Sulfur trace determination in petroleum products by isotope dilution ICP-MS using direct injection by thermal vaporization (TV-ICP-IDMS)

An accurate, sensitive, and fast method for direct determination of total sulfur in petroleum products after thermal vaporization of an isotope-diluted sample was developed by using ICP-MS. ³⁴S-labelled dibenzothiophene spike was used for the isotope dilution step. The isotope-diluted sample was injected into a thermal vaporizer which was directly connected by a heated transfer line to the plasma torch. Sample transport was achieved by using a helium gas flow, and the isotope ratio ³⁴S/³²S was determined within seconds after injection. No other sample preparation other than the simple and fast isotope dilution step, which enables accurate and sensitive determination of sulfur at high sample throughputs, is necessary. Thus, this technique fits all needs for routine analyses. Validation of the TV-ICP-IDMS method was carried out by analyzing the certified gas oil reference materials BCR672 and BCR107. Comparison of results for noncertified low- and high-boiling samples, obtained from an ICP-IDMS microwave-assisted digestion method, also resulted in very good agreement. The low detection limit of 40 ng/g and the large dynamic range of TV-ICP-IDMS fulfill all necessities to allow analysis of sulfur in different petroleum products, e.g., even at the low concentration level of ‘sulfur-free’ gasoline.     

Bifunctional Diaminoterephthalate Scaffolds as Fluorescence Turn‐On Probes for Thiols

The fluorescent diaminoterephthalate scaffold was equipped by amidation with three types of reactive functions: thiols for metal‐surface binding, alkynes for click reactions, and maleimides for ligation with proteins. Starting from a succinyl succinate derivative with two orthogonally cleavable ester functions, three monoamides (38–57 % yield over three steps) and two bisamides (19 and 25 % yield over five steps) were prepared. Although alkyne and thiol derivatized compounds showed reasonable luminescence behavior (Φ≈1–4 %), the fluorescence was quenched by the maleimide moiety. It was turned on (10‐ to 20‐fold increase of fluorescence quantum yield) by conjugate addition of thiols.     

Chloromethane–Water Adduct: Rotational Spectrum,Weak Hydrogen Bonds,and Internal Dynamics

The rotational spectra of four isotopologues of the 1:1 complex between chloromethane and water revealed the presence of only one rotamer in a pulsed jet expansion. The two subunits are linked through two weak hydrogen bonds, O? H???Cl (R_H???Cl=2.638(2) Å) and C? H???O (R_H???O=2.501(2) Å), forming a five‐membered ring. All transitions display the hyperfine structure due to the ³⁵Cl (or ³⁷Cl) nuclear quadrupole effects. Dynamical features in the spectrum are caused by two large‐amplitude motions. Each component line appears as an asymmetric doublet with a relative intensity ratio of 1:3. The splittings led to the determination of barrier to internal rotation of water around its symmetry axis, V₂=320(10) cm^?1. Finally, an unexpected small value of the inertial defect (?0.96 uŲ rather than ?3.22 uŲ) allowed the estimation of the barrier to the internal rotation of the CH₃ group, V₃≈8 cm^?1.     

Crystal Engineering with the New Linker Tolanedisulfonic Acid (H2TDS): Helical Chains in Zn(TDS)(DMA)3, Linear Chains in Zn(TDS)(NMP)3, and Complex Anions in [HDMA]2[Zn(TDS)2(DMA)3](DMA)2

Reaction of 4,4′‐tolanedisulfonic acid, H₂TDS, with zinc hydroxide in dimethylacetamide, DMA, under solvothermal conditions led to the coordination polymer Zn(TDS)(DMA)₃ ( I ). In the crystal structure [trigonal, P3₂21, Z=3, a=1175.0(1) pm, c=1949.5(1) pm, R₁; wR₂ (I_o> 2σ(I_o))=0.0393; 0.0921] the disulfonate anions linked the Zn²⁺ ions into helical chains according to _∞¹[Zn(DMA)_3/1(TDS)_2/2] ( I ) causing the chirality of the compound. By using higher concentrations of H₂TDS in the starting mixture the compound [HDMA]₂[Zn(TDS)₂(DMA)₃](DMA)₂ ( II ) was formed. The structure [monoclinic, Cc, Z=4, a=1201.5(1) pm, b=1996.0(1) pm, c=2749.2(2) pm, β=101.897(2)°, R₁; wR₂ (I_o> 2σ(I_o))=0.0699; 0.2017] displayed the complex anion [Zn(TDS)₂(DMA)₃]^2? which was a perfect cut‐off of the helical chain in I . Charge compensation was achieved by protonated DMA molecules. If N‐methylpyrrolidone, NMP, was chosen as a solvent, the sulfonate Zn(TDS)(NMP)₃ ( III ) [monoclinic, I2/a, Z=4, a=1575.7(1) pm, b=1077.3(1) pm, c=1870.0(1) pm, β=101.189(9)°, R₁; wR₂ (I_o> 2σ(I_o))=0.0563; 0.1320] was obtained. Similarly to the findings for I , the formation of chains according to _∞¹[Zn(NMP)_3/1(TDS)_2/2] was observed. However, due to the more bulky NMP molecules these chains were no longer helical but straight instead.     

