Spectrophotometric determination of indium in nickel alloys and zinc ores with 1-(2-pyridylmethylideneamine)-3-(salicylideneamine)thiourea

A sensitive method for the spectrophotometric determination of indium with 1-(2-pyridylmethylideneamine)-3-(salicylideneamine)thiourea is proposed. A yellow complex is formed at pH 4.5 (succinate buffer) in a medium containing 40% dimethylformamide, and the absorbance is measured at 415 nm. The molar absorptivity is 6.2 x 10(4)l.mole(-1).cm(-1). The relative standard deviation of the procedure is 1.5%. The method has been applied to determination of indium in a nickel alloy and three zinc ores, with prior isolation of indium by co-precipitation with ammonia and extraction into n-butyl acetate from 5M hydrobromic acid.     

The state of conservation of painted surfaces in the presence of accelerated ageing processes monitored by use of FT-Raman spectroscopy and multivariate control charts

A new method has been developed for monitoring the degradation of paintings. Two inorganic pigments (ultramarine blue and red ochre) were blended with linseed oil and spread on canvas. Each canvas was subjected to simulated accelerated ageing in the presence of typical degradation agents (UV radiation and acidic solution). Periodically the painted surfaces were analysed by FT-Raman, to investigate the status of the surface. The data obtained were analysed by principal component analysis (PCA). Finally the Shewhart and cumulative sum control charts based on the relevant principal components (PC) and the so called scores monitoring and residuals tracking (SMART) charts were built. The method based on the use of PC to describe the process was found to enable identification of the presence of relevant modification occurring on the surface of the samples studied.Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available for this article at     

ANVAS: Artificial Neural Variables Adaptation System for descriptor selection

A new algorithm model-oriented for variable selection is presented in this study. It is based on the combination of genetic algorithms (GA) for hyperspace exploration, and counterpropagation artificial neural network (CP ANN) for deriving the fitness score. The proposed method performed very well on both well defined synthetic data sets and real academic data sets.     

Uncharged water-soluble Co(II)-porphyrin: a receptor for aromatic alpha-amino acids

Changes in the UV-vis spectra and induced circular dichroism (ICD) signals observed, in correspondence with the porphyrin Soret region, for aqueous solutions of achiral 5,10,15,20-tetrakis{p-[omega-methoxy poly(oxy-ethylene)]phenyl}porphyrin cobalt (II) (Co-P) and aromatic alpha-L-amino acids (Trp and Phe) give direct evidence for the coordination between the Co-P and amino acids. Considering that Co-P, besides the Co atom (one-fixation-point system), does not contain in the molecule active ligand groups and that no ICD signals have been observed in the case of Co-P/Ala, it has been concluded that hydrophobic interactions or stacking interactions between the aromatic rings of the porphyrin and those of Trp or Phe, acting as further amino acid (AA) fixation points, can strongly reduce the mobility of the chiral guest, thus permitting the generation of ICD signals. The effects of changes of both pH (in the range 2-9) and amino acid structure on the ICD phenomenon have also been investigated. In particular, the following have been observed: (i) strong ICD signals for all of the Co-P/N-acetyl amino acid aqueous solutions at pH 7, (ii) an unexpected ICD band with a bisignate form for the Co-P/Ala solution at pH 9 after long aging, and (iii) an opposite ICD signal when alpha-D-Phe and alpha-D-Trp enantiomers have been used. The data reported in this paper show how the binding mechanism between receptor and AAs changes by modulating properly the pH or the molecular structures and indicate that in these aqueous solutions the coordination Co-N is not the fundamental mechanism giving rise to the formation of the complexes and that the binding can be driven by hydrophobic interactions. These occurrences, through the analysis of the spectroscopic response (and, in particular, the form of the ICD band), can allow the recognition of AAs.     

Regioselective homogeneous hydrogenation of heteroaromatic nitrogen compounds by use of [RuH(CO)(NCMe)2(PPh3)2]BF4 as the precatalyst

Summary The complex [RuH(CO)(NCMe)₂(PPh₃)₂]BF₄ (1) is an efficient and regioselective catalyst precursor for the hydrogenation of polyaromatic nitrogen compounds such as quinoline (Q), isoquinoline (iQ), indole (ln), 5,6- and 7,8-benzoquinoline (BQ) and acridine (A) under relatively mild reaction conditions (125 °C, 4 atm H₂). The order of individual initial rates was: A > Q > 5,6-BQ > 7,8-BQ > ln > iQ, reflecting both steric and electronic effects. For the regioselective homogeneous hydrogenation of A to 9,10-dihydroacridine (DHA) catalysed by complex (1), a kinetic study was carried out; the experimentally determined rate law was r = k ₁ [Ru] [H₂]. These findings are consistent with a mechanism involving the hydrogenation of [RuH(CO)(A)(NCMe)(PPh₃)₂]BF₄ to yield DHA and the unsaturated species [RuH(CO)(NCMe)(PPh₃)₂]BF₄ in the rate-determining step.     

