The use of stable isotopes ratios for authentication of fruit juices

The determination of the content of stable isotopes, ¹⁸O and ²H, respectively, in juice water facilitates the distinction between authentic juices and juices made from concentrates by redilution with tap water. At the same time, the detection of C₄ cane or corn-derived sugar syrups in fruit juices which are produced from C₃ fruit types is thus facilitated by the characteristic differences in ¹³C/¹²C, expressed as δ ¹³C (‰) values due to photosynthetic CO₂ assimilation via the C₃₋, C₄₋, and crassulacean acid metabolism pathways. In this study, the quantitative determination of water added to an authentic juice, on the basis of δ ¹⁸O, and δ ²H values, respectively, was successfully performed. Also, the δ ¹⁸O, and δ ²H of juice water and δ ¹³C of the whole juice in 18 samples were also determined. The results obtained provided us with the possibility of distinguishing between authentic fruit juices and those obtained by redilution of concentrated fruit juices and the detection of C⁴ type added sugar.     

Control of organoclay structure in hydrocarbon polymers

Two different kinds of organoclays were prepared by mixing a pristine montmorillonite and a double‐chain ammonium salt in many different thermoplastic or elastomeric polymers. Independently of the chemical nature of the considered polymers, the obtained organoclays presented a basal spacing of 4 or 6 nm, when the mixing occurred in the absence or in the presence of a small amount of stearic acid (SA), respectively. X‐ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared measurements support the hypothesis that these two kinds of organoclays correspond to paraffin‐type tilted and perpendicular bi‐layer intercalates, respectively. The co‐intercalation of SA molecules with the double‐chain amphiphile is suggested, to explain the observed expansion of the clay interlayer distance. The obtained results suggest an easy way to control the organoclay structure in polymer composites. Moreover, the authors on the basis of these results propose a criticism to the extensive literature that systematically explains most d basal spacing increase observed for clays in polymer with the penetration of apolar polymer chains in the clay interlayer space. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

σ‐Alkylpalladium Intermediates in Intramolecular Heck Reactions:Isolation and Catalytic Activity

The isolation of σ‐alkylpalladium Heck intermediates, possible when β‐hydride elimination is inhibited, is a rather rare event. Performing intramolecular Heck reactions on N‐allyl‐2‐halobenzylamines in the presence of [Pd(PPh₃)₄], we isolated and characterized a series of stable bridged palladacycles containing an iodine or bromine atom on the palladium atom. Indolyl substrates were also tested for isolation of the corresponding complexes. X‐ray crystallographic analysis of one of the indolyl derivatives revealed the presence of a five‐membered palladacycle with the metal center bearing a PPh₃ ligand and an iodine atom in a cis position with respect to the nitrogen atom. The stability of the σ‐alkylpalladium complexes is probably a consequence of the strong constraint resulting from the bridged junction that hampers the cisoid conformation essential for β‐hydride elimination. Subsequently, the thus obtained bridged five‐membered palladacycles were proven to be effective precatalysts in Heck reactions as well as in cross‐coupling processes such as Suzuki and Stille reactions.     

A Flexible Pro‐porous Coordination Polymer: Non‐conventional Synthesis and Separation Properties Towards CO2/CH4 Mixtures

The novel coordination polymers [Cu(Hoxonic)(H₂O)]_n ( 1 ) and [Cu(Hoxonic)(bpy)_0.5]_n ? 1.5 n H₂O ( 2?H₂O ) (H₃oxonic: 4,6‐dihydroxy‐1,3,5‐triazine‐2‐carboxylic acid; bpy: 4,4′‐bipyridine) have been isolated and structurally characterised by ab initio X‐ray powder diffraction. The dense phase 1 contains 1D zig‐zag chains in which Hoxonic dianions bridge square‐pyramidal copper(II) ions, apically coordinated by water molecules. On the contrary, 2?H₂O , prepared by solution and solventless methods, is based on 2D layers of octahedral copper(II) ions bridged by Hoxonic ligands, further pillared by bpy spacers. The resulting pro‐porous 3D network possesses small hydrated cavities. The reactivity, thermal, magnetic and adsorptive properties of these materials have been investigated. Notably, the adsorption studies on 2 show that this material possesses unusual adsorption behaviour. Indeed, guest uptake is facilitated by increasing the thermal energy of both the guest and the framework. Thus, neither N₂ at 77 K nor CO₂ at 195 K are incorporated, and CH₄ is only minimally adsorbed at 273 K and high pressures (0.5 mmol g^?1 at 2500 kPa). By contrast, CO₂ is readily incorporated at 273 K (up to 2.5 mmol g^?1 at 2500 kPa). The selectivity of 2 towards CO₂ over CH₄ has been investigated by means of variable‐temperature zero coverage adsorption experiments and measurement of breakthrough curves of CO₂/CH₄ mixtures. The results show the highly selective incorporation of CO₂ in 2 , which can be rationalised on the basis of the framework flexibility and polar nature of its voids.     

