Determining the number of resonance structures in concealed non-Kekuléan benzenoid hydrocarbons

The number of resonance structures (SC) for previously published concealed non-Kekuléan benzenoid hydrocarbons is determined. Using a simple computer program, analytical expressions for determining SC for various classes of non-Kekuléan (free-radical) benzenoid hydrocarbons are derived, and some properties of concealed non-Kekuléan benzenoid hydrocarbons are studied.     

Nanoelectrodes, nanoelectrode arrays and their applications

This review deals with the topic of ultrasmall electrodes, namely nanoelectrodes, arrays of these and discusses possible applications, including to analytical science. It deals exclusively with the use of nanoelectrodes in an electrochemical context. Benefits that accrue from use of very small working electrodes within electrochemical cells are discussed, followed by a review of methods for the preparation of such electrodes. Individual nanoelectrodes and arrays or ensembles of these are addressed, as are nanopore systems which seek to emulate biological transmembrane ion transport processes. Applications within physical electrochemistry, imaging science and analytical science are summarised.     

Electroanalysis of Bromate,Iodate and Chlorate at Tungsten Oxide Modified Platinum Microelectrode Arrays

This article describes the direct detection of Bromate, but also of chlorate and iodate, using modified arrays of platinum ultramicroelectrodes. The detection limits for these ions are IO =0.76 μM; BrO =2.34 μM and ClO =133.2 μM. The formation of a suitable tungsten oxide layer and the optimum analytical conditions are described. These oxide layers are formed electrochemically from hydrogen peroxide‐tungstanate solutions in acid conditions. Although film stability may be an issue, particularly at pH>3, these modified arrays of microelectrodes can be used for analytical purposes. After the analysis, the modifying oxide is easily removed and the Pt microelectrode array recovers its original properties.     

A selective unsaturated hydrocarbon subtraction technique for stable carbon isotopic analysis of atmospheric methyl chloride, methyl bromide, and C2-C5 saturated hydrocarbons using continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry

Using continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry, we have developed a new analytical system which enables us to determine the stable carbon isotopic composition of CH3Cl, CH3Br, and C2-C5 saturated hydrocarbons in gas samples even if they contain substantial amounts of unsaturated hydrocarbons, using an I2O5 reagent for their selective subtraction. The analytical precision of the delta13C determinations is better than 0.5 per thousand for >300 pmolC injections and better than 5 per thousand for 20 pmolC injections. Using the system, delta13C values for CH3Cl and CH3Br were found in burning exhaust that contain a substantial quantity of unsaturated hydrocarbons. CH3Cl and CH3Br measured in exhaust from burning rice plants exhibit highly 13C-depleted values of -56.6 +/- 1.3 per thousand and -48.6 +/- 3.9 per thousand, respectively, while saturated hydrocarbons exhibit delta13C values (-26.4 to -28.9 per thousand) that are comparable with the total delta13C value of the parent material (rice plant; -28.0 per thousand). Using the system, we can determine the delta13C values of methyl halides and hydrocarbons in many kinds of gas samples.     

Nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the environment: formation, occurrences and analysis

A review is presented on the formation and occurrence in the atmosphere of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Some analytical methodologies (covering various matrices) are also considered.     

Quality criteria of the isotope dilution method for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum-derived hydrocarbons and phenol in leachate of large-scale lysimeter experiments

A comprehensive analytical procedure for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum-derived hydrocarbons and phenol using the isotope dilution method and employing high-resolution gas chromatography and mass spectrometry was developed and validated for leachates from source-term experiments and the different sampling sites of lysimeters. The use of glassware and other materials is efficiently limited to minimize the risk of contamination. The relative standard deviation elaborated allows precise reliable measurements. Limit of detection and recovery data are useful to judge the quality of each single measurement.     

Mndo study of bond orders in some conjugated BI- and tri-cyclic hydrocarbons

MNDO calculations have been carried out on a number of conjugated bicyclic and tricyclic hydrocarbons. For reference purposes some acenes and monocyclic non-benzenoid hydrocarbons are also mentioned. While the influence of 2 or 6 π-electron systems in stabilising, and of 4 π-electron systems in destabilising, structures is readily evident, it is clear that arrays of 10 or more π-electrons have markedly less effect, and the balance between fixation of bonds and delocalisation in many compounds possessing such systems is subtle.     

Linear and nonlinear excitations in a polyethylene crystal, 1. Vibrational modes and linear equations

Linear excitations in a polyethylene crystal are investigated by a new analytical method from the “first principles”. Elastic moduli are calculated from the parameters of molecular potentials of interaction. High anisotropy allows to derive comparatively simple approximate equations describing the dynamics of the crystal. Approximate expressions for the low-frequency branches of vibrational spectra are obtained. The role of internal degrees of freedom is revealed. Approximate expressions governing the dynamics of all degrees of freedom considered are obtained in analytic form suitable for nonlinear generalizations.     

