The microdetermination of nitrogen in organic compounds by the rapid combustion process

Summary A method is described for the microdetermination of nitrogen in organic compounds which is based on the rapid combustion process. The sample is burned in a fast stream of carbon dioxide-oxygen mixture in a tube provided with an empty combustion chamber. The products formed are led over hot copper, thus removing excess of oxygen and reducing the nitrogen oxides. The nitrogen is swept out with the transport gas into a nitrometer, collected over potash solution and measured. A single determination may be completed in about 20 minutes, which includes the cooling period of the nitrogen prior to measuring the volume. Compounds which burn only with difficulty when subjected to thePregl-Dumas procedure have been analysed satisfactorily by the new method.It is shown that commercial oxygen contains up to 0.07% of inert gases and is therefore unsuitable in the nitrogen method for oxidising nitrogenous chars. An electrolytic cell which provides a continuous supply of blank-free oxygen, and hydrogen for regeneration of the copper filling has been constructed as a permanent part of the apparatus.Complete reduction of the nitrogen oxides and oxygen by the large amount of metallic copper (ca. 20 cm) is accomplished at the flow rate range of 15–20 ml per minute employed.Evidence has been obtained that present-day quartz tubing of British manufacture becomes porous in the course of time when heated in contact with copper oxide on copper in an inert atmosphere of carbon dioxide, giving high blanks.

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Zusammenfassung Ein Schnellverfahren zur Mikrobestimmung von Stickstoff in organischen Verbindungen wird beschrieben. Die Probe wird in einem raschen Kohlen-dioxyd-Sauerstoff-Strom in einem Rohr mit besonderem T-förmigem Verbrennungsteil vergast. Die Verbrennungsprodukte leitet man über erhitztes Kupfer, um überschüssigen Sauerstoff zu entfernen und die Oxyde des Stickstoffes zu reduzieren. Der Stickstoff wird mit Hilfe des Transportgases in ein Azotometer ausgespült, über Kalilauge aufgefangen und gemessen. Eine Einzelbestimmung dauert etwa 20 Minuten einschließlich der für die Abkühlung des Azotometers nötigen Zeit. Substanzen, die nachPreglDumas nur schwer analysierbar sind, konnten nach der neuen Methode befriedigend untersucht werden.Handelsüblicher Sauerstoff enthält bis zu 0,07% inerte Gase und eignet sich daher nicht zur Verbrennung stickstoffhaltiger Verkohlungsprodukte. Ein Gerät zur kontinuierlichen elektrolytischen Gewinnung blindwertfreien Sauerstoffes, das außerdem auch Wasserstoff zur Reduktion der Kupferdrahtfüllung liefert, bildet einen Teil der angegebenen Apparatur.Die vollständige Reduktion der Stickstoffoxyde und des Sauerstoffes ist bei der Strömungsgeschwindigkeit von 15 bis 20 ml/Minute durch die große Menge metallischen Kupfers sichergestellt.Es hat sich gezeigt, daß derzeit Quarzrohre britischer Herkunft im Lauf der Zeit beim Erhitzen in Kohlendioxydatmosphäre in Gegenwart von Kupfer oder Kupferoxyd porös werden und daher hohe Blindwerte verursachen.

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Résumé On décrit une méthode pour le microdosage de l'azote dans des composés organiques, basée sur le procédé de combustion instantanée. L'échantillon est brûlé dans un rapide courant de mélange CO₂-O₂ dans un tube muni d'une chambre à combustion vide. Les produits formés sont dirigés sur du cuivre chauffé ce qui fixe l'oxygène en excès et réduit les oxydes d'azote. L'azote est balayé vers le nitromètre, recueilli sur la solution de potasse et mesuré. Une seule détermination peut se faire en 20 minutes environ y compris la période de refroidissement de l'azote avant mesure du volume. Les composés ne brûlant qu'avec difficulté quand on les traite par la méthode deDumas-Pregl ont été analysés d'une manière satisfaisante quand on les traite par le nouveau procédé.On montre que l'oxygène commercial contient jusqu'à 0,07% de gaz inertes et que par conséquent, il ne convient pas dans la méthode à l'azote pour oxyder les goudrons azotés. Une cuve à électrolyse qui fournit un débit continu d'oxygène exempt d'impuretés et de l'hydrogène pour la régénération de la tournure de cuivre a été installée comme faisant partie intégrante de l'appareil.La réduction complète des oxydes de l'azote et de l'oxygène par le grand excès de cuivre métallique (environ 20 cm) s'effectue à la vitesse de 15 à 20 ml par minute de fonctionnement. On a mis en évidence le fait que les tubes de quartz actuellement fabriqués par les usines anglaises deviennent poreux au cours du temps quand on les chauffe dans une atmosphère inerte de gaz carbonique, ce qui donne lieu à des témoins élevés.

     

A new spot-test for the detection of sulphites and sulphur-dioxide

A new spot-test for sulphur dioxide and sulphites is described. The sulphur dioxide is allowed to come in contact with an acid solution of ammonium vanadate which is then treated successively with solutions of ferric chloride and ammoniacal dimethylglyoxime. The ferrous ions, produced by reaction with the reduced vanadium, react with the dimethylglyoxime to give the well-known cherry-red colour.Other reagents for the detection of ferrous ions such as o-phenanthroline and dipyridyl may be substituted for dimethylglyoxime.Thiosulphate, sulphide and nitrite react as well, but can be masked by the addition of mercuric chloride in the case of the first two; by the addition of aniline hydrochloride in the case of the nitrite.The minimum amount of sulphite detectable is 4 μg.Tests are in progress with the object of applying the method to the determination of sulphur dioxide.     

