Equilibrium studies of the sorption of Cu(II) ions onto chitosan

Chitosan is a polymer that can be obtained from the shells of seafood such as prawns, crabs, and lobsters. Chitosan has free amino groups, which can attract metal ions, and has been used as an adsorbent for the removal of metal ions from effluents. In this research, the sorption of copper ions from solution onto chitosan at two pHs has been investigated. DSC, TGA, surface area, SEM, and NMR studies have been used to report the pure physical states of chitosan and the chitosan-copper complex. The experimental isotherm data were analyzed using the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Redlich-Peterson equations. Correlation coefficients were determined for each isotherm analysis. Error functions have been used to determine the alternative single component parameters by nonlinear regression due to the inherent bias in using the correlation coefficient resulting from linearization. The error function method provided the best parameters for the isotherm equations in this system and is demonstrated for error comparison purposes.     

Darstellung und Kristallstruktur von Na2Mn3O7

Synthesis and Crystal-Structure of Na₂Mn₃O₇ Single crystals of Na₂Mn₃O₇ have been grown hydrothermally applying high oxygen pressure (p = 2 kbar). The new compound cystallizes triclinic; space group P1 ; a = 6.636(6) Å, b = 6.854(6) Å, c = 7.548(6) Å, α = 105.76(6)°, β = 106.86(6)°, γ = 111.60(6)°; Z = 2. The crystal structure has been solved and refined to R = 7.9% and R_w = 6.2% (diffractometer data, 1044 independent reflexions). The crystal structure consists of Mn₃O₇^2? anions with manganese coordinated octahedrally by oxygen. These layered anions are hold together by Na⁺ ions (coordination numbers 5 and 6).     

Structural and rate studies of the 1,2-additions of lithium phenylacetylide to lithiated quinazolinones: influence of mixed aggregates on the reaction mechanism

The 1,2-addition of lithium phenylacetylide (PhCCLi) to quinazolinones was investigated using a combination of structural and rate studies. (6)Li, (13)C, and (19)F NMR spectroscopies show that deprotonation of quinazolinones and phenylacetylene in THF/pentane solutions with lithium hexamethyldisilazide affords a mixture of lithium quinazolinide/PhCCLi mixed dimer and mixed tetramer along with PhCCLi dimer. Although the mixed tetramer dominates at high mixed aggregate concentrations and low temperatures used for the structural studies, the mixed dimer is the dominant form at the low total mixed aggregate concentrations, high THF concentrations, and ambient temperatures used to investigate the 1,2-addition. Monitoring the reaction rates using (19)F NMR spectroscopy revealed a first-order dependence on mixed dimer, a zeroth-order dependence on THF, and a half-order dependence on the PhCCLi concentration. The rate law is consistent with the addition of a disolvated PhCCLi monomer to the mixed dimer. Investigation of the 1,2-addition of PhCCLi to an O-protected quinazolinone implicates reaction via trisolvated PhCCLi monomers.     

Ring size effects. III. Carbonium ion stability as a factor in the course of the pinacol rearrangement

The formation of the initial carbonium ion in the pinacol rearrangement will be the major factor in determining product composition when the reaction is carried out at 0°C with concentrated sulfuric acid.     

Determination of phenols in soil by supercritical fluid extraction-capillary electrochromatography

A new analytical procedure is developed to couple supercritical fluid extraction with capillary electrochromatography (SFE-CEC) to extract and determine phenols in soil. Ten phenols consisting of phenol, methylphenols (p-cresol and o-cresol), dimethylphenols (3,5-xylenol, 3,4-xylenol and 2,6-xylenol), trimethylphenol, ethylphenols (p-ethylphenol and o-ethylphenol), and o-isopropylphenol are investigated. The use of supercritical CO2 with 10% methanol as the organic modifier was found to give satisfactory extraction of alkylphenols from soil at 1200 p.s.i. and 50 degrees C for 45 min under a total extractant flow-rate of 0.2 ml/min (1 p.s.i.=6894.76 Pa). Baseline resolution was achieved for the 10 selected phenols under optimised CEC conditions at 20 kV in a mobile phase of acetonitrile-4 mM Tris, pH 7.0 (35:65) in a 45 cm (25 cm packed with 3 microm ODS) x 75 microm I.D. fused-silica capillary column. Using SFE with a 10-fold preconcentration factor, all alkyl-substituted phenols in soil can be determined with detection limits ranging from 0.0032 to 0.014 mg/kg and working range from 0.019 to 2.72 mg/kg. The SFE-CEC procedure developed has been applied successfully to determine phenols extracted from real soil sample contaminated with medical disinfectant. It will provide a rapid method for the direct determination of phenol and alkyl-substituted phenol in soils, with capability for confirmation of unknown peaks.     

