Electrodeposition of cobalt on stainless steel foils. Preparation of57Co sources for Mössbauer experiments

Conditions for the electrodeposition of⁵⁹Co and⁵⁷Co on stainless steel foils have been studied. A set of electrolytic parameters has been determined to get a reasonably good electrodeposited sample. The⁵⁷Co electrodeposited foil was then introduced in a quartz tube to be annealed in an argon flow. The final product was a 11 Ci Mössbauer source for college experiments which was succesfully tested by obtaining spectra of stainless steel and sodium nitroprusside.     

Differential pulse polarographic determination of salicylaldehyde as its Girard-P derivative

A method for the determination of salicylaldehyde (2 × 10^–6–10^–4 M) by differential-pulse polarography, based on the in situ formation of its Girard-P derivative in aqueous solution at pH 2.5, is proposed. The relative standard deviation was 1.5% (ten determinations of 4 × 10^–5 M level). The applicability of this method was checked in synthetic samples containing salicyl alcohol,o-aminophenol, 2-methylphenol, salicylic acid and 4-aminobenzoic acid.     

Innovations in high-pressure liquid injection technique for gas chromatography: pressurized liquid injection system

In gas chromatography (GC), highly volatile liquefied hydrocarbons are commonly injected using devices such as high-pressure syringes, piston valves, liquid rotary sampling valves, or vaporizing regulators. Although these techniques are adequate in some cases, there are known deficiencies. A new generation of sampling valve has been recently innovated and commercialized. Some of the highlights of the pressurized liquid injection system (PLIS) include compact size, the capability to directly couple to an injection port without the need for preinjection vaporization and transfer lines, and sample sizes ranging from 0.2 to 2.0 micro L. Although the valve has a specification of helium leak-free rating of 82.7 bar (1200 psig), the valve passes a hydrostatic pressure test of up to 414 bar (6000 psig). In the unheated version of PLIS, vaporization of solutes occur mainly because of the sheering effect of carrier gas in combination with thermal energy drawn from an injection port or a heated adaptor. This was found to be adequate for solutes with high to medium volatility of up to nC14 hydrocarbon. A higher molecular weight range of up to nC44 hydrocarbon can be achieved with the implementation of a heated version of PLIS, in which the channel of the shaft can be resistively heated at a rate of up to 400 degrees C/s. With its first introduction in May 2002, PLIS has gained acceptance amongst practitioners in GC because it addresses a key unarticulated need in sample introduction/enrichment and by specifically targeting many deficiencies encountered in contemporary high-pressure injection devices. In this paper, the design and performance of the various valve systems of PLIS, as well as industrial chromatographic applications, is presented.     

Determination of formation constants of hydroxo and carbonate complexes of Pr(3+) in 2 M NaCl at 303 K

The hydrolysis of praseodymium III in 2 M sodium chloride at 303 K was studied. Two methods were used: pH titration followed by a computational refinement and solvent extraction in the presence of a competitive ligand. The hydrolysis constants obtained by pH titration were: logbeta(1,H)=-7.68+/-0.07, logbeta(1,2H)=-15.10+/-0.03, and beta(1,3H)=-23.80+/-0.04. The stability constants of praseodymium carbonate complexes were determined by pH titration as well and were: logbeta(1,CO(2-)(3))=5.94+/-0.08 and logbeta(1,2CO(2-)(3))=11.15+/-0.15. Praseodymium carbonate species were taken into consideration for calculating the first hydrolysis constants by the solvent extraction method and the value obtained was: logbeta(1,H)=-7.69+/-0.27. The values for logbeta(1,H) attained by both methods are the same. The species-distribution diagram was obtained from the stability constants of praseodymium carbonate complexes and hydrolysis products in the conditions of the present work.     

Atmospheric degradation of 2-butanol, 2-methyl-2-butanol, and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol: OH kinetics and UV absorption cross sections

The absolute rate coefficients for the reactions of hydroxyl radical (OH) with 2-butanol (k(1)), 2-methyl-2-butanol (k(2)), and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol (k(3)) were measured as a function of temperature (263-354 K) and pressure (41-193 Torr of He, Ar, and N(2)) by the pulsed laser photolysis/laser-induced fluorescence technique. This work represents the first absolute determination of k(1)(-)k(3) and their temperature dependence. No pressure dependence of the rate coefficients was observed in the range studied. Thus, k(i)(298 K) values (x10(-12) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) with an uncertainty of +/-2sigma) were averaged over the pressure range studied yielding 8.77 +/- 1.46, 3.64 +/- 0.60, and 9.01 +/- 1.00 for 2-butanol (k(1)), 2-methyl-2-butanol (k(2)), and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol (k(3)), respectively. k(1) and k(3) exhibit a slightly negative temperature dependence over the temperature range studied. In contrast, the rate coefficient for the reaction of OH with 2-methyl-2-butanol (k(2)) did not show any temperature dependence. Some deviation of the conventional Arrhenius behavior was clearly observed for k(3). In this case, the best fit to our data was found to be described by the three-parameter expression k(T) = A + B exp(-C/T). The UV absorption cross sections of 2-butanol, 2-methyl-2-butanol, and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol have also been measured at room temperature between 208 and 230 nm. The values reported constitute the first determination of the UV cross sections of those alcohols. Our results are compared with previous studies, when possible, and are discussed in terms of the H-abstraction by OH radicals. The atmospheric implications of these reactions and the photochemistry of these alcohols are also discussed.     

