Reliable identification and quantification of trichothecenes and other mycotoxins by electron impact and chemical ionization-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, using an ion-trap system in the multiple mass spectrometry mode. Candidate reference method for complex matrices

Highly toxic mycotoxins like the trichothecenes can be found as contaminants from the metabolism of fungi in food and food preparations. They can be identified and quantified with great accuracy by GC/MS-measurements. Reliable analytical methods are urgently needed because such mycotoxins are not only toxic substances occurring in nature but also are in the list of biological weapons (e.g. T2-toxin, HT-2-toxin) and have some potential for terroristic attacks. By using GC/MS in the EI- and NCI- or PCI-mode and MS(n)-measurements with a 30 m Rtx 5MS fused-silica capillary column it is possible to identify and quantify all relevant mycotoxins either as underivatized substances or as their TMS-derivatives in extracts from food, food preparations or beverages with very complex matrix-derived background. This method can also be used to determine free ricinine as a biological marker for ricine in terroristic attacks. So laborious and time-consuming steps of sample-preparation can often be diminished. The LOD is in the range of 10-50 pg and the LOQ with linear calibration curves is in the range of 50-5000 pg. The high specificity of these methods helps not only to detect the existence of intentional terroristic or natural food contamination but also to avoid faulty alarm with unnecessary panic in the public. Furthermore, these methods have a high potential in ameliorating the safety of basic food and food products.     

Optical rotary dispersion of nitrobenzene derivatives—IV : Absolute conformation of twisted nitrobenzen derivatives and its control through conformational transmission

The origin of Cotton effect shown by o-nitrobenzoyl esters is discussed. The Cotton effect observed for 1-(?)-methyl ester of 3-nitrophalic acid and 4-nitrohemimellitic acid (6 and 12), indicated that the favoured twisting direction of the nitrobenzene moiety is determined by the asymmetric menthyl group through the intervening carboxyl groups. This provides a new concept in conformational analysis of aromatic compounds. Extending the concept of conformational transmission to 2,2′-dinitrobipenhyl derivatives with known ab twisted nitrobenzene was related to the sign of the Cotton effect at 330 nm in accordance with the result of X-ray crystal analysis 1-(?)-menthyl 4-bromo-2-nitrobenzoate (1)     

Liquid-liquid extraction of cadmium(II) from aqueous thiocyanate solutions with liquid anion-exchangers

An investigation has been made on the system liquid anion-exchanger-Cd(II)-NCS⁻. The influence of the acidity and thiocyanate concentration of the aqueous phase on the extraction has been studied. Using various methods of analysis, it has been shown that the complex anion present in the organic extracts is Cd(NCS) ₄ ²⁻ . Details are given concerning the removal of traces of Zn(II) from Cd(II)-containing solutions, and the quantitative separation of Cd(II) from Cr(III).     

Azetidinyl ketones. Synthesis of 1-Alkyl-2,4-diphenyl-3-benzoylazetidines

α-(α'-Bromobenzyl)chalcone ( 3 ) reacts with primary amines (t-butyl, isopropyl,cyclohexyl) to give α-(α'-alkylaminobenzyl)chalcones ( 4, 5 and 6 ). When these allylic amines are treated with hydrogen bromide followed by reaction with base, they produce l-alkyl-2,4-diphenyl-3-benzoyl-azetidines ( 7,8 and 9 ). These azetidines were readily converted to their 3-deuterio derivatives ( 10 , 11 and 12 ) by treatment with sodium methoxide in deuteriomethanol. The configurations were assigned primarily by pmr spectra and mass spectra in reference to analogous compounds.     

Adsorption and interaction of ethylene on RuO2(110) surfaces

Ethylene (C2H4) adsorbed on the stoichiometric and oxygen-rich RuO2(110) surfaces, exposing coordinatively unsaturated Ru-cus and O-cus atoms, is investigated by applying high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy and thermal desorption spectroscopy in combination with isotope labeling experiments. On the stoichiometric RuO2(110) surface C2H4 adsorbs and desorbs molecularly. In contrast, on the oxygen-rich RuO2(110) surface ethylene adsorbs molecularly at 85 K and is completely oxidized through interaction with O-cus and O-bridge upon annealing to 500 K. The first couple of reactions are observed at 200 K taking place on Ru-cus: A change from pi- to sigma-bonding, formation of -C=O and -C-O groups, and dehydrogenation giving rise to H2O adsorbed at Ru-cus. Maximum reaction rate is reached for C2H4 chemisorbed at Ru-cus with O-cus neighbors on each side. A model for the first couple of reactions is sketched. For the final combustion, C2H4 reacts both with O-cus and O-bridge. Ethylene oxide is not detected under any circumstance.     

