Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry of reaction products between C3O2 and stabilized phosphorus ylides

A fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectrometric study on the open-chain compound 1,3-bis(cyanomethylenetriphenylphosphorane)propane-1,3-dione and on the cyclic zwitterionic compounds 4-oxy-5-triphenylphosphonium-6-methyl-2-pyrone and 4-oxy-5-triphenylphosphonium-6-phenyl-2-pyrone, obtained by reaction of carbon suboxide, C₃O₂, with stabilized phosphorus ylides, Ph₃PCHX (X?CN, COMe, COPh), is described. The FAB mass spectrometric behaviour of these compounds is compared with that shown by tri-phenylphosphoranilideneketene, Ph₃P ? C ? C ? O, and by 4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2-pyrone, with the aid of metastable ion data and collision spectroscopy.     

Developing a sequential injection-square wave voltammetry (SI-SWV) method for determination of atrazine using a hanging mercury drop electrode

This paper describes the development of a sequential injection analysis method to automate the determination of atrazine by square wave voltammetry exploiting the concept of monosegmented flow analysis to perform in-line sample conditioning and standard addition. To perform these tasks, an 800 μL monosegment is formed, composed by 400 μL of sample and 400 μL of buffer/standard solution. To obtain an efficient homogenization, the sample solution is divided in five zones intercalated by four zones of the Britton-Robinson buffer (pH 2.0) in presence of appropriate concentration of NaNO₃ and varying atrazine standard concentrations. This mixture zone is isolated from the carrier solution by two 100 μL air bubbles. After homogenization in an auxiliary reaction coil the mixture zone is injected toward the flow cell, which is adapted to the capillary of a hanging drop mercury electrode, at a flow rate of 50 μL s⁻¹. After a suitable delay time, the potential is scanned from −0.5 to −1.2 V versus Ag/AgCl using a frequency of 300 Hz and pulse height of 25 mV. The linear dynamic range is observed for atrazine concentrations between 1.16 × 10⁻⁷ and 2.32 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹, obeying the linear equation i_p = (−6.91 ± 0.07) × 10⁸[atrazine] + (4 ± 8), with r² = 0.9996, for which the slope is given in nA L mol⁻¹. The detection and quantification limits of the method are 2.1 × 10⁻⁸ and 7.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹, respectively. The sampling frequency is 37 h⁻¹, when the standard addition protocol is followed. This frequency can be increased to 42 h⁻¹ if the protocol to obtain in-line calibration curve is used for quantification. The method was applied for determination of atrazine in spiked river water samples and its accuracy was evaluated by comparison with the batch standard addition approach, which revealed that there is no evidence of statistically significant differences between the two methods.     

Determination of trace concentrations of citrate in aqueous systems

A fluorimetric method for the determination of citrate is described. Through a series of reactions, citrate is converted into citrazinic acid. The ammonium salt of this compound exhibits a fluorescence maximum at 430 nm when an excitation source of 340 nm is used. The method does not suffer from the normal interferences. The limit of detection is 0.01 μg ml^-, and the best working range is 0.1–10 μg ml^-1.     

Di- and trinuclear Zn2+ complexes of calix[4]arene based ligands as catalysts of acyl and phosphoryl transfer reactions

The calix[4]arene scaffold, blocked in the cone conformation by proper alkylation of the lower rim hydroxyls, was used as a convenient molecular platform for the design of bi- and trimetallic Zn2+ catalysts. The catalytic activity of the Zn2+ complexes of calix[4]arenes decorated at the 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,2,3-positions of the upper rim with 2,6-bis[(dimethylamino)methyl]pyridine units were investigated in the cleavage of ester 6 and of the RNA model compound HPNP. High rate enhancements, up to 4 orders of magnitude, were observed in a number of catalyst-substrate combinations. Interestingly the order of catalytic efficiency among regioisomeric dinuclear complexes in the cleavage of ester 6 is 1,2-vicinal > 1,3-distal, but it is reversed in the reaction of HPNP. The higher efficiency of trinuclear compared to dinuclear complexes provides an indication of the cooperation of three Zn2+ ions in the catalytic mechanism.     

Second-order nonlinear optical properties of the Ag(111)/electrolyte interface in the presence of self-assembled monolayers containing conjugated pi systems. I. Alpha-functionalized terthiophene films on Ag(111)

The nonlinear optical properties of self-assembled monolayers obtained from bonding two different alpha-functionalized terthiophenes (alpha-T3) to (111) silver electrode surfaces have been investigated using second harmonic generation (SHG). The two (alpha-T3) compounds used were functionalized with alkane chains of different lengths (C8 and C4), and each was terminated with a thiol anchoring group. A nitrile group was attached to the terminal thiophene ring of the (alpha-T3) compound with the C4 chain. The orientation of the polarization of the incident beam was changed systematically and gradually between "p" and "s" orientation and the SH signal (isotropic and anisotropic contributions) analyzed in both directions ("P" and "S"). The symmetry of the system was reduced by the presence of the adlayers from C3v to C3. The dependence on the applied potential and the incident wavelength has also been studied. The relative magnitudes and phases of the various second-order tensor elements have been estimated and compared with the values for a bare surface. A resonance process in the (alpha-T3) pi moiety has been investigated, and from this, the effective "band-gap" energies of the organic semiconductor SAMs (i.e., the energy difference between the pi-pi bands) have been estimated.     

