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.     

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.     

Relativistic effective potential SCF calculations of AgH and AuH

Relativistic effective potentials (REP) are now widely used in molecular electronic structure calculations. Tests of these REP are needed to assess their accuracy. This can now be done for AgH and AuH since Lee and McLean have published Dirac-Fock calculations for these molecules. Comparative SCF calculations have been performed for two types of effective potential. Satisfactory agreement between the effective potential results and Dirac-Fock values is found for spectroscopic constants and dipole moments, which supports the use of these potentials for heavy atom containing molecules.     

Activated alpha-alkyl-alpha-arylacetic acid enantiomers for stereoselective thin-layer chromatographic and high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of chiral amines

The separation of racemic benoxaprofen into the two benoxaprofen enantiomers by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography and the application of the activated enantiomers as derivatization reagents for the simultaneous stereoselective determination of chiral amines in biological material is described. Activated (+)- and (-)-benoxaprofen are both shown to be very sensitive and stable chiral fluorescence markers, applicable to thin-layer chromatography as well as to high-performance liquid chromatography.     

二茂钛含氟有机酸衍生物的质谱研究

本文研究了二茂钛含氟长链有机酸衍生物(1～3)和具有环状结构的新型二茂钛全氟有机酸(4～7)的电子轰击质谱(EIMS)和负离子化学电离质谱(NICIMS)。在EI谱中出现弱的或不出现M~+,1～7均以CpTiF_2离子为基峰。高质量区的主要特征碎片离子有[M-·cp]~+、[M-R]~+(1～3)和氟重排离子。在低质量区出现一系列二茂钛及茂钛氟重排离子。 1、4～7的NICI(CH_4)质谱中,4、5出现强的M~-离子峰,1出现[M-1]-离子峰,有两个钛的环状结构化合物6和7出现双电荷M~=离子峰,而不出现M~-。     

Cadmium speciation in Arabidopsis thaliana as a strategy to study metal accumulation system in plants

The strategy to identify cadmium deactivation mechanism in Arabidopsis thaliana has been developed using selective and sensitive hyphenated techniques. Cadmium concentrations, in main parts of the plant, were determined by ICP-MS and total amount was found as 0.43-0.44 μg g⁻¹ in leaves and 3.3-3.4 μg g⁻¹ in roots. Speciation of the metal complexes in cells was investigated by SEC-ICP-MS in order to estimate the accumulation process. Phytochelatins, desglycyl-phytochelatins and phytochelatins homologues lacking the N-terminal γ-linked glutamic acid were extracted from plant and were identified by RPLC-ESI-MS. Two-dimensional chromatography allowed to link the metal complexes separated by SEC with isoforms of phytochelatins analyzed by high resolution RPLC and confirm their significant responsibility for metal accumulation. The potential of the cadmium complexes speciation indicates that obtained results could be reliable source of knowledge to confirm the information coming from the well-known genomic sequence of Arabidopsis and to estimate the role of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase in metabolism of glutathione.     

Biosensors for environmental pollutants and food contaminants

This review article provides an overview of the most recent literature on biosensors for environmental pollutants and food contaminants. Due to the large number of publications, only papers published between 2000 and January 2003 were considered. Also, while not all of the published literature could be reviewed here, over 200 references are cited to provide a good overview of research undertaken in the last two years. Older publications are covered by a number of earlier review articles. This article provides an introduction into the field including specific consideration of the application areas, describes the typical biosensor assay format used, and is subsequently structured according to the biorecognition elements used (i.e., nucleic acids, enzymes, whole cells, tissue and whole organisms, antibodies and receptors, and biomimetic materials). In addition, a section on microbiosensing systems is provided. Since only very few microbiosensors with applications in environmental and food systems have been published, enabling technology is also covered in this article.Abbreviations BOD biological oxygen demand - cfu colony forming units - DNP dinitrophenol - GFP green fluorescent protein - NASBA nucleic acid sequence-based amplification - PCR polymerase chain reaction - ppt parts per trillion - QCM quartz crystal microbalance - SPR surface plasmon resonance     

Hydroxyl radical probe of the calmodulin-melittin complex interface by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The calcium-dependent interaction of calmodulin and melittin is studied through the application of a radical probe approach in which solutions of the protein and peptide and protein alone are subjected to high fluxes of hydroxyl and other oxygen radicals on millisecond timescales. These radicals are generated by an electrical discharge within an electrospray ion source of a mass spectrometer. Condensation of the electrosprayed droplets followed by proteolytic digestion of both calmodulin and melittin has identified residues in both which participate in the interaction and/or are shielded from solvent within the protein complex. Consistent with other theoretical models and available experimental data, the tryptophan residue of melittin at position 19 is shown to be critical to the formation of the complex with the C-terminal domain of peptide enveloped by and protected from oxidation upon binding to the protein. Furthermore, the N-terminal domain (to residue 36) and tyrosine at position 99 in calmodulin are significantly protected from limited oxidation upon the binding of melittin while exposing the phenylalanine residue at position 92 of the flexible loop domain. The N-terminus (through residue 36) of calmodulin is shown to lie in closer proximity to the melittin helix than its C-terminal counterpart (residues 127-148) based upon the protection levels measured at reactive residues within these segments of the protein.