Fatty acid neutral losses observed in tandem mass spectrometry with collision‐induced dissociation allows regiochemical assignment of sulfoquinovosyl‐diacylglycerols

A full characterization of sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerols (SQDGs) in the lipid extract of spinach leaves has been achieved using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization‐linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry (MS). Low‐energy collision‐induced dissociation tandem MS (MS/MS) of the deprotonated species [M ? H]^? was exploited for a detailed study of sulfolipid fragmentation. Losses of neutral fatty acids from the acyl side chains (i.e. [M ? H ? RCOOH]^?) were found to prevail over ketene losses ([M ? H ? R'CHCO]^?) or carboxylates of long‐chain fatty acids ([RCOO]^?), as expected for gas‐phase acidity of SQDG ions. A new concerted mechanism for RCOOH elimination, based on a charge‐remote fragmentation, is proposed. The preferential loss of a fatty acids molecule from the sn‐1 position (i.e. [M ? H ? R₁COOH]^?) of the glycerol backbone, most likely due to kinetic control of the gas‐phase fragmentation process, was exploited for the regiochemical assignment of the investigated sulfolipids. As a result, 24 SQDGs were detected and identified in the lipid extract of spinach leaves, their number and variety being unprecedented in the field of plant sulfolipids. Moreover, the prevailing presence of a palmitic acyl chain (16:0) on the glycerol sn‐2 position of spinach SQDGs suggests a prokaryotic or chloroplastic path as the main route for their biosynthesis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pyrolysis of meat-meal and bone-meal blends in a mechanically fluidized reactor

Nowadays, meat and bone meal produced in animal slaughterhouses and farms has become an important waste. Landfilling this residue means that its energy is lost. The pyrolysis of meat and bone meal produces a solid fraction which can be used as a fuel or as solid adsorbent, a liquid fraction with possible chemical applications and a low heating value gas.In this work, meat and bone meal has been pyrolyzed with a new technology, a mechanically fluidized reactor (MFR). This MFR is a stainless steel cylinder with 7.7 cm i.d., and an internal height of 15.6 cm. The meat and bone meal pyrolysis was carried out at 500 °C of temperature. The effect of several factors (mixer speed, heating rate and feed composition) on the product yields, bio-oil phases yield, bio-oil heating value and char heating value was studied. The amount of pure meat meal in the feed had a strong impact on product yields and compositions. The liquid yield, which has two phases, varies from 22 wt% to 52 wt% when the raw material fed changed from pure bone meal to pure meat meal.     

Synthesis of some substituted pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-ones and 1,8-naphthyridines

The substituted 4H-pyrido[1, 2-a]pyrimidin-4-ones (I) were obtained by the condensation of substituted 2-aminopyridines with δ-ketocarboxylic esters in PPA. Some of the derivatives I were transformed into the corresponding 1, 8-naphthyridines II and III.     

A reduction technique for discrete generalized algebraic and difference Riccati equations

This paper proposes a reduction technique for the generalized Riccati difference equation arising in optimal control and optimal filtering. This technique relies on a study on the generalized discrete algebraic Riccati equation. In particular, an analysis on the eigenstructure of the corresponding extended symplectic pencil enables to identify a subspace in which all the solutions of the generalized discrete algebraic Riccati equation are coincident. This subspace is the key to derive a decomposition technique for the generalized Riccati difference equation. This decomposition isolates a “nilpotent” part, which converges to a steady-state solution in a finite number of steps, from another part that can be computed by iterating a reduced-order generalized Riccati difference equation.     

Determination of glycoalkaloids and relative aglycones by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis coupled with electrospray ionization-ion trap mass spectrometry

Glycoalkaloids are naturally occurring nitrogen-containing compounds present in many species of the family Solanaceae, including cultivated and wild potatoes (Solanum spp.), tomatoes (Lycopersicon spp.), etc. These compounds have pharmacological and toxicological effects on humans due to their significant anticholinesterase activity and disruption of cell membranes. Herein is reported the development of a capillary electrophoresis (CE) method using nonaqueous (NA) separation solutions in combination with ion trap mass spectrometry (MS and MS/MS) detection for the identification and quantification of glycoalkaloids and their relative aglycones. A mixture 90:10 v/v of MeCN-MeOH containing 50 mM ammonium acetate and 1.2 M acetic acid (applied voltage of 25.5 kV) was selected as a good compromise for the separation and detection of these compounds. The electrospray MS measurements were carried out in the positive ionization mode using a coaxial sheath liquid, methanol-water (1:1) with 1% of acetic acid at a flow rate of 2.5 microL/min. Under optimized experimental conditions, the predominant ion was the protonated molecular ion ([M+H](+)) of solanidine (m/z = 398), tomatidine (m/z = 416), chaconine (m/z = 852), solanine (m/z = 868), and tomatine (m/z = 1034). MS/MS experiments were carried out systematically by changing the relative collisional energy and monitoring the intensities of the fragment ions that were not high enough to allow better quantification than with the mother ions. The method was used for analyzing glycoalkaloids in potato extracts.     

Degradable Elastomers: Is There a Future in Tyre Compound Formulation?

