Temporal stability of standard potentials of silver–silver chloride reference electrodes

The four-year evolution of standard potential of a silver?Csilver chloride reference electrode (denoted further in the text as an Ag/AgCl electrode) is presented together with some suggestions for the improvement of pH primary measurement procedure.     

Highly enantioselective alkynylation of trifluoropyruvate with alkynylsilanes catalyzed by the BINAP-Pd complex: access to α-trifluoromethyl-substituted tertiary alcohols

A highly enantioselective alkynylation catalyzed by the dicationic (S)-BINAP-Pd complex with a variety of alkynylsilanes and trifluoropyruvate is described. The catalytic reaction is applicable to highly enantioselective addition of polyyne to trifluoropyruvate to construct α-trifluoromethyl-substituted tertiary alcohols as enantiomerically enriched forms. The alkynyl products can be converted into a chiral allene bearing a trifluoromethyl group.     

Solid-phase synthesis of glycopeptide carrying a tetra-N-acetyllactosamine-containing core 2 decasaccharide

A novel synthesis of tetralactosaminyl O-glycoamino acid is described. The stereoselective assemblage of a lactosaminyl unit was performed by 2-trichloroacetamido group-assisted β-glycosylation. Initial investigation into the synthesis of decasaccharyl threonine 2 showed limited success because of the low yield in the step concerning the removal of 4-O-chloroacetyl groups. In contrast, 4-O-benzylated decasaccharyl threonine 50 was efficiently synthesized from key LacNAc derivative 35 carrying a 3-O-allyl protecting group at the Gal residue by reiterative glycosylation using the (N-phenyl)trifluoroacetimidate method. Decasaccharide 50 was used as a building block in the solid-phase synthesis of a MUC1-related glycopeptide. Synthetic glycopeptide was obtained through two acidic processes: cleavage from resin with reagent K at a lowered temperature and debenzylation with a diluted cocktail of low-acidity TfOH. Desired glycopeptide 54 was isolated as the major product, while a series of the saccharide-shortened minor products were generated due to the acid-labile property of the β-GlcNAc glycosidic linkages.     

Development of a new traceless aniline linker for combinatorial solid-phase parallel synthesis of rod-shaped liquid crystals with an azomethine linkage

A new traceless linker was developed to synthesize a library of 28 compounds possessing an azomethine linkage using combinatorial solid-phase parallel synthesis. The loading of the substrates on a solid support and cleavage from the solid support were performed by an imine synthesis and by imine-exchanged process in the mild conditions, respectively. Products with a thioester group exhibited liquid crystalline properties with the higher transition temperatures than the others.     

Determination of trace elements in sediment reference materials by monochromatic X-ray excitation X-ray fluorescence spectrometry.

A new reliable analytical method, "Monochromatic X-ray Excitation X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry", has been proposed. For validating the method, trace elements in sediment certified reference materials were determined. In the method X-ray fluorescence spectra are measured for specimens and pure metals; in addition the mass-attenuation coefficients of the specimens for various X-ray wavelengths are also measured. The data are analyzed by the fundamental parameter method and the uncertainty of the analysis is evaluated. The obtained results were in satisfactory agreement with the certified values within their uncertainties. This method will be applicable to the certification of reference materials, in the field of which reliable results with uncertainty statements are required.     

A giant supramolecular light-harvesting antenna-acceptor composite

A giant light-harvesting antenna-acceptor composite was constructed by heterodimerization of imidazolylmanganese(III)porphyrin to molecular terminals of the zinc porphyrin array composed of meso-meso linked bis(imidazolylzincporphyrin). Fluorescence quenching titration indicated that the terminal imidazolylmanganase(III)porphyrin quenched excited zinc porphyrin separated by a large number of intervening porphyrins and that the meso-meso linked bis(imidazolylzincporphyrin) array was an efficient light-harvesting antenna.     

A Coulometric Analysis Method and an Ion-exclusion Chromatographic Method for the Determination of Antimony(V) in Large Excess of Antimony(III)

A coulometric analysis method and an ion-exclusion chromatographic method were developed for the determination of antimony(V) in a large excess of antimony(III). Antimony(V) reacted with potassium iodide in a high concentration hydrochloric acid; the liberated iodine was determined by the standard-addition method using coulometrically generated iodine. Using a Dionex ICE-AS1 ion-exclusion column, antimony(V) was eluted with 40 mmol/L sulfuric acid; on the other hand, antimony(III) was strongly retained on the column. The content, expressed as the amount ratio of antimony(V) to antimony(III), was 0.035% in a 10 g/kg antimony(III) solution prepared from an antimony(III) oxide reagent by the coulometric analysis method and 0.036% in a 1 g/kg antimony(III) solution prepared from the same antimony(III) oxide by the ion-exclusion chromatographic method. The results of both methods were in good agreement with each other. The detection limit of antimony(V) in antimony(III) oxide by the former method was 0.004% of antimony(III), and that by the latter method was 0.002% of antimony(III).     

Stability evaluation of alkali metal standard solutions by using precise ion chromatography

Mass fractions of alkali metal (Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs) standard solutions (1000 mg/kg) were measured with about 0.1% relative standard deviation by improving the method of injection in ion chromatography (IC). This technique was applied to stability testing of the standard solutions. After storage of each alkali metal standard solution for 18 months, an increase of the mass fraction was observed, for all the alkali metal ions, of approximately 0.15% per year at 25 °C and approximately 0.02% per year at 5 °C. The observed increase of the mass fraction can be explained by the weight loss of the solution during storage. The deviation between the mass fraction measured by IC and the preparation mass fraction after correcting the weight loss for solvent evaporation was within ±0.05% for every alkali metal ion. It is concluded that alkali metal standard solutions of 1000 mg/kg are basically stable for more than 18 months under these storage conditions and that correction for evaporation is effective if weight monitoring of each bottle is performed precisely. Presented at BERM-11, October 2007, Tsukuba, Japan.