Optimisation of pressurised liquid extraction by experimental design for quantification of pesticides and alkyl phenols in sludge,suspended materials and atmospheric fallout by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

The study proposes an analytical method to quantify 10 alkylphenols and 12 pesticides at ultra-trace levels by liquid chromatography in reverse mode coupled to positive electrospray ionisation–tandem mass spectrometry. The extraction procedure from environmental solids was optimised by pressurised liquid extraction using acetonitrile:isopropanol (1:1, v/v). The influence of several extraction experimental factors, temperature, pressure, duration and number of cycles, related to the PLE was investigated by an original and efficient chemometric approach. The optimised extraction method (80 °C, 40 bar, 10 min, 1 cycle) exhibited recoveries between 67 and 127% with RSD mostly under 13%. The whole method was applied to real samples: sludge, suspended materials, atmospheric fallouts and roof deposit. Pollutant levels were between 1 μg kg⁻¹ and 5.9 mg kg⁻¹.     

Exploring Cu/Al cluster growth and reactivity: from embryonic building blocks to intermetalloid,open-shell superatoms

Cluster growth reactions in the system [Cu₅](Mes)₅ + [Al₄](Cp*)₄ (Mes = mesitylene, Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadiene) were explored and monitored by in situ LIFDI-MS and ¹H-NMR. Feedback into experimental design allowed for an informed choice and precise adjustment of reaction conditions and led to isolation of the intermetallic cluster [Cu₄Al₄](Cp*)₅(Mes) (1). Cluster 1 reacts with excess 3-hexyne to yield the triangular cluster [Cu₂Al](Cp*)₃ (2). The two embryonic [Cu₄Al₄](Cp*)₅(Mes) and [Cu₂Al](Cp*)₃ clusters 1 and 2, respectively, were shown to be intermediates in the formation of an inseparable composite of the closely related clusters [Cu₇Al₆](Cp*)₆ (3), [HCu₇Al₆](Cp*)₆ (3H) and [Cu₈Al₆](Cp*)₆ (4), which just differ by one Cu core atom. The radical nature of the open-shell superatomic [Cu₇Al₆](Cp*)₆ cluster 3 is reflected in its reactivity towards addition of one Cu core atom leading to the closed shell superatom [Cu₈Al₆](Cp*)₆ (4), and as well by its ability to undergo σ(C–H) and σ(Si–H) activation reactions of C₆H₅CH₃ (toluene) and (TMS)₃SiH (TMS = tris(trimethylsilyl)).

Cu/Al cluster growth reactions leading to open- and closed-shell superatoms are investigated. Therein, LIFDI-MS is presented as a powerful technique for the in situ detection of cluster identities and reactivity patterns.     

Fully validated assay for the quantification of endogenous nucleoside mono- and triphosphates using online extraction coupled with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

An analytical method coupling online solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed to quantify 16 endogenous nucleoside mono- and triphosphates in cellular samples. Separation was achieved on a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) column without ion-pairing agent in the mobile phase. Low levels of the ion-pairing agent diethylamine (DEA) added to the reconstitution solution were necessary to prevent peak tailing of nucleoside triphosphates. The mass spectrometer, a triple quadrupole with an electrospray ionisation source, was operated in positive mode. Two multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) segments were programmed, each an internal standard. Extraction and separation of nucleoside mono- and triphosphates were obtained within 20 min. The total duration of a single run was 37 min. Calibration curves, performed with labelled nucleotides added to the sample matrix, ranged from 0.29 to 18.8 pmol injected for deoxyribonucleotides and from 3.9 to 3,156 pmol for ribonucleotides. Accuracy did not deviate more than ?14.6 and 10.2 % from nominal values for all compounds at all levels. CV results were all lower than 17.0 % for the LLOQ level and 14.6 % for the other levels. Quality control (QC) samples were also in agreement with acceptance criteria, except for the lower QC of GMP. Ion suppression, matrix effect, extraction recoveries and stability were assessed. After validation, the method was applied to the evaluation of the effects of gemcitabine and hydroxyurea on nucleotide pools in Messa cells.     

Enantiodivergence in alkylation of 1-(6-methoxynaphth-2-yl)ethyl acetate by potassium dimethyl malonate catalyzed by chiral palladium-DUPHOS complex

Alkylation of racemic 1-(6-methoxynaphth-2-yl)ethyl acetate by potassium dimethyl malonate catalyzed by a chiral palladium-DUPHOS complex afforded the substitution product with 87% ee, along with 6-methoxy-2-vinylnaphthalene that arose from an elimination process, in a 43/57 substitution/elimination ratio. The reaction performed on a mixture of quasi-enantiomeric substrates provided insight into the stereochemical course of the reaction, establishing that—for a given enantiomer of the catalyst, one enantiomer of the substrate afforded mainly the substitution product whereas the other enantiomer underwent elimination.     

Enthalpy of absorption and limit of solubility of CO2 in aqueous solutions of 2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2-[2-(dimethyl-amino)ethoxy] ethanol,and 3-dimethyl-amino-1-propanol at T = (313.15 and 353.15) K and pressures up to 2 MPa

In order to study the influence of amine structure on absorption of carbon dioxide, enthalpies of solution of CO₂ in 2.50 mol · L^?1 aqueous solutions of 2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol (THAM), 2-[2-(dimethyl-amino)ethoxy] ethanol (DMAEOE), and 3-dimethyl-amino-1-propanol (DMAP) were measured. The enthalpies of solution are determined as function of gas loading charge (moles of CO₂/mole of amine), at temperatures (313.15 and 353.15) K, and pressures range from (0.5 to 2) MPa. Measurements were carried out using a flow calorimetric technique. CO₂ solubilities in the aqueous solutions of amine are derived from calorimetric data. Molar volumes of aqueous amine solutions required to handle calorimetric data were determined at 303.15 K using a vibrating tube densimeter. Experimental enthalpies of solution are discussed on the basis of amines alkalinity.     