Problems related to non-biodegradable waste coming from vulcanized rubber represent one of the pre-eminent challenges for modern society. End-of-life tyres are an important source of this typology of waste and the increasingly high accumulation in the environment has contributed over the years to enhance land and water pollution. Moreover, the release into the environment of non-degradable micro-plastics and other chemicals as an effect of tyre abrasion is not negligible. Many solutions are currently applied to reuse end-of-life tyres as a raw material resource, such as pyrolysis, thermo-mechanical or chemical de-vulcanisation, and finally crumbing trough different technologies. An interesting approach to reduce the environmental impact of vulcanised rubber wastes is represented by the use of degradable thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) in tyre compounds. In this thematic review, after a reviewing fossil fuel-based TPEs, an overview of the promising use of degradable TPEs in compound formulation for the tyre industry is presented. Specifically, after describing the properties of degradable elastomers that are favourable for tyres application in comparison to used ones, the real scenario and future perspectives related to the use of degradable polymers for new tyre compounds will be realized.     

Control of radiative recombination by a strong laser field

Strong-field laser-assisted radiation recombination is investigated: (a) to explore the control possibilities with two laser fields having commensurable frequencies and (b) to get some insight into the influence of the medium (a plasma) in which recombination occurs. It is found that by varying the relative phase of the two fields it is possible to control enhancement, broadening and symmetry properties of the recombination differential emitted power. In the case of an anisotropic two-temperature plasma, an interesting interplay is found between the shape of the laser-modified electron velocity distribution function and the shape of the emitted X-ray photon power spectrum. The novel features of strong laser-assisted radiative recombination are mostly restricted to the region of the process parameters corresponding to the physical situation when the characteristic electron velocities (translation, quiver and thermal) are comparable. A classical picture allows a fairly good understanding of the process. PACS 32.80.Wr; 34.80.Lx; 34.50.Rk     

Reactions of Ru3(CO)12 with 2-pentynal-diethyl-acetal. The crystal structure of Ru2(CO)6[μ-η-{EtC2C(H)(OEt)2}CO{EtC2C(H)(OEt)2}] and its reactivity towards tetraethyl-orthosilicate

The title compound has been obtained in considerable yield by reacting Ru₃(CO)₁₂ with 2-pentynal-diethyl-acetal [CH₃CH₂CCC(H)(OEt)₂] (PDA) in hydrocarbon solvents. The X-ray analysis shows that the title complex belongs to the well known family of the flyover derivatives. Some X-ray structural studies have been reported, many years ago, on di-iron flyover complexes; in contrast only a few examples of diruthenium derivatives have been structurally characterized.The complex contains ethoxy-groups which could potentially undergo hydrolysis in the presence of tetraethyl-orthosilicate (TEOS) in the presence of catalysts. Reactions of complex Ru₂(CO)₆[μ-η⁴-{EtC₂C(H)(OEt)₂}CO{EtC₂C(H)(OEt)₂}] with TEOS in the presence of HCl or of NaF (as catalysts) have been attempted. An inorganic-organometallic sol-gel material containing the skeleton of the complex has been obtained and characterized with IR-Raman, XRD on powders and SEM microscopy.     

Flash pyrolysis of grape residues into biofuel in a bubbling fluid bed

The pyrolysis of two grape residues (grape skins and the mixture of grape skins and seeds) has been carried out in a pilot bubbling fluidized bed pyrolyzer operating under a range of temperature from 300 to 600 °C and three vapor residence time (2.5, 5, and 20 s), with the aim of determining their pyrolysis behavior including products yields and heat requirements. The composition of the product gases was determined, from which their heating value was calculated. The liquid bio-oil was recovered with cyclonic condensers and separated into two phases, an aqueous phase and an organic phase. The chemical composition of these liquid phases was characterized. In addition, the environmental parameters of the distilled fraction (85–115 °C) of the aqueous phase were tested, while the heating value of the organic phase was determined. Furthermore, the thermal sustainability of the pyrolysis process was estimated by considering the energy contribution of the product gases and of the liquid bio-oil in relation to the pyrolysis heat requirements. The optimum pyrolysis temperatures were identified in terms of maximizing the liquid yield, maximizing the energy from the product bio-oil, and maximizing the net energy from the product bio-oil after ensuring a self-sustainable process by utilizing the product gases and bio-oil as heat sources.     

Combining very large scale and ILP based neighborhoods for a two-level location problem

In this paper we tackle a generalization of the Single Source Capacitated Facility Location Problem in which two sets of facilities, called intermediate level and upper level facilities, have to be located; the dimensioning of the intermediate set, the assignment of clients to intermediate level facilities, and of intermediate level facilities to upper level facilities, must be optimized, as well. Such problem arises, for instance, in telecommunication network design: in fact, in hierarchical networks the traffic arising at client nodes often have to be routed through different kinds of facility nodes, which provide different services. We propose a heuristic approach, based on very large scale neighborhood search to tackle the problem, in which both ad hoc algorithms and general purpose solvers are applied to explore the search space. We report on experimental results using datasets from the capacitated location literature. Such results show that the approach is promising and that Integer Linear Programming based neighborhoods are significantly effective.