Thermodynamics of silver—silver halide electrodes and thermodynamic solubility products of silver halides in glycerol + water mixtures at different temperatures

The standard potentials of silver—silver bromide and silver—silver iodide electrodes in glycerol+water mixtures containing 5, 10, 20 and 30 wt% glycerol were determined from electromotive force measurements of the cell Ag(s), AgX(s), KX(c)//KCl(c), AgCl(s), Ag(s), where X is Br or I, at seven different temperatures in the range 5–35°C. The standard potentials in each solvent are represented as a function of temperature. The standard thermodynamic functions for the electrode reactions, the primary medium effects of various solvents upon X⁻, and the standard thermodynamic quantities for the transfer of 1 g-ion of X⁻ from water to the respective glycerol + water media are evaluated and discussed in the light of ion—solvent interactions as well as the structural changes of the solvents. From the values of the Ag/Ag⁺ and Ag/AgX, X⁻ electrodes, the thermodynamic solubility product constants of silver chloride, silver bromide and silver iodide have been determined in glycerol + water solvent mixtures at different temperatures.     

Identification and Characterization of Bile Salt Hydrolase Genes from the Genome of Lactobacillus fermentum MTCC 8711

Lactobacillus fermentum is a lactic acid bacterium of probiotic importance, which is found ubiquitously in fermented milk products. Bile salt hydrolase (BSH) has a significant role in affording probiotic properties to lactobacilli. In the present study, two bsh genes encoding BSH1 and BSH2 were identified from the draft genome sequence of L. fermentum MTCC 8711. Nucleotide comparison revealed no significant similarity between bsh1 and bsh2 genes, whereas the deduced amino acid sequences showed 26 % sequence similarity between both BSH1 and BSH2. Pfam analysis revealed the presence of cys-2 active site residues in the catalytic pocket of both BSH1 and BSH2 highly essential for catalysis. Phylogentic analysis of BSH1 and BSH2 revealed the possible independent origin of these proteins in Lactobacillus. We cloned these genes in pSLp111.3, a Lactobacillus expression vector with signal peptide A (slpA) and expressed in the native L. fermentum strain for overexpression and extracellular secretion. The bsh1 gene failed to express and to produce promising BSH activity. However, bsh2 gene was overexpressed and the recombinant strain showed improved BSH activity. Induction of the recombinant strain with an optimal 2 % xylose concentration secreted 0.5 U/ml of the BSH into extracellular medium. Furthermore, the recombinant strain was able to completely assimilate the 100-μg/ml cholesterol within 24 h, whereas the native strain took 72 h for the complete assimilation of cholesterol.     

Effect of environmental factors and carbohydrate on gellan gum production

Submerged culture fermentation studies were carried out in batch mode for optimizing the environmental parameters and carbon source requirement by Pseudomonas elodea for the production of gellan gum. The maximum production of gellan gum was obtained with 16-h-old culture and 8% inoculum at 30°C and pH 7.0 after 52 h of incubation (6.0 g/L). Of the various carbon sources tested, 2% sucrose, glucose, and soluble starch yielded considerably high amounts of gellan. Studies on the concentration of various carbohydrates on gellan gum production indicated that the optimum concentration of glucose and starch was 3%, whereas for sucrose it was 4%. The addition of glucose in the medium above 3% had a detrimental effect on gellan yield. The investigation of intermediate two-step addition of glucose under identical conditions of fermentation showed an enhanced production of gellan (8.12 g/L) as compared with the control (6.0 g/L). To optimize the recovery of gellan from fermented broth, different solvents were tested for precipitation of gellan gum. Among the various solvents tested, tetrahydrofuran gave better recovery of gellan (82%) as compared with the conventional solvent isopropanol (49%).     

Syntheses,characterization, X-ray crystal structures and emission properties of copper(II), zinc(II) and cadmium(II) complexes of pyridyl–pyrazole derived Schiff base ligand – Metal selective ligand binding modes

The varying coordination modes of the title ligand, L [5-methyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-N′-[pyridin-2-ylmethylidene]pyrazole-3-carbohydrazide] towards the different metal centers is reported by preparation and characterization of Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) complexes, [Cu(L)NO₃.H₂O](NO₃) (1) [Zn(L)₂](ClO₄)₂·2DMF (2) and [Cd(L)(I)₂] (3) respectively. In 1, the neutral ligand serves as tetradentate 4 N donor where both pyridine and pyrazole nitrogen atoms of pyridyl–pyrazole part are coordinatively active, leaving the carbonyl oxygen of the carbohydrazide part inactive. The same pyridine and pyrazole N atoms remain abstained from the coordination process towards the Zn(II) and Cd(II) metal centers. For 2 and 3 the ligand behaves as a tridentate NNO donor where the two nitrogen atoms come from azomethine, pyridine of pyridine-2-carbaldehyde parts and O from carbonyl oxygen atoms (carbohydrazide part). The complex 1 and 2 are distorted octahedral while complex 3 adopts distorted square pyramidal geometry. All the complexes are X-ray crystallographically characterized.     