Permutation statistics related to a class of noncommutative symmetric functions and generalizations of the Genocchi numbers

We prove conjectures of the third author [L. Tevlin, Proc. FPSAC’07, Tianjin] on two new bases of noncommutative symmetric functions: the transition matrices from the ribbon basis have nonnegative integral coefficients. This is done by means of two composition-valued statistics on permutations and packed words, which generalize the combinatorics of Genocchi numbers.      

Nilpotent Bicone and Characteristic Submodule of a Reductive Lie Algebra

Let be a finite-dimensional complex reductive Lie algebra and S() its symmetric algebra. The nilpotent bicone of is the subset of elements (x, y) of whose subspace generated by x and y is contained in the nilpotent cone. The nilpotent bicone is naturally endowed with a scheme structure, as nullvariety of the augmentation ideal of the subalgebra of generated by the 2-order polarizations of invariants of . The main result of this paper is that the nilpotent bicone is a complete intersection of dimension , where and are the dimensions of Borel subalgebras and the rank of , respectively. This affirmatively answers a conjecture of Kraft and Wallach concerning the nullcone [KrW2]. In addition, we introduce and study in this paper the characteristic submodule of . The properties of the nilpotent bicone and the characteristic submodule are known to be very important for the understanding of the commuting variety and its ideal of definition. The main difficulty encountered for this work is that the nilpotent bicone is not reduced. To deal with this problem, we introduce an auxiliary reduced variety, the principal bicone. The nilpotent bicone, as well as the principal bicone, are linked to jet schemes. We study their dimensions using arguments from motivic integration. Namely, we follow methods developed by Mustaţǎ in [Mu]. Finally, we give applications of our results to invariant theory.     

Two new hybrid organic/inorganic copper(II)-oxovanadate(V) diphosphonates: [Cu2(phen)2(O3PCH2PO3)(V2O5)(H2O)] x H2O and [Cu2(phen)2(O3P(CH2)3PO3)(V2O5)] x C3H8. Synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties

Two new hybrid organic/inorganic copper oxovanadium diphosphonates [Cu2(phen)2(O3PCH2PO3)(V2O5)(H2O)] x H2O (1) and [(Cu2(phen)2(O3P(CH2)3PO3)(V2O5)] x C3H8 (2) have been obtained by hydrothermal synthesis. The compounds are monoclinic, and they crystallize in the space group P2(1)/n with cell parameters of a = 11.788(2) A, b = 17.887(3) A, c = 14.158(2) A, and beta = 93.99(0) degrees and in the space group C2/c with cell parameters of a = 11.025(1) A, b = 18.664(2) A, c = 15.054(2) A, and beta = 90.06(0) degrees, respectively. Both compounds present two-dimensional frameworks built up from infinite chains of corner-sharing vanadium tetrahedra and diphosphonate groups connected by copper tetramers for (1) and copper dimers for (2). The remarkable feature of (2) is the encapsulation of propane molecules, stabilized by strong hydrogen bonding between the layers. The magnetic properties of the compounds have been investigated showing antiferromagnetic coupling with Tmax = 64 K for (1) and Curie-like paramagnetic behavior for (2).     

Novel tert-butyl-tris(3-hydrocarbylpyrazol-1-yl)borate ligands: synthesis, spectroscopic studies, and coordination chemistry

The lithium (1) and thallium (2) salts of five new tert-butyl-tris(3-hydrocarbylpyrazol-1-yl)borate ligands [t-BuTp(R)]- (R = H, a; Me, b; i-Pr, c; t-Bu, d; Ph, e) have been synthesized and characterized. Because of steric congestion at B, the reaction between t-BuBH3Li x 0.5 Et2O and excess 2,5-dimethylpyrazole Hpz(Me2) afforded the bis-pz(Me2) derivative, Tl[t-BuBH(3,5-Me2pz)2] (3) after metathesis with TlNO3. The compounds were characterized by elemental analysis and NMR spectroscopy. The Li salts 1a and 1c exhibit fluxional behavior on the NMR time scale in solution at room temperature. The solid-state 7Li and 11B NMR spectra of 1c suggest that this salt exists as a mixture of axial and equatorial isomers. The partial hydrolysis of 1d afforded the dimeric Li complex {Li[t-BuB(pz(t-Bu))2(mu-OH)]}2 (4). The crystal structure of 4 shows two Li cations encapsulated by the heteroscorpionate [t-BuB(OH)(3-t-Bupz)2]- ligands. A salt elimination reaction between FeCl2(THF)1.5 and 2 equiv of Li[t-BuTp(R)] (R = H, Me) followed by an in situ one-electron oxidation produced good yields of the homoleptic, paramagnetic low-spin iron(III) complexes [Fe(t-BuTp)2]PF6 (5) and [Fe(t-BuTp(Me))2]PF6 (6) that were characterized by elemental analyses, magnetic susceptibility measurements in solution and the solid phase, 1H NMR, high-resolution mass spectrometry, M?ssbauer spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystals are composed of discrete molecular units with the central Fe(III) ion in an almost perfectly octahedral coordination to six nitrogen atoms. Compound 5 has the shortest Fe-N bond lengths ever reported for [Fe(RTp(R)')2]+-type compounds.