Separation of no-carrier-added <Superscript>90</Superscript>Nb from proton induced natural zirconium target

Amongst various radionuclides of molybdenum, ⁹⁰Mo and ⁹⁹Mo have suitable β energy for clinical uses. In this paper we report separation of ⁹⁹Mo from ⁹⁹Mo-^99mTc equilibrium mixture. The liquid–liquid extraction technique has been employed using trioctylamine (TOA) diluted in cyclohexane as organic phase and HCl as aqueous phase. At 10⁻⁵ M HCl and 0.5 M TOA concentration ^99mTc quantitatively transferred to the organic phase leaving ⁹⁹Mo in the aqueous phase. The developed separation method is efficient and provides very high separation factor.     

Separation of <Superscript>113m</Superscript>In from <Superscript>113</Superscript>Sn based on activated carbon used as column matrix

The activated carbon was prepared by using corncobs and characterized by sorpatometer for using as an exchanger material to separate the generated ^113mIn from ¹¹³Sn and ^124,125Sb. To optimize the separation process, the different parameters like acetone percentage, HCl concentration were studied. The exchange capacity of Sn(IV) is 7.6 meq/g onto the activated carbon and the elution efficiency of ^113mIn > 80% by using 10 mL of 0.2 M HCl-80% acetone with flow rate 1 mL/min. The radionuclidic purity and radiochemical purity of the eluted ^113mIn were examined and clarified the presence of ^124,125Sb with relatively high level as radio impurities, so further separation was carried out by using Dowex 1×8 as an anion exchanger below the activated carbon matrix on the same separation column to adsorb the ¹¹³Sn and ^124,125Sb, which escape from the activated carbon matrix.     

Separation of no-carrier-added <Superscript>107,109</Superscript>Cd from proton induced silver target: classical chemistry still relevant

The classical chemistry like precipitation technique is relevant even in modern days trans-disciplinary research from the view point of green chemistry. A definite demand of no-carrier-added (nca) cadmium tracers, namely, ^107,109Cd, has been realized for diverse applications. Development of efficient separation technique is therefore important to address the purity of the tracers for various applications. No-carrier-added ^107,109Cd radionuclides were produced by bombarding natural silver target matrix with 13 MeV protons, which gave ~15 MBq/μA h yield for nca ¹⁰⁷Cd. The nca cadmium radionuclides were separated from the natural silver target matrix by precipitating Ag as AgCl. The developed method is an example wherein green chemistry is used in trans-disciplinary research. The method is also simple, fast, cost effective and environmentally benign.     

Production and separation of no-carrier-added <Superscript>208,209,210</Superscript>At produced from heavy ion activation on natural thallium target

No-carrier-added (nca) ^208,209,210At was produced for the first time from ⁹Be induced reaction on thallium carbonate target at BARC-TIFR pelletron, Mumbai, India. The target of 4 mg/cm² thickness was prepared by centrifugation technique. Nca At was separated from the thallium target by liquid–liquid extraction using liquid cation exchanger HDEHP dissolved in cyclohexane and liquor ammonia.     

Production of no-carrier-added <Superscript>117m</Superscript>Sn from proton irradiated antimony

A method for production of no-carrier-added ^117mSn (NCA ^117mSn) has been developed. It includes proton irradiation of thick antimony targets and chemical recovery of ^117mSn by extraction of Sb with dibutyl ether and chromatographic purification on silica gel column. The method provides production of curie amounts of ^117mSn with specific activity about 1000 Ci/g and high radionuclidic purity.     

PC-controlled radiochemistry system for preparation of no-carrier-added <Superscript>64</Superscript>Cu

A homemade modular PC-controlled radiochemistry system, used to separate the no-carrier-added ⁶⁴Cu from irradiated electroplated solid cyclotron target ⁶⁴Ni layers was developed. Upon irradiation the target layer is dissolved in diluted nitric acid, followed by selective liquid–liquid extraction of the ⁶⁴Cu. The final purification step is achieved making use of an anion exchange column. All the separation procedures can be carried out remote-controlled with a minimized risk of operator errors within less than 2 h, with excellent processing yield (>95%).     

