Studies of the thermal degradation of acetaminophen using a conventional HPLC approach and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry

The thermal degradation of acetaminophen is studied via conventional accelerated aging studies by initially thermally stressing the compound at temperatures between 160 degrees C and 190 degrees C and measuring the rate of decomposition by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Rates of decomposition of the compound in the dry state and the activation energy for the process are determined and compared with previously published kinetic and thermodynamic data for the degradation of acetaminophen in solution. In addition, the thermal fragmentation of acetaminophen under electrospray ionization (ESI) conditions using an interface with a heated capillary inlet is studied and the apparent activation energy for this process also is characterized. A comparison of the data shows that acetaminophen is significantly more stable in the dry state than in solution. However, the gas-phase fragmentation of acetaminophen under ESI conditions occurs more readily than either dry- or solution-state degradation. Although the resulting electrospray fragmentation mimics the breakdown product that is formed when the compound undergoes either acid or base catalyzed hydrolysis in aqueous solutions, the mechanism that produces the fragment ion appears to involve a two-step process. Initially, the parent ion forms of the analyte are produced in the spray region of the interface followed by wall-catalyzed decomposition and re-ionization in the heated inlet capillary of the spectrometer.     

Synthesis of Sybstituted Isoxazoles and Pyrazoles Based on 1-Aryl-3,4,4-trichloro-3-buten-1-ones

3-Aryl-5-methylenehydroxyiminoisoxazoles were synthesized by reaction of 1-aryl-3,4,4-trichloro-3-buten-1-ones with hydroxylamine. Reactions of ketones with hydrazine provided pyrazole structures; therewith two pyrazole molecules underwent coupling affording 3-arylpyrazole-5-carbaldehyde azines.     

Application of infrared spectroscopy to monitoring gas insulated high-voltage equipment: electrode material-dependent SF(6) decomposition

Sulfur hexafluoride is a chemically inert gas which is used in gas insulated substations (GIS) and other high-voltage equipment, leading to a significant enhancement of apparatus lifetime and reductions in installation size and maintenance requirements compared to conventional air insulated substations. However, component failures due to aging of the gas through electrical discharges may occur, and on-site monitoring for risk assessment is needed. Infrared spectroscopy was used for the analysis of gaseous by-products generated from electrical discharges in sulfur hexafluoride gas. An infrared monitoring system was developed using a micro-cell coupled to an FTIR spectrometer by silver halide fibers. Partial least-squares calibration was applied by using a limited number of optimally selected spectral variables. Emphasis was placed on the determination of main decomposition products, such as SOF(2), SOF(4), and SO(2)F(2). Besides the different electrical conditions, the material of the plane counter electrode of the discharge chamber was also varied between silver, aluminum, copper, tungsten, or tungsten/copper alloy. For the spark experiments the point electrode was the same material as chosen for the plane electrode, whereas for partial discharges a stainless steel needle was employed. Complementary investigations on the chemical composition within the solid counter electrode material by secondary neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS) were also carried out. Under sparking conditions, the electrode material plays an important role in the decomposition rates of the gas-phase, but no relevant material dependence could be observed under partial discharge conditions.     

Synthesis and photophysical properties of photochromic phenyl-substituted polyphenylenes with main-chain azobenzene fragments

New photochromic phenyl-substituted polyphenylenes containing azobenzene fragments in the backbone have been synthesized by the interaction of diacetylenes with bis(cyclopentadienones) via the Diels-Alder reaction. The polymers thus prepared exhibit the photochromic behavior and combine solubility in common organic solvents with high viscosity and thermal characteristics.     

Effect of total percent polyacrylamide in capillary gel electrophoresis for DNA sequencing of short fragments. A phenomenological model.

