Electrochemical technique for the determination of fractal dimension of dental surfaces

Fractal dimension of a carious tooth surface was determined using an electrochemical method. The method was based on time-dependent diffusion towards electrode surfaces, which is one of the most useful and reliable methods for the determination of fractal dimension of electrode surfaces. For this purpose, the tooth was covered with a gold layer, which acted as an electrode in electrochemical experiments. It is suggested that the fractal dimension can be used as a quantitative measure of the state of dental surfaces. The method presented demonstrates the power of electrochemical techniques for the determination of fractal dimension of surface of non-conducting objects.     

Liquid-liquid-liquid phase microextraction of aromatic amines in water using crown ethers by high-performance liquid chromatography with monolithic column

Liquid-liquid-liquid phase microextraction (LLLME) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the analysis of some aromatic amines is described. These compounds were extracted from 4.0 mL aqueous sample that adjusted to pH 13 with, NaOH-NaCl buffer solution (donor phase, P₁) into an organic phase (P₂) 150 μl benzyl alcohol and ethyl acetate (2:1) and then back extracted into a microdrop of aqueous acceptor phase (P₃), adjusted at pH 2, with Na₂HPO₄-H₃PO₄ buffer solution. The extraction time, T₁ (from P₁ to P₂) was 20 min and T₂ (from P₂ to P₃) was 1 min. Different crown ethers as complexing agents for amines were added to the acceptor phase to improve the extraction time. Factors such as organic solvents, extraction times, and addition of crown ethers to acceptor phase and stirring rate were optimised. The method was applied for determination of aromatic amines in wastewater samples. Enrichment factors ranged from 184.5 to 389.7. The linearity range was from 3 to 1000 ng/ml and the detection limits varied from 0.8 to 1.80 ng/ml. Relative standard deviations (%, n = 5) were found (at S/N 3) in the range of 1.9 to 10.1. All experiments were carried out at room temperature, 22 ± 0.5 °C.     

Simultaneous Determination of Iron,Copper, and Cadmium by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry in the Presence of Thymolphthalexone

A novel, sensitive and selective adsorptive stripping procedure for simultaneous determination of iron, copper and cadmium is presented. The method is based on the adsorptive accumulation of thymolphthalexone (TPN) complexes of these elements onto a hanging mercury drop electrode, followed by reduction of adsorbed species by voltammetric scan using differential pulse modulation. The influences of control variables on the sensitivity of the proposed method for the simultaneous determination of iron, copper and cadmium were studied using the Derringer desirability function. The optimum analytical conditions were found to be TPN concentration of 2.0 μM, pH of 9.5, and accumulation potential at ?0.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl with an accumulation time of 60 s. The peak currents are proportional to the concentration of iron, copper and cadmium over the 1–80, 0.5–100 and 1–100 ng mL^?1 ranges with detection limits of 0.5, 0.4 and 0.9 ng mL^?1_, respectively. The R.S.D. at a concentration level of 20 ng mL^?1 of iron, copper and cadmium were 2.5%, 0.9% and 1.5% (n=6), respectively. The procedure was applied to the simultaneous determination of iron, copper and cadmium in the tap water and some synthetic samples with satisfactory results.     

Azocalixarenes. 6: Synthesis, complexation, extraction and thermal behaviour of four new azocalix[4]arenes

