In situ prepared polypyrrole for low humidity QCM sensor and related theoretical calculation

In situ preparation of polypyrrole (Ppy) by photo-polymerization coated on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as a low humidity sensor was reported. Different concentrations of Ppy films say 0 wt.% (as blank), 0.1, 1, and 10 wt.% were investigated to measure humidity concentrations between 14.7 and 5412.5 ppm_v. The adsorption/desorption behavior was also examined at humidity concentration 510.2 ppm_v. The sensitivities of 0, 0.1 and 1 wt.% Ppy films at 51.5 ppm_v were 0.143, 0.219 and 0.427, respectively. For 1 wt.% Ppy, the highest sensitivity was obtained. The slope and correlation coefficients (R²) for 1 wt.% Ppy at the ranges of 14.7–898.6 ppm_v were 0.0646 and 0.9909, respectively. A series of molecular simulations have been carried out to calculate bond energy for the water molecule interaction with Ppy, which was found to be 3 kcal/mol indicating the existence of hydrogen bonding during the sorption process. Based on Langmuir isotherm adsorption assumption, for 0.1 and 1 wt.% Ppy films, the association constants were 2606.30 and 5792.98, respectively. This larger association constant for 1 wt.% Ppy film explains higher sensitivity.     

Examination of the different procedural steps in the determination of organotin compounds in water samples

Previous animal experiments suggested that the Magos cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopic (CVAAS) method might overestimate the concentrations of inorganic mercury (I-Hg) in the presence of methylmercury (MeHg). In the present study it is shown that this error is due to a fast degradation of MeHg during the formation of the analytical signal. For brain samples, about 5% of the total amount of MeHg in the reaction vessel is degraded to I-Hg. Speciation of Hg in aqueous solution of MeHg chloride, after purification with ionexchange chromatography using the Magos method, showed that about 9% was I-Hg. Analysis by NMR of MeHg chloride and MeHg hydroxide showed that less than 1% was in the form of I-Hg. The absolute magnitude of the error in the CVAAS method is dependent on the amounts of SnCl₂ and MeHg in the reaction vessel; however, the ratio of I-Hg to total (T-Hg) is shown to be independent of the amount of MeHg (25.5–255 ng as Hg) in the reaction vessel. A procedure for corrections is proposed, based on the results from these studies and empirical data from speciation analyses of brain tissue from MeHg-exposed rats and rabbits.     

A pre-irradiation separation procedure based on ion-exchange chromatography for gallium determination in biological and environmental materials by neutron activation analysis

A pre-irradiation separation procedure, for gallium determination in biological and environmental materials by neutron activation analysis (NAA) is reported. The proposed method, based on ion-exchange chromatography, allows to eliminate the radiation risk, while taking the advantages of high sensitivity of NAA. The single comparator method is employed for gallium quantitative evaluation. Since no standard reference materials with certified gallium contents were available, the reliability of the proposed method was extensively investigated by various approaches. Four biological and one environmental standard reference materials, with gallium contents ranging from 54 g/g-3 ng/g, have been analyzed.     

An improved scheme for the identification of antigens recognized by specific antibodies in two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting

This paper describes an improved scheme for the identification of antigens in crude extracts recognized by specific antibodies when analyzed by a combination of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. First, protein components in gels are electrophoretically transferred to a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane which does not shrink or change dimensions in organic solvents. The efficiency of transfer and the localization of sample proteins on the membrane are checked and recorded by staining the blotting membrane with Fast Green FCF and recording the profile on a transparency. After blocking and the immunoassay, the results are recorded by photography. The sites of immune reaction are marked and the same membrane is restained briefly with Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 for the protein profile. Thus antigens in complex mixtures, recognized by antibodies of interest, can easily be identified from the restained membrane. If the whole protein profile is not well demonstrated, when used in combination with the profile recorded on the transparency, spots appearing on the restained membrane can still be used as useful landmarks in the final unequivocal antigenic identification. This improved scheme circumvents problems arising from membrane shrinkage and difficulties in accurately matching immunoreactive spots by conventional procedures and thus provides an accurate, simple and fast approach in the identification of antigens after immunoblotting.     

Novel shape descriptors for molecular graphs.

