Determination of selenium in blood serum by ICP-OES including an on-line wet digestion and Se-hydride formation procedure

Summary An analytical procedure for the determination of Se, as well as of other trace elements of clinical interest, in undiluted blood serum samples is presented. This procedure allows the on-line wet ashing of the sample, the hydride generation and the determination of the SeH₂ formed in one step. For this purpose, carrier solution and the injected sample (300 l) were merged with an acid stream (80% H₂SO₄, 12% HClO₄, 8% HNO₃) and passed through a reaction coil heated up to 240°C. To increase the dispersion, the wet digestion was carried out in an ultrasonic field. After trapping of the gas bubbles, 5 mol/l HCl and 0.053 mol/l NaBH₄ solutions were added via T-junctions for Se-hydride generation. The nebulizing system of the ICP-OES was used as gas/liquid separator. The hydride was swept from the spray chamber into the plasma by an argon gas flow with droplets containing other sample constituents. This allows the simultaneous determination of other trace elements of clinical interest, for example Fe, Cu and Zn. The relative detection limit for Se in blood serum was 5 g/l. The quality of the developed procedure was verified in two ways: by measuring SRM Seronorm 116 and by comparing the results for different serum samples with the results obtained with ETAAS. Our results were in good agreement in both cases.Dedicated to Professor Dr. Wilhelm Fresenius on the occasion of his 80th birthday     

Zum mechanismus des strahlenchemischen abbaus von polytetrafluorethylen

The present work studies the changes in polymer structure and the mechanism of the decomposition of polytetrafluoroethylene resin (PTFE) exposed to high energy radiation (electron beam). Spectroscopic and kinetic observations are used to interpret the degradation process. For the first time the decomposition of PTFE has been carried out on a preparative scale and new results obtained by analysing the degradation products. The radiation-induced degradation of PTFE is accompanied by thermal degradation under certain irradiation conditions. This is due to an increase in temperature of the polymer caused by retardation of highly accelerated electrons (heat accumulation effect).The kinetics are discussed in terms of the reactions and recombination of radicals produced by high-energy radiation both in the polymer melt and the polymer surface. These are related to the overall rate of decomposition.The primary radicals formed by decomposition of PTFE in an inert atmosphere (N₂, Ar) react to produce perfluorinated alkanes and alkenes. In the presence of reactive gases the decomposition fragments originated will react rapidly; e.g. if oxygen is present in the reactive area the radicals form perflourinated peroxyl and oxyl radicals which finally stabilize themselves by CC-scission to perfluorocarbon acid fluorides and carbonyldifluorides.     

High-performance liquid chromatography – atmospheric pressure negative chemical ionisation – mass spectrometry of 2,4-dinitrophenyl derivatives of amines

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) is used to detect 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) derivatives of amines by means of negative chemical ionisation at atmospheric pressure. The high sensitivity and good comparability of UV- and MS-detection of DNP-derivatives of amines is shown by several examples. The high selectivity of the derivatisation and the detection method (UV and MS) is used for the analysis of unknown amines in aqueous phases after hydrolytic degradation of polyamide-amine- or polyamine-epoxide-adducts as well as for the characterisation of commercial products.     

Oxidation of micro or trace amounts of bromide to bromate by peroxodisulphate before their iodometric determination by titration or spectrophotometry

The optimum conditions for the oxidation of bromide to bromate by peroxodisulphate at 120 degrees as well as for the decomposition of the excess of oxidant have been determined. The predicted advantages of this oxidizing agent, viz. minimal blanks and destruction of small amounts of interfering organic matter and reducing substances, were confirmed. The bromate was determined iodometrically either by titration with thiosulphate or by spectrophotometry in absence of oxygen at 355 nm. The titrimetric finish applied to 0.8-8 micromole of bromide gave a mean yield of 100.0%, s = 6 nmole. The spectrophotometric finish applied to 0.05-0.25 micromole of bromide gave a mean yield of 98.9%, s = 1.1 nmole. Interfering amounts of iodide present in the sample and oxidized to iodate can be corrected for by making use of the pH-dependence of the reaction of iodide with bromate and iodate.     

An efficient synthesis of [1,1]ferrocenophane via 1,1′-bis(6-fulvenyl)ferrocene

[1,1]Ferrocenophane can be prepared by reduction of 1,1′-bis(6-fulvenyl)ferrocene with complex borohydrides to give the dianion of 1,1′-bis(cyclopentadienylmethyl)ferrocene. Reaction of this dianion with ferrous chloride produces the ferrocenophane in good yield.     

