Sensitive determinations of stable nitrogen isotopic composition of organic nitrogen through chemical conversion into N2O

We present a method for high-sensitivity nitrogen isotopic analysis of particulate organic nitrogen (PON) in seawater and freshwater, for the purpose of determining the aquatic nitrogen fixation rate through the 15N2 tracer technique for samples that contain a low abundance of organisms. The method is composed of the traditional oxidation/reduction methods, such as the oxidation of PON to nitrate (NO3*) using persulfate, the reduction of NO3* to nitrite (NO2*) using spongy cadmium, and further reduction of NO2* to nitrous oxide (N2O) using sodium azide. Then, N2O is purged from the water and trapped cryogenically with subsequent release into a gas chromatography column to analyze the stable nitrogen isotopic composition using continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS) by simultaneously monitoring the NO+ ion currents at masses 30, 31, and 32. The nitrogen isotopic fractionation was consistent within each batch of analysis. The standard deviation of sample measurements was less than 0.3 per thousand for samples containing PON of more than 50 nmolN, and 0.5 per thousand for those of more than 20 nmolN, by subtracting the contribution of blank nitrogen, 8 +/- 2 nmol at final N2O. By using this method, we can determine delta15N for lower quantities of PON better than by other methods, so we can reduce the quantities of water samples needed for incubation to determine the nitrogen fixation rate. In addition, we can expand the method to determine the nitrogen isotopic composition of organic nitrogen in general, such as that of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN; sum of NO3*, NO2*, ammonium, and DON), by applying the method to filtrates.     

A theoretical study of the nitrogen—graphite system

The chemisorption of atomic and molecular nitrogen on the basal plane of graphite has been studied by both semiempirical and non-empirical Hartree—Fock methods employing finite cluster models.

Geometric and energetic parameters obtained by semiempirical and non-empirical methods are generally in good agreement. Among the different chemisorption sites considered, nitrogen atoms are found to prefer a two-fold coordination site, and only in this case has any evidence been found for an exothermic process. No evidence of dissociative chemisorption has been found in the case of molecular nitrogen, whose preferred orientation changes from nearly vertical to nearly horizontal on approaching the surface. Molecular adsorption is strongly endothermic at the Hartree—Fock level, so that the only possible interaction occurs through dispersion forces, which are not taken into account in our computations, but can be well represented by model potentials.     

Iron–Polypyrrole Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Produced with a Dual Plasma Process Using Varying Magnetron Powers and Process Gases

Recently, a new dual plasma-process to produce non noble metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells has been developed and catalytically active cobalt–polypyrrole-films have been produced. This paper shows a modification to this process, so that iron–polypyrrole is formed. The magnetron power as well as the process gases were varied. The structure of the compounds was then analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, near edge X-ray absorption fine structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure. It is shown that the oxidation of the compounds is suppressed when hydrogen or nitrogen is added to the process. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetry and rotating ring-disk electrode measurements were done to determine the electrochemical properties of the films. Only films produced in hydrogen or nitrogen containing gases show catalytic activity and it can be seen that the four-electron reduction mechanism is dominant.     

The interaction of iron pyrite with oxygen, nitrogen and nitrogen oxides: a first-principles study

Sulphide materials, in particular MoS(2), have recently received great attention from the surface science community due to their extraordinary catalytic properties. Interestingly, the chemical activity of iron pyrite (FeS(2)) (the most common sulphide mineral on Earth), and in particular its potential for catalytic applications, has not been investigated so thoroughly. In this study, we use density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the surface interactions of fundamental atmospheric components such as oxygen and nitrogen, and we have explored the adsorption and dissociation of nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) on the FeS(2)(100) surface. Our results show that both those environmentally important NO(x) species chemisorb on the surface Fe sites, while the S sites are basically unreactive for all the molecular species considered in this study and even prevent NO(2) adsorption onto one of the non-equivalent Fe-Fe bridge sites of the (1 × 1)-FeS(2)(100) surface. From the calculated high barrier for NO and NO(2) direct dissociation on this surface, we can deduce that both nitrogen oxides species are adsorbed molecularly on pyrite surfaces.     

Self-assembling properties of (arylimido)vanadium(V) compounds

(Imido)vanadium(V) complexes have attracted much attention because of their potential applications as catalysts. Compared with oxo ligands, imido ligands can possess a substituent on the imido nitrogen so that the steric and electronic characters of the metal center are considered to be controlled by the properties of the nitrogen substituent. In such a sense, the design of the imido ligands is envisioned to be one of the key factors in the development of efficient catalysts. Furthermore, architectural control of transition metal-directed assembly to create organized nanostructures is of importance for advanced materials. This review highlights self-assembling properties of (arylimido)vanadium(V) compounds.     