Four new azocalix[4]arenes {5,11,17,23-tetrakis[(2-hydroxy-5-tert-butylphenylazo)]-25,26,27,28-tetrahydroxycalix[4]arene (1), 5,11,17,23-tetrakis[(2-hydroxy-5-nitro phenylazo)]-25,26,27,28-tetrahydroxycalix[4]arene (2), 5,11,17,23-tetrakis[(2-amino-5-carboxylphenylazo)]-25,26,27,28-tetrahydroxycalix[4]arene (3) and 5,11,17,23-tetrakis[(1-amino-2-hydroxy-4-sulfonicacidnapthylazo)]-25,26,27,28-tetrahydroxycalix[4]arene (4)} have been synthesized from p-tert-butylphenol, p-nitrophenol, p-aminobenzoic acid and 1-amino-2-hydroxy-4-sulphonic acid by diazo coupling reaction with p-aminocalix[4]arene. The resulting ligands (1–4) were treated with three transition metal salts (e.g., CuCl₂·2H₂O, NiCl₂·6H₂O or CoCl₂·6H₂O). Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) complexes of the azocalix[4]arene derivatives were obtained and characterized by UV-vis, IR, ¹H-NMR spectroscopic techniques and elemental analysis. All the complexes have a metal:ligand ratio of 2:1. The Cu(II) and Ni(II) complexes of azocalix[4]arenes are square-planar, while the Co(II) complexes of azocalix[4]arenes are octahedral with water molecules as axial ligands. The solvent extraction of various transition metal cations from the aqueous phase to the organic phase was carried out by using azocalix[4]arenes (1–4). It was found that, azocalix[4]arenes 1, 2 and 3 examined selectivity for transition metal cations such as Ag⁺, Hg⁺ and Hg²⁺. In addition, the thermal stability of metal:azocalix[4]arene complexes were also reported. Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yılmaz on the occasion of his 50th birthday     

Structure-Photodynamic Activity Relationships of a Series of 4-Substituted Zinc Phthalocyanines

Abstract— Radioiodinated zinc phthalocyanine including [¹²⁵I]ZnPcI₄ and differently sulfonated [⁶⁵Zn]ZnPcS (ZnPcS₄, ZnPcS₃, ZnPcS₂ and ZnPcS_1.75, a mixture of adjacent di and 25% mono) were prepared in order to study cell uptake and release kinetics in EMT-6 cells. The same compounds were evaluated for their in vitro phototoxicity and the biological parameters were compared to partition coefficients to arrive at quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR). At 1 μM in 1% serum, at 37°C, all dyes showed rapid cell uptake during the first hour followed by a slow accumulation phase. After 24 h, the highest cellular concentration was observed with the lipophilic ZnPcI₄, followed by the amphiphilic ZnPcS₂ and ZnPcS_1.75. The hydrophilic ZnPcS₄ and ZnPcS₃ showed lower uptake. Dye release from dyeloaded cells during incubation in dye-free medium could reach up to 60% and was shown to depend mainly on the amount of drug incorporated rather than the type of compound. These results suggest that care should be taken in interpreting dye toxicity data, which involve in vitro cell manipulations in dye-free medium, particularly during in vitro/in vivo protocols. The EMT-6 cell survival after 1 h or 24 h incubation with 1 μM dye in 1% serum followed by exposure to red light was assessed by means of the colorimetric 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Photocytotoxicities correlated inversely with the tendencies of the dyes to aggregate. Increased dye uptake by the cells also correlated with their activities, except for the lipophilic ZnPcI₄, which showed the highest cell uptake but little phototoxicity. The QSAR between phototoxicity and the log of the partition coefficients (phosphate-buffered saline and n-octanol) gave a parabola with optimal partition values corresponding to the adjacent sulfonated ZnPcS₂.     

Effect of anion concentration on the stability of the uranyl-ascorbate complex

The effect of anion concentration and the dependence of uranyl ascorbate on the nature of anion present is systematically studied for nine different anions over the concentration range (0.2–2.0) × 10⁻² M. These anions, commonly encountered in pharmaceutical preparations with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) are nitrate, sulfate, chloride, bromide, fluoride, phosphate, citrate, oxalate, and tartrate. Based on the absorbance data, and on the value of the replacement constant K calculated, the studied anions may be arranged according to their complexing power on uranium as follows: citrate > tartrate > phosphate > oxalate > fluoride > sulfate > nitrate > chloride > bromide.This order is substantiated by the calculated values of the side reaction coefficients α_M of the uranyl ligand complex or the conditional stability constant of uranyl-ascorbate calculated at different ligand concentrations.     

Diterpenoid Alkaloids of Delphinium buschianum Grossh.

From the aerial parts of Delphinium buschianum Grossh ., collected in Turkey, a new diterpenoid alkaloid 1 , named budelphine, was isolated along with the known diterpenoid alkaloids karakoline ( 2 ), 18‐hydroxy‐14‐O‐methylgadesine ( 3 ), delsoline ( 4 ), lapaconidine ( 5 ), columbianine ( 6 ), 14‐benzoylneoline ( 7 ), and hetisine ( 9 ). The structure of 1 was established on the basis of ¹H‐, ¹³C‐, DEPT, ¹H,¹H‐COSY, NOESY, HSQC, and HMBC NMR studies.     