Reversible coordinative chain transfer polymerization of styrene by rare earth borohydrides,chlorides/dialkylmagnesium systems

The ability of various rare earth borohydride and chloride complexes/n‐butylethylmagnesium systems to operate styrene chain transfer polymerization in mild conditions has been assessed. Thirteen precatalysts have been considered: the rare earth trisborohydrides Ln(BH₄)₃(THF)_x (x = 3, Ln = Nd (1), La (2), Sm (3), x = 2, Ln = Y (4), Sc (5)), the rare earth chlorides LnCl₃(THF)_x (x = 3, Ln = Nd (6), La (7), Sm (8), Y (9), x = 2, Ln = Sc (10)), the mixed La(BH₄)₂Cl(THF)_2.6 (11) and the half‐lanthanidocenes Cp*Ln(BH₄)₂(THF)₂ (Ln = Nd (12), La (13)). Six systems were found to be active precatalysts for the polymerization of styrene. 1 , 2 , and 11 led to an efficient transmetalation of the growing polystyrene chain with the simultaneous occurrence of βH elimination, whereas 7 , 12 , and 13 led to catalyzed chain growth behavior. It is noteworthy that the catalyzed chain growth obtained with 12 and 13 occurs with significant stereoselectivity. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 802–814, 2010     

Halo-carbonyl complexes of palladium,platinum and gold

In this review we summarize some recent literature data concerning synthetic procedures, properties, structure, reactivity and applications of halo-carbonyl complexes of palladium, platinum and gold, taking into consideration that the organometallic chemistry of these metals, with a particular attention to the halo-carbonyls, has been reviewed 20 years ago [F. Calderazzo, J. Organomet. Chem. 400 (1990) 303]. A brief overview of the early studies is provided.     

Chirality in the Absence of Rigid Stereogenic Elements: The Absolute Configuration of Residual Enantiomers of C3‐Symmetric Propellers

Two new tris(aryl)phosphane oxides existing as configurationally stable residual enantiomers have been synthesised and their racemates resolved by semipreparative HPLC on a chiral stationary phase (CSP HPLC). One of them, recognised as a conglomerate, could be resolved by fractional crystallisation at a preparative scale level. In this case, the absolute configuration of the propeller‐shaped molecule was determined by anomalous X‐ray scattering. The problem of the correlative assignment of the absolute configuration to all known C₃‐symmetric three‐bladed propeller‐shaped molecules existing as stable residual enantiomers is discussed. The configurational stability of the new chiral phosphane oxides and of the corresponding phosphanes was evaluated by CD signal decay kinetics and dynamic ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The racemisation barriers in phosphanes were found about 10 kcal mol^?1 lower than those found for the corresponding oxides, though geometry and inter‐ring gearing would be very similar in the two series. Configurational stability of residual tris(aryl)phosphanes was found to be influenced by the electronic availability of the phosphorus centre, as evaluated by electrochemical CV experiments.     

Carbon and diamond paste microelectrodes based on Mn(III) porphyrins for the determination of dopamine

Three Mn(III) porphyrins were used for the design of carbon paste and diamond paste based microelectrodes, which were employed for the determination of dopamine in pharmaceutical and biological samples using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The limits of detection lie between 1.6 × 10⁻¹³ and 2.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹ while the sensitivities were between 230 pA μmol L⁻¹ and 3.24 μA mol L⁻¹. Dopamine was recovered reliable from pharmaceutical and biological samples in percentages higher than 91.00% and 92.00%, respectively. The surface of the microelectrodes can easily be renewed by simple polishing, obtaining a fresh surface ready for use in a new assay.     

Characterization of the complexing agents’ influence on bioscouring cotton fabrics by FT-IR and TG/DTG/DTA analysis

The nature of the complexing agents used in the bioscouring process of cotton fabrics aiming to eliminate the non-cellulosic compounds (pectin, waxes, etc.) and to improve the hydrophilic and wetting properties influences the thermal behaviour and the FT-IR spectra of the textile materials. In this paper, we study the influence of the experimental conditions and complexing agent nature (sodium citrate or disodium EDTA salt) on the pectin elimination in bioscouring treatment of cotton fabric by FT-IR and TG/DTG/DTA analysis. The changes from FT-IR spectra of the specific bands (absorbance intensity at 2916, 2852, 1732 and 1640/1642 cm^?1) were evaluated. The thermal behaviour of the investigated samples’ fabric by using TG/DTG/DTA analysis was studied at 30–600 °C temperature range, in air atmosphere. All samples showed three mass-loss steps due to the elimination of humidity, decomposition of the non-cellulosic and cellulosic components (main degradation stage of the samples) and thermo-oxidative decomposition of the formed degradation products. The T_onset values corresponding to the main decomposition step, the mass-loss values (%Δm) and the % residual mass (at 600 °C) were influenced by the complexing agent nature as well as the concentration and the action time of the commercial enzyme product. In addition, the calcium content of some samples treated with and without ultrasound was determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy method (AAS) in order to correlate the results with TG/DTG/DTA analysis. The obtained results have shown that the synergistic action of experimental conditions (enzyme concentration, pH, enzyme product action time, ultrasound) and the presence of sodium citrate as a biodegradable complexing agent led to the elimination of a higher amount of pectin from the cotton samples than that eliminated when using EDTA.     

Apparent dissociation constants of polycarboxylic acids in presence of polycations

The dissociation behaviour of poly(acrylic acid) and poly(ethylene-alt-maleic acid) has been investigated by both classical potentiometric titration and colloid titration as an alternative way. In the case of colloid titration, the monovalent counterions are assumed to be replaced by the oppositely charged polycation in the course of titration, so that the total concentration of anionic groups of the polycarboxylic acid is determined. As a consequence the apparent dissociation constants determined by polyelectrolyte complex formation do not depend on the degree of dissociation. In contrast to this finding, potentiometric titration is known to result in apparent dissociation constants which decrease with increasing degree of dissociation. The release of protons from the acid groups of the polycarboxylic acids is promoted by the complex formation with the strong cationic polyelectrolyte.