Extraction of lanthanoids and some associated elements by mono-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid and their separations

Mono-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (H₂MEHP) has been used to study the extraction of some lanthanoids and other associated elements from nitric acid medium. Effect of various variables like kind of diluent, concentration of metal ion, nitric acid and extractant has been investigated. Based on distribution data, it was possible to achieve some separations of lighter lanthanoids from metals like titanium, zirconium, thorium and uranium with high separation factors.     

Prediction of aqueous solubility of organic compounds by the general solubility equation (GSE)

The revised general solubility equation (GSE) is used along with four different methods including Huuskonen's artificial neural network (ANN) and three multiple linear regression (MLR) methods to estimate the aqueous solubility of a test set of the 21 pharmaceutically and environmentally interesting compounds. For the selected test sets, it is clear that the GSE and ANN predictions are more accurate than MLR methods. The GSE has the advantages of being simple and thermodynamically sound. The only two inputs used in the GSE are the Celsius melting point (MP) and the octanol water partition coefficient (K(ow)). No fitted parameters and no training data are used in the GSE, whereas other methods utilize a large number of parameters and require a training set. The GSE is also applied to a test set of 413 organic nonelectrolytes that were studied by Huuskonen. Although the GSE uses only two parameters and no training set, its average absolute errors is only 0.1 log units larger than that of the ANN, which requires many parameters and a large training set. The average absolute error AAE is 0.54 log units using the GSE and 0.43 log units using Huuskonen's ANN modeling. This study provides evidence for the GSE being a convenient and reliable method to predict aqueous solubilities of organic compounds.     

Effect of structure on thermal behaviour of epoxy resins

The paper deals with the curing behaviour of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) using three novel multifunctional aromatic amines having phosphine oxide and amide-acid linkages. The amines were prepared by reacting tris(3-aminophenyl)phosphine oxide (TAP) with 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid anhydride (P)/4,4^′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic acid anhydride (F)/3,3^′,4,4^′-benzophenonetetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (B). Amide-acid linkage in these amines is converted to thermally stable imide linkage during curing reaction. Curing temperatures of DGEBA were higher with phosphorylated amines than the conventional amine 4,4^′-diamino diphenyl sulphone (D). A decrease in initial decomposition temperature and higher char yields were observed when phosphorus containing amide-acid amines were used as curing agents for DGEBA.     

Critical aggregation concentration in mixed solutions of anionic polyelectrolytes and cationic surfactants

We have examined the polymer/surfactant interaction in mixed aqueous solutions of cationic surfactants and anionic polyelectrolytes combining various techniques: tensiometry, potentiometry with surfactant-selective electrodes, and viscosimetry. We have investigated the role of varying polymer charge density, polymer concentration, surfactant chain length, polymer backbone rigidity, and molecular weight on the critical aggregation concentration (Cac) of mixed polymer/surfactant systems. The Cac of these systems, estimated from tensiometry and potentiometry, is found to be in close agreement. Different Cac variations with polymer charge density and surfactant chain length were observed with polymers having persistence lengths either smaller or larger than surfactant micelle size, which might reflect a different type of molecular organization in the polymer/surfactant complexes. The surfactant concentration at which the viscosity starts to decrease sharply is different from the Cac and probably reflects the polymer chain shrinkage due to surfactant binding.     

Preparation and ion-exchange properties of zirconium tungstoarsenate

A new inorganic ion-exchanger, zirconium tugnstoarsenate, has been synthesized which has been characterized by chemical analysis, thermogravimetry, X-ray and infrared spectroscopy. The ion exchanger has been found to be stable in acids and neutral salt solutions. The K_d values for 30 metal ions have been determined at pH 3–4 which show that the exchanger has high affinity for UO ₂ ²⁺ , ZrO²⁺, Cs⁺ and Tl⁺ ions. The variation of K_d for a number of metal ions as a function of concentration of nitric acid and ammonium nitrate has been investigated to elucidate the probable exchange mechanism and to work out conditions for elution. Some binary separations, viz. Sr²⁺−Cs⁺, Sr²⁺−Rb⁺, Sr²⁺−Y³⁺, Fe³⁺−Al³⁺, Fe³⁺−Zn²⁺ and Zn²⁺−Hg²⁺ in trace amounts have been carried out on the column of the exchanger which demonstrate the utility of the exchanger in radionalytical and analytical chemistry.     

Synthesis and characterization of binuclear palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes with a bridging hydroxypyridinate ligand

Summary Binuclear Pd^II and Pt^II complexes of the type [M₂Cl₂(-Opy)₂(PR₃)₂] [M = Pd or Pt; Opy = 2-OC₅H₄N (2-hydroxypyridinate ion); PR₃ = PEt₃, Pn-Bu₃, PMe₂Ph or PMePh₂] were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, ¹H- and ³¹P-n.m.r. spectroscopies. The Pd complexes exist in the sym trans form, whereas the corresponding Pt complexes were generated as different isomers.     

The biosynthesis of laurifinine

The incorporation of (±)-nor-laudanosoline, (±)-N-nor-protosinomenine, (±)-N-nor-orientaline, (±)-N-nor-reticuline, and N-[2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl) ethyl]-2-(4'-hydroxyphenyl) ethylamine into laurifinine has been studied and the specific utilisation of the (±)-N-norprotosinomenine demonstrated. Double labelling experiments with (±)-[1-³H, 4'-methoxy-¹⁴C]-, and (±)-[1-³H, 7-methoxy-¹⁴C]-N-norprotosinomenines showed that 4' and 7, OMe groups and the H atom at the asymmetric centre of the precursor are retained in the bioconversion into laurifinine. Parallel experiments with (+)- and (-)-N-norprotosinomenine demonstrated specific utilisation of (+)-isomer into laurifinine.     

Separation and gravimetric determination of thorium and cerium(IV) with vanillin

Vanillin forms insoluble complexes with thorium and cerium(IV) at pH 4.0–6.2 and 2.5–7.0 respectively. Thorium and cerium can be determined gravimetrically and separated from each other as well as from uranium(VI) and typical trivalent rare earths. The precipitates obtained are ignited to the corresponding oxide and weighed; as little as 4.4 mg of ThO₂ and 4.9 mg of CeO₂ can be determined.     

EFFECTS OF HEMATOPORPHYRIN DERIVATIVE ON THE CELLULAR ENERGY METABOLISM IN THE ABSENCE AND PRESENCE OF LIGHT

Effects of Photofrin II on energy metabolism and metabolic viability were studied in a mammalian transformed cell line (BHK-21) in dark and after photo-irradiation with visible light. Cells were allowed to accumulate Photofrin by incubating for 4 h in buffer containing Photofrin (5-60 micrograms/ml). The results show that Photofrin significantly affects the cellular energy metabolism even in the absence of light; activity of cytochrome c oxidase is decreased and glucose utilization and lactate production (glycolysis) are increased. Irradiation with light resulted in a significant decrease in the activity of cytochrome c oxidase, glycolysis, ATP content, energy charge, ratios of adenine nucleotides like ATP/ADP, ATP/AMP and cell viability (dye exclusion test). Presence of inhibitors of energy metabolism, potassium cyanide (respiration) and 2-deoxyglucose (glycolysis), further enhanced the cytotoxic effects induced by hematoporphyrin derivative and light.