Evaluation of chlorinated by-products in drinking waters of Central Friuli (Italy)

Drinkable water supplied by aqueducts undergoes preliminar potabilization which, in Italy, is mainly accomplished by chlorine addition. The bactericidal action involved in this process is always accompanied by chlorination and oxidation of organic species (mainly humic and fulvic acids) naturally present in treated waters, so that many disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed, such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and halo-acetic acids (HAA), which can represent a chemical risk for public health. The aim of this study was the monitoring of DBPs in drinking water disinfected by chlorination, supplied by four different aqueducts of Central Friuli (Italy). DBP evaluations were performed in water samples consisting of both input and output of disinfection plants. The results of analytical determinations were worked out to provide the THM and HAA parameters for disinfected waters, while in feeding waters the following different conventional parameters were adopted: (i) trihalomethanes formation potential (THMFP), (ii) halo-acetic acids formation potential (HAAFP) and (iii) UV absorbance at 254 nm (UV254). The quite moderate content of chlorinated products found in all samples considered highlighted the excellent quality of potabilized waters available in Central Friuli. Moreover, our results confirmed that the majority of DBPs formed when chlorine is used for water disinfection consists of THMs, while chlorites and chlorates prevailed when potabilization is accomplished by using chlorine dioxide. Finally, simple UV254 monitoring turned out to be a profitable approach for the determination of chlorinated by-products only when THMs prevail among DBPs.     

Acid-base equilibria in organic solvents : Part 3. An Absolute pH Scale from Proton Basicity Evaluated by Cyclic Voltammetry

The relative basicity of some organic solvents of electroanalytical interest (propylene carbonate, sulfolane, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, methyl formate and morpholine) is evaluated by cyclic voltammetry. Anhydrous perchloric acid is electrogenerated in these solvents and the half-wave potentials of the redox couple H⁺/H₂ are recorded by referring them to a reference system, here bis(biphenyl)chromium (I)/bis(biphenyl)chromium(0), which is independent of the nature of the solvent. The data obtained, together with those found previously for other solvents by following the same procedure, are used to draw an absolute pH scale covering a wide range of basicities from nitromethane to morpholine. The same approach is also utilized to evaluate and compare, on the basis of this absolute pH scale, the strength in the solvents studied of some nitrogen bases which are suitable as titrants in nonaqueous media. The proposed proton basicity scale is compared with other basicity series defined in the literature.     

Determination of Total Selenium Content in Cereals and Bakery Products by Flow Injection Hydride Generation Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry Applying in-situ Trapping on Iridium-Treated Graphite Platforms

A flow injection hydride generation graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric (FI-HG-GFAAS) method was applied to the determination of Se in Se-doped and undoped cereals and bakery products. For the purpose of doping, the soils used for the cultivation of the cereals were dosed with Se-doped foliar fertilizers. The samples were dissolved in a mixture of HNO₃ and H₂O₂ solutions using microwave-assisted digestion. The decomposition of H₂Se generated from the sample solutions and the trapping of elemental Se were performed at a temperature of 300°C on an Ir-pretreated integrated graphite platform of a transversally heated graphite atomizer (THGA). For release of the trapped Se within a fairly short atomization time (5s), an atomization temperature of 2200°C was observed to be optimal. The overall efficiency of hydride generation, transport and trapping was 86%.The upper limit of the linear dynamic range of calibration was 10µgL^–1, which corresponds to 0.5µgg^–1 for solid samples. Recovery of the samples spiked with Se^VI solutions was found to be 93±6% on average. The relative standard deviation of the determinations was less than 8%. The limit of detection was found to be 0.06µgL^–1, corresponding to 3ngg^–1 for solid samples. The accuracy of the method was verified with the use of IAEA-155 (whey powder) certified reference material. End-capped THGA tubes resulted in an extension of the linear calibration range compared to that of standard THGAs.The Se content in bakery products made of undoped cereals ranged from 7.7 to 68ngg^–1 (wet weight) in 18 samples, whereas the Se content of the corresponding cereals was found to be below 100ngg^–1 (wet weight). The Se level of cereals grown on soils treated with Se-doped fertilizers ranged from 128 to 1046ngg^–1 (wet weight), and it depended linearly on the Se concentration of the corresponding foliar fertilizer.     