Determination of227Ac in geological materials through neutron activation and alpha-spectrometric assay of induced228Th

A new route has been developed for the micro-determination of²²⁷Ac in geological materials by neutron activation. The method is based on intense neutron irradiation of the analysed samples followed by separation and α-spectrometric determination of²²⁸Th, the β-decay product of the 6.1 hrs²²⁸Ac isotope formed. Two alternatives are considered for analysis related to the origin of the analysed matrix. The high sensitivity of the method is documented by the determination of 10^?17 g²²⁷Ac/g sample. The method is successfully applied for age determination of five uranium containing materials and old uranium glass from Bohemia, CSSR.     

Isolation of essential oils from tobacco by gas co-distillation/solvent extraction

Summary The essential oils have been isolated from tobacco leaves using a simple gas co-distillation apparatus. The method involves co-distillation with water under the continuous stream of an inert gas with subsequent single solvent extraction of the distillate. The extract is analysed on GC and GC/MS in splitless injection mode without further concentration. The method was evaluated for reproducibility using n-octadecane as an internal standard. The distillation-extraction procedure was reporducible with an average deviation of ±3% for the major constituents. The present method was applied to the analyses of the essential oils of other agricultural products.Dedicated to Dr. L. S. Ettre on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Examination of the different procedural steps in the determination of organotin compounds in water samples

Previous animal experiments suggested that the Magos cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopic (CVAAS) method might overestimate the concentrations of inorganic mercury (I-Hg) in the presence of methylmercury (MeHg). In the present study it is shown that this error is due to a fast degradation of MeHg during the formation of the analytical signal. For brain samples, about 5% of the total amount of MeHg in the reaction vessel is degraded to I-Hg. Speciation of Hg in aqueous solution of MeHg chloride, after purification with ionexchange chromatography using the Magos method, showed that about 9% was I-Hg. Analysis by NMR of MeHg chloride and MeHg hydroxide showed that less than 1% was in the form of I-Hg. The absolute magnitude of the error in the CVAAS method is dependent on the amounts of SnCl₂ and MeHg in the reaction vessel; however, the ratio of I-Hg to total (T-Hg) is shown to be independent of the amount of MeHg (25.5–255 ng as Hg) in the reaction vessel. A procedure for corrections is proposed, based on the results from these studies and empirical data from speciation analyses of brain tissue from MeHg-exposed rats and rabbits.     

Effects of Solar UVB Radiation on Growth, Flowering and Yield of Central and Southern European Maize Cultivars (Zea mays L.)

Abstract— Different cultivars of maize ( Zea mays L.) originating from Central and South Europe were grown from June to September 1994 for 16 weeks in two greenhouses covered with different UVB-absorbing (280–320 nm) plastic foils. Using the ambient UVB radiation level of a southern location (Portugal, 38.7°N) in one of the greenhouses as an enhanced radiation compared to the reduced radiation in the second greenhouse, an increase of about 12% of UVB was simulated. Six of the eight cultivars examined showed significant reductions in height of up to 18.9% at all developmental stages under increased UVB. In contrast to this, the fresh and dry weight as well as the leaf area was reduced under UVB only at early developmental stages, but with ongoing development the UVB stressed plants caught up. The total content of absorbing compounds of the maize cultivars was completely unaffected by UVB. A flowering delay up to a maximum of 5 days was observed under higher UVB in several cultivars. Probably due to this delay in the cob development the yield decreased to 27.7% under higher UVB at the first harvest after 12 and 14 weeks, whereas at the second harvest after 14 and 16 weeks yield reduction levelled off.     

Preparative Separation and Analysis of Complex Mixtures of Leucomycins and Desmycarosyl Leucomycins Using HPLC and Mass Spectrometry

Composition and hydrolysis products of a biotechnical available complex of macrolides were analyzed by HPLC and ESI-CID-MSⁿ. Major components are leucomycin-type antibiotics (leucomycins A₁ (5), A₇ (3), A₉ (2), 9-desoxy-9-oxo-turimycin H₃ (4) and niddamycin B (6). Hydrolysis of the complex mixture yielded 9-, 13-isoforocidins (7, 8, 9, 11) and 9-oxo-forocidin (10). A preparative separation procedure was elaborated furnishing compounds 3 - 11 for semisynthetic experiments.Prof. Dr. Udo Gräfe deceased on 14.2.2003. For obituarity see: Schlegel B (2003) J Peptide Sci 9: 661–661.