A gravimetric method for the determination of oxygen in uranium oxides and ternary uranium oxides by addition of alkaline earth compounds

A simple gravimetric determination of oxygen in uranium oxides and ternary uranium oxides is described. In alkaline earth uranates which are formed by heating in air at 800–1100°C, uranium is in the hexavalent state over certain continuous ranges of alkaline earth-to-uranium ratios. Thus, if an alkaline earth uranate or a compound containing an alkaline earth element, e.g. MgO, is mixed with the oxide sample and heated in air under suitable conditions, oxygen can be determined from the weight change before and after the reaction. The standard deviation of the O:U ratio for a UO_2+x test sample is ±0.0008–0.001, if a correction is applied for atmospheric moisture absorbed during mixing.     

Extraction and spectrophotometric determination of zinc in coal fly ash and pond sediments with 2-[2-(3,5-dibromopyridyl)azo]-5-dimethylaminobenzoic acid

An extraction-spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of traces of zinc with 2-[2-(3,5-dibromopyridyl)azo]-5-dimethylaminobenzoic acid. The reagent forms a stable, blue 1:2 zinc/reagent complex that can be extracted into chloroform. The apparent molar absorptivity of the zinc(II) complex is 1.26 × 10⁵ l mol^?1 cm^?1 at 610 nm in chloroform. The reagent is relatively selective; interferences from cobalt, copper and nickel can be masked with dimethylglyoxime and aluminium and iron with a mixture of sodium fluoride and triethanolamine. The method is applied to the determination of zinc in coal fly ash and pond sediments with good precision and accuracy.     

Polymerization of tetrahydrofuran by AlEt3–H2O promoter system: Rate of propagation reaction

Kinetic studies were carried out on the polymerization of tetrahydrofuran with catalyst systems of aluminum alkyl–epichlorohydrin. As aluminium alkyl species AlEt₃, AlEt₃–H₂O (1:0.1 to 1:1.0), and “oxyaluminum ethyl” were employed. The polymerizations with these catalysts are characterized by a mechanism of stepwise addition without chain transfer or termination, which is expressed by the kinetic relation R_p = K_p[P*] ([M]–[M]_e), where [M] and [M]_e are the instantaneous and equilibrium concentrations of monomer and [P*] is the concentration of propagating species calculated from the amount and molecular weight of the product polymer. The determination of the rate constant k_p for these catalysts has shown that the polymerization rate varied considerably with the change of aluminum alkyl species, i.e., with the water-to-aluminum ratio, but the propagation rate constant itself varied very little. The variation of polymerization rate was, therefore, attributed primarily to the differences in concentration of the propagating species, i.e. the efficiency of the catalyst in forming propagating species. The catalyst efficiency was closely related to the acid strength of the aluminum alkyl species, which was estimated from the magnitude of shift of the xanthone carbonyl band in the infrared spectrum of its coordination complex with aluminum alkyl. The maximal catalyst efficiency was attained at about [H₂O]/[AlEt₃] = 0.75.     

A potentiometric microbial sensor based on immobilized escherichia coli for glutamic acid

The sensor consists of immobilized E. coli (which contains glutamate decarboxylase) and a carbon dioxide gas-sensor. Continuous introduction of sample solution into a flow system incorporating the sensor gives a potential which increases until a steady state is reached after 5 min. Measurements can also be made with only a 1- or 3-min introduction period with little loss of sensitivity. Calibration plots of mV measurements vs. logarithmic glutamic acid concentration are linear in the range 100–800 mg l^-1. The sensor is highly selective, stable and reproducible. It has been applied to the determination of glutamic acid in fermentation broths.     

The crystal structures of α- and β-CdUO4

The structural parameters of α- and β-CdUO₄ crystals are determined by X-ray powder diffraction technique. α-CdUO₄ is rhombohedral and cell parameters are a = 6.233(3) Å and α = 36.12(5)°. β-CdUO₄ crystallizes in a C-centered orthorhombic cell with a = 7.023(4), b = 6.849(3), c = 3.514 (2) Å. The space groups are $\text{R}\text{3}\text{m}$ for α-CdUO₄ and Cmmm for β-CdUO₄. α-CdUO₄: 1U in (000), 1Cd in ($\text{1}\text{2}\text{1}\text{2}\text{1}\text{2}$), 2O(1) in ±(uuu), 2O(2) in ±(vvv); u = 0.113, v = 0.350, Z = 1. β-CdUO₄: 2U in ($\text{000;}\text{1}\text{2}\text{1}\text{2}\text{0}$), 2Cd in ($\text{1}\text{2}\text{0}\text{1}\text{2}\text{; 0}\text{1}\text{2}\text{,}\text{1}\text{2}$), 4O(1) in ($\text{0, ±y, 0;}\text{1}\text{2}\text{,}\text{1}\text{2}\text{±y, 0}$), 4O(2) in ($\text{±x, 0,}\text{1}\text{2}\text{;}\text{1}\text{2}\text{±x,}\text{1}\text{2}\text{,}\text{1}\text{2}$); x = 0.159, y = 0.278, Z = 2. β-CdUO₄ contains collinear uranyl UO²⁺₂ groups with a UO(1) distance of 1.91 Å, located either along or parallel to the c axis whereas the UO(1) bond length in α-CdUO₄ is 1.98 Å which is longer than the usual uranyl bond length.     

Studies on monobactams II. Synthesis and β-lactamase inhibitory activity of 4α-methyl-3-[(thien-2-yl)-methylene]-2-azetidinone-1-sulfonate

Two monobactam derivatives, potassium 4-methyl-(3E)-[(thien-2-yl)methylene]-2-azetidinone-1-sulfonate and its (3Z)-isomer, were prepared and evaluated for their -lactamase inhibitory activities. These compounds were devoid of -lactamase inhibitory activity.SynPhar Laboratories Inc., #2, 4290-91A Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6E 5V2, Canada. Tokushima Research Institute, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., 224-2 Ebisuno Hiraishi, Kawauchi-cho, Tokushima 771-01, Japan. Published in Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 11, pp. 1548–1552, November, 1998.     

Catalytic asymmetric desymmetrization of cyclic meso-1,3- and 1,4-diols by a phosphinite derivative of quinidine

Asymmetric monobenzoylation reactions of cyclic meso-1,3- and 1,4-diols were catalyzed by a phosphinite derivative of quinidine to afford the corresponding monobenzoylated diol with good yield and enantioselectivity. [reaction: see text]     

Stereoselective synthesis of (Z)-fluoroalkenes directed to peptide isosteres: copper mediated reaction of trialkylaluminum with 4,4-difluoro-5-hydroxyallylic alcohol derivatives

Copper mediated alkyl-transfer reaction of trialkylaluminum (R₃Al) with (E)-4,4-difluoro-5-hydroxyallylic alcohol derivative smoothly proceeded to give the corresponding 2-alkylated 4-fluoro-5-hydroxyhomoallylic alcohol derivative with completely Z and 2,5-syn selective manner. Regio- and stereoselective conversion of the C5-hydroxyl group of the fluoroolefin thus obtained to amino group could be achieved through one-pot mesylation and azidation reaction.     

Three-dimensional imaging of YB56 by high-resolution electron microscopy

The three-dimensional potential map of YB56 was obtained by inverse Fourier transformation of three-dimensional phases and amplitudes in three high-resolution images taken along the [100], [110] and [111] directions of YB56 crystals; the size of the imaging region was 14 nm x 14 nm x approximately 4 nm, and the image directly showed the three-dimensional potential map of the crystal, a useful method for three-dimensional structure analysis in nanoscale regions.