113Cd Solid‐State NMR for Probing the Coordination Sphere in Metal–Organic Frameworks

Spectroscopic techniques are a powerful tool for structure determination, especially if single‐crystal material is unavailable. ¹¹³Cd solid‐state NMR is easy to measure and is a highly sensitive probe because the coordination number, the nature of coordinating groups, and the geometry around the metal ion is reflected by the isotropic chemical shift and the chemical‐shift anisotropy. Here, a detailed investigation of a series of 27 cadmium coordination polymers by ¹¹³Cd solid‐state NMR is reported. The results obtained demonstrate that ¹¹³Cd NMR is a very sensitive tool to characterize the cadmium environment, also in non‐single‐crystal materials. Furthermore, this method allows the observation of guest‐induced phase transitions supporting understanding of the structural flexibility of coordination frameworks.     

Diaryldichalcogenide radical cations

One-electron oxidation of two series of diaryldichalcogenides (C₆F₅E)₂ (13a–c) and (2,6-Mes₂C₆H₃E)₂ (16a–c) was studied (E = S, Se, Te). The reaction of 13a and 13b with AsF₅ and SbF₅ gave rise to the formation of thermally unstable radical cations [(C₆F₅S)₂]˙⁺ (14a) and [(C₆F₅Se)₂]˙⁺ (14b) that were isolated as [Sb₂F₁₁]^– and [As₂F₁₁]^– salts, respectively. The reaction of 13c with AsF₅ afforded only the product of a Te–C bond cleavage, namely the previously known dication [Te₄]²⁺ that was isolated as [AsF₆]^– salt. The reaction of (2,6-Mes₂C₆H₃E)₂ (16a–c) with [NO][SbF₆] provided the corresponding radical cations [(2,6-Mes₂C₆H₃E)₂]˙⁺ (17a–c; E = S, Se, Te) in the form of thermally stable [SbF₆]^– salts in nearly quantitative yields. The electronic and structural properties of these radical cations were probed by X-ray diffraction analysis, EPR spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations and other methods.     

Real-time monitoring of cell migration,phagocytosis and cell surface receptor dynamics using a novel,live-cell opto-microfluidic technique

We report an opto-microfluidic method for continuous and non-interfering monitoring of cell movement and dynamic molecular processes in living cells enabled by the microfluidic “Lab-in-a-Trench” (LiaT) platform. To demonstrate real-time monitoring of heterogeneous cell–cell interactions, cell tracking and agent-induced cell activation dynamics, we observe phagocytosis of Escherichia coli by murine macrophages, migration of active macrophages and LPS-induced CD86 expression in macrophages. The visualization of phagocytosis is facilitated through the loading of green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressing E. coli to the array of cell capture modules before the introduction of macrophages. Simple migration tracking of active macrophages is enabled by a spatio-temporal control of the environment conditions within the LiaT platform. Furthermore, we report an interference-free monitoring of non-modified, endogenous changes in protein expression on the surface of living cells using traditional, antibody immuno-reagents. Throughout the experiment, murine macrophages were captured in the LiaT device and exposed to sub-background levels of fluorescently labeled anti-CD86 antibody. Upon lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, CD86 changes were visualized in real-time by time-lapse microscopy. This novel opto-microfluidic effect is controlled by the equilibrium of convective–diffusive replenishment of fluorescently labeled antibodies and antibody affinity. Overall, our non-interfering analysis method allows the studying of active cellular processes and endogenous protein dynamics in live cells in a simple and cost-efficient manner.     

Quantitative monitoring of yeast fermentation using Raman spectroscopy

Compared to traditional IR methods, Raman spectroscopy has the advantage of only minimal interference from water when measuring aqueous samples, which makes this method potentially useful for in situ monitoring of important industrial bioprocesses. This study demonstrates real-time monitoring of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation process using a Raman spectroscopy instrument equipped with a robust sapphire ball probe. A method was developed to correct the Raman signal for the attenuation caused by light scattering cell particulate, hence enabling quantification of reaction components and possibly measurement of yeast cell concentrations. Extinction of Raman intensities to more than 50 % during fermentation was normalized with approximated extinction expressions using Raman signal of water around 1,627 cm^?1 as internal standard to correct for the effect of scattering. Complicated standard multi-variant chemometric techniques, such as PLS, were avoided in the quantification model, as an attempt to keep the monitoring method as simple as possible and still get satisfactory estimations. Instead, estimations were made with a two-step approach, where initial scattering correction of attenuated signals was followed by linear regression. In situ quantification measurements of the fermentation resulted in root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) of 2.357, 1.611, and 0.633 g/L for glucose, ethanol, and yeast concentrations, respectively.