Solubility of carbon dioxide in aqueous solution of 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol and piperazine

In this work, new experimental results of the vapour-liquid equilibrium (VLE) of CO₂ in aqueous 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) and piperazine (PZ) have been presented in the temperature range of 298-328 K and PZ concentration range of 2-8 mass%, keeping the total amine concentration in the solution at 30 mass%. The partial pressures of CO₂ were in the range of 0.1-1450 kPa. A thermodynamic model was developed to correlate and predict the VLE of CO₂ in aqueous AMP + PZ. The electrolyte nonrandom two liquid (ENRTL) theory has been used to develop the VLE model for the quaternary system (CO₂ + AMP + PZ + H₂O) to describe the equilibrium behaviour of the solution. The experimental data from this work and data available in the literature were used to regress the ENRTL interaction parameters. The model predictions are in good agreement with the experimental data of CO₂ solubility in aqueous blends of this work as well as those reported in the literature. The current model can also predict speciation, heat of absorption, pH of the CO₂ loaded solution, and amine volatility.     

Folate analysis in foods by UPLC-MS/MS: development and validation of a novel, high throughput quantitative assay; folate levels determined in Australian fortified breads

An ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed, optimised and validated for the quantification of synthetic folic acid (FA), also called pteroyl-l-glutamic acid or vitamin B9 and naturally occurring 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) found in folate-fortified breads. Optimised sample preparation prior to analysis involved addition of ¹³C₅ labelled internal standards, treatments with α-amylase and rat serum, solid-phase extraction using aromatic-selective cartridges and ultra-filtration. Analytes were separated on a Waters ACQUITY HSS T3 column during a 6-min run and analysed by positive ion electrospray selected reaction monitoring MS/MS. Standard calibration curves for the two analytes were linear over the range of 0.018–14 μg FA/g of fresh bread (r ² = 0.997) and 9.3–900 ng 5-MTHF/g of fresh bread (r ² = 0.999). The absolute recoveries were 90% and 76% for FA and 5-MTHF, respectively. Intra-day coefficients of variation were 3% for FA and 18% for 5-MTHF. The limit of detection was 9.0 ng/g for FA and 4.3 ng/g for 5-MTHF, determined using pre-extracted tapioca starch as the blank matrix. The assay is rugged, fast, accurate and sensitive, applicable to a variety of food matrices and is capable of the detection and quantification of the naturally occurring low levels of 5-MTHF in wheat breads. The findings of this study revealed that the FA range in Australian fortified breads was 79–110 μg/100 g of fresh bread and suggest that the flour may not have the mandated FA fortification level (200–300 μg/100 g of flour), though this cannot be determined conclusively from experimental bread data alone, as variable baking losses have been documented by other authors.     

Origin of ultrafast excited state dynamics of 1-nitropyrene

Time-resolved emission measurements in subpicosecond time domain have been carried out for 1-nitropyrene in different solvents to understand the mechanism for the observed ultrafast decay of its first excited singlet state. Excited-state dynamics of 1-nitropyrene is found to be independent of the solvent viscosity. This result contradicts the proposition in the literature (J. Phys. Chem. A 2007, 111, 552) that the ultrafast decay in 1-nitropyrene is due to the large amplitude torsional motion of the nitro group around the pyrene moiety. Excited-state dynamics of 1-nitropyrene in solvents with different dielectric constants shows that excited-state lifetime suddenly increases after a certain value of the dielectric constant. Detailed quantum chemical calculations have been carried out to understand the process that is responsible for the observed effect of the dielectric constant on the excited-state dynamics of 1-nitropyrene. It is seen that the excited-state lifetime and the singlet-triplet energy gap follow similar variation with the dielectric constant of the medium. Such a correlation between the excited-state lifetime and the singlet-triplet energy gap supports the fact that the observed ultrafast decay for 1-nitropyrene is due to an efficient intersystem crossing rather than to the torsional motion of the nitro group as proposed in the literature.     

A nano-confined charged layer defies the principle of electrostatic interaction

The reactivity between two charged molecules and the activity of charged biomolecules are mainly governed by the principle of electrostatic interaction, i.e., like charges repel and opposite charges attract. In the present study it is shown that the principle of electrostatic interaction is violated in the nano-confined biomimetic environment. Thus a positively charged molecule shows more preference to a positively charged surface compared to a negatively charged surface.