Selenium in environmental waters: Determination, speciation and concentration levels

This article reviews the different methods used for the determination of selenium species in all types of environmental waters. Basic difficulties are discussed and the efficiency of the methods is explained in view of the sub-mug/1. concentration levels. Special attention is paid to preconcentration steps. Published data on speciation and concentration levels in various water samples are critically reviewed.     

Differentiation between dexamethasone and betamethasone in a mixture using multiple mass spectrometry

Direct gas chromatographic methods to analyse phenylurea pesticides are discouraged by the thermal instability of these compounds, that in conventional hot splitless inlet systems leads to extensive and irreproducible formation of isocyanates and amines. However a careful control of the operating conditions, like the inlet temperature, the pressure and the presence of suitable chemical additives (as acetic acid, low-molecular-mass amines, organic anhydrides) can either: (i) minimise the thermal decomposition enabling the direct GC-MS analysis of phenylureas, or (ii) lead to reproducible conversion to isocyanates. Experimental design was employed to study the effect of the experimental variables on the thermal transformation of phenylurea pesticides in splitless inlet system. Two strategies were alternatively optimised: (i) the minimisation of degradation reactions to increase the signal of phenylureas; (ii) the maximisation of the degradation to isocyanates that are in turn determined. The maximal yields in isocyanate were obtained with high inlet temperatures, low carrier flows in the injection phase and the presence of acetic anhydride. By contrast, the use of relatively low inlet temperatures, high carrier flows during the injection and the presence of an amine maximise the response of the parent compounds.     

Absorptiometric determination of microgram amounts of uranium with Rhodamine B

Uranium (VI) can be extracted as a complex with rhodamine B into a benzeneetherhexone solvent from a benzoate buffered solution. Optimum conditions for the colour development are defined, leading to a molar absorptivity of 102700 mmol^-1 cm² at 555 nm, the highest yet reported for a uranium complex. The determination of uranium in the range 0.02–3 μg/ml in nitrate samples is described. The relative standard deviation ranges from 20 to 0.6%. The interference of several ions is investigated.     

Conformations of luteoskyrin and rugulosin in solution

The pigments Luteoskyrin (Ls) and Rugulosin (Rg) might adopt a priori two extreme conformations, a planar and an angular one. To determine the predominant conformation in solution, the nature of the lowest energy transition of the chromophores and the presence of intramolecular H-bonding have been investigated. The solvent effects on electronic absorption and CD spectra indicated the π-π* nature of the lowest energy transition. Treatments of the electronic absorption results according to McRae and Kosower relations, IR absorption and PMR spectra suggested the presence of strong intra-molecular H-bonds. From these results it was concluded that Ls and Rg adopted in a variety of solvents the most planar conformation.     

Curve crossing in two excited states of IBr studied by photofragmentation

Curve crossing in two excited states of IBr was studied by means of photodissociation with a pulse dye laser. The ratios of the formed ground state Br(²P_{$\text{3}\text{2}$} and excited Br(²P_{$\text{1}\text{2}$}) were measured at various wavelengths. They are compared with ratios calculated with the Landau-Zener formula, using parameters given by Child. The agreement between the measurements and the calculations is very good.     

Diffuse-reflectance laser flash photolysis of 16-(1-pyrene)-hexadecanoic acid adsorbed on silica

The absorption and fluorescence of 16-(1-pyrene)-hexadecanoicacid adsorbed on silica have been investigated. Time-resolved transient diffuse reflectance spectra were recorded following pulsed nanosecond laser excitation at 355 nm of pyrene, 1-methylpyrene and 16-(1-pyrene)-hexadecanoicacid adsorbed on silica. In addition to a rapidly decaying transient, absorbing at 420 nm assigned as the triplet state, and of the radical cation, absorbing at 460 nm, another long living transient species absorbing at 420 nm was observed for 16-(1-pyrene)-hexadecanoic acid. The decay is reversible but complete recovery takes several hours. Although no definitive assignment could be made for this transient several possibilities are discussed. The radical cations of the investigated molecules are formed by a biphotonic process. The non-exponential decay of the radical cations could be analyzed in the framework of a Gaussian distribution of free energy barriers.     

Separation of actinides from Low Level Liquid Wastes (LLLW) by extraction chromatography using novel DMDOHEMA and TODGA impregnated resins

The uptake of several actinides [U(VI), Th(IV), Am(III), Cm(III)] and fission products was investigated from nitric acid solutions by two novel extraction chromatographic sorbents containing 2-(2-hexyloxy-ethyl)-N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-dioctyl-malonamide (DMDOHEMA) and N,N,N',N'-tetraoctyl-3-oxapentane-1,5-diamide (TODGA), respectively. The kinetics of the uptake of actinides was studied. The sorption of metal ions fromz simulated Low Level Liquid Waste (LLLW) solutions was evaluated. The results of these experiments revealed that the actinides and lanthanides could be separated from the bulk of other fission products in simulated LLLW solutions on both sorbents.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermal conductivity, thermal effusivity, and specific heat capacity near the lower critical point of the binary liquid mixture n-butoxyethanol-water

Experimental investigations on binary liquid mixtures near the critical mixing point are presently leading to a controversy about the anomaly in the thermal conductivity. A photopyroelectric technique is used to determine the thermal conductivity and the effusivity of the binary liquid mixture n-butoxyethanol-water at its critical concentration near the critical mixing point. It is proven that, contrary to previous reports, there is no critical enhancement in the thermal conductivity. The specific heat capacity is calculated from these results and compared with the results from measurements performed by adiabatic scanning calorimetry.     

Analysis of ion binding on humic substances and the determination of intrinsic affinity distributions

Humic substances are characterized by a variable electric potential and by a variety of binding sites leading to chemical heterogeneity. Binding of ions to these substances is influenced by both factors. A methodology based on acid—base titrations at several salt levels is presented that allows for the assessment of an appropriate electrostatic double-layer model and the intrinsic proton affinity distribution. The double-layer model is used for the conversion of pH to pH_S for each data point, where H_S is the proton concentration in the diffuse layer near the binding site. It is shown that with an appropriate double-layer model the proton binding curves at different salt levels converge into one “master curve” when plotted as a function of pH_S. The intrinsic proton affinity distribution can then be derived from the “master curve” using the LOGA method. A rigorous analysis of metal binding to humic substances is complex and in practice is not feasible. Under two different (simplifying) assumptions, namely fully coupled and uncoupled binding, it is shown how intrinsic metal ion affinity distributions can be obtained. Model calculations show that apparent metal ion affinity distributions do not resemble the intrinsic metal ion affinity distribution.