Dispersive transport of biomolecules in periodic energy landscapes with application to nanofilter sieving arrays

We present a theoretical model for describing the electric field-driven migration and dispersion of short anisotropic molecules in nanofluidic filter arrays. The model uses macrotransport theory to derive exact integral-form expressions for the effective mobility and diffusivity of Brownian particles moving in an effective one-dimensional energy landscape. The latter is obtained by modeling the anisotropic molecules as point-sized Brownian particles with their orientational degrees of freedom accounted for by an entropy penalty term, and using a systematic projection procedure for reducing the system dimensionality to the device axial dimension. Our analytical results provide guidance for the design and optimization of nanofluidic separation systems without the need for complex numerical simulations. Comparison with numerical solution of the macrotransport equations in the actual, effectively two-dimensional, geometry shows that the one-dimensional model faithfully describes the field- and size-dependences of mobility and diffusivity, with maximum difference on the order of 10% under the experimentally relevant electric fields.     

On the spectacular structural isomorphism between CnHs monoradical and Cn+sHs+3 diradical benzenoid hydrocarbons: from reactive intermediates to vacancy (Hole) defects in graphite

The formula/structure informatics of monoradical and diradical benzenoid hydrocarbons that are potential reactive intermediates is studied. Some new enumeration and structural results with analytical expressions are presented. The topological paradigm and one-to-one correspondence between the monoradical and diradical constant-isomer series is demonstrated. Constant-isomer benzenoid monoradicals of the formula CnHs have a one-to-one correspondence in isomer number and topology to constant-isomer diradicals of the formula Cn+sHs+3. Some electronic properties of benzenoid radicals are delineated. Excising out a monoradical or diradical benzenoid carbon molecule from a perfect hexagonal graphite layer leaves a matching monoradical or diradical vacancy hole defect called an antimolecule; this observation can be generalized to include excising out all nondisjoint and obvious benzenoid polyradicals from a perfect (Kekuléan) hexagonal graphite layer. It is shown that the characteristics of graphite vacancies (antimolecules) can be deduced from knowledge about the carbon molecules removed in their formation.     

Sampling hazelnuts for aflatoxin: uncertainty associated with sampling, sample preparation, and analysis

The variability associated with the aflatoxin test procedure used to estimate aflatoxin levels in bulk shipments of hazelnuts was investigated. Sixteen 10 kg samples of shelled hazelnuts were taken from each of 20 lots that were suspected of aflatoxin contamination. The total variance associated with testing shelled hazelnuts was estimated and partitioned into sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variance components. Each variance component increased as aflatoxin concentration (either B1 or total) increased. With the use of regression analysis, mathematical expressions were developed to model the relationship between aflatoxin concentration and the total, sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variances. The expressions for these relationships were used to estimate the variance for any sample size, subsample size, and number of analyses for a specific aflatoxin concentration. The sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variances associated with estimating aflatoxin in a hazelnut lot at a total aflatoxin level of 10 ng/g and using a 10 kg sample, a 50 g subsample, dry comminution with a Robot Coupe mill, and a high-performance liquid chromatographic analytical method are 174.40, 0.74, and 0.27, respectively. The sampling, sample preparation, and analytical steps of the aflatoxin test procedure accounted for 99.4, 0.4, and 0.2% of the total variability, respectively.     

高效液相色谱-气相色谱在线联用同时测定土壤中饱和烃和芳香烃

为加强对土壤中石油烃类污染物的风险管控,生态环境部已将石油烃类列为土壤中的重点监测项目.石油烃源于石油与合成油,是涵盖一定碳数范围的碳氢化合物,主要分为饱和烃和芳香烃两大类.芳香烃通常是高度烷基化的单环、双环与多环芳烃,其对人和动物的毒性较饱和烃大很多,因此,仅仅测定土壤中总石油烃含量难以准确评估其环境毒性.目前环境领...     

Electroanalysis in flowing systems – the propagation of depletion effects downstream of a channel micro-band electrode

Analytical and numerical methods are used to establish concentration distributions around channel microband electrodes both in isolation and as part of multi-electrode arrays. The importance of axial diffusion in addition to convection and diffusion normal to the electrode surface is stressed. In particular, downstream depletion effects are shown to occur over many electrode lengths, so that the diffusion fields of electrodes within arrays overlap and interfere. A simple analytical expression is derived to describe this depletion and permits the design of practical arrays in which electrodes operate essentially independently of each other.     

Estimation of C2−C5 hydrocarbons in air by pre-concentration on silica gel at dry ice temperature

Summary A short stainless steel column packed with silica gel is cooled to –78°C and atmospheric hydrocarbons are preconcentrated from 3 I of air on it. Desorption to the analytical column is by heating for 10 min to 200°C. Analysis is by GC on OPN-Poracil C at 27°C. The sorption efficiencies were nearly 100% for most of the light hydrocarbons.     