Separation and purification of <Superscript>249</Superscript>Cf and <Superscript>245</Superscript>Cm

There is a need to provide radioactivity standards of the higher actinides in support of both decommissioning and remediation activities as well as routine environmental analysis. In the case ²⁴⁹Cf, this will provide a useful calibration nuclide for both α-and γ-spectrometry as well as improving knowledge of the decay scheme for this nuclide. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the chemical yield of americium and curium may differ in radiochemical analysis. Thus, a chemical yield tracer of ²⁴⁵Cm may help to resolve this issue and will be suitable for both, suitable for use as a chemical yield tracer for both α-particle spectrometry and mass spectrometry. An aged source of ²⁴⁹Cf was used as the source material for the separation of these two nuclides by cation-exchange, using 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-propanoic acid at controlled pH as an eluant, ²⁴⁹Cf being eluted before the ²⁴⁵Cm daughter. The purity of both nuclides was measured by γ-ray spectrometry.     

Separation of <Superscript>125</Superscript>IBZM and <Superscript>125</Superscript>ILIS using polyacrylamide-acrylic acid resin

Radioiodination of both S(−)BZM and LIS was carried out using n-bromosuccimide(NBS) as a mild oxidizing agent. The factors affecting on the radiochemical yield such as pH, reaction time, substrate concentration and oxidizing agent have been studied. The chromatographic separation of both ¹²⁵IBZM and ¹²⁵ILIS was carried out using HPLC and poly(acrylamide-acrylic acid) resin P(AAm-AA). The copolymer was prepared by a template polymerization of AA in aqueous solution on PAAm as a template polymer and in the presence of N,N-methylenebisacrylamide (NMBA) as a crosslinker using gamma rays as initiator. The purifications of tracers were carried out using prepared resin compared with TLC and HPLC. The effects of pH buffer, variable elution volumes, flow rate and temperature on the separation process of the resin efficiency have been studied.     

Separation of <Superscript>133</Superscript>Xe from <Superscript>99</Superscript>Mo, <Superscript>131</Superscript>I and uranium,and removal of impurities using gas chromatography

Summary Separation and purification of ¹³³Xe from acidic solution containing uranium, ⁹⁹Mo and ¹³¹I has been developed. In the first step of this work, uranium pellets were dissolved under pressure (8-15 bar) in 8M nitric acid solution. Then¹³³ Xe and other gases were conducted to activated charcoal cold trap. Final purification of ¹³³Xe from impurities such as NO_x, radioiodine and krypton was performed by passing through a molecular sieve preparative chromatographic column using helium as mobile phase. The final recovery of ¹³³Xe from the separation-purification process was higher than 98%. Adsorption-desorption behavior of radioxenon on the charcoal and molecular sieves have also been studied and discussed.     

Separation of <Superscript>142</Superscript>La from fission products by SISAK technique

A rapid separation system based on SISAK technique was established to isolate ¹⁴²La successfully from fission products. SISAK technique is often applied in the separation of nuclides with the half-life of seconds or minutes. Here it was used to separate the parent nuclide of ¹⁴²La, which the half-life is in the magnitude of several seconds. According to the separation procedure designed in the paper, the activity of ¹⁴²La acquired is more than 10⁴ Bq and the decontamination factors for most γ-emitters are higher than 10³.     

Separation of radioarsenic from irradiated germanium oxide targets for the production of <Superscript>71</Superscript>As and <Superscript>72</Superscript>As

A method for the separation of no-carrier-added arsenic radionuclides from the bulk amount of proton-irradiated GeO₂ targets as well as from coproduced radiogallium was developed. The radionuclides ⁶⁹Ge and ⁶⁷Ga produced during irradiation of GeO₂ were used as tracers for Ge and Ga in the experiments. After dissolution of the target the ratio of As(III) to As(V) was determined via thin layer chromatography (TLC). The extraction of radioarsenic by different organic solvents from acid solutions containing alkali iodide was studied and optimized. The influence of the concentration of various acids (HCl, HClO₄, HNO₃, HBr, H₂SO₄) as well as of KI was studied using cyclohexane. The optimum separation of radioarsenic was achieved using cyclohexane with 4.75 M HCl and 0.5 M KI and its back-extraction with a 0.1% H₂O₂ solution. The separation leads to high purity radioarsenic containing no radiogallium and <0.001% [⁶⁹Ge]Ge. The overall radiochemical yield is 93 ± 3%. The practical application of the optimized procedure in the production of ⁷¹As and ⁷²As is demonstrated and batch yields achieved were in the range of 75–84% of the theoretical values.     

