High-performance liquid chromatography with stop-flow ultraviolet spectral characterization of lolitrem neurotoxins from perennial ryegrass

The lolitrem neurotoxins, potent tremorgenic toxins isolated from perennial ryegrass, were examined using high-performance liquid chromatography with stop-flow UV spectral characterization. Comparison with some known indoles and indolic tremorgenic mycotoxins, together with chemically reduced lolitrem B, the major lolitrem neurotoxin, established the central indole chromophore of the lolitrems. The stop-flow UV spectral characterization was useful for identification of lolitrem B in ryegrass plant and seed extracts.     

The energy calibration of LEP in the 1993 scan

This report summarizes the procedure for providing the absolute energy calibration of the LEP beams during the energy scan in 1993. The average beam energy around the LEP ring was measured in 25 calibrations with the resonant depolarization technique. The time variation of this average beam energy is well described by a model of the accelerator based on monitored quantities. The absolute calibration of the centre of mass energies of the off-peak points is determined with a precision of 2 parts in 10⁵ resulting in a systematic error on the Z-mass of about 1.4 MeV and on the Z-width of about 1.5 MeV.     

Local properties of some Gaussian processes

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First we obtain exact formulae for the Hausdorff dimensions of the level sets and graph, and of the image of a fixed time set, for a Gaussian process with stationary increments and monotone incremental variance. Inequalities for these dimensions have been obtained by Kahane in the case where the process is the sum of a trigonometric series with random coefficients. Secondly we obtain some precise results for the brownian motion process. We consider when an image set has positive Lebesgue measure and when the zero set has positive capacity with respect to a given kernel. We show that certain conditions, which Kahane has shown to be sufficient to ensure these properties, are also necessary.     

An unusual anodic methoxylation: 3,4-dimethoxyacetophenone

The electrolysis of 3,4-dimethoxyacetophenone in methanol at a platinum anode gives a high yield of 1-acetyl-4,5,5,6-tetramethoxycyclohexa-1,3-diene, whose structure is proven by ¹H and ¹³C NMR.     

Spectroscopy and the classification of liquid stationary phases in gas-liquid chromatography

Summary A table of data for acidity, basicity, polarity and London potential for stationary phases is given. These provide guidance in choosing a stationary phase for a given task from the 26 substances listed. The indices are calculated from infra-red shifts of 1-chlorobutane and the visible wavelength shifts of l₂ when they are dissolved in the stationary phases, from NMR estimates of acidity and basicity and from relative retention data. They replace the less reliable data of Burns and Hawkes. Methods of determining the indices are suggested that require only a gas chromatograph and can be applied by technicians with no specialized understanding of solution parameters. An attempt to add electron donoracceptor indices to the table was unsuccessful. A further table is given of the slopes of the log plots d(logt)/dC for use in extrapolating from one homologue to another on these stationary phases.     

Solid State Dynamics of Tricarbonyl(eta-1,5-cyclohexadienylium)iron Tetrafluoroborate and Tricarbonyl(eta-1,5-cycloheptadienylium)iron Tetrafluoroborate

The dynamic behavior of [(C(6)H(7))Fe(CO)(3)]BF(4) (I) and [(C(7)H(9))Fe(CO)(3)]BF(4) (II) in the solid state has been investigated principally by NMR spectroscopy. High-resolution variable-temperature (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra indicate that both complexes have a solid state phase transition above which there is rapid reorientation of the cyclodienylium rings and fast exchange of the carbonyl groups. The transition occurs between 253 and 263 K for I and between 329 and 341 K for II. The presence of the phase transition is confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). (57)Fe M?ssbauer spectroscopy supports the notion that complex I is highly mobile at room temperature, while II is relatively static. The activation energy for the cyclodienylium group rotation in the high-temperature phase of I is estimated from (1)H spin-lattice relaxation time measurements to be 17.5 kJ mol(-)(1). Static (13)C NMR measurements of the solid complexes in the high-temperature phase indicate that the (13)C chemical shift anisotropies are only 20-30 ppm. This is significantly less than that expected to result from motion of individual groups and thus suggests that rotation of the whole molecule is involved. A single-crystal X-ray structural determination of complex II, at 295 K, showed that the complex is tetragonal (space group P4(1), a = 10.610(1) ?, c = 21.761(3) ?, V = 2449.7(5) ?(3), rho(calc) = 1.734 g cm(-)(3)), with eight cycloheptadienyl cations and eight tetrafluoroborate anions per unit cell. In addition, powder X-ray diffraction studies of both I and II confirm that at low temperatures both complexes have a tetragonal unit cell, which transforms to a cubic unit cell above the phase transition. The powder patterns, recorded above the phase transition, support the proposal that the complexes are undergoing whole-molecule tumbling in their dynamic regimes.     

Development of a static headspace gas chromatographic procedure for the routine analysis of volatile fatty acids in wastewaters

An optimised procedure has been developed for the routine analysis of volatile fatty acids in wastewater matrices, using static headspace gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection. Factors such as sample volume, sample pre-treatment and the time and temperature of sample equilibration have been included in an optimisation model designed to provide maximum detector response for acetic, propionic, iso- and n-butyric and iso- and n-valeric acids in the concentration range 0-1000 mg/l. Optimal headspace conditions were observed when equilibrating at 85 degrees C for 30 min, using a 2.0 ml sample volume with the addition of 1.0 ml of NaHSO4 (62%, w/v) into standard 22.3 ml vials. 2-Ethylbutyric acid was used as an internal standard. The suitability of ordinary least squares regression and weighted least squares regression models for the purposes of calibration and quantification were investigated. A weighted least squares linear regression model applied to the heteroscedastic data provided lower detection limits, e.g. 3.7 and 3.3 mg/l for acetic and propionic acids.     

Plant delta(15)N associated with arbuscular mycorrhization, drought and nitrogen deficiency

It has long been evident that plant (15)N chiefly reflects the processes which fractionate (15)N/(14)N rather than the (15)N of plant N source(s). It has emerged recently that one of the most important fractionating processes contributing to the whole plant (15)N is the presence/absence, type or species of mycorrhiza, especially when interacting with nutrient deficiency. Ecto- and ericoid mycorrhizas are frequently associated with (15)N-depleted foliar (15)N, commonly as low as -12 per thousand. As shown by the present study, plants having no mycorrhiza, or those infected with various species of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM)-forming fungi, interact with varying concentrations of soil nitrogen [N] and moisture to enrich plant (15)N by as much as 3.5 per thousand. Hence the lack of a mycorrhiza, or variation in the species of AM-forming fungal associations, can account for about 25% of the usually reported variations of foliar (15)N found in field situations and do so by (15)N enrichment rather than depletion. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.