Preparation of a new carboranyl lactoside for the treatment of cancer by boron neutron capture therapy: synthesis and toxicity of fluoro carboranyl glycosides for in vivo 19F-NMR spectroscopy

The synthesis of new ortho-carboranyl lactosides 8, 17, 19 and glucosides 22 and 23 for the use in boron neutron capture therapy is reported. Carboranyl lactosides 17 and 19 as well as the glucosides 22 and 23 contain a fluorine atom to allow a noninvasive determination of these compounds in tumor cells by 19F-NMR spectroscopy. In cloning efficiency tests on human bronchial carcinoma cells the carboranyl lactosides 17 and 19 displayed almost no cytotoxicity. Thus, the considerably cytotoxic carboranyl alcohol 11 is detoxified when linked to a sugar moiety such as in carboranyl glucoside 22.     

Kinetics and Mechanism of the Photosensitized Oxidation of Furosemide*

Detection of O2(1δg) phosphorescence emission, γmax = 1270 nm, following laser excitation and steady-state competitive methods was employed to measure total rate constants, kT, for the reactions of the diuretic furosemide, 2-methylfurane and furfurylamine with singlet oxygen in several solvents. Correlation of kT values with solvent parameters and product identification shows that the reaction mechanism is strongly solvent dependent. In aliphatic alcohols, the dependence of kT on solvent parameters is similar to the one observed for triethylamine, suggesting a reaction mechanism involving partial charge transfer from the amino group to the singlet oxygen. In nonprotic solvents, the dependence of kT on solvent parameters resembles the behavior found for 2-methylfur-ane and furfurylamine, implying that mostly a 2 + 4 cy-cloaddition mechanism of singlet oxygen to furane ring of furosemide occurs in these solvents. These mechanistic differences are explained in terms of hydrogen-bonding interactions between the carboxylic group in the aromatic ring and the amino group of furosemide. Furthermore, direct generation of C2(1δg) by furosemide was detected. Quantum yields of 0.047 ± 0.003 and 0.078 ± 0.004 were determined in acetonitrile and benzene, respectively. This last result may be related, at least partially, to the photodynamic effects of this diuretic drug.     

Studies on the long-term stabilities of the background of radionuclides in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

The long-term stabilities of the ICP-MS background of nine radionuclides are studied, of which the signals are partially superimposed by polyatomic interferences or affected from carry-over and memory effects. The background generated by the ICP flame, by two pure waters, and by nitric acid (2% v/v) was investigated in detail. A minimum of 50 measurement points was used for each long-term investigation. The detection limits of the radionuclides of the masses 90 amu (⁹⁰Sr: 30 Bq/mL), 99 amu (⁹⁹Tc: 4 mBq/mL), 238 amu (²³⁸U: 10 nBq/mL), and 244 amu (²⁴⁴Pu: 0.6 Bq/mL) are calculated from the mean standard deviation of the background signals. For all nine radioisotopes, the calculated detection limits are between 0.8 and 6 pg/mL. While the detection limit of the mass 90 amu is blank limited, those of the mass 99 amu and the actinides are totally uneffected by the blank solutions. The detection limits are compared with those given in literature.     

Statistical evaluation of the influence of several sample pretreatment methods on the mercury content detectable by chemical analysis of contaminated soil samples under practical conditions

