Kinetics of the manganese(III)-oxalate reaction in acidic sulphate media

The kinetics of the reaction of manganese(III) with oxalic acid (OA) has been studied in H₂SO₄ solutions. Under the experimental conditions of 6 × 10^–3 <>₀ < 0.4=" mol=">^–3 and [H₂SO₄]₀ 0.2 mol dm^–3 the observed pseudo-first order rate constant k _obs follows the expression

Chemical Biological Sensors Based on Advances in Conducting Electroactive Polymers

Advances in conducting electroactive polymers (CEPs) have driven the design of novel chemical and biochemical sensors. The redox properties of CEPs have been intensely studied for more than two decades with emphasis on their synthesis and characterization. Little attention has been paid to the importance of mechanism in sensor designs. However, in order to design robust and stable sensors, it is important to understand how the polymer structure, morphology, adhesion properties and microenvironment affect sensor performance. This work describes how chemical and biological sensors have been designed, fabricated, characterized and tested based on the fundamental understanding in CEPs. The use of photopolymerized conducting polymers in sensor designs is described. Four focus areas are presented in which the electronic properties of CEPs have enabled the design of novel sensors for organics, nucleic acids, biological molecules, vapors and metal ions.     

Ion pair generation rates near planar3H and63Ni electron capture detector foils

The ion-pair generation rate (ionization topography) in plasmas from⁶³Ni and particularly Ti³H₄ foils, as used in electron capture detectors, was measured at room temperature using large, parallel plates of low backscattering ability in nitrogen gas of varying density. For one atmosphere pressure, the fall-off of ion pair formation as calculated from the exponential region equalsN ₀·e ^–0.19d for⁶³Ni andN ₀·e ^–1.4d for³H (whereN ₀ is the initial ionization rate immediately adjacent to the foil andd is the distance from the foil in mm). The experimentally measured half ranges (distances from the foil within which 50% of all possible ion pairs are created) are 2.7 mm for⁶³Ni and 0.27 mm for³H. The half ranges calculated from the exponential region where there is less interference from electron backscattering, are 3.7 and 0.5 mm, respectively. The latter values are considered closer to the true, unimpeded ionization topography near planar⁶³Ni and³H foils.Material taken from doctoral thesis     

(2+2)-cycloaddition of triazolinediones to strained bicycloalkenes

Substituted norbornenes and dibenzobarrelene react under forced conditions with $\text{N}$-methyl-1,2,4-triazolin-3,5-diones to afford urazoles via (2+2)-cycloaddition.     

Homolysis of weak Ti-O bonds: experimental and theoretical studies of titanium oxygen bonds derived from stable nitroxyl radicals

Titanium-oxygen bonds derived from stable nitroxyl radicals are remarkably weak and can be homolyzed at 60 degrees C. The strength of these bonds depends sensitively on the ancillary ligation at titanium. Direct measurements of the rate of Ti-O bond homolysis in Ti-TEMPO complexes Cp2TiCl(TEMPO) (3) and Cp2TiCl(4-MeO-TEMPO) (4) (TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl, 4-MeO-TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-methoxypiperidine-N-oxyl) were conducted by nitroxyl radical exchange experiments. Eyring plots gave the activation parameters, deltaH++ = 27(+/- 1) kcal/mol, deltaS++ = 6.9(+/- 2.3) eu for 3 and deltaH++ = 28(+/- 1) kcal/mol, deltaS++ = 9.0(+/- 3.0) eu for 4, consistent with a process involving the homolysis of a weak Ti-O bond to generate the transient Cp2Ti(III)Cl and the nitroxyl radical. Thermolysis of the titanocene TEMPO complexes in the presence of epoxides leads to the Cp2Ti(III)Cl-mediated ring-opening of the epoxide followed by trapping by the nitroxyl radical. The X-ray crystal structure of the Ti-TEMPO derivative, Cp2TiCl(4-MeO-TEMPO) (4), is reported. DFT (B3LYP/6-31G*) calculations and experimental studies reveal that the strength of the Ti-O bond decreases dramatically with the number of cyclopentadienyl groups on titanium. The calculated Ti-O bond strength of the monocyclopentadienyl complex 2 is 43 kcal/mol, whereas that of the biscyclopentadienyl complex 3 is 17 kcal/mol, a difference of 26 kcal/mol. These studies reveal that the strength of these Ti-O bonds can be tuned over an interesting and experimentally accessible temperature range by appropriate ligation on titanium.     

