Chromophores in cellulosics, VI. First isolation and identification of residual chromophores from aged cotton linters

In the present work, aged cotton linters have been analyzed for their chromophore content according to the CRI (“chromophore release & identification”) method. Despite the very low contents in the ppb range, nine chromophores have been unambiguously identified, which makes this account the first one on defined chromophoric structures isolated from cotton. A common feature of the chromophores are 2-hydroxy-[1,4]benzoquinone, 2-hydroxyacetophenone and 5,8-dihydroxynaphthoquinone moieties, which resemble chromophoric structures found in other cellulosic substrates, such as bleached pulps or fibers. The finding of these compounds in lignin-free cotton linters confirms the previous hypothesis that those chromophores are formed from (oxidized) carbohydrate structures rather than from lignin fragments.     

Chromophores in cellulosics,XI: isolation and identification of residual chromophores from bacterial cellulose

In the present work, bacterial cellulose (BC) was analyzed for its chromophore content with the chromophore release and identification (CRI) method. In aged BC, seven chromophores were unambiguously identified, despite their very low (ppb) presence. The compounds contain 2-hydroxy-[1,4]benzoquinone, 2-hydroxyacetophenone and 5,8-dihydroxy-naphthoquinone moieties. These three classes of key chromophores had also been found in other celluloses such as bleached pulp, fiber and derivatives. The detection of chromophores in lignin-free BC confirms that the chromophores are formed from oxidized and degraded carbohydrate material rather than lignin fragments. Samples that were insufficiently purified before the aging step also yielded three N-heterocyclic compounds. They originated from tryptophan moieties in residual adhering protein and protein degradation products. N-Heteropentacycles 9 and 10 showed strong adsorption onto cellulosic surfaces, and that adsorption aided oxidation of cyclohexadiene derivative 9 into the corresponding aromatic and intensely yellow system 10, consistent with the strain-induced bond localization theory. In purified fresh BC, no chromophores were detectable by the CRI method. The present contribution is the first report on defined chromophoric structures isolated from BC.     

Enzymatic conversion of cellulosic materials to sugars and alcohol

This techno-economic study deals with the production of sugars and alcohols from cellulosic materials. It covers such key subjects as: potential raw materials; the state-of-the-art on production technologies; the economics of extant processes; and finally infers implications for developing countries from the foregoing. It is clear that a large number of cellulose-, starch-, and sugarcontaining plants can be processed to produce sugars and alcohols. Sugar-containing plants such as sugarcane, sweet sorghum, and nipa palm are the best candidates for the high-yield production of alcohol fuel. Likewise, the starch-containing crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, taro, and tannia are good candidates, but require an additional step to break down starch to sugar. However, the emphasis of this report is on the major part of biomass containing cellulose and which, therefore, needs special treatment before it can be used to produce glucose and alcohols. To utilize cellulosic containing raw materials the following steps are necessary:

1. Growth, harvest, and delivery of raw materials to processing plants; or, alternatively, the collection and delivery of cellulosic “waste” products.
2. Pretreatment or conversion of the raw material by mechanical, physical, chemical, or enzymatic methods to break down the cellulose to sugars and to modify or remove unwanted side-products, usually lignin and hemicellulose.
3. Recovery and purification of sugars from reaction mixture.
4. Fermentation of sugars to alcohol and purification by distillation.
5. Treatment of process residues to reduce pollution and to recover potentially valuable side-products.

From the considerable research and development work carried out in all areas of pretreatment, it appears acid and enzymatic hydrolysis processes hold the most promise for developing countries. Though acid hydrolysis technology is more advanced, greater ultimate potential is seen in the enzymatic hydrolysis, which is, therefore, recommended for developing countries. The economics of producing alcohol from cellulosic materials is at this time not favorable. Nevertheless, it is recommended that further research and development be undertaken in this area in order to accomplish one or more commercially attractive processes for producing alcohol from fermenting cellulose. If this was accomplished, the developing countries could gain in the following manner:

? Increase self-sufficiency since alcohols can to a great part substitute for petroleum fuels.

? Achieve a better balance of trade.

? Be able to increase employment, especially in rural areas.

? Achieve a higher level of technical competence in biotechnology and related areas.

? Be in a position to expand chemical industries.

? Establish an improved agricultural base by being able to utilize alternative crops and by being able to use what was previously termed agricultural wastes.