Detection of Amadori compounds by capillary electrophoresis coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

Capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-MS) is reported for the first time as an alternative and powerful analytical method for the characterization and monitoring of N-substituted 1-amino-1-deoxyketoses (Amadori compounds). It allows rapid separation and identification of Amadori compounds, while benefiting from the well-known advantages of MS, such as specificity and sensitivity. Amadori compounds of several amino acids, such as glycine, valine, isoleucine, methionine, proline, and phenylalanine, as well as a cysteine-derived compound, were separated and/or discriminated using CE-MS/MS under standard conditions. The technique may also be useful to study the stability and degradation kinetics of other labile charged Maillard intermediates that play an important role in food and medical science.     

Enantio- and diastereodifferentiating cis,trans-photoisomerization of 2beta,3beta-diphenylcyclopropane-1alpha-carboxylic acid derivatives in organized media

[reaction: see text] Four methods of asymmetric induction in the cis, trans-photoisomerization of 2beta, 3beta-diphenylcyclopropane-1alpha-carboxylic acid derivatives were studied. Best results (ca. 80% de) were obtained by irradiation of chiral esters, amides, and salts in NaY and LiY zeolites and in the pure crystalline state.     

Enzyme activity electrophoresis and rocket immunoelectrophoresis for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of Geotrichum candidum lipase activity

The development and application of a rocket immunoelectrophoretic and an enzyme activity electrophoretic assay for the qualitative analysis of Geotrichum candidum lipase activity is presented. The sensitivities of the four assays were (in arbitrary units): enzyme activity electrophoresis, 1-0.5; rocket immunoelectrophoresis, 0.5-0.2; radial diffusion, 1; titrimetry, 1. The electrophoretic methods made it possible to distinguish between high and low molecular weight forms of the G. candidum lipases. The enzyme activity electrophoretic methods can be combined with other electrophoretic techniques, as demonstrated here with isoelectric focusing, and produce useful information on physico-chemical differences between different molecular forms of the lipase, e.g. forms with different pI.     

Application of solid phase microextraction in the determination of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins

A SPME-HPLC-post-column fluorescent derivatization method for the direct determination of saxitoxin (STX), the most potent paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin, in water has been developed. Commercially available SPME devices with 50 microm Carbowax templated resin (CW/TPR) coating was found to be able to pre-concentrate STX from aqueous media. A special pre-conditioning treatment of soaking the SPME coating in 0.1 M NaOH solution significantly improved the extraction efficiency. The optimal pH for the SPME process is 8.1 and the equilibration time is 40 min. The partition coefficient, K, of the distribution of STX between the SPME coating and the aqueous media was measured to be 2.99 +/- 0.04 x 10(3). Extracted toxin on the SPME stationary phase was difficult to be desorbed by the HPLC mobile phase under dynamic desorption mode. A static ion-pairing desorption technique using a desorption solvent mixture of 20 mM sodium 1-heptanesulfonate in 30% aqueous acetonitrile acidified with 50 mM sulfuric acid was developed to overcome this problem. The method detection limit and repeatability achieved by this SPME-HPLC method were 0.11 ng ml(-1) and 3.7%, respectively, with a sample volume of just 5 ml of water. This analytical method is adequate for the monitoring of the PSP toxin in fresh/drinking waters. However, serious interference was observed when this technique was applied to saline water samples. This is probably due to competition of sodium ions with the cationic STX for absorption into the SPME stationary phase.     

A graph-theoretic approach to quantitative structure—activity/reactivity studies

Characterization of molecular species based on the use of suitable graph invariants (graph paths, in particular) can provide a quantitative means of encoding structure; the technique is complementary to commoner approaches to studies of quantitative structure— activity relationships. Graph path encoding is here applied to quantitative studies of relationships between molecular structures and biological activity; the examples are the rates of various substrate reactions with hexoldnase, and the potential opiate-like activity of enkephalin analogs.