Comparison of the size and shape of ammonium decanoate and ammonium dodecanoate micelles

The size and shape of ammonium decanoate and ammonium dodecanoate micelles as functions of micellar concentration have been studied using the techniques of small-angle neutron scattering and time-averaged light scattering. The results indicate that the micellar mass of ammonium dodecanoate increases with surfactant concentration. This behaviour can be attributed to the formation of rod-like micelles. A comparison is made with the homologous surface active agent, ammonium decanoate. Received: 27 July 1998 Accepted: 18 August 1998     

Resin Swelling in Mixed Solvents Analysed using Hansen Solubility Parameter Space

The swelling of resins (Merrifield and HypoGel 200) in mixtures of two solvents was generally found not to vary linearly with the relative amount of each solvent in the mixture. Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) space could be used to define high, medium and low swelling regions for each resin. The variation of resin swelling with binary solvent composition could then be explained based on the HSP parameters of the two solvents and the way in which the line connecting the points corresponding to the two pure solvents bisected the swelling region for the resin. The applicability of the methodology was demonstrated by showing that an appropriate mixture of two green solvents was more effective for solid-phase peptide synthesis on Merrifield resin than use of either individual solvent and could completely replace the use of traditional polar aprotic and chlorinated solvents for this application. It was also shown that the high resin swelling area of Merrifield resin can be used to predict mixtures of green solvents that will dissolve linear, unfunctionalised polystyrene.     

Density functional theory investigation of the geometric and electronic structures of [UO2(H2O)m(OH)n](2 - n) (n + m = 5)

Gradient corrected density functional theory has been used to calculate the geometric and electronic structures of the family of molecules [UO2(H2O)m(OH)n](2 - n) (n + m = 5). Comparisons are made with previous experimental and theoretical structural and spectroscopic data. r(U-O(yl)) is found to lengthen as water molecules are replaced by hydroxides in the equatorial plane, and the nu(sym) and nu(asym) uranyl vibrational wavenumbers decrease correspondingly. GGA functionals (BP86, PW91 and PBE) are generally found to perform better for the cationic complexes than for the anions. The inclusion of solvent effects using continuum models leads to spurious low frequency imaginary vibrational modes and overall poorer agreement with experimental data for nu(sym) and nu(asym). Analysis of the molecular orbital structure is performed in order to trace the origin of the lengthening and weakening of the U-O(yl) bond as waters are replaced by hydroxides. No evidence is found to support previous suggestions of a competition for U 6d atomic orbitals in U-O(yl) and U-O(hydroxide)pi bonding. Rather, the lengthening and weakening of U-O(yl) is attributed to reduced ionic bonding generated in part by the sigma-donating ability of the hydroxide ligands.     

Transient cavity dynamics and divergence from the Stokes–Einstein equation in organic aerosol

The diffusion of small molecules through viscous matrices formed by large organic molecules is important across a range of domains, including pharmaceutical science, materials chemistry, and atmospheric science, impacting on, for example, the formation of amorphous and crystalline phases. Here we report significant breakdowns in the Stokes–Einstein (SE) equation from measurements of the diffusion of water (spanning 5 decades) and viscosity (spanning 12 decades) in saccharide aerosol droplets. Molecular dynamics simulations show water diffusion is not continuous, but proceeds by discrete hops between transient cavities that arise and dissipate as a result of dynamical fluctuations within the saccharide lattice. The ratio of transient cavity volume to solvent volume increases with size of molecules making up the lattice, increasing divergence from SE predictions. This improved mechanistic understanding of diffusion in viscous matrices explains, for example, why organic compounds equilibrate according to SE predictions and water equilibrates more rapidly in aerosols.

The failure of the Stokes–Einstein relation is assessed in aerosol measurements and molecular dynamics simulations.     

Use of tetracyanoplatinate (ii) for the luminescent detection of metalions

The tetracyanoplatinate(II) (TCP) ion forms insoluble fluorescent compounds with many metal ions. This property has not hitherto been exploited for analytical use. The soluble sodium TCP salt has been applied as a reagent for metal ion detection. Fluorescent precipitates useful for detection of the metal ions were obtained with Y(III), Zr(IV), Ag(I), Zn(II), Cd(II), Hg(I), Hg(II), A1(III), Pb(II), La(III) and Th(IV). Limits of detection ranged from 5 to 200 ppm. With ammonium acetate as a masking agent, selective detection of 10 ppm of silver was achieved in the presence of the other metal ions. As little as 20 ppm of zirconium can be detected in the presence of hafnium, which yields a non-fluorescent precipitate.     

Surface tensions of non-ideal surfactant mixtures

Summary A method is described for calculating the surface tensions of solutions containing binary mixtures of surfactants which exhibit non-ideal surface mixing behaviour. The method, which utilizes a regular solution model for suface and micellar mixing, has been used to predict the surface tension concentration curves for a mixture of ionic and nonionic surfactants.

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Zusammenfassung Es wird eine Methode beschrieben zur Berechnung der Oberflächenspannung von Lösungen, die binäre Mischungen von Tensiden enthalten, welche ein nichtideales Oberflächenmischungsverhalten aufweisen. Die Methode, die ein Modell für reguläre Lösungen von oberflächlichen und mizellaren Mischungen benutzt, wurde verwendet zur Vorhersage der Oberflächenspannungs-Konzentrations-Kurven für eine Mischung, bestehend aus ionischen und nichtionischen Tensiden.

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