Distribution of <Superscript>14</Superscript>C, <Superscript>90</Superscript>Sr and <Superscript>228</Superscript>Th in an elephant tusk

The period of date of death of an elephant can be assessed by analyzing four different radionuclides, ¹⁴C, ⁹⁰Sr, ²²⁸Th and ²³²Th in its ivory. These nuclides are supposed to have variing concentrations at different parts of a tusk. The reason is the procedure of growth which takes place at the butt-site of a tusk. Therefore the site of sampling could have a big influence on the assessed date of death. However, to find out if the position of sampling is important a complete tusk was analyzed regarding the distribution of these nuclides. Results show that the concentration activity of ¹⁴C and ²²⁸Th varies in different parts of a tusk. The activity concentration of ⁹⁰Sr is very similar in all analyzed parts. The conclusion is that sampling at the butt of a tusk is recommended for age assessment.     

<Superscript>1</Superscript>H and <Superscript>13</Superscript>C NMR spectra of some drimanic sesquiterpenoids

One- and two-dimensional homo- and heteronuclear correlation proton, carbon, proton—proton, and proton—carbon NMR spectra of fifteen drimanic sesquiterpenoids: 11,12-dibromodrima-5,8-dien-7-one, drim-8-en-7-one, 11-hydroxydrim-8-en-7-one, 11,12-dihydroxydrim-8-en-7-one, 11-hydroxy-11,12-epoxydrim-8-en-7-one, 11-hydroxy-11,12-epoxydrim-8-en-7-one, 8,9-epoxydriman-7-one, 8,9-epoxydriman-7-ol, 11,12-diacetoxydrim-8-en-7-ol, drimane-7,8,11-triol, 7,8-isopropylidenedioxydriman-11-al, 9, 11-dihydroxydrim-7-en-6-one, drimane-7,8,9-triol, drimane-7,8,11-triol, and drim-8-ene-7,11,12-triol were studied. The proton and carbon chemical shifts were assigned.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2589–2594, December, 2004.     

Sequential separation of <Superscript>99</Superscript>Tc, <Superscript>94</Superscript>Nb, <Superscript>55</Superscript>Fe, <Superscript>90</Superscript>Sr and <Superscript>59/63</Superscript>Ni from radioactive wastes

A sequential separation procedure has been developed for the determination of ⁹⁹Tc, ⁹⁴Nb, ⁵⁵Fe, ⁹⁰Sr and ^59/63Ni in various radioactive wastes generated from nuclear power plants. Ion exchange and extraction chromatography were adopted for individual separation of the radionuclides. Precipitation was supplementarily utilized for both purification of the individual radionuclides and preparation of the radionuclide sources for use in a radioactivity measurement. The chromatographic separation behavior of the radionuclides both from the sample matrix metals and from one another was investigated using stable metals, Re (as a surrogate of ⁹⁹Tc), Nb, Fe, Sr and Ni. The validity of the procedure for reliability and applicability was evaluated by measuring the recovery of the metal carriers added to synthetic radioactive waste solutions. The recoveries by the chromatographic separation were in the range of 84.8 to 102.2% with 2s of less than 8.6%, the recoveries by the precipitation being in the range of 84.3 to 97.3% with 2s of less than 10.9%.     

