Kinetic study of zirconia crystallization from amorphous ZrO2-SiO2 composite precursors processed by sol-gel chemistry

Powder precursor gels with composition xZrO₂·(100–x)SiO₂, with selected values of x=8, 24, 43 and 75 mol%, were processed by sol-gel chemistry. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) was used to study crystallization in (cubic/tetragonal)-ZrO₂ during the heating of the reactive amorphous precursors. Kinetic parameters such as activation energy, Avrami's exponent and frequency factor have been simultaneously calculated from the computed DTA data using a previously reported kinetic model. The crystallization temperature decreases relative to the increase in the amount of ZrO₂, the value of the kinetic parameter of the crystallization being related to the value of x.     

Synthesis, IR-, NMR- and X-ray investigations on some novel N-hetaryl-dihydro-pyrazolyl ferrocenes. Study on ferrocenes, part 16

Cyclocondensation of 1-aryl-3-ferrocenyl-2-propen-1-ones (1) with hetaryl hydrazines resulted in N-hetaryl-3-aryl-5-ferrocenyl pyrazolines (3, 4). The analogous 3-aryl-1-ferrocenyl-2-propen-1-ones (5) gave the isomeric N-hetaryl-5-aryl-3-ferrocenyl-pyrazolines (6, 10), but in lower yield. The reaction of aryl-chalcones (7) with 4-hydrazino-phthalazinone led to 3,5-bis-aryl-N-hetaryl-pyrazolines (8) or to the corresponding ene-hydrazones (9). The structure of the new compounds was established by IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, including DNOE, HMQC, HMBC and DEPT methods. For compounds 1b, 3b and 8b the stereo structure was elucidated also by X-ray diffraction.     

Flow injection determination of bismuth in urine by successive retention of Bi(III) and tetrahydroborate(III) on an anion-exchange resin and hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

Bismuth as BiCl₄⁻ and BH₄⁻ ware successively retained in a column (150 mm × 4 mm, length × i.d.) packed with Amberlite IRA-410 (strong anion-exchange resin). This was followed by passage of an injected slug of hydrochloric acid resulting in bismuthine generation (BiH₃). BiH₃ was stripped from the eluent solution by the addition of a nitrogen flow and the bulk phases were separated in a gas–liquid separator. Finally, bismutine was atomized in a quartz tube for the subsequent detection of bismuth by atomic absorption spectrometry. Different halide complexes of bismuth (namely, BiBr₄⁻, BiI₄⁻ and BiCl₄⁻) were tested for its pre-concentration, being the chloride complexes which produced the best results. Therefore, a concentration of 0.3 mol l⁻¹ of HCl was added to the samples and calibration solutions. A linear response was obtained between the detection limit (3σ) of 0.225 and 80 μg l⁻¹. The R.S.D.% (n = 10) for a solution containing 50 μg l⁻¹ of Bi was 0.85%. The tolerance of the system to interferences was evaluated by investigating the effect of the following ions: Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Hg²⁺, Zn²⁺, and Mg²⁺. The most severe depression was caused by Hg²⁺, which at 60 mg l⁻¹ caused a 5% depression on the signal. For the other cations, concentrations between 1000 and 10,000 mg l⁻¹ could be tolerated. The system was applied to the determination of Bi in urine of patients under therapy with bismuth subcitrate. The recovery of spikes of 5 and 50 μg l⁻¹ of Bi added to the samples prior to digestion with HNO₃ and H₂O₂ was in satisfactory ranges from 95.0 to 101.0%. The concentrations of bismuth found in six selected samples using this procedure were in good agreement with those obtained by an alternative technique (ETAAS). Finally, the concentration of Bi determined in urine before and after 3 days of treatment were 1.94 ± 1.26 and 9.02 ± 5.82 μg l⁻¹, respectively.     

Analysis of mono- and disaccharides in milk-based formulae by high-performance liquid chromatography with refractive index detection

A simple and reproducible method for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of free mono- and disaccharides (fructose, glucose, galactose, sucrose, lactulose and lactose) in milk-based formulae by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with refractive index (RI) detection was developed and validated. The method showed good linearity with determination coefficients exceeding 0.99. The limits of detection (DL) in these sugars were 0.17, 0.13, 0.06, 0.16, 0.05 and 0.25 mg/ml, respectively; and the limits of quantification (QL), 0.27, 0.24, 0.20, 0.26, 0.22 and 0.38 mg/ml. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.s) for repeatability in fructose, sucrose, lactulose and lactose were 0.78, 0.99, 2.91 and 0.46 and the R.S.D.s for reproducibility were 4.8, 6.15, 7.04 and 2.49, respectively. Recoveries in all sugars were between 93 and 113%.     

Comparison of low-order multireference many-body perturbation theories

Tests have been made to benchmark and assess the relative accuracies of low-order multireference perturbation theories as compared to coupled cluster (CC) and full configuration interaction (FCI) methods. Test calculations include the ground and some excited states of the Be, H(2), BeH(2), CH(2), and SiH(2) systems. Comparisons with FCI and CC calculations show that in most cases the effective valence shell Hamiltonian (H(v)) method is more accurate than other low-order multireference perturbation theories, although none of the perturbative methods is as accurate as the CC approximations. We also briefly discuss some of the basic differences among the multireference perturbation theories considered in this work.     