     

Effort to improve the quantitative determination of oxidation and hydrolysis compound classes in edible vegetable oils.

This paper proposes an analytical method to evaluate the classes of products of polymerization, oxidation and hydrolysis as well as the polar compounds present in refined edible oils in a more reliable fashion. The polar compounds of a marketed refined peanut oil were analyzed by preparative gel permeation chromatography and the classes of substances corresponding to single chromatogram peaks were collected by means of a fraction collector, purified and used as standards for high-performance size-exclusion chromatographic analysis. The linearity of detector response, the precision and accuracy of the method for each class of compounds and for polar compounds were assessed. Another aim was to verify whether this method may be applied to other refined peanut oils and to edible vegetable oils in general, even of different botanical origin, using the standards that had already been prepared for that particular peanut oil. The results obtained showed that this was possible and the analytical method developed can be extended to the most common edible vegetable oils.     

Facile removal of tosyl chloride from tosylates using cellulosic materials,e.g., filter paper

Excess tosyl chloride used in the tosylation of alcohols is quickly and easily removed by reacting it with cellulosic materials, e.g., filter paper, and filtering.     

Analysis of classes of compound of environmental concern: I. Nitroaromatic compounds

Thirty five nitroaromatic compounds (currently listed in EPA Method 8091) and 1,4-naphthoquinone have been separated on DB-5–DB-1701 and SPB-5–SPB-1701 column pairs, which were in each case connected to an inlet splitter and separate electron capture detectors. Retention times are included for 21 additional compounds evaluated for their suitability as internal standards and/or surrogate compounds for incorporation into Method 8091. Method reproducibility and linearity are discussed, and results are presented for extracts of two real samples spiked with the 35 nitroaromatic compounds and 1,4-naphthoquinone and analyzed using the dual-column-dual-detector arrangement.     

Kowist: a computer-assisted systematic approach to finding new compound classes of pesticides

A large collection of chemical compounds and their test data in plant protection was evaluated and explored for hidden classes of pesticides which has not been noticed because by chance no strinkingly active representative had been tested. Special methods were developed in order to correlate, with reasonable computer effort, a maximum (10⁵) of compound classes with the activities of their members. A dialog system was created for the evaluation of the results by the bench chemist. This system is also useful for surveying well-known pesticide classes in order to discover promising gaps in their “chemical spaces”, i.e., new leads.     

Separation of human serum lipoproteins into three major classes by hydroxyapatite chromatography.

The separation of normolipidemic male serum lipoprotein fraction, prepared by ultracentrifugal flotation, was studied on hydroxyapatite columns. Potassium phosphate buffers in the pH range 5.6-7.4 were evaluated as eluents. The three main classes of the lipoproteins (high density, low density and very low density) can be separated on the Tiselius-type hydroxyapatite (Bio-Gel HTP DNA grade) column by elution with 75, 250 and 300 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), respectively.     

The surface chemical modification of cellulosic fibres in view of their use in composite materials

The surface modification of various cellulosic materials was studied in heterogeneous conditions using different grafting agents bearing anhydride or isocyanate reactive groups. Some of these reagents were oligomeric, others polymeric and most were chosen so as to provide a non-polar character to the surface of the fibres in view of their possible use as reinforcing agents in composites based on polymeric matrices. The success of these chemical modifications was assessed by Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The accessibility of the superficial OH groups varied as a function of the coupling agent in terms of both molecular size and chemical nature and ranged between 1 and 3% of the total hydroxy groups borne by the initial cellulose sample. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Production of succinate from glucose, cellobiose, and various cellulosic materials by the ruminai anaerobic bacteriaFibrobacter succinogenes andRuminococcus flavefaciens

The production of organic acids by two anaerobic ruminal bacteria,Fibrobacter succinogenes S85 andRuminococcus flavefaciens FD-1, was compared with glucose, cellobiose, microcrystalline cellulose, Walseth cellulose (acid swollen cellulose), pulped paper, and steam-exploded yellow poplar as substrates. The major end product produced byF. succinogenes from each of these substrates was succinate (69.5–83%), the principal secondary product was acetate (16–30.5%). Maximum succinate productivity ranged from 14.1 mg/L · h for steam-exploded yellow Poplar to 59.7 mg/L · h for pulped paper. ForR. flavefaciens, the major end product from cellobiose, microcrystalline cellulose, and acid-swollen Walseth cellulose was acetate (39–46%), pulped paper and steam-exploded yellow poplar yielded succinate (42–54%) as the major product. Maximum succinate productivity byR. flavefaciens ranged from 9.21 mg/L · h for cellobiose to 43.1 mg/L · h for pulped paper. In general, much less succinate was produced at a lower maximum productivity byR. flavefaciens than byF. succinogenes under similar fermentation conditions. The maximum succinate productivities by these two organisms are comparable to the previously reported value of 59 mg/L · h forAnderobiospirillum succiniciproducens grown on glucose and corn steep liquor.     