Level of some minor and trace elements in Bangladeshi meat products

An investigation on the level of some minor and trace elements in some varieties of meat (beef, mutton and chicken) consumed in Bangladesh is reported. In this study, protoninduced X-ray emission (PIXE) and radioisotope-induced X-ray fluorescence (XRF) techniques were used for analytical measurements. In PIXE measurements, the samples were exposed to the proton beam in air as 1 mm thick pellets and irradiated with 2.0 MeV protons having the beam intensity of 30 nA for characteristic X-ray excitation, whereas in XRF, the samples were excited for 5000 seconds with a 10 mCi¹⁰⁹Cd annular X-ray source. The elemental concentrations of Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb and Sr were determined in the samples by comparison with X-ray yield curves constructed from IAEA and NBS standard reference materials. The significance of the results is dicussed in relation to human health and diseases.This research received financial support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, under the research contract RC-4265/RB.     

An electropolymerized aniline-based fiber coating for solid phase microextraction of phenols from water

An aniline-based polymer was electrochemically prepared and applied as a new fiber coating for solid phase microextraction (SPME) of some priority phenols from water samples. The polyaniline (PANI) film was directly electrodeposited on the platinum wire surface in sulfuric acid solution using cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. The efficiency of new coating was investigated using a laboratory-made SPME device and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection for the extraction of some phenols from the headspace of aqueous samples. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed the homogeneity and the porous surface structure of the film. The results obtained proved the ability of this polymer as a suitable SPME fiber coating for trapping the selected phenols. Influential parameters affecting the extraction process were optimized and an extraction time of 50 min at 50 °C gave maximum efficiency, when the aqueous sample was saturated with NaCl and adjusted at pH 2. This new coating can be prepared easily in a reproducible manner and it is rather inexpensive and stable against most of organic solvents. The PANI thickness can be precisely controlled by the number of CV cycles. At the optimum conditions, the R.S.D. for a double distilled water spiked with phenol and chlorophenols at ppb level were 4.8-17% (n = 3) and detection limits for the studied compounds were between 0.69 and 3.7 ng ml⁻¹, except for phenol and 4-chlorophenol. The optimized method was successfully applied to some real-life water samples.     

Conservation of [(C2H4NH3)3N]2·(ZrF7)2·H2O layers during the topotactic dehydration of [(C2H4NH3)3N]2·(ZrF7)2·9H2O

Tren amine cations [(C₂H₄NH₃)₃N]³⁺ and zirconate or tantalate anions adopt a ternary symmetry in two hydrates, [H₃tren]₂·(ZrF₇)₂·9H₂O and [H₃tren]₆·(ZrF₇)₂·(TaOF₆)₄·3H₂O, which crystallise in R32 space group with a_H = 8.871 (2) Å, c_H = 38.16 (1) Å and a_H = 8.758 (2) Å, c_H = 30.112 (9) Å, respectively. Similar [H₃tren]₂·(MX₇)₂·H₂O (M = Zr, Ta; X = F, O) sheets are found in both structures; they are separated by a water layer (O_w(2)-O_w(3)) in [H₃tren]₂·(ZrF₇)₂·9H₂O. Dehydration of [H₃tren]₂·(ZrF₇)₂·9H₂O starts at room temperature and ends at 90 °C to give [H₃tren]₂·(ZrF₇)₂·H₂O. [H₃tren]₂·(ZrF₇)₂·H₂O layers remain probably unchanged during this dehydration and the existence of one intermediate [H₃tren]₂·(ZrF₇)₂·3H₂O hydrate is assumed. O_w(1) molecules are tightly hydrogen bonded with -NH₃⁺ groups and decomposition of [H₃tren]₂·(ZrF₇)₂·H₂O occurs from 210 °C to 500 °C to give successively [H₃tren]₂·(ZrF₆)·(Zr₂F₁₂) (285 °C), an intermediate unknown phase (320 °C) and ZrF₄.