Analytical evaluation of Fukui functions and real-space linear response function

Many useful concepts developed within density functional theory provide much insight for the understanding and prediction of chemical reactivity, one of the main aims in the field of conceptual density functional theory. While approximate evaluations of such concepts exist, the analytical and efficient evaluation is, however, challenging, because such concepts are usually expressed in terms of functional derivatives with respect to the electron density, or partial derivatives with respect to the number of electrons, complicating the connection to the computational variables of the Kohn-Sham one-electron orbitals. Only recently, the analytical expressions for the chemical potential, one of the key concepts, have been derived by Cohen, Mori-Sánchez, and Yang, based on the potential functional theory formalism. In the present work, we obtain the analytical expressions for the real-space linear response function using the coupled perturbed Kohn-Sham and generalized Kohn-Sham equations, and the Fukui functions using the previous analytical expressions for chemical potentials of Cohen, Mori-Sánchez, and Yang. The analytical expressions are exact within the given exchange-correlation functional. They are applicable to all commonly used approximate functionals, such as local density approximation (LDA), generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and hybrid functionals. The analytical expressions obtained here for Fukui function and linear response functions, along with that for the chemical potential by Cohen, Mori-Sánchez, and Yang, provide the rigorous and efficient evaluation of the key quantities in conceptual density functional theory within the computational framework of the Kohn-Sham and generalized Kohn-Sham approaches. Furthermore, the obtained analytical expressions for Fukui functions, in conjunction with the linearity condition of the ground state energy as a function of the fractional charges, also lead to new local conditions on the exact functionals, expressed in terms of the second-order functional derivatives. We implemented the expressions and demonstrate the efficacy with some atomic and molecular calculations, highlighting the importance of relaxation effects.     

Advanced Methodologies for Sampling and Analysis of Toxic Organic Chemicals in Ambient Outdoor,Indoor, and Personal Respiratory Air

Many different kinds of sampling devices and analytical techniques are required to assess the potential adverse effects of toxic air pollutants on human health and the ecosystem. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has an on-going research and development program designed to provide the necessary tools to monitor air quality both outdoors and indoors and to measure personal respiratory exposures. Particular emphasis in recent years has been placed on real-time and integrative methods for neutral and polar volatile organic chemicals (e.g., chlorinated hydrocarbons, single-ring aromatics, alcohols, aldehydes, ethers, thiols, nitriles) and semi-volatile organics (e.g., polynuclear aromatics, nitrated aromatics, pesticides, phenols). Samplers capable of obtaining sufficient quantities of chemicals for ultratrace analyses and sometimes bioassay, that are also quiet, unobtrusive and user-friendly, are being developed and evaluated for indoor, outdoor, and personal monitoring. New analytical techniques such as matrix-isolation GC/FTIR, and supercritical fluid extraction and chromatography are being adapted to characterize collected samples.     

Optimal control of chemical birth and growth processes in a deterministic model

An optimal control problem for a deterministic model of chemical birth and growth processes is studied. The cost functional takes into account the two main industrial competitive interests: to avoid low temperatures and to shorten the cooling time. Explicit expressions of the optimal controls are obtained by using an analytical approximation of the relation between the instantaneous amount of crystallized polymer and the total amount of cold injected into the sample until this instant of time. Numerical simulations are shown to illustrate the good agreement with the analytical expressions. It is surprising and remarkable that the explicit expressions of the optimal controls can be derived by minimizing an elementary function in one real variable.     

Comprehensive analytical figures of merit for fluorimetry of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons

The analytical figures of merit for fluorescence of sixty polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are presented. The limits of detection for most of the compounds are below 50 ng ml^-1 and the average relative standard deviation at 1 μg ml^-1 for each compound is 1.4%. The fluorescence excitation and emission peak wavelengths are listed. These results confirm the excellent detection limits and precision offered by this technique for quantification of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Approximate analytical expressions for the electrical potential in a cavity containing salt-free medium

The electrical potential in a closed surface such as a cavity containing counterions only is derived for the cases of constant surface potential and constant surface charge density. The results obtained have applications in, for example, microemulsion-related systems in which ionic surfactants are introduced to maintain the stability of a dispersion and electroosmotic flow-related analysis. An analytical expression for the electrical potential is derived for a planar slit, and the methodology used is modified to derive approximate analytical expressions for spherical and cylindrical cavities. The higher the surface potential, the better the performance of these expressions. For the case where the surface potential is above ca. 50 mV, the performance of the approximate analytical expressions can further be improved by multiplying a correction function.     

Multi-residue analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorobiphenyls, and organochlorine pesticides in marine sediments

A multi-residue analysis procedure using microwave-assisted extraction and pre-purification has been developed for the combined analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorobiphenyls (PCB), and organochlorine pesticides (OCP) in marine sediments. This procedure has been validated with certified marine sediment. Several surrogate standards have been employed and the use of octachloronaphthalene (OCN) as a surrogate standard for organochlorine determination in this matrix is discussed. The recoveries of all compounds were high (>70%) and the relative standard deviations are of the same order as the certified values. Different analytical problems are discussed, including DDT degradation in gas chromatography and laboratory PCB background levels. Quantification problems encountered for two pesticides (cis-chlordane and trans-nonachlor) were attributed to PAH interference in the GC-ECD chromatogram.