The estimation of the environmental risk of contaminated sites caused by hazardous components may be obtained, for instance, by means of a soil survey. There unavoidable errors by sampling, sample preparation and chemical analysis occur. Furthermore, in case of mercury contaminations, the mercury content detectable by chemical analysis can be falsified, if between sampling, on the one hand, and sample preparation and sample decomposition for chemical analysis, on the other hand, volatile components or elementary metallic mercury escape from the sample. Thus, in these cases, handling of samples such as air drying, storing in plastic bags or thermal evaporation, generally termed sample pretreatment, is a further source of error in evaluating a material. However, the measuring results are influenced not only by sampling, sample pretreatment, sample preparation by homogenization and splitting, and chemical analysis; they must also reflect the intrinsic properties of the soil sample subject to both global fluctuations and local heterogeneities. The present work shows by example of a non-uniformly contaminated site to what extent the analytically detectable mercury content is changed by the method of handling of soil samples in the period between sampling and chemical analysis. A hierarchical experimental design was realized in order to separately quantify the different sources of variation of the measured mercury contents, which are caused by global variations, local heterogeneities, sample preparation, sample pretreatment as well as chemical analysis. As turned out by variance analysis, the variance portion contributed to the total variance by sample pretreatment is highly significant and lies in the same order of magnitude as the variance caused by local heterogeneities of the soil. That means that the type of sample pretreatment influences the analytical results essentially. In order to quantify the effect of a definite pretreatment method in comparison with the mercury content of the unchanged original soil sample, the probable systematic error of a method was introduced. Investigations were only carried out at two sampling locations of the contaminated site because of the relatively high labour; the mean values and variances obtained cannot be immediately transferred to other sites. However, the general knowledge can be used as methodical basis for further investigations. Particularly, the consequence arises that the regulations existing for the treatment of mercury-contaminated samples between sampling and chemical analysis must be revised to obtain comparable criteria of evaluation.Symbols used level of error in statistical tests, - _i random effect of the i-th sampling location with respect to the mercury content, effect of global fluctuations - _ij random effect of the j-th primary sample (composite sample) at the i-th sampling location, effect of local heterogeneity, sampling error - _ijk random effect of the k-th subsample within the respective j-th primary sample (composite sample) at the i-th sampling location, sample preparation error - _ijkl random effect of the l-th pretreated sample belonging to the respective k-th subsample of the j-th primary or composite sample at the i-th sampling location, sample pretreatment effect - _1– probable relative systematic error of a pretreatment methods as compared with the original material at the coverage probability 1– - overall expected mercury content of the sampling results - _i expected mercury content of the i-th pretreated composite sample at a fixed location - û_{1.1 –} lower limit of a confidence interval for the unknown expected mercury content of unchanged original material at the confidence probability 1– - _i intraclass correlation coefficient - ² , ² , ² , ² , _Z ² variance components caused by global variability, local heterogeneity, sample preparation, sample pretreatment and analytical error, respectively - _total ² total variance of mercury content - D² operator of the variance of a random variable - E operator of the mathematical expectation of a random variable - F_i mean squared sum quotient of the Fisher's F-distribution - F_1–/2(fg_i, fg_j) critical value of the F-distribution at fg_i and fg_j degrees of freedom, respectively - fg_i degree of freedom of a (mean) sum of squared deviations - H_i hypothesis regarding a statistical law - I_1– confidence interval for the unknown expected value difference of two methods compared at the probability 1–, probable systematic error of a pretreatment method as compared with the unchanged original material at the coverage probability 1– - MQ_i, mq_i mean squared deviations as explained in the context - n_i number of sampling locations, primary samples per location, subsamples per primary sample, pretreatment methods and measuring values per pretreated sample, respectively - S _i ² , s _i ² variance estimation obtained by chemical analysis - SQ_i, sq_i sum of squared deviations - S(|Y₁–Y_i|) mean error of the absolute mean value difference |Y₁–Y_i|) - t_1–/2;m critical value of the Student's t-distribution at m degrees of freedom and the probability 1–/2 - Y_ijklm mercury content obtained on the m-th final sample of the l-th pretreated sample belonging to the k-th subsample of the j-th primary sample at the i-th sampling location - Y_i, y_i,... mean values obtained by sampling and chemical analysis - Z_ijklm random error of the ijklm-th measuring value (final sample value) Y_ijklm.     

Zu Struktur,Bindung und Ligandenaustauschverhalten von Nitrosyltechnetium(II)-Verbindungen Eine. EPR-Untersuchung

Structure, Bonding, and Ligand Exchange Behaviour of Nitrosyl-Technetium (II) Compounds. An EPR Study EPR investigations on the nitrosyltechnetium(II) compounds (Bu₄N)₂[Tc(NO)Cl₅], (Bu₄N)[Tc(NO)Br₄], (Bu₄N)[Tc(NO)I₄], and (Ph₄As)₂[Tc(NO)(NCS)₅] having a 4 t low-spin configuration are reported. The EPR parameters g?, Ã^Tc as well as ligand hyperfine data are used to analyze the bonding properties. The isotropic parameters g₀ and a are found to be clearly correlated to the composition of the coordination sphere. Therefore, they can be used to characterize mixed-ligand complexes unambiguously. The formation of mixed-ligand complexes was investigated for ligand-exchange reactions on [Tc(NO)Cl₅]^2? and [Tc(NO)Br₄]^?. In these investigations unsaturated dichalcogeno ligands are included.