Determination of copper in medicinal plants used as dietary supplements by atomic absorption spectrometry with direct flame solid analysis

An alternative device for the direct solid analysis (DSA) for copper determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) is proposed. Copper was directly determined in commercial medicinal plants used as dietary supplements. The determination of copper in solid samples by DSA–FAAS was made by using a conventional air–acetylene flame. Between 0.05 and 1.5 mg of each test, sample was weighed directly into a small polyethylene vial connected to the device used for solid introduction into the flame. Test samples were introduced into the flame as a dry aerosol using a T-quartz cell set between the burner and the optical path. The T-quartz cell has a slit in the superior part by which the solid aerosol passes to the flame. A transient signal, evaluated as integrated absorbance, is produced and it is totally integrated in 2 s. Background signals always presented absorbance values less than 0.1. It was found a characteristic mass of 0.8 ng Cu and absolute limit of detection of 1.2 ng (3 s), or 1.2 μg g⁻¹ if a sample mass of 1 mg was used. Optimized conditions for air flow rate, flame stoichiometry, and so on were established as well. No excessive grinding of the samples was needed and samples with particle of size less than 80 μm were used throughout. No statistical difference between the results from the proposed system and those obtained by sample digestion and determination by conventional FAAS was observed. With the proposed procedure, more than 50 test samples can be analyzed in 1 h and it can be easily adapted to conventional spectrometers for FAAS.     

预处理条件对Zn/Al-CLM的丙烷芳构化性能的影响

在脉冲微反装置上考察了不同的预处理条件对Zn/Al-CLM催化剂的丙烷芳构化反应的影响。结果表明，丙烷在Zn/Al-CLM催化剂上具有一定的的反应活性和芳烃选择性，而且芳构化主要转化为苯；载体Al-CLM的焙烧温度、金属锌负载量、活化温度等对Zn/Al-CLM催化剂的丙烷芳构化性能具有重要影响。载体经500℃预焙烧制备的Zn/Al-CLM催化剂具有最好的柱结构保留度，从而表现出最佳的芳构化性能；随着锌含量的增加，Zn/Al-CLM催化剂的酸量增大，从而使丙烷转化率增大，而选择性则是锌含量质量分数为5．8％时具有极大值；400℃活化处理可使Zn与Al-CLM之间具有适中的相互作用，从而使得Zn/Al-CLM具有较高的芳烃收率。     

Chemical synthesis and firefly luciferase produced dehydroluciferyl-coenzyme A

Dehydroluciferyl-coenzyme A (L-CoA) was chemically synthesized and characterized by MS, UV-vis spectrometry and RP-HPLC. The identity of the chemically synthesized compound with the one that was produced by firefly luciferase was confirmed. Moreover, the reversibility of the enzymatic conversion of dehydroluciferin ? dehydroluciferyl-adenylate ? L-CoA was also confirmed. The chemical synthesis of L-CoA, described here, may help the clarification of the activator effect of CoA on luciferase bioluminescent assays, in which the enzyme catalyzed formation of L-CoA and the consequent destruction of L-AMP is one of the possible explanations for that effect.     

Dynamics and energetics of the self-assembly of a hydrophobically modified polyelectrolyte: Naphthalene-labeled poly(acrylic acid)

Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies were performed on aqueous solutions of poly(acrylic acid) hydrophobically modified with two very different levels of naphthalene (Np). It is demonstrated that unique information on association phenomena involving hydrophobe-modifed polymers can be obtained from an extended fluorescence study by using data for a less-modified polymer as a reference. For the more highly modified polymer, the presence of excited-state (as well as ground-state) dimers in addition to monomer emission due to locally excited naphthalene gives evidence for hydrophobic association between naphthalene groups. This association becomes, as expected, much less important at higher pH due to the electrostatic repulsion between different chain segments. However, it is noted that even at high pH there is a significant self-association. The coexistence of static and dynamic quenching phenomena of the Np monomer label was also revealed in the time-resolved fluorescence data. The data are compatible with the existence of two types of monomers and one excimer and suggest that the essential contribution to the monomer emission comes from isolated chromophores, whereas excimer formation arises from both a dynamic route (excited Np chromophores able to produce a dynamic excimer) and a static route (excitation of ground-state Np dimers). At room temperature, the dissociative reaction, excimer-to-monomer, can be neglected, and thus the rate constant for excimer formation and decay could be obtained with and without considering the influence of preformed dimers. Temperature has shown to induce different behavior in the polymer photophysics. In the case of the less-labeled polymer, the decays were found to be single-exponential with the fluorescence lifetime decreasing with increasing temperature. From the temperature dependence of the steady-state fluorescence data, the activation energy for excimer formation and the binding energy of the excimer were evaluated at different pH values, through the Stevens-Ban-type plots of the excimer-to-monomer intensity ratio. With the time-resolved data, measured in the temperature range of 5-60 degrees C, it was possible to extract the intrinsic activation energies for excimer formation. The thermodynamic driving force for the intrapolymeric association was found to be dependent on a balance between hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, which are dependent on the pH, temperature, and hydrophobic content of the polymer.     

