Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Picosecond Phenomena III. Edited by K. B. EISENTHAL, R. M. HOCHSTRASSER, W. KAISER and A. LAUBERAU. Springer Series in Chemical Physics, Vol. 23. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1982. 401 pp. 26.40.
Synthetic and Degradative Process in Marine Macrophytes. Edited by L. M. SRIVASTAVA. Walter de Gruyter, 1982. 296 pp.
Plants and The Daylight Spectrum. Edited by H. SMITH. Academic Press, London, 1981. 508 + xix pp. 45.50.     

Bond-order dependent bond enthalpy terms in simple compounds of boron

Published enthalpy data for simple boron compounds, mostly containing trigonally-coordinated boron atoms, have been used to calculate bond enthalpy terms E(B-X), for their B-X bonds (X = N, O, F, Cl or Br) that vary with their bond order, n(B-X), according to the relationship E(B-X) = A[n(B-X)]^m. Values of the constants A (the bond enthalpy term for a single bond) and m depend on X as follows:

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BOOK REVIEW

Edited by M. J. Clarke, P. Hemmerich, C. K. Jorgensen, J. B. Goodenough, J. A. Ibers, J. B. Neilands, D. Reinen, R. Weiss and R. J. P. Williams, Springer-Verlag, Berlin     

Combination of flow-injection techniques with atomic spectrometry in agricultural and environmental analysis

Combinations of flow-injection techniques with flame atomic absorption spectrometry (a.a.s.) and inductively-coupled plasma/atomic emission spectrometry (i.c.p./a.e.s.) are reviewed in the general context of agricultural and environmental analysis. The flow-injection systems are valuable for sample introduction; appropriate dispersion control allows the analysis of solutions containing as much as 40% (w/v) urea or phosphate in fertilizers. A study on the determination of cadmium in soil extracts by on-line ion-exchange preconcentration and flame a.a.s. detection is described. The interpolative standard-addition method with i.c.p./a.e.s. detection is outlined. Improvements in the determinations of selenium in environmental samples by hydride-generation a.a.s. and of mercury by cold-vapour a.a.s. are reported.     

Specific applications of capillary electrochromatography to biopolymers, including proteins, nucleic acids, peptide mapping, antibodies, and so forth

Separation of biopolymers is an obvious application of capillary electrochromatography (CEC) technology, since speed and resolution should increase significantly over high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). All too often, HPLC chromatograms of polymers show poorly resolved envelopes of overlapping peaks from oligomers. The practical limitation of column length and pressure drop has hindered development of high resolution separations of many polymers in HPLC. However, this generally applies only to packed beds of small particles, and not to continuous (or monolithic) beds, as introduced by Hjerten et al. [S. Hjerten, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 38 (1999) 1205; S. Hjerten, C. Ericson, Y.-M. Li, R. Zhang, Biomed. Chromatogr. 12 (1998) 120; C. Ericson, S. Hjerten, Anal. Chem. 71 (1999) 1621; J.-L. Liao, N. Chen, C. Ericson, S. Hjerten, Anal. Chem. 68 (1996) 3468; S. Hjerten, A. Vegvari, T. Srichaiyo, H.-X. Zhang, C. Ericson, D. Eaker, J. Capillary. Elec. 5 (1998) 13; C. Ericson, J.-L. Liao, K. Nakazato, S. Hjerten, J. Chromatogr. A 767 (1997) 33; S. Hjerten, D. Eaker, K. Elenbring, C. Ericson, K. Kubo, J.-L. Liao, C.-M. Zeng, P.-A. Lidstrom, C. Lindh, A. Palm, T. Srichiayo, L. Valtcheva, R. Zhang, Jpn. J. Electroph. 39 (1995) 1]. Throughout this review we will refer to such packings as monolithic or continuous beds, but they are identical type packings, formed by the in situ polymerization in the capillary or column. CEC capillaries can be much longer, and contain smaller particles than is practical for HPLC. This improves resolution significantly. CEC is able to capitalize on existing mobile phase technology developed over 30 years to improve separations. The requirement that the mobile phase simultaneously promote the separation and mobile phase mobility needs to be considered. In RPLC, this dual role is not much of a problem. It may be much more important in other modes, particularly ion-exchange (IEC). As the field develops, it is becoming clear that CEC is not just a simple extension of HPLC. Instruments, column technology and operating optima are clearly different than HPLC. CEC will develop into its own unique field. Open tubular HPLC is almost precluded by the high pressures required for forcing liquids through 10 microm or smaller capillaries. Electroosmotic pumping (EOF) avoids the pressure constraints and provides better flow profiles. Compared to HPCE, the ability to interact with the stationary phase may enable separations that would be difficult with electrophoresis alone. Since the mobile phase can be less complex than micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), CEC also avoids the problem of high background signals from the micelle forming compounds. Thus CEC-MS (mass spectrometry) is expected to be even more powerful than HPCE-MS. The fortuitous, simultaneous development of matrix assisted laser desorption-time of flight MS (MALDI-TOF-MS) technology will enable extension of the mass range to above 100 000 Da. Lack of familiarity is the perhaps the largest liability of CEC compared to other techniques. This paper critically compares the state-of-the-art of CEC with HPLC and HPCE, with a particular emphasis on separation of biopolymers. The goal is to help the reader overcome the fear of the unknown, in this case, CEC.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
The Eye. Edited by H. Davson.
Radiation Research — Biochemical. Chemical ond Physical Perspectives . Edited by O. F. Nygaard, H. I. Adler and W. K. Sinclair.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Luminescence from Biological and Synthetic Macromolecules , ( Ann. N Y Acad. Sci. 366 , 1981) Edited by H. M orawetz and I. Z. S teineerg .
Lasers in Photomedicine and Photobiology , Proceedings of the European Physical Society. Quantum Electronics Division. Conference. Florence, Italy. September 3–6, 1979. Edited by R. P ratesi and C. A. S acchi.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
DNA Repair. A Laboratory Manual of Research Procedures. Vol. 2. Edited by E. C. F riedberg and P. C. H anawalt , Marcel Dekker,
Nucleic Acids: The Vectors of Life. Edited by B. P ullman and J. J ortner , D. Reidel Publishing Company,
Specialist Periodical Reports. Volume 13. Photochemistry. Edited by D. Bryce-Smith (University of Reading).     

An Analytical Specialty Team Enabling Merck′s Pipeline with Pioneering Measurement Science

This invited Team Profile was created by the above group. They recently published an article on the introduction of a hybrid separation technique, referred to as Dual-Gradient Unified Chromatography (DGUC), enabling simultaneous multicomponent analysis of both small and large molecules across a wide polarity range in single experimental runs. DGUC lays the foundation for the next generation of hybrid chromatographic techniques with the deployment of universal elution profiles obtained via multi-eluent blending beyond traditional separation modes. “Dual-Gradient Unified Chromatography: A New Paradigm for Versatility in Simultaneous Multicomponent Analysis”, G. L. Losacco, R. Bennett, I. A. Haidar Ahmad, R. C. Barrientos, J. O. DaSilva, Y. Dong, A. W. Schuppe, Z. Wang, S. Aiken, I. Mangion, V. K. Aggarwal, E. L. Regalado, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed . 2022, e202208854 ; Angew. Chem . 2022, e202208854 .