Polyacrylamide capillary gels were prepared with constant (5% C) cross-linker concentration and with total acrylamide concentration ranging from 2.5 to 6% T. At each acrylamide concentration, peak spacing was constant for DNA sequencing fragments ranging from 25 to 250 nucleotides in length. Peak spacing increased linearly with the total acrylamide concentration. The intercept of the retention time vs. fragment length plot was independent of % T. Ferguson plots were constructed for short DNA fragments; the polyacrylamide pore size falls in the 2.5 to 3.5 nm range for the gels studied. Theoretical plate count is independent of total acrylamide concentration; longitudinal diffusion, and not thermal gradients, limit the plate count. A phenomenological model is presented that predicts retention time, plate count, and resolution for sequencing fragments ranging in size from 25 to 250 bases and gels that range from 2.5 to 6% total acrylamide.     

Electrophoretic and amino acid compositions of the proteins of maize lines differing in the anthocyan coloration of the seeds

The electrophoretic and amino acid compositions of the proteins of lines of maize differing in the anthocyan coloration of their seeds have been investigated. The molecular masses of the quantitatively main components ranged from 11 to 42 kDa for the albumins and from 15 to 81 kDa for the globulins. Differences between the lines were observed in the levels of components with molecular masses of from 11 to 31 kDa. The amino acid compositions of the zeins of the lines studied were characterized by high levels of leucine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine and serine, and those of the other groups of proteins by high levels of arginine, glutamic acid, and glycine.Institute of Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (3712) 64 22 30. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 871–873, November–December, 1997.     

RBS investigations of ion beam mixed hard coatings on tool steel

Silicon nitride hard coatings on tool steel produced by ion beam mixing following sputter or vapour deposition were investigated by RBS and Vickers microhardness measurements. Atomic mixing in the coating/steel interface region resulting in an improved adhesion and in a significant increase of the microhardness of the surface layers was found. Ion beam mixing with gas ions and high fluences leads to blistering of the implanted atoms in the silicon nitride layer.     

Alkaloids ofPetilium raddeana II. Structures of petisine and petisinine

The alkaloids imperialine, imperialone, peumisine, petiline, petilidine, and the new bases petisine (I) and petisinine (III) have been isolated from bulbs ofPetilium raddeana (Regl.) Vved. On the basis of spectral characteristics and passages to a known compound, the structure of 3-hydroxy-²²(N)-22,26-iminocholestane-6,23-dione has been established for (I) and petisine 3-glucopyranoside for (III).Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances of the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 616–619, September–October, 1981.     

Magnetic behavior of copper diethyldithiocarbamate at low temperatures: A reinvestigation

The title compound, Cu(S₂CNEt₂)₂, behaves at low temperatures (1–20 K) as a normal spin-1/2 molecule, with 〈g〉 =2.06 and the Curie-Weiss θ = +0.25 K. This result contradicts an earlier investigation that led to the suggestion that the crystallographically-occurring dimers are coupled ferromagnetically.     

The numbers of chiral and achiral alkanes and monosubstituted alkanes

Whereas the theory for the enumeration of the optical isomers of the lakyl radicals and the alkanes has long been understood, this is not the case for the corresponding archiral isomers. We present for the first time recurrence formulae for counting the number of archiral isomers of the alkyl radicals and the alkanes. For chiral and archiral alkanes and monosubstituted alkanes, numerical results up to C₁₄ are tabulated.After presenting the history of the problem and the necessary definitions, we proceed to derive functional equations on the various generating functions, which readily yield the more explicit recurrence formulae usefule for numerical calculations. In the process, we first re-derive Pólya's expression for planted steric trees using his classical enumeration theorem. This result is then extended to the enumeration of free steric trees using the now standard tree-counting method due to Otter and known as a dissimilarity characteristic equation.By definition, a steric tree is a quartic tree (all points having degree 1 or 4) in which the four neighbors of every carbon point are given a tetrahedral configuration. Building on the methods of the first two authors for counting chiral and archiral trees in the plane, we obtain the formula for counting achiral steric trees, thus setting a problem first enunciated by van't Hoff and Le Bel in 1874.