Characterization of cocoa butters and other vegetable fats by pyrolysis-mass spectrometry

Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry (Py-MS) was used for the discrimination of cocoa butters from other vegetable fats. Mass spectra ranging from 50 amu to 250 amu were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and with neural nets. The application of neural nets leads to a good discrimination between the two classes. Detailed analysis of the nets revealed that only the first 60 masses were used within the net. The use of PCA requires a careful selection of the number of masses included in the calculation. Canonical variance analysis was applied to determine the significant masses. Optimal performance of PCA was observed only using the first 22 significant masses. Most of these masses were different from the ones used by the neural net. It seems that the mass spectra obtained by Py-MS contain sufficient information for the discrimination of pure cocoa butter from other vegetable fats, but none of the methods seems to be able to extract all information available. Neural net provides a very robust method for this task and no prior data selection was necessary. Received: 13 May 1996 / Revised: 7 August 1996 / Accepted: 7 August 1996     

ASSESSMENT OF GENOTOXICITY AND MUTAGENICITY OF 1,2-DIOXETANES IN HUMAN CELLS USING A PLASMID SHUTTLE VECTOR

Abstract— 1,2-Dioxetanes are efficient sources of triplet excited carbonyl compounds on thermal decomposition. They cause photochemical and photobiological transformations in the dark. In order to study the genotoxicity and mutagenicity of 1,2-dioxetanes, the replicating shuttle vector pZ189 was damaged with 3,3,4-trimethyl-l,2-dioxetane(TrMD) or 3-hydroxymethyl-3,4,4-trimethyl-l,2-dioxetane (HTMD) in vitro and subsequently transfected into normal human lymphoblasts. We found a dose-dependent increase of genotoxicity (decrease of plasmid survival) and increase of mutation frequency with both dioxetanes. However, TrMD was less mutagenic than HTMD at similar genotoxicity. Sequence analysis of the supF gene revealed more point mutations than deletions. Single base substitutions occurred exclusively at G:C sites: 94.6% of point mutations with TrMD and 100% with HTMD were G:C to T:A and G:C to C:G transversions. These are the typical mutations following 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxo-G) formation, the main DNA lesion induced by TrMD and HTMD. Only with TrMD we found 5.4% G:C to A:T transitions, probably reflecting the more pronounced ability of TrMD to form some pyrimidine dimers. Our results indicate that 8-oxo-G is also the most relevant modification in in vivo mutagenesis.     

Cloud point extraction of napropamide and thiabendazole from water and soil

The micellar extraction and enrichment of napropamide and thiabendazole using Genapol X 80 is described. Combined with their quantification by fluorescence, detection limits below 0.2 g/l with recovery rates of up to 95% were achieved. The recovery could be improved by lowering the extraction temperature and purificaton of the surfactants. This extraction method has been applied to the isolation and preconcentration of napropamide from standard soils. Experimental parameters affecting the recovery rates were examined.     

Electronic spectroscopy of small toluene clusters

Small clusters of toluene(n) (n = 1-8) were created in a supersonic expansion of toluene with argon as a carrier gas. Mass-selected resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization spectra of these clusters were recorded for each n. For the dimer, the appearance of the spectrum under warm and very cold conditions was studied. We discuss previous results in the light of the present spectra. For n>2, the spectra resemble very closely that of the dimer.