Modular Functionalization of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Nitrogen Recovery from Fresh Urine**

Nitrogen recovery from wastewater represents a sustainable route to recycle reactive nitrogen (Nr). It can reduce the demand of producing Nr from the energy-extensive Haber-Bosch process and lower the risk of causing eutrophication simultaneously. In this aspect, source-separated fresh urine is an ideal source for nitrogen recovery given its ubiquity and high nitrogen contents. However, current techniques for nitrogen recovery from fresh urine require high energy input and are of low efficiencies because the recovery target, urea, is a challenge to separate. In this work, we developed a novel fresh urine nitrogen recovery treatment process based on modular functionalized metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Specifically, we employed three distinct modification methods to MOF-808 and developed robust functional materials for urea hydrolysis, ammonium adsorption, and ammonia monitoring. By integrating these functional materials into our newly developed nitrogen recovery treatment process, we achieved an average of 75 % total nitrogen reduction and 45 % nitrogen recovery with a 30-minute treatment of synthetic fresh urine. The nitrogen recovery process developed in this work can serve as a sustainable and efficient nutrient management that is suitable for decentralized wastewater treatment. This work also provides a new perspective of implementing versatile advanced materials for water and wastewater treatment.     

Hierarchical fractal‐structured allophanate‐derived network formation in bulk polyurethane synthesis

Polyurethanes are among the most applied and researched polymers worldwide. Nevertheless, polyurethane synthesis is accompanied by a side‐reaction occurring between isocyanate groups and the secondary nitrogen of already formed urethane groups, leading to the formation of crosslinking allophanates. This inevitably requires the development of highly diagnostic direct analytical methods that can be performed in the solid state of the polymer. The present research focused on the direct investigation and diagnostic determination of the chemical structure formation in bulk polyurethane synthesis, using a combination of Fourier transform infrared and solid‐state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. Polyurethane syntheses were performed in bulk and designed as to obtain significantly strong diagnostic analytical measurements signals for the accurate identification of each of the investigated chemical structures. The present research results led to the conclusive analytical identification of allophanate formation during polyurethane synthesis. In addition, the occurrence of a new reaction mechanism was discovered in the present research. It was demonstrated in the present research that this newly described reaction occurs via the further reaction of the allophanate secondary nitrogen with an isocyanate group, the reaction creating a tertiary nitrogen and an additional reactive secondary nitrogen, and so on, in a consecutive step progression, leading to the formation of a 3‐dimensional hierarchical fractal‐like crosslinked polymeric structure. Solid‐state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance analysis results were highly consistent with the Fourier transform infrared results. The discovery of this newly described reaction can facilitate the optimization of industrial processes and potentially opens a new door to the development of a vast variety of biomedical and nanotechnology applications.     

基于氦离子化气相色谱法测定微量氧、氮的影响因素

探讨氦离子化气相色谱法测定样品中微量氧、氮含量的影响因素。采用控制变量法,对色谱柱温度、进样流量、进样管道环境及极化电压等因素对微量氧、氮测定结果的影响进行讨论和分析。结果表明,当色谱柱温度为25~45℃时,色谱柱对氧、氮吸附量最小;当进样流量不小于70 mL/min时,微量氧、氮测定结果受外界干扰最小;当极化电压为80~160 V时,氧、氮具有最佳的响应值;初次测定样品中微量氧、氮含量时,需使进样管道表面吸附的氧、氮处于饱和状态,以便获得理想的测定结果。讨论的结果可为氦离子化气相色谱法测定相关样品中微量氧、氮含量时提供技术参考。     

Excited-state proton transfer through water bridges and structure of hydrogen-bonded complexes in 1H-pyrrolo[3,2-h]quinoline: adiabatic time-dependent density functional theory study

Proton transfer reaction is studied for 1H-pyrrolo[3,2-h]quinoline-water complexes (PQ-(H(2)O)(n), n = 0-2) in the ground and the lowest excited singlet states at the density functional theory (DFT) level. Cyclic hydrogen-bonded complexes are considered, in which water molecules form a bridge connecting the proton donor (pyrrole NH group) and acceptor (quinoline nitrogen) atoms. To understand the effect of the structure and length of water bridges on the excited-state tautomerization in PQ, the potential energy profile of the lowest excited singlet state is calculated adiabatically by the time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) method. The S(0) --> S(1) excitation of PQ is accompanied by significant intramolecular transfer of electron density from the pyrrole ring to the quinoline fragment, so that the acidity of the N-H group and the basicity of the nitrogen atom of the quinoline moiety are increased. These excited-state acid-base changes introduce a driving force for the proton transfer reaction. The adiabatic TDDFT calculations demonstrate, however, that the phototautomerization requires a large activation energy in the isolated PQ molecule due to a high energy barrier separating the normal form and the tautomer. In the 1:1 cyclic PQ-H(2)O complex, the energy barrier is dramatically reduced, so that upon excitation of this complex the tautomerization can occur rapidly in one step as concerted asynchronous movements of the two protons assisted by the water molecule. In the PQ-(H(2)O)(2) solvate two water molecules form a cyclic bridge with sterically strained and unfavorable hydrogen bonds. As a result, some extra activation energy is needed for initiating the proton dislocation along the longer hydrogen-bond network. The full tautomerization in this complex is still possible; however, the cooperative proton transfer is found to be highly asynchronous. Large relaxation and reorganization of the hydrogen-bonded water bridge in PQ-(H(2)O)(2) are required during the proton translocation from the pyrrole NH group to the quinoline nitrogen; this may block the complete tautomerization in this type of solvate.     