Highly specific spectrophotometric method for palladium(II) determination with 3-(5'-tetrazolylazo)-2,6-Diaminotoluene in the presence of chlorides. Kinetic and equilibrium study of reactions

3-(5'-tetrazolylazo)-2,6-Diaminotoluene (TEADAT, H(3)L(2+)) forms stable 1:1 and 1:2 (metal:ligand) pink-red complexes (lambda(max) 506 and 536 nm) with palladium(II). The apparent molar absorptivity of 1:2 complex is 5.2 x 10(4) 1.mol(-1). cm(-1) at 536 nm. Equilibrium constants beta*(nl) for reactions PdCl(2-)(4) + nH(3)L(2+) right harpoon over left harpoonright harpoon over left harpoon PdCl(4-n) (H(2)L)(2n-2)(n) + n Cl(-) + n H(+) were determined: logbeta*(1) = 4.09 +/- 0.05, logbeta*(2) = 8.40 +/- 0.02, corresponding stability conditional constants of PdCl(3)(H(2)L) and PdCl(2)(H(2)L)(2+)(2) were log beta(1) = 19.03, log beta(2) = 26.74. The formation of complexes was rather slow but could be speeded up considerably by the catalytic effect of trace amounts of thiocyanate. Constant absorbance values were thus reached in 2-5 min. A rapid, sensitive and highly specific method for the determination of palladium(II) at pH 1.42 in 0.25M NACl has been worked out with a detection limit of 0.54 mug. Interference of precious and common metal ions have been studied and the method has been applied for the determination of palladium in Pd asbestos, oakay alloys and various catalysts and for the determination of palladium in precious metals.     

Progress in the realisation of an autonomous environmental monitoring device for ammonia

Progress in the development of a micro-fluidic system for colorimetric monitoring of ammonia in drinking and wastewater is described. The ultimate goal is to have a miniaturised instrument that can produce accurate, reliable measurements, is easy to operate, has minimal power consumption, and can operate autonomously for a year. In this study, the indophenol reaction is incorporated into a simple, reliable analytical micro-fluidic system. Absorbance measurements for the blue ammonia-indophenol complex formed in the micro-fluidic system are shown. A key issue is the limiting stability of hypochlorite, a reagent used in the assay. The effects of hypochlorite concentration and impurities on the stability of hypochlorite are investigated and discussed. Decomposition is shown to be very dependent on the presence of heavy-metal impurities. With low levels of these catalytic metals and careful storage, hypochlorite has been shown to be stable for over a year.     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of cisatracurium and mivacurium in spiked human serum and pharmaceuticals

Spectrofluorimetric methods to determine cisatracurium and mivacurium are proposed and applied to the determination of both substances in human serum and to the determination of mivacurium in pharmaceuticals. The fluorimetric methods allow the determination of 5-500 ng ml(-1) of mivacurium in aqueous solutions and 5-500 ng ml(-1) of cisatracurium in water-acetonitrile solutions, both containing acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.5) with lambda(exc)=230 nm and lambda(em)=324 nm.     

Limited flexibility of lactose detected from residual dipolar couplings using molecular dynamics simulations and steric alignment methods

The conformational flexibility of lactose in solution has been investigated by residual dipolar couplings (RDCs). One-bond carbon-proton and proton-proton coupling constants have been measured in two oriented media and interpreted in combination with molecular dynamics simulations (MD). Two different approaches, known as PALES (Zweckstetter et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 3791-3792) and TRAMITE (Azurmendi et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 2426-2427), have been used to determine the alignment tensor from a shape-induced alignment model with the oriented medium. The steric alignment of the structures from several MD trajectories has provided ensemble averaged RDCs that have been compared with the experimental ones. The obtained results reveal the almost exclusive presence of a major low energy region defined as syn-phi/syn-psi (> 97%), for which sampling occurs in a dynamic manner. This result satisfactorily agrees with that determined by standard NOE-based methods.