Application of intercalated compound of montmorillonite and N,N′-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine to antioxidant for rubber materials

To extend the lifetime of rubber materials, the intercalated compound consisting of N, N-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD) as guest molecule and montmorillonite as host layer was added to chloroprene rubber (CR) and acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR). These rubber samples were either immersed in a mixture of isooctane and toluene or kept at 140°C in air, and subjected to ozone aging tests. The residual DPD in CR was analysed by high pressure liquid chromatography. Their results were compared with the rubbers of a standard composition, including DPD alone. The solvent-immersed CR containing the intercalated compounds showed more improved ozone-cracking resistance than solvent immersed CR of the standard composition. The residual DPD in CR containing the intercalated compound was more than that in CR of standard composition. However, no significant difference between the specimens containing intercalated compound and those of the standard composition was observed for the solvent-immersed NBR, heat-treated NBR and heat-treated CR.     

Paracrystalline lattice disorder in cellulose. I. Reappraisal of the application of the two-phase hypothesis to the analysis of powder x-ray diffractograms of native and hydrolyzed cellulosic materials

An examination of powder x-ray diffractograms of native and hydrolyzed cellulosic materials obtained from widely different sources revealed the presence of materials having a higher degree of molecular order than ramie hydrolyzate, the conventional crystalline standard for cellulose. With the use of these materials as new crystalline standards, a critical reappraisal has been made of the validity of the application of the two-phase (i.e., fringed-micelle) hypothesis to the fine structure of cotton and related cellulosic materials. It is concluded that the lattice structure of cotton and related celluloses of plant or bacterial origin is liquid-like or paracrystalline.     

Selective pressurized liquid extraction of three classes of halogenated contaminants in fish

Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) combined with in-cell clean-up of co-extracts, so-called selective-PLE (S-PLE), is a fast and accepted method for the analysis of halogenated organic contaminants in fish. However, many of the existing methods were optimized for use with single classes of contaminants. The main objective of this research was to develop an S-PLE method that elutes a minimal amount of fats while simultaneously extracting halogenated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from fat-rich fish. The optimized method uses n-hexane:dichloromethane (75:25, v/v) as the extraction solvent, a 0.0078 fat to fat-retainer ratio (FFR) with Florisil as the fat retainer, three individual 5-min extractions with flush volumes of 150% and a selection of labeled surrogate standards (isotope dilution). This method resulted in a mean recovery of 77% for all target analytes in spiked samples and an average relative standard deviation of 6.3%. The method was validated with a certified reference material; the mean measured analyte concentrations agreed with the reference values except in the case of individual endosulfan isomers. It is likely that interconversion from the beta- to alpha-endosulfan isomer had occurred in the CRM, resulting in low measured concentrations for beta-endosulfan and high measured concentrations for alpha-endosulfan when compared with the reference values. Finally, the method was tested on three fish species with varying fat content. Different contaminant patterns were observed in the various species.     

Studies on sulfinato-dehalogenation: XII. Sodium dithionite-initiated addition of N,N-diethyliododifluoroacetamide to multiple bonds

N, N-deithyl-iododifluoroacetamide 1 reacted with alkenes, alkynes in aqueous acetonitrile solutions of sodium dithionite and sodium hydrogen carbonate at room temperature to give the corresponding adducts, thus constituting a new method for introducing the CF₂ group into organic molecules. Compound 1 reacted with conjugated olefins 2b, c to afford the iodine-free adducts 7b, c. The adducts 3d—f, from addition of 1 to alkenes 2d—f, could be converted into α,α-difluoro-γ-lactones 5d—f by treatment with silica gel. Compound 1 reacted with ethyl vinyl ether 2i to give aldehyde 8, and perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl iodides reacted similarly. A radical mechanism was proposed for the addition reaction. Under the same condition, N,N-diethyl-bromodifluoroacetamide produced only the corresponding sulfinate Et₂NC(O)CF₂SO₂Na.