Nitrogen gas preparative system for isotope-ratio analysis by mass spectrometry

An apparatus and procedure are described for preparing nitrogen gas samples for precise ¹³N: ¹⁴N measurement. Gas is generated by reaction of ammonium sulphate with alkaline hypobromite in an evacuated system. The design of the apparatus and its recommended mode of operation overcome the problem of air contamination of samples. The gas is cleaned by liquid nitrogen freezing and is transferred to a sample tube with a Toepler pump, so that it can be analysed quickly and conveniently on a mass spectrometer.     

水中苯胺等有机氮化物光氧化测定的研究

本文改进了光氧化法测定松花江水中低浓度有机总氮.使用H₃O₃和K₂S₂O₈混合氧化剂,缩短了辐照时间;简化了试样的pH值的控制方法;使水中苯胺、硝基苯等的光解达到定量的要求。还讨论了光解过程中的干扰情况及被测物浓度和结构的影响。     

An unusual intramolecular transfer of the fluorobenzyl cation between two remote amidic nitrogen atoms induced by collision in the gas phase

A highly unusual rearrangement in collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry is reported that involves intramolecular transfer of the fluorobenzyl cation between two remote amidic nitrogen atoms separated by five chemical bonds. The same intramolecular transfer was also observed for two related analogs. It is postulated that the ionic reactions are initiated by protonation of the first amidic nitrogen, resulting in formation of the fluorobenzyl cation and a neutral partner that are maintained together in the gas phase by electrostatic interactions as an intermediate ion-neutral complex. In the ion-neutral complex, the nascent fluorobenzyl cation approaches geometrically to the second amidic nitrogen atom on the neutral partner, and subsequently forms a new C-N bond and an isomeric precursor ion as the charge is retained on the amidic nitrogen. The newly formed isomeric precursor ion eventually undergoes the final fragmentation by amide bond cleavage. Alternatively, the ionic reactions proceed through a direct intramolecular transfer mechanism by which the molecular ion adopts to a ring-like configuration in the gas phase, so that both the donor and recipient nitrogens are geometrically close to each other within a bonding distance to permit a direct transfer between two sites even though they are separated by multiple chemical bonds.     

Membrane separation of nitrogen from natural gas: A case study from membrane synthesis to commercial deployment

Fourteen percent of U.S. natural gas contains excess nitrogen, and cannot be sent to the national pipeline without treatment. Nitrogen is difficult to economically separate from methane, by any technology. Currently, the only process used on a large scale is cryogenic liquefaction and fractionation, but this technology requires economies of scale to be practical. Many owners of small gas fields cannot produce their gas for lack of suitable nitrogen separation technology. This paper describes the development of selective membranes to treat natural gas containing high concentrations of nitrogen. Membranes selectively permeate either nitrogen or methane, the principal constituent of natural gas. Our work has shown that methane-selective membranes are generally preferable and membranes with high permeances and methane/nitrogen selectivities of approximately 3–3.5 were developed. This selectivity is modest, so commercial systems often require multi-stage or multi-step process designs. Despite the design complexity and compression requirements, multi-step/multi-stage membrane systems are the lowest cost nitrogen removal technology in many applications. To date, 12 membrane-based systems for nitrogen removal for natural gas processing have been installed.     

Intramolecular acid-catalyzed amide isomerization in aqueous solution

[reaction: see text] We report for the first time that stoichiometric and even catalytic quantities of weak acids in aqueous solution can very efficiently catalyze amide isomerization in a carefully designed system in which a proton donor is situated so that intramolecular hydrogen bonding to the amide nitrogen is highly favored. Our results provide the first experimental verification that hydrogen bond donation to the amide nitrogen by charged proton donors may play a very significant role in the enzymatic catalysis of amide isomerization.     

