Evaluation of gas chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry for the determination of organochlorine pesticides in fats and oils

A gas chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry multi-residue method for the analysis of 19 organochlorine pesticides in fats and oils has been developed. Gel permeation chromatography was employed to remove lipid material prior to GC-MS/MS analysis. Average recoveries of the pesticides spiked at 10 and 50 microg kg(-1) into fish oil, pork fat, olive oil and hydrogenated vegetable oil were typically in the range 70-110% with relative standard deviations generally less than 10%. Calculated limits of detection are between 0.1 and 2.0 microg kg(-1) and results obtained for the analysis of proficiency test materials are in good agreement with assigned values. The higher selectivity of the GC-MS/MS compared to electron capture detection and GC-MS in selective ion monitoring mode allowed unambiguous identification and confirmation of all the target pesticides at low microg kg(-1) levels in fats and oils in a single analysis.     

Structural impacts on thallus and algal cell components of two lichen species in response to low-level air pollution in pacific northwest forests.

Lichens have long been regarded as bioindicators of air pollution, and structural studies typically have indicated negative impacts in highly polluted areas. In this research, Parmelia sulcata and Platismatia glauca were collected from one clean and two polluted sites in the Pacific Northwest forests of the United States to investigate the anatomical and ultrastructural responses of relatively resistant lichens to moderate air pollution. Light microscopy of polluted materials revealed only slight increases in the algal cell proportions of the thallus, and a decrease in the fungal cells of the medulla. Using transmission electron microscopy, increased lipid droplets in the cytoplasm and an increase in the cell wall thickness of the photobionts were found in the polluted lichens. These results were compared with physiological data in which the net carbon uptake did not show any significant differences; however, the total chlorophyll content was heightened in the polluted samples. The increased total chlorophyll content and the absence of any changes in the algal cell proportions of the polluted samples suggest that the photobionts possessed a higher chlorophyll content per unit volume of the photobiont at polluted sites. The results also indicate that lichens have altered their storage allocation in different cellular compartments. This may be a result of symbiotic readjustment(s) between the photobiont and the mycobiont. In comparison with the physiological results from these two species, these changes do not represent damaging effects by low-level air pollution.     

A definitive investigation of the reaction of cyclopentadiene with cis-3,4-dichlorocyclobutene: A literature correction

Structural assignments are made to the three adducts derived from the title reaction. ¹H-n.m.r., ¹³C-n.m.r. and euroshift data are used to support the new structures.     

Commutator-finite orthomodular lattices

The class of orthomodular lattices which have only finitely many commutators is investigated. The following theorems are proved: contains the block-finite orthomodular lattices. Every irreducible element of is simple. Every element of is a direct product of a Boolean algebra and finitely many simple orthomodular lattices. The irreducible elements of which are modular, or are M-symmetric with at least one atom, have height two or less.     

Voltammetric sizing of a sphere.

The size of a glass sphere positioned in the center of a microdisk electrode is determined by using a simple electrochemical procedure and is confirmed, additionally, by a microscopical measurement of the sphere at the time of the electrochemical measurement. The cyclic voltammetric response of the naked electrode and of the electrode with the sphere positioned in its center is recorded over a wide range of scan rates (0.002-1.5 V s(-1)). The size of the sphere is then determined by comparison of the experimental voltammogram with simulations for each individual scan rate.     

Construction of solid-liquid phase diagrams in ternary systems by titration calorimetry

Titration calorimetry was used to construct the solid-liquid equilibrium line in ternary systems containing the solute and an aqueous mixed solvent by measuring the heat of dissolution of the solid solute during successive additions of the liquid solvent. The plot of cumulated heats versus the mole ratio, n_solvent/n_solute, yields two (almost) linear increases of different slopes. These two lines represent successively the enthalpy of dissolution then the enthalpy of dilution of the medium; their intersection gives the solubility and the enthalpy of dissolution of the solute. Phase diagrams have been established over the whole concentration range for o-anisaldehyde, 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene and vanillin, in water + methanol, +ethanol, or +n-propanol at 303, 313 and 318 K.     

Multiphonon vibrational relaxation in liquids: should it lead to an exponential-gap law?

The profound differences between solids and liquids notwithstanding, high-frequency vibrational energy relaxation in liquids seems to be well described by assuming that the excess energy is being transferred into discrete overtones of some fundamental intermolecular vibrations-precisely the way it is in crystalline solids. In a solid-state context, this kind of analysis can be used to justify the observation that relaxation rates fall off exponentially with the energy being transferred. Liquids, however, have a substantial degree of disorder, causing their relevant intermolecular spectra to have correspondingly diffuse band edges and large bandwidths. It is therefore not at all obvious what should become of this exponential-gap-law phenomenology. We show in this paper how near exponential-gap-law behavior can still be derived for vibrational energy relaxation in liquids. To do so, we take advantage of the simple dynamics that the high-frequency relaxation has when it is launched from an individual instantaneous configuration. Interestingly, the physically relevant region turns out not to be true asymptotic limit of our formalism, but for realistic liquid parameters the behavior in the physical regime differs only slightly from an exact exponential-gap law and is strikingly independent of the details of the intermolecular spectra.     

The stereoselective synthesis of novel macrolide antibacterial agents via an intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylide

An intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylide, generated in situ via the reaction of C12-glycinate derivative of macrolide with formaldehyde, provided a novel tricyclic macrolide. The high stereoselectivity of this [2+3] reaction was achieved by introducing a suitable directing group at C-6 position of macrolide.