Trace analysis of semi-volatile organic air pollutants using thick film silicone rubber traps with capillary gas chromatography

Established standard methods for analyzing semi-volatile pollutants by capillary gas chromatography are cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive. With the longer term aim of replacing the sample preparation procedures with convenient concertrating and thermal desorption steps, thick film silicone rubber traps were constructed in a novel multi-channel configuration. Tests were performed to determine breakthrough volumes and thermal desorption characteristics for total transfer of the trap contents to a capillary column. Initial results are very promising.     

Trace Determination of Organic Compounds in Water by Direct Enrichment in Multichannel Thick Film Silicone Rubber Traps with Capillary Gas Chromatography

The application of Multichannel Silicone Rubber Traps for the direct analysis of organic compounds in water was studied. The optimum collection flow rate for a 10 mL sample was found to be ca. 150 μL·min^–1. The effect of methanol on the retention power of the trap was evaluated. The addition of a methanol fraction of up to 40% to the water standards did not show any loss in collection efficiency. It was shown that the extraction of organic compounds from water with the multichannel trap is uncomplicated, i. e. methanol is not required to achieve accurate analyses, concentration of the sample onto the trap is by gravity flow, and excess water remaining in the multichannel trap after water extraction is removed by centrifugation. With the use of the multichannel silicone rubber trap a wide boiling point range of compounds were analyzed from aqueous samples at levels of 1–4 μg·L^–1.     

Temperature-Dependent Formation and Transformation of Mesostructures in Water–Ionic Liquid Mixtures

The temperature-dependent formation and transformation of mesostructures in binary mixtures of the ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([bmim⁺][BF₄⁻]) and water are characterized. Through addition of nitroxide radicals as paramagnetic spin probes, the temperature dependence of the solution structure can be assessed by using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy from typical solutes’ points of view. Additionally, the phase behavior on cooling and reheating is probed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Thermal hysteresis and memory effects are observed, and DSC is used to identify the crystallization and thawing of ice as the pertinent phase transition. The EPR data of the nitroxide radicals before and after freezing and thawing reveal a transformation of the mesostructures, probably triggered by the crystallization of water pools to ice. A more polar state results after thawing, thereby suggesting a rupture and dissolution of the ordered IL-rich mesostructures. If the thawed solutions are not agitated, the system relaxes very slowly, that is, at room temperature with a time constant of approximately 90 h, to its equilibrium state of mesophase-separated IL-rich and bulk-like water regions.     

The Rehm-Weller experiment in view of distant electron transfer

The driving‐force dependence of bimolecular fluorescence quenching by electron transfer in solution, the Rehm–Weller experiment, is revisited. One of the three long‐standing unsolved questions about the features of this experiment is carefully analysed here, that is, is there a diffusional plateau? New experimental quenching rates are compiled for a single electron donor, 2,5‐bis(dimethylamino)‐1,3‐benzenedicarbonitrile, and eighteen electron acceptors in acetonitrile. The data are analysed in the framework of differential encounter theory by using an extended version of the Marcus theory to model the intrinsic electron‐transfer step. Only by including the hydrodynamic effect and the solvent structure can the experimental findings be well modelled. The diffusional control region, the “plateau”, reveals the inherent distance dependence of the reaction, which is shown to be a general feature of electron transfer in solution.     

Ultrafast Photodynamics of the Indoline Dye D149 Adsorbed to Porous ZnO in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

We investigate the ultrafast dynamics of the photoinduced electron transfer between surface‐adsorbed indoline D149 dye and porous ZnO as used in the working electrodes of dye‐sensitized solar cells. Transient absorption spectroscopy was conducted on the dye in solution, on solid state samples and for the latter in contact to a I^?/I₃^? redox electrolyte typical for dye‐sensitized solar cells to elucidate the effect of each component in the observed dynamics. D149 in a solution of 1:1 acetonitrile and tert‐butyl alcohol shows excited‐state lifetimes of 300±50 ps. This signature is severely quenched when D149 is adsorbed to ZnO, with the fastest component of the decay trace measured at 150±20 fs due to the charge‐transfer mechanism. Absorption bands of the oxidized dye molecule were investigated to determine regeneration times which are in excess of 1 ns. The addition of the redox electrolyte to the system results in faster regeneration times, of the order of 1 ns.     