Classification of white wine aromas with an electronic nose

This paper reports the use of a tin dioxide multisensor array based electronic nose for recognition of 29 typical aromas in white wine. Headspace technique has been used to extract aroma of the wine. Multivariate analysis, including principal component analysis (PCA) as well as probabilistic neural networks (PNNs), has been used to identify the main aroma added to the wine. The results showed that in spite of the strong influence of ethanol and other majority compounds of wine, the system could discriminate correctly the aromatic compounds added to the wine with a minimum accuracy of 97.2%.     

Unsymmetrically substituted furoxans. Part 16 . Reaction of benzenesulfonyl substituted furoxans with ethanol and ethanethiol in basic medium

The use of benzenesulfonyl substituted furoxans as flexible intermediates for the synthesis of new functionalized furoxans interesting for their potential biological properties is discussed. Reaction of benzenesul-fonylphenylsulfonylfuroxan isomers 7a and 7b with ethanol and ethanethiol in basic medium affords the expected ethers and sulphides respectively. Reaction of bis(benzenesulfonyl)furoxan ( 1 ) with ethanol in basic medium gives 3-benzenesulfonyl-4-ethoxyfuroxan ( 2 ) or diethoxyfuroxan (3), according to the experimental procedure. In contrast the reaction of 1 with ethanethiol gives a mixture of substitution compounds and the 4-benzenesulfonyl-3-ethylthiofurazan ( 11 ). The structure of the compounds has been assigned by nmr spectroscopy and, in the case of 3-benzenesulfonyl-4-ethylthiofuroxan ( 9b ), confirmed by X-ray analysis.     

Electrochromic properties of poly(alkoxy-terthiophenes): an experimental and theoretical investigation

Much effort has been made to synthesize novel compounds and enhance the optical properties of poly(terthiophenes). The electrochromic properties of poly(4,4′′-dimetoxy-3′-methyl-2′-5′,2′′-terthiophene) (PDMMT) and poly(4,4′′-dipentoxy-3′-methyl-2′-5′,2′′-terthiophene) (PDPMT) have been studied focusing on the differences in the alkoxy-group length. Theoretical calculations were employed to elucidate the structural and thermodynamic stability of the monomers and dimmers. The results showed that in this type of thiophenes large alkoxy chains assist positive charge dispersion through hyperconjugative effect. Thus, PDPMT is thermodynamically more stable than PDMMT in the oxidized state, leading to better electrochromic stability and optical memory.     

Hydrogel networks of poly(ethylene oxide) star-molecules supported by expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membranes: characterization, biocompatibility evaluation and glucose diffusion characteristics

The present work discusses the grafting by electron beam irradiation of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) star-shaped polymers onto porous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (EXPTFE) surfaces. The resulting materials are intended to combine the good biocompatible properties of PEO with the outstanding mechanical properties of PTFE. The star-shaped PEOs were synthesized via anionic polymerization. 3 Mev electron beam irradiation was applied to graft these PEO stars onto porous EXPTFE surfaces. The hydrophobic EXPTFE surface had to be pre-modified with N-vinylpyrrolidone. ESCA was used to quantify the amount of grafted star-shaped PEO. Unmodified EXPTFE surfaces are well known, when implanted in a body, to be rapidly covered by a layer of cells and fibrin. The EXPTFE coated with PEO were implanted in the peritoneal cavity of rats (or under the back skin). This implantation did not induce any inflammation reactions and SEM analysis had attested the absence of adsorbed cells and fibrin. The glucose diffusion properties of these membranes were studied by a lag time analysis method and compared to those of pure PEO hydrogels. As expected, glucose diffuses through the hydrogel coated membrane and diffusion is not affected by the presence of the EXPTFE membrane.     

Production of18F using a natural water target at the CV-28 cyclotron at IPEN-CNEN/SP

The development of an automated water target for the production of¹⁸F is described. The system was fully fested and shown to be reliable and secure. The chemical separation of¹⁸F was carried out using an anionexchange resin and K₂CO₃ as eluent. The¹⁸F production yields were, on average, (4.81±0.42) MBq/Ah and the specific activity was higher than 6.623×10⁵ MBq/mmol. Heat transfer measurements and calculations were made.