Design of a new rotary molecular machine based on nitrogen inversion: a DFT investigation

Ab initio calculations are employed to investigate nitrogen inversion as a configuration change that can supply an extremely useful switchable control mechanism for some complex systems. In this paper, the design of a new artificial rotary molecular machine based on nitrogen inversion is discussed. The introduced design of a molecular rotator is based on the reciprocating motion of a substituent due to the inversion phenomenon, leading to the rotary motion in the molecule. Since simple secondary amines easily face the inversion process at room temperature, aziridine is selected as the initial driver for the molecular motion. The most obvious finding from this study is that, following the displacement of the substituent attached to the aziridine nitrogen atom, two rotary motions occurr in the molecule, one clockwise and another counterclockwise with a 39.52° to 150.09° angle domain.     

Photoinduced formation of N2 molecules in ammonium compounds

Via fluorescence yield (FY) and resonant inelastic scattering spectroscopy in the soft X-ray range we find that soft X-rays induce formation of N2 molecules in solid NH4Cl and in related compounds. The nitrogen molecules form weak bonds in NH4Cl, so that a substantial fraction of the molecules remains in the sample. From measurements of the FY as a function of exposure and temperature, the rates for the photochemical processes are estimated. At elevated temperatures (363 K), several nitrogen atoms are removed from the sample per incoming photon. At lower temperatures (233 K), the rate is reduced to around 0.02 nitrogen atoms for each incoming photon. Virtually all these atoms form N2 molecules which are bound in the sample. The generality and implications of these results are briefly discussed.     

植物来源的糖类似物——多羟基生物碱的研究进展

多羟基生物碱是糖环上的氧原子被氮原子取代而形成的一系列衍生物, 广泛存在于植物与微生物中, 药理学研究已经证实多羟基生物碱具有高效的糖苷酶抑制活性, 糖苷酶在肠道的消化、糖蛋白加工、溶酶体代谢等方面都起着十分重要的作用, 因此多羟基生物碱具有抗糖尿病、抗癌、抗病毒、治疗溶酶体疾病等多种药理活性. 综述了这类化合物的结构、来源、分离纯化、生物活性及结构与活性的关系并对其应用前景进行了展望.     

Dibenzo[a,c]phenazine: a polarity-insensitive hydrogen-bonding probe

A derivative of phenazine, dibenzo[a,c]phenazine (DBPZ), can be used as a very good hydrogen-bonding probe unlike its parent phenazine molecule. Steady-state absorption and fluorescence studies reveal that DBPZ is completely insensitive to polarity of the medium. However, DBPZ can form a hydrogen bond very efficiently in its first excited singlet state. The extent of this excited-state hydrogen-bond formation depends both on size and on hydrogen-bond donor ability of the solvents. Time-resolved fluorescence studies and theoretical calculations also suggest that this hydrogen-bond formation is much more favorable in the excited state as compared to the ground state. In the excited state, the electron density is pushed toward the nitrogen atoms from the benzene rings, thereby increasing the dipole moment of the DBPZ molecule. Although the dipole moment of DBPZ increases upon photoexcitation, like other polarity probes, the molecule remains fully insensitive to the polarity of the interacting solvent. This unusual behavior of DBPZ as compared to simple phenazine and other polarity probes is due to the structure of the molecule. Hydrogen atoms at the 1 and 8 positions of DBPZ are sterically interacting with a lone pair of electrons on the proximate nitrogen atoms and make both of the nitrogen atoms inaccessible to solvent molecules. For this reason, DBPZ cannot sense the polarity of the medium. However, DBPZ can only sense solvents, those that have hydrogen with some electropositive nature, that is, the hydrogen-bond donating solvents. Hydrogen being the smallest among all elements can only interact with the lone pair of electrons of nitrogen atoms. Thus, DBPZ can act as a sensor for the hydrogen-bond donating solvents irrespective of their dielectrics.     

New green process to increase the solubility of soil fertilizer based on Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)

Fertilization is the set of operations that consists of fertilizing the soil so that the plant finds all these mineral nutrition needs, among these nutrients is found potassium nitrate (KNO₃), as an important source of two elements which are nitrogen (N) and potassium (K). The need for potassium nitrate for plants will increase dramatically as its demand for nutrition growing up. However, the application of this potassium in fertilization is limited by a physicochemical parameter which is solubility. The availability of potassium and nitrogen in ionic form, which can be assimilated by the plant, is closely related to its solubility in irrigation water. Herein, we have chosen three experimental parameters such as the KNO₃ content, the magnetization time, and the type of water, to optimize the factors which have the maximum effect on KNO₃ solubility.We adopted a model from nine experiments performed with Minitab software, which informed us that the solubility of KNO₃ in irrigation water is strongly influenced by water type, magnetization time and KNO₃ content. The best conditions which allow the best solubility of potassium nitrate are 24% KNO₃, 30 ​min of water magnetization, and salt water (SW).