Polarographlc analysis for corticosteroids: Part 5. Reduction mechanism of halogen-containing corticosteroids and analysis of some preparations

In fluprednisolone and chloroprednisone acetate, the polarographic reduction of the carbon—halogen bond in position 6 occurs first. The carbanion—enolate formed is reduced at the dropping mercury electrode at more negative potentials than the conjugate acid. Controlled potential electrolysis at a mercury pool electrode where the carbanion—enolate can be protonated, yields the unsaturated ketone. Polarographic reduction of clobetasol-17-propionate and of clobetasone-17-butyrate results in cleavage of the C—Cl bond in the side-chain. This process is followed by reduction of the α,β-unsaturated ketone in the A-ring. Analytical methods for the determination of these compounds in ointments, creams and eye/ear drops gave results with standard deviations of 1–2%.     

Enhancing selectivity in oxidation catalysis with sol-gel nanocomposites

Valuable organic compounds such as alpha-hydroxy acids are easily synthesised with relevant selectivity enhancement using a sol-gel hydrophobized nanostructured silica matrix doped with the organocatalyst TEMPO: A materials science based synthetic route which cannot be achieved via classical homogeneous synthesis.     

Reagentless system for sulphite determination based on polyaniline

A new reagentless system for sulphite (or sulphur dioxide) determination is reported based on the use of an organic conducting polymer, polyaniline, and its absorbance variation at 550 nm, depending on the sulphite concentration. After chemical polymerisation of aniline a very thin film of polyaniline is obtained. Although the response is not fully reversible, each film can be used for at least 10 measurements for low analyte concentrations (up to 0.5 mg l⁻¹) and five measurements for higher sulphite concentrations. Moreover, the reproducibility, ease of preparation and low cost of the films, permit the use of a new disposable system for each measurement. When the change in absorbance at 550 nm was measured for 210 s (stabilisation time), the system showed a linear response, which ranged from 0.025 to 1.50 mg l⁻¹ of sulphite. A theory with regard to the reaction mechanism between the polyaniline films and sulphite is also proposed. The system was applied to sulphite determination in wine samples and the results were in agreement with those obtained by the Official Method of Analysis (iodometric titration).     

The interphase between mercury and acetone+ nitromethane mixtures with KPF6 as a supporting electrolyte

Differential capacity and interfacial tension measurements were carried out on mercury for acetone+nitromethane mixtures with KPF₆ as a supporting electrolyte. On the basis of Gibbs adsorption equation and Guggenheim's model of the surface phase the composition of the surface layer was estimated for different acetone contents and different charges on the mercury electrode. The results obtained indicate that the positive acetone adsorption is marked at negative charges with maximum at σ_m=?0.07 C m^?2, but is practically non-existent at zero and positive charges.     

Chlorination of α-sulfonyl carbanions with hexachloroethane: A novel preparation of α-halosulfones

The cyclic sulfones1,2, and3 are lithiated in benzene with n-butyllithium. Lithiation is demonstrated to lead to α-mono, α,α′-di and/or α,α-di and α,α,α′ trimetallation. The lithiated sulfones are chlorinated with hexachloroethane (HCE). Some mechanistic aspects of the reaction of the lithiosulfones with vicinal dihalides are discussed.     

On the thin cell method in time domain spectroscopy

A simple physical picture is given of Fellner-Feldegg's thin cell method in time domain spectroscopy. From this picture an accurate analytical relation is derived for the total reflection coefficient.     

A low-cost non instrumental method for semiquantitative determination of mercury in fish

A non instrumental method for the semiquantitative determination of mercury in fish is described. The sample is acid digested and the mercury vapor released after chemical reduction with SnCl2. The mercury vapor is then collected on a detecting paper covered with an emulsion of Cu2I2, 3% carboxymethylcellulose and MgCl2 as moistener agent. The colored Cu2[HgI4] complex is formed and the color intensity is proportional to the mercury concentration in the original sample. Parameters such as sample mass/digestion solution volume ratio, emulsion composition, paper covering technique, carrier gas flow were investigated. Comparative studies using CVAAS and digital color analysis after scanning the papers confirmed the applicability of the method to real samples.     

The Interaction of Walsh-Orbitols in Diademane and Related Hydrocarbons

To obtain further information concerning the interaction between Walsh-orbitols of ‘conjugated’ cyclopropane rings, the photoelectron spectra of the following compounds have been recorded: bicyclo[4.1.0]heptane 1 , cis- and trans-tricyclo[5.1.0^{3, 5}]octane 2, 3 , diademane 4 , trans-pentacyclo[3.3.2.0^{2, 9}.0^{4, 10}, 0^{6, 8}]decan 5 and bicyclo[4.1.0]heptene-2 6 . The first bands in the PE.-spectra of these compounds have been assigned on the basis of a ZDO HMO-approximation. For 2 and 4 the value for resonance integral between linked 2p atomic orbitals of two adjacent eclipsed cyclopropane rings is found to be ?1.73 eV.     

Integrated lot-sizing and one-dimensional cutting stock problem with usable leftovers

This paper addresses the integration of the lot-sizing problem and the one-dimensional cutting stock problem with usable leftovers (LSP-CSPUL). This integration aims to minimize the cost of cutting items from objects available in stock, allowing the bringing forward production of items that have known demands in a future planning horizon. The generation of leftovers, that will be used to cut future items, is also allowed and these leftovers are not considered waste in the current period. Inventory costs for items and leftovers are also considered. A mathematical model for the LSP-CSPUL is proposed to represent this problem and an approach, using the simplex method with column generation, is proposed to solve the linear relaxation of this model. A heuristic procedure, based on a relax-and-fix strategy, was also proposed to find integer solutions. Computational tests were performed and the results show the contributions of the proposed mathematical model, as well as, the quality of the solutions obtained using the proposed method.

     

Selecting an agricultural technology package based on the flexible and interactive tradeoff method

Annals of Operations Research - The aim of this paper is to solve an agricultural technology packages selection problem by considering multiple dimensions which influence a maize producer’s...