks of mature Enping and Wenchang formations, while those of W03B seem to be derived from more reduced and immature marine source rocks such as the Zhuhai formation. The results of the organic extracts supported the previous identification of source rocks based on the isotopic composition of C₂₊ hydrate-bound gases. The biomarker of methanogens, squalane, was recognized in the sediments of this study, possibly suggesting the generation of secondary microbial gases which are coupled with the biodegradation of the deep allochthonous hydrocarbons.     

Vector length distributions and polarizabilities of effective polymer chains: a statistical segment approach

The freely orienting model of a polymer chain is generalized by considering the distribution of vector lengths and polarizabilities of the statistical segments in the chain with a constant number of skeletal bonds in each of the segments The bonds in the segments are assumed to exist in their RIS (Rotational Isomeric States) conformations. The segment is characterized, i.e., its end-to-end length and polarizability distributions are computed. Bond polarizabilities, as determined by Denbigh, have been used for polyethylene and poly(cis-isoprene), and are assumed to be independent of the environment. Two methods are used to compute the chain length distribution from the length distribution of statistical segments: (i) an exact method, using a modified version of Chandrasekhar’s approach, originally formulated for chains of segments having constant length; and (ii) an alternative approach, which considers the series expansion of the Helmholtz Free Energy of an isolated chain, making the analysis computationally more viable without significant loss in accuracy. The averages of the chain end-to-end length distributions have been computed at 373 K for poly(cis-isoprene) and at 403 and 413 K for polyethylene. Also, chain polarizability is determined from the distribution of statistical segment lengths and polarizabilities. The results are in a form that can be used to obtain stress-deformation and optical anisotropy-deformation relationships of assemblies of chains, such as crosslinked networks.     

Lipids of Some Lycopodiophyta Species

The fractional composition of neutral and polar lipids from four Lycopodiophyta species was studied. It has been established that the neutral lipids consist of esters of glycerin, alcohols, fatty acids, sterols, waxes, and hydrocarbons. The polar lipids contain glycolipids, phospholipids, and the betaine lipid of DGTS.     

Molecular evolution of the plant ECERIFERUM1 and ECERIFERUM3 genes involved in aliphatic hydrocarbon production

The Arabidopsis ECERIFERUM1 (CER1) protein is a decarbonylase that converts fatty acid metabolites into alkanes. Alkanes are components of waxes in the plant cuticle, a waterproof barrier serving to protect land plants from both biotic and abiotic stimuli. CER1 enzymes can be used to produce alternative and sustainable hydrocarbons in eukaryotic systems. In this report we identified 193 CER1 and 128 CER3 sequences from 56 land plants respectively. CER1 and CER3 proteins have high amino acid similarity and both are involved in alkane synthesis in Arabidopsis. The common homologues of CER1 and CER3 genes were identified in three species of chlorophytes, which may be one of the earliest plant taxa that possess CER1 and CER3 genes. To facilitate potential applications, the 3-dimensional structure and conserved motifs of CER1 proteins were also characterized. CER1 and CER3 proteins are structurally similar, but CER1 proteins have more conserved histidine-containing motifs common to fatty acid hydroxylases and stearoyl-CoA desaturases. There was no significant loss or gain of protein motifs after ancient and recent duplications, suggesting that varied properties of CER1 proteins may be associated with less-conserved regions. Among 56 land plants, the codon-based assessments of selection modes revealed that neither entire proteins nor individual amino acids of CER1 proteins were significantly subjected to positive selection, indicating that CER1 proteins are highly conserved throughout evolution.     

Analysis of impurities occurring in a totally chlorine free-bleached Kraft pulp

A set of impurities (specks) occurring in a TCF (totally chlorine free)-bleached Kraft pulp of Eucalyptus globulus wood was studied. The impurities were Soxhlet extracted with acetone, and the extracts subsequently analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) using high-temperature capillary columns. The lipophilic fraction isolated from E. globulus wood extractives was also analyzed for comparison. The composition of the acetone extracts was very similar to that of E. globulus wood. Fatty acids, steroid hydrocarbons, sterols, steroid ketones and sterol esters, arising from E. globulus wood extractives survived the cooking and bleaching processes and accumulated in the pulp. On the other hand, the residue left after acetone extraction was studied by pyrolysis–GC–MS. The results indicated that it was composed of small particles of polyisoprene rubber. In conclusion, the speck impurities studied here seems to be composed of two different moieties, a lipophilic part arising from wood extractives and a core of small particles of synthetic polymers (polyisoprene rubber).     

Separation of propylbenzene and n-alkanes from their mixtures using 4-methyl-N-butylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate as an ionic solvent at several temperatures

Liquid-liquid extraction is the most common method for separation of aromatics from their mixtures with n-alkanes hydrocarbons. An ionic liquid (IL), 4-methyl-N-butylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate [(mebupy)(BF₄)], was evaluated as solvent for this separation. Liquid equilibria (LLE) for 2 ternary systems comprising tetradecane, or hexadecane + propylbenzene + [(mebupy)(BF₄)] were measured over a temperature range of 313-333 K and atmospheric pressure. The reliability of the experimental data was evaluated using the Othmer-Tobias correlation. The effect of temperature, n-alkane chain length and solvent to feed ratio upon solubility, selectivity, and distribution coefficient were investigated experimentally. In addition, the experimental results were regressed to estimate the interaction parameters between each of the 3 pairs of components for the UNIQUAC and the NRTL models as a function of temperature. Both models satisfactorily correlate the experimental data, however the UNIQUAC fit was slightly better than that obtained with the NRTL model.     

