The graphite furnace and its role in atomic spectroscopy

The diversity of applications of the graphite furnace is extraordinary, encompassing the fields of physics, thermochemistry, spectroscopy and analytical chemistry. In this respect, the graphite furnace has been used on a continuous basis as a research tool for nearly a century. Following its introduction as an atomization source for atomic absorption spectrometry by Lvov in 1959, its role in atomic spectrometry expanded considerably to encompass analytical applications in emision, fluorescence, absorption and mass spectrometry. In addition to its conspicuous use as an atomization source in these areas, it is frequently employed as a vaporizer when used in the format of combined and tandem sources with other instrumentation. The unique physico-chemical micro-environment which can be attained within the graphite furnace has also been used to advantage in a number of investigations, including the determination of gas- and solid-phase diffusion coefficients of high-temperature metal vapours, the heats of sublimation of refractory metals, fundamental optical constants and the measurement of the heats of desorption of adatoms from high-temperature surfaces. The range of such applications remains to be more fully explored. The attractive features of this source, viz., the high atomization/vaporization efficiency, comparatively long atomic vapour residence times, controllable chemical and thermal environment and its ability to handle high dissolved solids content samples (100%) serve to ensure its place in analytical atomic spectroscopy for years to come.     

The effect of mechanical activation on the thermal decomposition of chalcopyrite

Experimental results on the influence of preliminary mechanical activation on the thermal decomposition of chalcopyrite are presented and discussed. The following experimental facts were found:

2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-perimidylphenols and their oxidation

1,8-Naphthylenediamine was reacted with 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-formyl-phenol to produce 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-(1,3-dihydro-perimidyl) phenol (I). The latter was coverted into 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-(1H-perimidyl)phenol (II) by oxidizing I with sodium pyrosulfate. When phenol II was oxidized by lead dioxide in toluene and THF, the EPR spectra revealed a 12-component multiplet with perimidyl splitting constants a¹ _N=a³ _N=a_H ^NH=0.2 mT; a_H ^6.7=0.6 mT.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 64–67, January, 1992.     

Study of the absorption spectra and ionic equilibria of cationic-anionic polymethine dyes

The absorption spectra of a number of cationic-anionic polymethine dyes in polar, low-polarity, and nonpolar solvents were studied. It was established that in polar solvents the absorption spectra represent the sum of the absorption spectra of the cation and anion, whereas in nonpolar and low-polarity solvents, in many cases the appearance of a short-wave absorption band is observed, due to interaction of the chromophores of the cation and anion in ion pairs. In solvents of intermediate polarity (for example, in chloroform and ethyl acetate), a concentration dependence of the absorption spectra is observed, determined by the equilibria of ionic dissociation. The ionic dissociation constants of a number of cationic-anionic dyes in chloroform and ethyl acetate were determined by a conductometric method. The thermodynamic data obtained are compared with the spectral data.N. N. Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117977 Moscow. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 2524–2532, November, 1992.     

A comparison of geometric methods with other methods for the characterization of density matrices

Some recently developed geometric methods for characterizing the subset of density matrices within the space of Hermitian matrices are compared with methods commonly used for the approximate characterization of reduced density matrices. The decomposition of a density matrix into components in terms of the reducing basis set is compared with decomposition in terms of representations of U(r).     

13C-NMR. Spectroscopy of naturally occurring substances. XXXII. Vincaleucoblastine and related alkaloids.

The total assignment of the ¹³C-shifts of the complex Vinica rosea L. alkaloids vincaleucoblastine, leurosidine and leurosine and of a synthetic isomer of the latter is presented. The structure of leurosidine is corrected and a tentative structure for the acid-catalyzed product of isomerization of leurosine is proposed.     

Study of the major fragmentation pathways of cypermethrin and related synthetic insecticides using tandem mass spectrometry

Fragmentation pathways of the synthetic pyrethroid cypermethrin and four structurally related insecticides were investigated using a tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer incorporating a hexapole collision cell under positive-ion electron impact ionization conditions. Conventional mass spectrometry using the first quadrupole analyser only and tandem mass spectrometry on selected precursor ions and product ions, and also constant neutral loss scan experiments, were used. Mechanisms and fragmentation pathways are proposed to explain the inherent stability of ions associated with the benzylphenoxy portion of this class of insecticide.     

Studies on amino acids and peptides-III. 2,4-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,2,4-dithiadiphosphetane 2,4-disulfide,LR, as a new racemization free coupling reagent in peptide synthesis

The easily accessible 2,4-bis (4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,2,4-dithiadiphosphetane 2,4-disulfide, $\text{LR}$, has been reacted with salts of N-protected amino acids $\text{1}$ (Z-Gly-OH, Boc-Gly-OH, Boc-S-Ser(Bzl)-OH, Boc-S-Tyr(Bzl)-OH, Z-S-Arg(Z₂)-OH, and Z-S-Pro-OH), at room temperature in CH₂Cl₂ to give the intermediates $\text{2}$, mixed anhydrides. When $\text{2}$ is treated with two moles of a base and one mole of the salt of an amino acid ester $\text{3}$ (TosOH·H-Gly-OBzl, HCl·H-Gly-OBzl, HCl·H-Gly-OEt, and HCl·H-S-Phe-OtBu) at 0°C, the expected peptide $\text{4}$ is isolated in high yields. LR is also found to be a useful reagent in a fragment coupling between Z-Gly-S-Ala-OH and TosOH·H-S-Leu-OBzl). This tripeptide was tested by means of HPLC (deprotection and amino acid analysis according to Izumiya was not necessary), and no epimerization (<0.7 %) was observed.     

A new approach to the “sudden” collisional dynamics of atom-molecule systems

The sudden model of atom—molecule vibrotational scattering is generalized to introduce effects of nuclear relaxation. Ab initio corrections are obtained in the form of energy and space differentiations of an off-shell sudden T-matrix. The physical interpretation of the theory and a preliminary numerical application are considered.     

Consensus values for NIST biological and environmental Standard Reference Materials

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, formerly the National Bureau of Standards or NBS) has produced numerous Standard Reference Materials (SRM) for use in biological and environmental analytical chemistry. The value listed on the “NIST Certificate of Analysis” is the present best estimate of the “true” concentration of that element and is not expected to deviate from that concentration by more than the stated uncertainty. However, NIST does not certify the elemental concentration of every constituent and the number of elements reported in the NIST programs tends to be limited. Numerous analysts have published concentration data on these reference materials. Major journals in analytical chemistry, books, proceedings and “technical reports” have been surveyed to collect these available literature values. A standard statistical approach has been employed to evaluate the compiled data. Our methodology has been developed in a series of previous papers. Some subjective criteria are first used to reject aberrant data. Following these eliminations, an initial arithmetic mean and standard deviation (S.D.) are computed from remaining data for each element. All data now outside two S.D. from the initial mean are dropped and a second mean and S.D. recalculated. These final means and associated S.D. are reported as “consensus values” in our tables. Received: 25 April 1997 / Revised: 24 July 1977 / Accepted: 25 July 1997