Ratios between content of fatty acids as markers for mixture of cow and goat milk

The fat of mixture of goat and cow milk, extracted by di-ethylic ether, was gas chromatographically analysed in order to propose an analytical procedure suitable to reveal small additions of cow milk to goat milk. The obtained results show evident differences in the percentages of some fatty acids. An attempt to apply the peak area ratios, corresponding to the methyl esters of fatty acids, suggested by the literature for cow milk did not yield good results. Other ratios suitable to reveal even the presence of low percentages (up to 5 %) of cow milk in goat milk were found and proposed in this paper. Such ratios are sensitive and can be defined markers towards cow or goat milk and also towards extraneous fat like lard or colza seeds oil.     

The electronic structure of FeV-cofactor in vanadium-dependent nitrogenase

The electronic structure of the active-site metal cofactor (FeV-cofactor) of resting-state V-dependent nitrogenase has been an open question, with earlier studies indicating that it exhibits a broad S = 3/2 EPR signal (Kramers state) having g values of ∼4.3 and 3.8, along with suggestions that it contains metal-ions with valencies [1V³⁺, 3Fe³⁺, 4Fe²⁺]. In the present work, genetic, biochemical, and spectroscopic approaches were combined to reveal that the EPR signals previously assigned to FeV-cofactor do not correlate with active VFe-protein, and thus cannot arise from the resting-state of catalytically relevant FeV-cofactor. It, instead, appears resting-state FeV-cofactor is either diamagnetic, S = 0, or non-Kramers, integer-spin (S = 1, 2 etc.). When VFe-protein is freeze-trapped during high-flux turnover with its natural electron-donating partner Fe protein, conditions which populate reduced states of the FeV-cofactor, a new rhombic S = 1/2 EPR signal from such a reduced state is observed, with g = [2.18, 2.12, 2.09] and showing well-defined ⁵¹V (I = 7/2) hyperfine splitting, a_iso = 110 MHz. These findings indicate a different assignment for the electronic structure of the resting state of FeV-cofactor: S = 0 (or integer-spin non-Kramers state) with metal-ion valencies, [1V³⁺, 4Fe³⁺, 3Fe²⁺]. Our findings suggest that the V³⁺ does not change valency throughout the catalytic cycle.

Active site FeV-cofactor of the V-nitrogenase and the EPR spectrum of the reduced cofactor showing ⁵¹V-hyperfine coupling.     

A highly specific polyclonal antiserum to the environmental contaminant 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis-(4-chlorophenyl)-ethane (p,p′-DDT)

A very selective polyclonal antiserum against 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis-(4-chlorophenyl)-ethane (p,p′-DDT) was obtained by a careful choice of the haptenic structure (2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-ethanol hemisuccinate). This hapten was conjugated to BSA to prepare the immunogen. The effects of different types of solid phases on the equilibrium reaction between the hapten on solid phase and the polyclonal antiserum were evaluated to obtain a fine tuning of the antiserum performances in terms of specificity for p,p′-DDT and sensitivity to low levels of this pesticide. The calibration curves obtained show that it is possible to set up a sensitive assay for p,p′-DDT, employing a p,p′-dichlorodiphenylacetic acid-based solid phase, with a detection limit of 0.12 ng/mL and a working range of about 0.21–40 ng/mL. Selectivity towards several p,p′-DDT-related substances was good (o,p-DDT 17%, p,p′-DDD 1.2% o,p-DDD 6.3%, p,p′-DDE 6.7%). Received: 4 November 1996 / Revised: 9 June 1997 / Accepted: 16 June 1997     

Relative stability of the2 A 1g and2 E g states of the C2H 6 + ion

Anab initio study of the relative stability for the states² A _1g and² E _g of C₂H ₆ ⁺ has been carried out. The results of the Open Shell Restricted Hartree-Fock calculations lead to assign the² A _{1 g} as the ground state of the molecule in agreement with previous SCF calculations.The correlation energy associated to both states has been calculated within the correlation hole model and the results, contrary to those obtained from Configuration Interaction calculations, do not alter qualitatively the conclusions from SCF.