Determinaton of trace amounts of titanium by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after cloud point extraction

In this work a cloud-point extraction has been used for the preconcentration of the trace amounts of titanium after complex formation with morin (2′,3,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone) using Triton X-114 as surfactant. The chemical variables affecting the phase separation and the viscosity affecting the detection by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) were optimized. At pH 4.5, preconcentration of 50 mL of sample in the presence of 0.08% Triton X-114 and 1.0 × 10^?4 M morin enabled the detection limit (c _L = 3S _b/m) of 2.9 ng/mL titanium and linear range 0.02–2.0 μg/mL to be achived. The preconcentration factor was 61, and the relative standard deviation was 3.8% for 0.1 μg/mL solution of Ti(IV) by repeated assays (n = 9). The proposed method has been applied to the determination of titanium in well water, spiked water and plant (Haloxylon).     

Activation of trimethylsilyl cyanide by potassium phthalimide for facile synthesis of TMS-protected cyanohydrins

Potassium phthalimide was found to be a highly effective and easily accessible organocatalyst for the cyanosilylation of various carbonyl compounds under extremely mild conditions. The corresponding cyanohydrin trimethylsilyl ethers were obtained in high to quantitative yields in solvent-free conditions at room temperature using 2.5 mol% catalyst loading.     

Application of H-point standard addition method and partial least squares to the simultaneous kinetic-potentiometric determination of hydrazine and phenylhydrazine

Simultaneous determination of hydrazine (HZ) and phenylhydrazine (PHZ) by H-point standard addition method (HPSAM) and partial least squares (PLS) regression was carried out based on kinetic data from novel potentiometry methods. The rate of chloride ion production in the reaction of HZ and PHZ with N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS) was monitored by a chloride ion-selective electrode. The experimental data show the good ability of ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) as detectors not only for the direct determination of chloride ion but also for simultaneous kinetic-potentiometric analysis using HPSAM and PLS methods. The methods are based on the differences observed in the production rate of chloride ions. The results show that simultaneous determination of HZ and PHZ can be performed in concentration ranges of 0.5 - 20.0 and 0.8 - 25.0 microg mL(-1), respectively. The total relative standard error for applying the PLS method to 8 synthetic samples in the concentration ranges of 1.0 - 16.0 microg mL(-1) for HZ and 2.0 - 16.0 microg mL(-1) for PHZ was 3.96. In order for the selectivity of the method to be assessed, we evaluated the effects of certain foreign ions upon the reaction rate and assessed the selectivity of the method. Both methods (PLS and HPSAM) were evaluated using a set of synthetic sample mixtures and then applied for simultaneous determination of HZ and PHZ in water samples.     

Ritter-enabled catalytic asymmetric chloroamidation of olefins

Intermolecular asymmetric haloamination reactions are challenging due to the inherently high halenium affinity (HalA) of the nitrogen atom, which often leads to N-halogenated products as a kinetic trap. To circumvent this issue, acetonitrile, possessing a low HalA, was used as the nucleophile in the catalytic asymmetric Ritter-type chloroamidation of allyl-amides. This method is compatible with Z and E alkenes with both alkyl and aromatic substitution. Mild acidic workup reveals the 1,2-chloroamide products with enantiomeric excess greater than 95% for many examples. We also report the successful use of the sulfonamide chlorenium reagent dichloramine-T in this chlorenium-initiated catalytic asymmetric Ritter-type reaction. Facile modifications lead to chiral imidazoline, guanidine, and orthogonally protected 1,2,3 chiral tri-amines.

Intermolecular haloamination reactions are challenging due to the high halenium affinity of the nitrogen atom. This is circumvented by using acetonitrile as an attenuated nucleophile, resulting in an enantioselective halo-Ritter reaction.     

Prediction of sound velocity and compressibility via molecular simulation at fixed entropy

A molecular-level simulation route is proposed to compute the isentropic thermodynamic properties in a fluid system by Monte Carlo simulation at fixed entropy. The method involves computation of the pressure response of a system to an infinitesimal change in system density by introduction of a single molecule, while retaining the system volume as well as the absolute molar entropy. The probability for accepting a change in temperature during the Monte Carlo moves was weighted against the argument proposed by Smith et al. [W.R. Smith, M. Lísal, I. Nezbeda, Chem. Phys. Lett. 426 (2006) 436–440]. Application to fluid argon has confirmed superior accuracy for the technique within the gas state to yield results within 1.2% of the measured values for the range of thermodynamic conditions investigated.     

‘Fixed charge’ chemical derivatization and data dependant multistage tandem mass spectrometry for mapping protein surface residue accessibility

Protein surface accessible residues play an important role in protein folding, protein-protein interactions and protein-ligand binding. However, a common problem associated with the use of selective chemical labeling methods for mapping protein solvent accessible residues is that when a complicated peptide mixture resulting from a large protein or protein complex is analyzed, the modified peptides may be difficult to identify and characterize amongst the largely unmodified peptide population (i.e., the ‘needle in a haystack’ problem). To address this challenge, we describe here the development of a strategy involving the synthesis and application of a novel ‘fixed charge’ sulfonium ion containing lysine-specific protein modification reagent, S,S′-dimethylthiobutanoylhydroxysuccinimide ester (DMBNHS), coupled with capillary HPLC-ESI-MS, automated CID-MS/MS, and data-dependant neutral loss mode MS³ in an ion trap mass spectrometer, to map the surface accessible lysine residues in a small model protein, cellular retinoic acid binding protein II (CRABP II). After reaction with different reagent:protein ratios and digestion with Glu-C, modified peptides are selectively identified and the number of modifications within each peptide are determined by CID-MS/MS, via the exclusive neutral loss(es) of dimethylsulfide, independently of the amino acid composition and precursor ion charge state (i.e., proton mobility) of the peptide. The observation of these characteristic neutral losses are then used to automatically ‘trigger’ the acquisition of an MS³ spectrum to allow the peptide sequence and the site(s) of modification to be characterized. Using this approach, the experimentally determined relative solvent accessibilities of the lysine residues were found to show good agreement with the known solution structure of CRABP II.     

A mild, clean, and simple synthesis of symmetrical carboxylic anhydrides from carboxylic acides using a polymer supported tosyl chloride

The use of polymeric reagents simplifies routine acylation of carboxylic acid because it eliminates the traditional purification. We describe the use of readily available cross-linked poly(4-vinylpyridine) supported tosyl chloride, [P₄VP].TsCl, in the suspended solution phase synthesis of symmetrical anhydrides from carboxylic acids in the presence of K₂CO₃ in high yields and purity. The products can be obtained by filtration and evaporation of the solvent.     

Adsorption of triton X-100 on silica gel: effects of temperature and alcohols

Adsorption of Triton X-100 (TX-100) on silica gel has been studied as a function of temperature (308–328 K) and composition for mixtures of water with ethanol or t-butanol. The adsorption capacity of silica gel for TX-100 decreases with increase in alcohol content. Adsorption isotherms of TX-100 on silica gel are four-region and were analyzed using the ARIAN (adsorption isotherm regional analysis) model. Data in regions 2, 3 and 4 were fitted to the Temkin, bilayer and reverse desorption isotherms, respectively. The results show that adsorption of TX-100 on silica gel in water and alcohol-water binary mixtures occurs mainly through formation of monolayer surface aggregates or low bilayer coverage.