Influence of pH and Matrix Components in the Chromatographic Response of Pesticides

The pH effect of potato, apple, and soil matrices on the chromatographic response of nine pesticides was evaluated. All chromatographic analyses were performed in duplicate on a gas chromatograph with electron capture detection. The matrix effect observed in the chromatographic response of the pesticides was evaluated by comparison. We compared the chromatographic response of each pesticide in pure solvent and in organic extract obtained for the matrices. The organic extracts were obtained by solid–liquid extraction with partition at low temperature. Depending on the matrix pH, a greater or lesser amount of co-extractives can be extracted into the organic phase, which affects the matrix effect. The pH of the samples before the extraction process was modified in order to check their influence on pesticide responses. Statistical analyses involving principal component analysis and marginal means revealed that, in the potato and apple matrices, the co-extractives exerted positive effects on the chromatographic response of the analytes. At lower pH, the extraction of co-extractives from potato and apple was favored, thus increasing the matrix effect for these samples.     

A Convenient Synthesis of Unsymmetrical N,N′-Disubstitutedα,ω-Diaminoalkanes

A general procedure is described for regiospecific construction of unsymmetrical N-alkyl (or aralkyl)-N′-aryl-α,ω-diaminoalkanes 3 (n=2,3,4) by reduction of N-(ω -arylaminoalkyl)amides 2 with borane. Compounds 2 are readily obtained by condensation of N-(ω-haloalkyl)amides 1 with aromatic amines.     

The Effect of Gluconate and EDTA on Thorium Solubility Under Simulated Cement Porewater Conditions

α-Hydroxy carboxylate ligands like gluconate or polyaminocarboxylate ligands such as ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) are frequently used in decontamination procedures at nuclear power plants. The presence of these organic substances among nuclear wastes could enhance the solubility of actinides by forming soluble complexes. Thermodynamic data on the stability of gluconate and EDTA with actinides are essential to predict their increase in mobility, especially in high pH systems characteristic of cement environments of a nuclear waste repository. In this work, the solubility of thorium oxyhydroxide in the presence of gluconate and EDTA has been studied. The results highlight the key role of these organics in increasing the solubility of thorium at pH_c = 12. The presence of calcium at concentrations below 10^?2 mol·dm^?3 (characteristic of cement porewaters corresponding to cement compositions at the second degradation stage) does not seem to affect significantly the thorium solubility under the studied conditions.     

Drop Size Distribution Bimodality and Its Effect on O/W Emulsion Viscosity

The research work on why and how distribution bimodality tends to reduce the viscosity of a particulate suspension is reviewed. The transfer of the corresponding concepts to emulsions requires some statistical tools, and becomes particularly easy with probability scale plotting which is reviewed. Viscosity reduction can be attained for different kinds of fine and coarse emulsion associations. The results are shown to depend on the characteristics of the base emulsions as well as on the way they are mixed.     

Growth of Chlorella vulgaris on Sugarcane Vinasse: The Effect of Anaerobic Digestion Pretreatment

Microalgae farming has been identified as the most eco-sustainable solution for producing biodiesel. However, the operation of full-scale plants is still limited by costs and the utilization of industrial and/or domestic wastes can significantly improve economic profits. Several waste effluents are valuable sources of nutrients for the cultivation of microalgae. Ethanol production from sugarcane, for instance, generates significant amounts of organically rich effluent, the vinasse. After anaerobic digestion treatment, nutrient remaining in such an effluent can be used to grow microalgae. This research aimed to testing the potential of the anaerobic treated vinasse as an alternative source of nutrients for culturing microalgae with the goal of supplying the biodiesel industrial chain with algal biomass and oil. The anaerobic process treating vinasse reached a steady state at about 17 batch cycles of 24 h producing about 0.116 m³CH₄ kgCOD_vinasse ^?1. The highest productivity of Chlorella vulgaris biomass (70 mg l^?1 day^?1) was observed when using medium prepared with the anaerobic digester effluent. Lipid productivity varied from 0.5 to 17 mg l^?1 day^?1. Thus, the results show that it is possible to integrate the culturing of microalgae with the sugarcane industry by means of anaerobic digestion of the vinasse. There is also the advantageous possibility of using by-products of the anaerobic digestion such as methane and CO₂ for sustaining the system with energy and carbon source, respectively.     

Synthesis of α-Metoylene-γ-Lactones in Furanosidic Systems

Abstract

Synthesis of stereoisomeric α-methylene-γ-lactones in furanose-and furanuronoamide derivatives was easily accomplished by Reformatsky Reaction with ethyl bromcmethylacrylic ester and zinc. Pyridinium chlorochromate/3Å molecular sieve powder showed to be an excellent reagent for the oxidation of secondary hydroxyl groups of a furanose system and of α-hydroxy amides.     

The role of nanocellulose fibers, starch and chitosan on multipolysaccharide based films

Thin nanocomposite films of thermoplastic starch, chitosan and cellulose nanofibers (bacterial cellulose or nanofibrillated cellulose) were prepared for the first time by solvent casting of water based suspensions of the three polysaccharides. The role of the different bioploymers on the final properties (thermal stability, transparency, mechanical performance and antimicrobial activity) of the films was related with their intrinsic features, contents and synergic effects resulting from the establishment of interactions between them. Thermoplastic starch displays an important role on the thermal stability of the films because it is the most stable polysaccharide; however it has a negative impact on the mechanical performance and transparency of the films. The addition of chitosan improves considerably the transparency (up to 50 % transmittance for 50 % of chitosan, in respect to the amount of starch), mechanical performance and antimicrobial properties (at least 25 % of chitosan and no more than 10 % of cellulose nanofibers are required to observe bacteriostatic or bactericidal activity) but decrease their thermal stability. The incorporation of cellulose nanofibers had the strongest positive impact on the mechanical properties of the materials (increments of up to 15 and 30 MPa on the Young′s modulus and Tensile strength, respectively, for films with 20 % of BC or NFC). Nonetheless, the impact in thermal stability and mechanical performance of the films, promoted by the addition of chitosan and cellulose nanofibres, respectively, was higher than the expected considering their percentage contents certainly because of the establishment of strong and complex interactions between the three polysaccharides.     

A green and expedient synthesis of enantiopure diketopiperazines via enzymatic resolution of unnatural amino acids

Dipeptides comprising a d-phenylglycyl moiety coupled to the l-enantiomer of 2-amino butyric acid, norvaline, norleucine, and homocysteine were successfully synthesized from d-phenylglycine amide and the racemate of the corresponding unnatural amino acid. The reaction is catalyzed by an immobilized form of penicillin G acylase in an aqueous medium. The dipeptides were subsequently converted into the corresponding enantiopure diketopiperazines in overall isolated yields of 22–33%.     

Fingerprinting pre-historical symbolic artefacts by a non-destructive methodological approach

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - A contribution to the discussion about Vila Nova de São Pedro (VNSP) as a production centre of symbolic lithic artefacts, the origin of raw...     

Tacrines as Therapeutic Agents for Alzheimer's Disease. V. Recent Developments

Herein we have reviewed our recent developments for the identification of new tacrine analogues for Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapy. Tacrine, the first cholinesterase inhibitor approved for AD treatment, did not stop the progression of AD, producing only some cognitive improvements, but exhibited secondary effects mainly due to its hepatotoxicity. Thus, the drug was withdrawn from the clinics administration. Since then, many publications have described non‐hepatotoxic tacrines, and in addition, important efforts have been made to design multitarget tacrines by combining their cholinesterase inhibition profile with the modulation of other biological targets involved in AD.