Preparation of <Superscript>26</Superscript>Al, <Superscript>59</Superscript>Ni, <Superscript>44</Superscript>Ti, <Superscript>53</Superscript>Mn and <Superscript>60</Superscript>Fe from a proton irradiated copper beam dump

The station for pions cancer therapy was operated at PSI from 1980 to 1992. After a cooling time of 12 years it’s made of copper beam dump was cut and samples were taken for analytical purposes. The sampling collected about 500 g of high active copper chips that can be used for separation of exotic radionuclides. The analyses by gamma spectrometry, LSC and AMS showed main nuclides present to be ⁶⁰Co, ⁵⁴Mn, ²²Na, ⁶⁵Zn, ²⁶Al, ⁵³Mn, ⁵⁹Ni, ⁶³Ni, ⁵⁵Fe and ⁶⁰Fe and ⁴⁴Ti with a daughter nuclide ⁴⁴Sc. In the frame of ERAWAST project a procedure combining selective precipitation and ion exchange for the separation of the rare radionuclides from the copper beam dump was developed. The proposed separation procedure is easy for remote controlled implementation in a hot cell. The ion exchange separation of Ni, Al, Mg, Ti and Fe was complete and high decontamination factors for copper and cobalt were achieved. Based on the developed procedure a remotely controlled system for separation of exotic radionuclides from the copper chips was set up. The full scale system was installed in a hot cell where high activity levels can be handled. In order to evaluate the reliability and functionality of the system extensive tests have been done. During the test period 13.86 g in total of the proton irradiated copper beam dump were processed for separation of ²⁶Al, ⁵⁹Ni, ⁵³Mn, ⁴⁴Ti and ⁶⁰Fe. The results showed that the system was operational and the radionuclide separation was selective with high chemical yield. The procedure manages as well the generated liquid wastes containing high level of ⁶⁰Co activity.     

Synthesis of <Superscript>14</Superscript>C analogue of 1,2-diaryl-[2-<Superscript>14</Superscript>C]-pyrroles

Three 1,2-diaryl pyrroles selective COX-2 inhibitors, 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-5-methyl-1-(4-methylsulfonyl-phenyl)-1H pyrrole, 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-[4-(methylsulfonyl) phenyl]-1H-pyrrole and 4-[2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl]benzenesulfon-amide, all three labeled with ¹⁴C in the 2-position were prepared from para-fluoro-benzaldehyde-[carbonyl-¹⁴C].     

Mechanism of proton conductivity in polyvinyl alcohol-phenolsulfonic acid membranes from <Superscript>1</Superscript>H and <Superscript>13</Superscript>C NMR data

With line narrowing during magic angle spinning in solid-state NMR, molecular mobility and hydration in composite membranes based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and phenol-2,4-disulfonic acid (PSA) were studied as functions of the ratio of the acidic and polymeric components, the degree of cross-linking in the polymeric matrix, and the moisture content. It is shown that at high relative humidity proton transport takes place by means of the network of hydrogen bonds, which are formed by the H⁺ counterions, sulfonate groups, and water molecules. At low moisture content, the hydroxyl groups in PVA play an active role in proton transport.     

Gasification characteristics to <Superscript>14</Superscript>CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> of <Superscript>14</Superscript>C radionuclide desorbed from spent resin by phosphate solutions

The removal characteristics of H¹⁴CO₃ ⁻ ions from IRN-150 mixed resin contaminated with ¹⁴C radionuclide and the gasification effects of ¹⁴C radionuclide on ¹⁴CO₂ are investigated in this study. The stripping solutions used for the removal of ¹⁴C from spent resin are NaNO₃, Na₃PO₄, NH₄H₂PO₄, and H₃PO₄. The influence of the stripping solution concentration on the desorption characteristics of an inactive HCO₃ ion into a stripping solution from IRN-150 mixed resin and the gasification of this ion to CO₂ is analyzed. The gasification behavior to CO₂ using NaOH, HNO₃, and HCl was also compared to that of phosphate solution. Spent resin stored in Wolsong nuclear power plant is used to evaluate the gasification characteristics of ¹⁴C radionuclide to ¹⁴CO₂. Gamma radionuclides such as ¹³⁷Cs and ⁶⁰Co in residual striping solutions after desorption experiments are analyzed.     

High-Resolution <Superscript>1</Superscript>H and <Superscript>13</Superscript>C NMR of Glycyrrhizic Acid and Its Esters

Resonances for protons and C atoms in the ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra of glycyrrhizic acid and its esters were assigned using high-resolution ¹H (600 MHz) and ¹³C (150 MHz) NMR methods. __________ Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 347–350, July–August, 2005.