Structural and infrared spectroscopic characterization of Co6C(CO)12S2: a high-nuclearity carbido carbonyl cluster spontaneously formed from dicobalt octacarbonyl and carbon disulphide

Co₆C(CO)₁₂S₂ (I) has been isolated in crystalline form from the mixture of more than a dozen of carbonyl products formed when Co₂(CO)₈ reacts at room temperature with CS₂. Crystals of I are monoclinic with space group Cc, and lattice constants a  16.250(5), b  9.413(4), c  16.036(5) Å, β  116.77(4)°. Structure refinement gave R  0.034 for 1974 reflections. The CCo₆S₂ core of the molecule possesses idealized D_3h geometry. It is composed of a Co₆ trigonal prism, enclosing a C atom in the centre, and the triangular faces are capped symmetrically by the two S atoms. The core contains two sorts od CoCo distances: short one (2.432 Å) along the triangular edges, and long ones (2.669 Å) along the lateral edges. The average CoC distance is 1.94 Å, and the average CoS distance 2.192 Å.¹³CO-enriched samples were prepared photochemically and their IR spectra used in the assignment of the CO stretching frequencies. The CO stretching force constant was calculated to be 1670(2) Nm^-1.By the use of ¹³CS₂, I has also been obtained in a selectively carbido-¹³C-labelled form. The vibrational frequencies of the carbide atom were observed, and that at 819 cm^-1 (¹³C: 790 cm^-1) assigned to the species

, and that at 548 cm^-1 (¹³C: 535.5 cm^-1) to species E′. For the Co-C(carbide) force constant a value of 155 Nm^-1 was calculated. The cobalt—sulphur stretching frequencies were found at 309 cm^-1 (

) and 239 cm^-1 (E′). The CoS stretching force constant, 78 Nm^-1, is considerably lower than that obtained for SCo₃-(CO)₉, viz. 112 Nm^-1.     

Fluorescence detection of DNA by the catalytic activation of an aptamer/thrombin complex

A conjugate consisting of a thrombin aptamer tethered to the thrombin, Th, with a sensing nucleic acid (1) is used for the optical detection of DNA. The thrombin/aptamer complex blocks the biocatalytic functions of Th. Hybridization of the analyte DNA (2) to the sensing nucleic acid 1 yields a rigid duplex that detaches the aptamer from Th, a process that activates the protein toward the hydrolysis of bis(p-tosyl-Gly-Pro-Arg)-R110 (3) to the rhodamine 110 fluorophore (4). The system allows the DNA sensing with a sensitivity limit of 1 x 10-8 M. The aptamer/Th conjugate is also immobilized on glass slides for the optical detection of DNA. The dissociation of the aptamer/Th complex upon hybridization and the subsequent dehybridization of the duplex and the regeneration of the catalytically inactive Th/aptamer complex duplicate machinery functions.     

A computational study of the porosity effects in silica monolithic columns

We report on a theoretical study of the influence of the through-pore porosity on the main chromatographic performance parameters (reduced theoretical plate height, flow resistance, and separation impedance) of silica monoliths. To investigate this problem devoid of any structural uncertainties, computer-generated structural mimics of the pore geometry of silica monolithic columns have been studied. The band broadening in these synthetic monoliths was determined using a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software package. Three widely differing external porosities (epsilon = 0.38, epsilon = 0.60, and epsilon = 0.86) are considered and are compared on the basis of an identical intra-skeleton diffusivity (Ds = 5 x 10(-10)m2/s), internal porosity (epsilon(int) = 0.5), and for the same phase retention factor (k' = 1.25). Since the data are obtained for perfectly ordered structures, the calculated plate heights and separation impedances constitute the ultimate performance ever to be expected from a monolithic column. It is found that, if silica monoliths could be made perfectly homogeneous, domain size-based reduced plate heights as small as h(min) approximately 0.8 (roughly independent of the porosity) and separation impedances as small as Emin approximately 130 (epsilon = 0.60) and Emin approximately 40 (epsilon = 0.86) should be achievable with pure water as the working fluid. The data also show that, although the domain size is a much better reduction basis than the skeleton size, the former is still not capable of bringing the van Deemter curves of different porosity columns into perfect agreement in the C term dominated velocity range. It is found that, in this range, large porosity monoliths can be expected to yield smaller domain size-based reduced plate heights than small porosity monoliths.