We report on novel graph theoretical indices which are sensitive to the shapes of molecular graphs. In contrast to the Kier's kappa shape indices which were based on a comparison of a molecular graph with graphs representing the extreme shapes, the linear graph and the "star" graph, the new shape indices are obtained by considering for all atoms the number of paths and the number of walks within a graph and then making the quotients of the number of paths and the number of walks the same length. The new shape indices show much higher discrimination among isomers when compared to the kappa shape indices. We report the new shape indices for smaller alkanes and several cyclic structures and illustrate their use in structure-property correlations. The new indices offer regressions of high quality for diverse physicochemical properties of octanes. They also have lead to a novel classification of physicochemical properties of alkanes.     

Determination of platinum-group metals and lead in vegetable environmental bio-monitors by voltammetric and spectroscopic techniques: critical comparison

This paper reports voltammetric sequential determination of Pt(II), Pd(II), and Rh(III), by square-wave adsorption stripping voltammetry (SWAdSV), and Pb(II), by square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV), in vegetable environmental matrices. Analytical procedures were verified by the analysis of the standard reference materials: Olive Leaves BCR-CRM 062 and Tomato Leaves NIST-SRM 1573a. Precision and accuracy, expressed as relative standard deviation and relative error, respectively, were always less than 6% and the limits of detection (LOD) for each element were below 0.096 g g^–1. Once set up on the standard reference materials, the analytical procedure was transferred and applied to laurel leaves sampled in proximity to a superhighway and in the Po river mouth area. A critical comparison with spectroscopic measurements is discussed.     

Characterization of humic substances: Implications for trihalomethane formation

Humic substances are precursors of carcinogenic trihalomethanes (THMs) formed during disinfection by chlorination in water treatment processes. In an effort to understand the relationship between trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) and physicochemical properties of humic substances, UV-visible absorbance, fluorescence in emission and synchronous scan modes, and NMR spectra were measured for several aquatic fulvic and humic acids. For comparison, a soil fulvic acid was also examined using these methods. The feasibility of the gradient modified spin-echo (GOSE) NMR experiment to selectively measure singlet resonances arising from isolated protons was examined. In addition, diffusion coefficients were measured for DMSO solutions of the fulvic acids using BPPLED and GOSE-edited pulse sequences. Although none of the methods tested produced results that correlated with THMFP, the GOSE intensities determined for different regions of the NMR spectra did reflect the relative abundance of different types of functional groups produced by lignin oxidation. In addition, the GOSE-edited diffusion results suggest that the isolated protons, those most reactive to chlorination, are more likely contained in the larger molecular weight fractions of fulvic acids.     

Chemistry of O-Benzoquinones and Masked O-Benzoquinones IV. Synthesis of O-Spirodienonelactones from Unsymmetric Catechols

We describe the syntheses of 6, 8-di-tert-butyl-, 7, 9-di-tert-butyl., 6,7-di-n-propyl and 8, 9-di-n-propyl-O-spirodienonelactone from 3, 5-di-tert-butylcatechol and 3, 4-di-n-propylcatechol.     

气相二茂铁双电荷离子的动能谱研究

The unimolecular charge separation reactions of the doubly charged ions FeC_(10)H_(10)~(2+)、FeC_(10)H_9~(2+)、FeC_(10)H_8~(2+) produced in the ion source by electron impact from ferrocene have been studied using Mass analyzed Ion Kinetic Energy Spectrometry (MIKES) technique. From the values of the kinetic energy releases (T), the intercharge distances (R) of the exploding doubly charged ions in their transition structures have been estimated and some structural informations about the transition states can be obtained. The collision induced reactions of the FeC_(10)H_(10)~(2+) ion with Ar have been studied using MIKES, we postulate a new type of continuing reaction which may be "collisional charge separation induced dissociation".     

Reactivity of 2-halo-2H-azirines. 1. Reactions with nucleophiles.

Nucleophilic substitution reactions of 2-halo-2H-azirines 1a, 1b, 1d, and 1e with potassium phthalimide and aniline allowed the preparation of new substituted 2H-azirines 2-5. The reactions of 2-bromo-2H-azirine 1a with methylamine led to the synthesis of alpha-diimines 7 and 8. 2-Halo-2H-azirines were also established as building blocks for the synthesis of a range of heterocyclic compounds, namely, quinoxalines 10a-10d, 3-oxazoline 14, and 2H-[1,4]oxazines 18 and 20. X-ray crystal structures of alpha-diimine 7, 3-oxazoline 14, and 2H-[1,4]oxazine 18 are reported.