A modified square well model in obtaining the surface tension of pure and binary mixtures of hydrocarbons

A model based on the perturbation theory of fluids was proposed to correlate the experimental data for surface tension of pure hydrocarbons in a wide range of temperature. The results obtained for the pure hydrocarbons were directly used to predict the surface tension for binary hydrocarbon mixtures at various temperatures. In the proposed model, a modified form of the square well potential energy between the molecules of the reference fluid was taken into account while the Lennard–Jones dispersion energy was considered to be dominant amongst the molecules as the perturbed term to the reference part of the model. In general, the proposed model has three adjustable parameters which are chain length, m, size, σ, and energy, ε/κ, parameters, but in some cases the number of parameters was reduced to two, thereby setting the chain length to be unity for pure hydrocarbons. The regressed values of these parameters were obtained using the experimental data for pure hydrocarbons at different temperatures. The results showed that these parameters can be related to the molar mass of hydrocarbons. The model was also extended to predict the surface tension of binary hydrocarbon mixtures using the parameters obtained for the pure compounds. It is worth noting that no additional parameter has been introduced into the model in the extension of the model to the mixtures studied in this work. The results showed that the proposed model can accurately correlate the surface tension of pure hydrocarbons. Also the results showed that the surface tension for binary mixture of hydrocarbons can be accurately predicted using the proposed model over a wide temperature range.     

Solid‐phase microextraction with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry determination of benzo(a)pyrene in microcrystalline waxes used as food additives

Microcrystalline waxes are mixtures of solid, saturated hydrocarbons mainly branched and characterized by a carbon number over C₆₀. They are used as food additives for the surface treatment of confectionery and some fruit varieties, in chewing gum base, protective coatings, defoaming agents, and surface finishing agents. Commission Regulation No 231/2012 established physical and chemical specifications for microcrystalline waxes to use in food, and posed a limit of 50 μg/kg for benzo(a)pyrene. Due to the low solubility of microcrystalline waxes in organic solvents and matrix interferences, analytical determination of benzo(a)pyrene represents a difficult task. The official method for indirect determination of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons uses unspecific spectrophotometric detection and a quite laborious, time‐ and solvent‐consuming extraction method. A liquid–liquid partition method followed by solid‐phase microextraction was developed to isolate benzo(a)pyrene from the bulk of saturated hydrocarbons in microcrystalline waxes, with the aim to have a simple and effective method to verify compliance with the legal limit. The final determination was carried out by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Good linearity was obtained, along with a recovery of about 80% from the liquid–liquid partitions. The repeatability of the entire method was <6% and accuracy was <3%.     

Chemical investigations of male and female leaf extracts from Schinus molle L.

The pepper-tree Schinus molle is an evergreen ornamental plant with various and diversified list of medical uses. In this article we analysed the chemical composition of male and female leaves of this plant during the off-flowering and flowering seasons. The leaf extracts were obtained by using a sequential extraction with solvents of different polarities and the chemical composition was investigated by GC-MS. The results showed a total of twenty-three components, in which elemol is the most abundant constituent followed by bicyclogermacrene, γ-eudesmol, α-eudesmol, β-eudesmol and isocalamendiol. The petroleum ether and diethyl ether extracts from male and female flowering and off-flowering leaves consisted of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons as a major constituent followed by monoterpene hydrocarbons, while the acetone extracts showed a different composition. The obtained results show differences in the chemical composition between male and female and flowering and not flowering.     

Comparison of Volatile Organic Compounds of Sideritis romana L. and Sideritis montana L. from Croatia

A study on the headspace volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profile of native populations of Sideritis romana L. and Sidertis montana L., Lamiaceae, from Croatia is reported herein, to elucidate the phytochemical composition of taxa from this plant genus, well-known for traditional use in countries of the Mediterranean and the Balkan region. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), using divinylbenzene/carboxene/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) or polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fiber, coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied to analyze the dried aerial parts of six native populations in total. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on the volatile constituents with an average relative percentage ≥1.0% in at least one of the samples. Clear separation between the two species was obtained using both fiber types. The VOCs profile for all investigated populations was characterized by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, followed by monoterpene hydrocarbons, except for one population of S. romana, in which monoterpene hydrocarbons predominated. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the VOCs composition of natural populations of S. romana and S. montana from Croatia as well as the first reported HS-SPME/GC-MS analysis of S. romana and S. montana worldwide.     

Analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in solid sample material using a desorption device coupled to a GC/MS system

Summary Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) today are ubiquitous detectable constituents of recent sediments. The compounds are adsorbed on particulate emissions and are thus transferred to the environment. To date the analysis of PAH in sediments, dust samples and plant material is based mainly on the application of solvent-extraction methods followed by liquid chromatography and/or gas chromatographic separation of the extracts.An alternative approach for the analysis of PAH in solid samples such as coal, sediments, dust samples and plant waxes is shown in this contribution. A commercially available device for the analysis of volatile compounds present in solid matter is connected on-line to a GC/MS system. The device enables the thermal desorption of hydrocarbons at a temperature of 320°C. Subsequently, the hydrocarbons trapped on the initial part of the capillary column are analyzed by GC/MS. The application of mass chromatography provides the possibility of detection and quantitation of PAH in complex mixtures even when they coelute with other compounds. The sample amount required varies between 1 and 10 mg depending on the hydrocarbon content.