Effects of citrate on the composition and enzymic coagulation of colloidal bovine casein aggregates

Colloidal casein aggregates (CCA) prepared from soluble whole bovine caseinates in the presence of Ca²⁺ and phosphate (Pi) ions by addition of different citrate (Cit) concentrations showed different mineral and proteic composition. Citrate concentration conditions the Ca and Pi concentrations incorporated into CCA, probably due to the complexing effect of this anion on calcium. A significant change in the incorporated Ca/Pi ratio at 8 mM citrate could very likely be associated to changes in CCA net charge. The incorporation of individual caseins to the colloidal particles obtained, as well as their average size and size distribution, depended also on the Cit concentration used [Cit]_P. α_S- and β-caseins assembled in the CCA structure sharply decreased at a [Cit]_P higher than 15 mM, i.e., at a low Ca²⁺ concentration in the aggregates, showing that the presence of this cation is necessary for the incorporation of these caseins. An inverse relationship between the aggregation step rate in CCA enzymic coagulation and their average size was observed. The aggregation rate vs the average size curve obtained at [Cit]_P 8 mM clearly differed from the curves obtained at 10 and 12 mM, respectively, a fact probably related to a change in the CCA net charge. This behavior showed the effect of citrate concentration on CCA functional properties.     

On-line preconcentration of mercury by sorption on an anion-exchange resin loaded with 1,5-bis[(2-pyridyl)-3-sulphophenyl methylene] thiocarbonohydrazide and determination by cold-vapour inductively coupled plasma atomic emission

1,5-Bis[(2-pyridyl)-3-sulphophenyl methylene] thiocarbonohydrazide (PSTH) immobilized on an anion-exchange resin (Dowex) has been used for the on-line preconcentration of mercury from biological samples and waters prior to its determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The metal was eluted from the column using a solution of 2 M HNO(3) and mixed on-line with SnCl(2). The optimum experimental conditions were evaluated for the continuous preconcentration of Hg, the direct generation of mercury vapour and the final determination of this element by ICP-AES. The enrichment, together with low blank levels of the optimized procedure, allow the simple determination of this toxic element at concentrations down to a few nanograms per milliliter. The proposed method has a linear calibration range 5-1000 ng ml(-1) of mercury, with a detection limit of 4 ng ml(-1) (S/N=3) and a sampling rate of 40 h(-1), investigated with a 9 ml sample volume. The precision of the method (evaluated as the relative standard deviation obtained after analyzing ten series of ten replicates) was +/-3.6% at the 10 ng ml(-1) level of Hg(II) and +/-1.3% at the 100 ng ml(-1) level. The accuracy of the method was examined by the analysis of certified reference materials.     

Highly enantioselective copper(I)-fesulphos-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides

The catalyst system formed by Cu(CH3CN)4ClO4 and the planar chiral P,S-ligand Fesulphos behaves as a very efficient chiral Lewis acid in the catalytic asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides. This catalyst shows a remarkable reactivity at low catalyst loading (0.5-3 mol %), affording in good yields the endo adducts with exceptional levels of enantioselectivity (up to >99% ee). This catalytic asymmetric procedure has a broad structural scope with regard to both azomethine and dipolarophile substitution. The first examples of catalytic asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with ketimine-derived azomethines are reported.     

Rhodium(I) catalyzed four-component reaction of Fischer alkenyl carbene complexes and 1,1-diphenylallene

Alkyl substituted chromium Fischer carbene complexes react with 1,1-diphenylallene in the presence of rhodium(I) catalysts (10 mol%) to yield highly substituted dienyl indenone derivatives. In this process a catalytic chromium(0)-rhodium(I) exchange occurs, four new C-C bonds are created, and four-components (two allenes, the carbene ligand and one CO ligand) are joined in a chemo- and regioselective manner.     

Capillary electrophoretic determination of triamterene, methotrexate, and creatinine in human urine

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method using a fused-silica capillary (60.2 cm x 75 microm ID) was investigated for the determination of triamterene (TRI), methotrexate (MTX), and creatinine (CREA) in human urine. The separation was performed using a hydrodynamic injection time of 7 s (0.5 psi), a voltage of 25 kV, a capillary temperature of 30 degrees C, and 40 mM phosphoric acid adjusted to pH 2.25 by addition of triethanolamine as separation electrolyte. Under these conditions, analysis takes about 15 min. A linear response over the 0.5-15.0 mg L(-1) concentration range was found for TRI and MTX, and 0.5-80.0 mg L(-1) for CREA. Dilution of the sample (water:urine, 1:1 for TRI and MTX, and 1:25 for CREA determination) was the only step necessary prior to analysis by electrophoresis. The developed method is easy, rapid, and sensitive and has been applied to determine triamterene,methotrexate, and creatinine in urine samples with satisfactory results.