Derivatives of carbohydrazide,thiocarbohydrazide and diaminoguanidine as photometric analytical reagents. III

Summary An absorption method for the collection of acid and condensable volcanic gases is described. A Cd(OH)₂ suspension allows the simultaneous sampling of sulfide and sulfur dioxide. A complete scheme for chemical analysis of H₂O, CO₂, H₂S, SO₂, HCl and HF is presented.The method is relatively simple and accurate and requires only simple equipment. Moreover, separate samples of the condensable part of the volcanic gas may be used for analysis of trace elements.

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Probenahme und Analyse vulkanischer Gase

Zusammenfassung Eine Absorptionsmethode zur Probenahme saurer und kondensierbarer Vulkangase wurde beschrieben. Eine Cd(OH)₂-Suspension ermöglicht die gleichzeitige Probenahme von H₂S und SO₂. Ein Analysenschema für die chemische Analyse von H₂O, CO₂, H₂S, SO₂, HCl und HF wurde angegeben. Das Verfahren ist relativ einfach und genau; es erfordert nur eine einfache Ausrüstung. Proben des kondensierbaren Anteils der Gase dienen zur Bestimmung der Spurenanteile.

     

Lanthanide nitrate complexes with 2-azacyclononanone

Thermal behavior of rare earth nitrate complexes with 2-azacyclononanone (AZA) with Ln(NO₃)₃·3(AZA) composition (where Ln=Gd, Er and Ho) was analyzed in kinetic point of view. Kinetic parameters were calculated from thermogravimetric data. All obtained results were similar. The first decomposition step was representative to the loss of ligand and the residue was essentially Ln₂O₃. Furthermore, a reaction path was proposed for the thermal decomposition of the Ln(NO₃)₃·3(AZA).     

Characterization of cocoa butters and other vegetable fats by pyrolysis-mass spectrometry

Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry (Py-MS) was used for the discrimination of cocoa butters from other vegetable fats. Mass spectra ranging from 50 amu to 250 amu were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and with neural nets. The application of neural nets leads to a good discrimination between the two classes. Detailed analysis of the nets revealed that only the first 60 masses were used within the net. The use of PCA requires a careful selection of the number of masses included in the calculation. Canonical variance analysis was applied to determine the significant masses. Optimal performance of PCA was observed only using the first 22 significant masses. Most of these masses were different from the ones used by the neural net. It seems that the mass spectra obtained by Py-MS contain sufficient information for the discrimination of pure cocoa butter from other vegetable fats, but none of the methods seems to be able to extract all information available. Neural net provides a very robust method for this task and no prior data selection was necessary. Received: 13 May 1996 / Revised: 7 August 1996 / Accepted: 7 August 1996     

Thermodynamic properties of quinoxaline-1,4-dioxide derivatives: a combined experimental and computational study

The mean (N-O) bond dissociation enthalpies were derived for three 2-methyl-3-(R)-quinoxaline 1,4-dioxide (1) derivatives, with R = methyl (1a), ethoxycarbonyl (1b), and benzyl (1c). The standard molar enthalpies of formation in the gaseous state at T = 298.15 K for the three 1 derivatives were determined from the enthalpies of combustion of the crystalline solids and their enthalpies of sublimation. In parallel, accurate density functional theory-based calculations were carried out in order to estimate the gas-phase enthalpies of formation for the corresponding quinoxaline derivatives. Also, theoretical calculations were used to obtain the first and second N-O dissociation enthalpies. These dissociation enthalpies are in excellent agreement with the experimental results herewith reported.     

Integrated production of ethanol fuel and protein from Coastal Bermudagrass

The herbaceous crops that may provide fermentable carbohydrates for production of fuels and chemicals also contain 10–20% protein. Protein coproduction with biomass-derived fuels and chemicals has important advantages: (1) food and fuel production can be integrated, and (2) protein is a high-value product that may significantly improve overall process economics. We report the results of an integrated approach to producing protein and fermentable sugars from one herbaceous species, Coastal Bermudagrass (CBG). The ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX) process makes possible over 90% conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose to simple sugars (about 650 mg reducing sugars/g dry CBG) at 5 IU cellulase/g vs < 20% conversion for untreated CBG. The AFEX treatment also improves protein extraction from CBG; over 80% protein recovery is possible from AFEX-treated CBG vs about 30% recovery from untreated CBG.     

Copper corrosion in buffered and non-buffered synthetic seawater: a comparative study

The electrochemical behaviour of copper in neutral buffered and non-buffered synthetic seawater and in pure chloride solutions has been studied by cyclic voltammetry, weight loss measurements, open circuit potential and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Values of the repassivation potentials of Cu in non-buffered and buffered synthetic seawater, at 50 mV s^–1, were 0.12 and 0.46 V vs. SCE, respectively. The sharpness, heights and location of the different peaks as well as their charges were shown to be influenced by the composition of the solution, buffering conditions, deoxygenation, polarization potential and time. High chloride concentrations lead to higher oxidation charges. The anodic and the cathodic charges were shown to increase as the chloride concentration increases. The open circuit potential transients of copper in non-deoxygenated, non-buffered synthetic seawater indicate pitting from the beginning of the exposure, while in buffered solutions the pitting appeared only after a quite long exposure period, i.e. after 40 days. Corrosion rates of Cu samples after 3 months of immersion were higher in solutions of pure chloride (0.5 M) than in synthetic seawater. After six months the differences were even more noticeable. SEM images have showed a somewhat higher density of pits on copper samples immersed in the chloride solution (0.5 M), in comparison with those in synthetic seawater.