ESR-spectroscopy in ionic liquids: Dynamic linebroadening effects caused by electron-self exchange reactions within the methylviologene redox couple

Well-resolved ESR-spectra of the methylviologene radical cation (MV*+) are recorded in room-temperature liquid ions as solvents. The temperature dependences of the ESR-coupling constants are similar to those measured in classical organic solvents. Electron-self exchange rates are reported for the methylviologene redox couple (MV++/MV*+) in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (bmim+ PF6-), 1-butlyl-3-methylimidazolium fluoroborate (bmim+ BF4-) and 1-ethyl-3-imidazolium ethylsulfate (emim+ O3SOEt-) within a temperature range of 350 K < or = T < or = 460 K. The diffusion controlled rate constants observed vary between 8.2 x 10(7) M(-1) s(-1) and 1.2 x 10(9) M(-1) s(-1). From temperature-dependent measurements the activation energies obtained range from 27.4 kJ/mol in emim+ O3SOEt- to 42.1 kJ/mol in bmim+ PF6-, respectively.     

Novel method for determining DDT in vapour and particulate phases within contaminated indoor air in a malaria area of South Africa

The organochlorine insecticide DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane) is still used for malaria vector control in certain areas of South Africa. The strict Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) allows spraying on the inside of traditional dwellings with DDT. In rural villages contaminated dust presents an additional pathway for exposure to DDT. We present a new method for the determination of DDT in indoor air where separate vapour and particulate samples are collected in a single step with a denuder configuration of a multi-channel open tubular silicone rubber (polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)) trap combined with a micro quartz fibre filter. The multi-channel PDMS trap section of the denuder concentrates vapour phase insecticide whereas particle associated insecticide is transferred downstream where it is collected on a micro-fibre filter followed by a second multi-channel PDMS trap to capture the blow-off from the filter. The multi-channel PDMS trap and filter combination are designed to fit a commercial thermal desorber for direct introduction of samples into a GC–MS. The technique is solvent-free. Analyte extraction and sample clean-up is not required. Two fractions, vapour phase and particulate phase p,p′-DDT, o,p′-DDT; p,p′-DDD, o,p′-DDD; p,p′-DDE and o,p′-DDE in 4 L contaminated indoor air, were each quantitatively analysed by GC–MS using isotopically labelled ring substituted ¹³C₁₂ – p,p′-DDT as an internal standard. Limits of detection were 0.07–0.35 ng m⁻³ for p,p′-DDT, o,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDD, o,p′-DDD, p,p′-DDE and o,p′-DDE. Ratios of airborne p,p′-DDD/p,p′-DDT and of o,p′-DDT/p,p′-DDT are unusual and do not match the ideal certified ingredient composition required of commercial DDT. Results suggest that the DDT products used for indoor residual spraying (IRS) prior to, and during 2007, may have been compromised with regards to insecticidal efficacy, demonstrating the power of this new environmental forensics tool.     

Total syntheses of amphidinolide X and Y

Concise total syntheses of the cytotoxic marine natural products amphidinolide X (1) and amphidinolide Y (2) as well as of the nonnatural analogue 19-epi-amphidinolide X (47) are described. A pivotal step of the highly convergent routes to these structurally rather unusual secondary metabolites consists of a syn-selective formation of allenol 17 by an iron-catalyzed ring opening reaction of the enantioenriched propargyl epoxide 16 (derived from a Sharpless epoxidation) with a Grignard reagent. Allenol 17 was then cyclized with the aid of Ag(I) to give dihydrofuran 19 containing the (R)-configured tetrasubstituted sp3 chiral center at C.19, which was further elaborated into tetrahydrofuran 25 representing the common heterocyclic motif of 1 and 2. The aliphatic chain of amphidinolide X featuring an anti-configured stereodiad at C.10 and C.11 was generated by a palladium-catalyzed, Et2Zn-promoted addition of the enantiopure propargyl mesylate 29 to the functionalized aldehyde 28. The preparation of the corresponding C.1-C.12 segment of amphidinolide Y relies on asymmetric hydrogenation of an alpha-ketoester, a diastereoselective boron aldol reaction, and a chelate-controlled addition of MeMgBr in combination with suitable oxidation state management for the elaboration of the tertiary acyloin motif. Importantly, the end games of both total syntheses follow similar blueprints, involving key fragment coupling processes via the "9-MeO-9-BBN" variant of the alkyl-Suzuki reaction and final Yamaguchi esterifications to forge the 16-membered macrodiolide ring of amphidinolide X and the 17-membered macrolide frame of amphidinolide Y, respectively. This methodological convergence ensures high efficiency and an excellent overall economy of steps for the entire synthesis campaign.     

Totally real discs in non-pseudoconvex boundaries

LetD be a relatively compact domain inC² with smooth connected boundary ?D. A compact setK??D is called removable if any continuous CR function defined on ?D/K admits a holomorphic extension toD. IfD is strictly pseudoconvex, a theorem of B. Jöricke states that any compactK contained in a smooth totally real discS??D is removable. In the present article we show that this theorem is true without any assumption on pseudoconvexity.