The reaction of glutamic acid and trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid--kinetic study and analytical application

Some kinetic aspects of the reaction of glutamic acid (GLU) and Trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) were studied spectrophotometrically (420 nm), under pseudo-first order reaction conditions. The effect of GLU, TNBS, SO(2-)(3) and H(+) had been investigated. Working curves for the initial rates IR versus [GLU] are linear in the range 7.5-30.0 mM. The regression equation is IR = (8 +/- 8)E - 6 + (39 +/- 0.5).[GLU] and the correlation coefficient r = 0.9998. The limit of quantitation is 1.5 microM GLU and the relative standard deviation of the method 1.2%. The kinetics of the interfering TNBS hydrolysis reaction in alkaline range of pH, as well as the effect of sulfite concentration on the main reaction, are also presented. The analytical application of the reaction for the kinetic spectrophotometric assay of GLU and other amino acids, as well as TNBS, is presented and the relevant advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of nitrite and nitrate by flow-injection analysis

An automatic direct spectrophotometric method for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate by flow-injection analysis has been developed. Nitrite reacts with 3-nitroaniline in the presence of hydrochloric acid (0.96-1.8 M HCl or pH 0.5-0.7) to form a diazonium cation, which is subsequently coupled with N-(1-naphthyl)-ethylenediamine dihydrochloride to form a stable purple azo dye, the absorbance of which is measured at 535 nm. Nitrate is reduced on-line to nitrite in a copper-coated cadmium column which is then treated with azo dye reagent and the absorbance due to the sum of nitrite and nitrate is measured; nitrate is determined from the difference in absorbance values. A copper column incorporated into the reaction manifold before the copperised cadmium column not only improves the long-term accuracy, but also extends the life time of the copperised cadmium column. Various analytical parameters, such as effect of acidity (pH), flow rate, sample size, dispersion coefficient, time, temperature, reagent concentration and interfering species, were studied. The calibration graphs were rectilinear for 0.1-3.5 mug ml(-1) of NO(3) and 10 ng ml(-1)-2.2mug ml(-1) of NO(2). The method is successfully applied to some food samples (meat, flour and cheese), environmental waters (inland and surface), beer and soil samples. Up to 30 samples can be analysed per hour with a relative precision of approximately 0.1-2%.     

Determination of glycerol in alcoholic beverages using packed bed reactors with immobilized glycerol dehydrogenase and an amperometric FIA system

A flow injection analysis system incorporating amperometric detection and enzyme reactor for glycerol determination in alcoholic beverages is described. The reactor is based on the glycerol dehydrogenase system, and the enzyme was immobilized through chemical modification on several supporting materials such as aminopropyl and isothiocyanate controlled pore glass, aminopolystyrene resin and m-aminobenzyloxymethyl cellulose. NADH, the product of the enzymatic reaction, was monitored amperometrically with a three-electrode wall-jet type flow through cell, at + 0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The method was evaluated in the presence or absence of potassium and the following linear dynamic ranges were found: 2 x 10(-5) -2 x 10(-4) mol l(-1) and 4 x 10(-5) -4 x 10(-4) mol l(-1), respectively. The interference effects of various compounds were also studied. The relative standard deviation was found to be better than 1.0% (n = 6). The reactors are stable for over a period of 3 months and after about 2500 injections. Under optimum working conditions the sampling frequency was 30 samples h(-1). The successive application of the method was confirmed by comparison with a reference method. The mean relative error is 2.2% and the recovery 95-102%.     

Kinetic and mechanistic study of the reaction of 2,6-dichlorophenol-indophenol and cysteine

In this work the reaction of cysteine (H(2)Q) with 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (D) is studied kinetically in the pH range 2.5-9.0. Taking into consideration the distribution diagrams for the species H(3)Q(+), H(2)Q, HQ(-), Q(2-) for cysteine and DH(+)(2), DH, D(-) for 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol the reaction rate constants k(i) for all possible combinations of the reacting species were determined. The maximum reactivity appears at pH 6.88 with an overall reaction constant k = 306 1.mole(-1).sec(-1) at 22 degrees . The effect of the concentrations of the reagents and the ionic strength on the reaction rate is also given. From Arrhenius plots an activation energy E(a) = 8.1 kcal/mole was calculated. Working curves for the determination of cysteine in aqueous solutions are also presented applying the reaction rate method. Finally the paper includes important analytical information for the calculation of the errors due to interference of cysteine by the kinetic determination of ascorbic acid, using its reaction with 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol.     

Transform-Limited Pulses Are Not Optimal for Resonant Multiphoton Transitions

Maximizing nonlinear light-matter interactions is a primary motive for compressing laser pulses to achieve ultrashort transform limited pulses. Here we show how, by appropriately shaping the pulses, resonant multiphoton transitions can be enhanced significantly beyond the level achieved by maximizing the pulse's peak intensity. We demonstrate the counterintuitive nature of this effect with an experiment in a resonant two-photon absorption, in which, by selectively removing certain spectral bands, the peak intensity of the pulse is reduced by a factor of 40, yet the absorption rate is doubled. Furthermore, by suitably designing the spectral phase of the pulse, we increase the absorption rate by a factor of 7.