Microwave assisted digestion of atmospheric aerosol samples followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry determination of trace elements

A microwave digestion method in a closed vessel was developed for the determination of trace metals in atmospheric aerosols using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A recovery study for the elements V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Sb, and Pb was conducted using multi-elemental standard solutions, NIST 1633b Trace Elements in Coal Fly Ash, and NIST 1648 Urban Particulate Matter. A simple digestion method using only HNO3/H2O2 gave good recoveries (90%-108%) for all elements except Cr in SRM 1648, but yielded low recoveries for SRM 1633b. A more robust method using HNO3/H2O2/HF/H3BO3 yielded higher recoveries (82%-103%) for the lighter elements (V-Zn) in SRM 1633b, and improved the Cr recovery in SRM 1648, but decreased the Se recovery in both SRMs. A comparative analysis of aerosol samples obtained at a remote mountain location Nathiagali, Pakistan (2.5 km above mean sea level), and Mayville, New York, downwind from the highly industrialized Midwestern United States, was carried out using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) for the elements Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, As, Se, and Sb. The simple digestion method yielded excellent agreement for Cr, Fe, Zn, As, Se, and Sb, with slopes of the ICP-MS vs. INAA regressions of 0.90-1.00 and R2 values of 0.96-1.00. The regressions for Mn and Co had slopes of 0.82 and 0.84 with R2 values of 0.83 and 0.82, respectively. Addition of HF/H3BO3 did not improve the correlation for any of the elements and degraded the precision somewhat. The technique provides sensitivity and accuracy for trace elements in relatively small aerosol samples used in atmospheric chemistry studies related to SO2 oxidation in cloud droplets. The ability to determine concentrations of a very large number of elements from a single analysis will permit source apportionment of various trace pollutants and hence strategies to control the sources of air pollution. This is particularly important as the health effects of particulate matter are increasingly recognized.     

Synthesis of highly reactive polyisobutylene by selective polymerization with o‐cresol/AlCl3 initiating system

Highly reactive polyisobutylenes (HRPIBs) with very large proportion (up to 95 mol%) of exo‐double bond end groups and number average molecular weight (M_n) of 5400–8500 Dalton (Da) could be successfully synthesized by the selective cationic polymerization of isobutylene (IB) from the mixed C₄ fraction feed using o‐cresol/AlCl₃ as initiating system at ?20°C. A possible mechanism was proposed for the cationic polymerization process. The presence of large weakly coordinating counteranion in propagating species could lead to decreasing the possibility of the side transfer reactions via carbenium ion arrangements. This o‐cresol/AlCl₃ initiating system exhibited extremely high selectivity toward IB polymerization in the mixed C₄ fraction feed and a good property for rapid β‐proton abstraction from ? C H ₃ in the growing polyisobutylenes (PIBs) chain ends. High extent of α‐double bond end groups in HRPIBs prepared in the mixed C₄ fraction feed could be comparable to that in those commercially produced by cationic polymerization of IB in inert solvent (e.g. hexane). To our knowledge, this is the first example to achieve HRPIBs via completely selective polymerization of IB from C₄ mixed feed with AlCl₃‐based initiating system, providing a potentially practical process for its simplicity and low costs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis,Crystal Structure,and Electrochemical Properties of One Polyoxometalate-Based Silver(I) Compound with Keggin-Type [PW<Subscript>12</Subscript>O<Subscript>40</Subscript>]<Superscript>3−</Superscript> Anions

One polyoxometalate-based silver(I) compound [Ag(2,2'-Bipy)₂]₃(PW₁₂O₄₀) (I) (2,2'-Bipy = 2,2'- bipyridine) has been synthesized and structurally characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, XRPD and X-ray single-crystal structure analysis (CIF file CCDC no. 1572216). Compound I exhibits a crystalline three-dimentional supramolecular framework constructed by Ag-2,2'-Bipy coordination units and [PW₁₂O₄0]^3? template anions, in which there are multiform π...π interactions and hydrogen bonds. The cyclic voltammetric experiments show that compound I displays a good electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of nitrite.     

Syntheses,Structures, and Properties of Two Coordination Polymers Based on 2-Pyrimidineamidoxime

Two coordination polymers, {[Cd(L¹)₂(L₂)] · 0.25H₂O} _n (I) and {[Cd(L¹)(L₃)H₂O] · 2H₂O} _n (II) (L¹ = 2-pyrimidineamidoxime, L² = 4-sulfobenzoate dianion and L³ = 5-sulfosalicylate dianion), has been synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (CIF files CCDC nos. 1565646 (I) and 1565728 (II)). Complex I crystallizes in monoclinic space group P2₁/n with a = 10.1462(3), b = 16.0152(5), c = 14.0349(5) Å, β = 93.267(3)°, V = 2276.87(13) ų, C₆₈H₆₆N₃₂O₂₉S₄Cd₄, M = 2373.36, ρ_calcd = 1.731 g/cm³, μ(MoK_α) = 1.109 mm^?1, F(000) = 1186, GOOF = 0.806, Z = 1, the final R¹ = 0.0287 and wR² = 0.0733 for I > 2σ(I). Complex II crystallizes in monoclinic space group P2₁ with a = 6.882(2), b = 17.138(2), c = 7.883(2) Å, β = 103.83(3)°, V = 902.8(4) ų, C₁₂H₁₆N₄O₁₀SCd, M = 520.75, ρ_calcd = 1.916 g/cm³, μ(MoK_α) = 1.388 mm^?1, F(000) = 520, GOOF = 1.047, Z = 2, the final R¹ = 0.0739 and wR² = 0.2041 for I > 2σ(I). Crystal structural analysis reveals that complex I possesses the corrugated 1D chain structure extending along the \([\bar 101]\) direction. However, complex II displays a 2D coordination network lying on the ab crystal plane, which can be simplified as a binodal 3-connected 6³ topological network by considering Cd²⁺ ions and L³ ligands as 3-connected nodes. Their photoluminescent and thermal properties were also investigated.     

Syntheses and luminescence of three lanthanide complexes constructed by flexible carboxylate ligand

Three new complexes, namely {[Ln(L)₃(2,2′-Bipy)] _n · H₂O} (Ln = Pr (I), Sm (II), and Nd (III)) (HL = 3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid), have been synthesized and structurally characterized. The structural determinations indicated (CIF files CCDC nos. 1472729 (I), 1472730 (II), 1472734 (III)) that I–III have similar dinuclear structures, which can be further linked into 2D sheet via the hydrogen bond interactions. Furthermore, the luminescent properties of I–III show the strong emissive power and feature.     

Fast screening of anabolic steroids and other banned doping substances in human urine by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A fast and sensitive method for the comprehensive screening of anabolic agents and other banned doping substances using gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) with an external ionization ion trap mass spectrometer is presented. The method takes advantage of the resolving power of MS/MS to eliminate background interferences, thus speeding up the chromatographic analysis. For each compound, different fragmentation reactions were studied and their collision energies optimized to obtain the best sensitivity in terms of their signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). A dramatic reduction in overall analysis time was achieved compared with other common approaches. More than 50 substances could finally be monitored in less than 7.4 min with detection limits (S/N >3) lower than 0.5 ng ml(-1) for most of the compounds with special sensitivity requirements according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). A validation procedure for qualitative analysis was performed. The selectivity of the method showed that no interfering peaks were observed at the retention time of the analytes. Good intermediate precision, below 25% for most of the compounds, and robustness were observed. The optimized method was successfully applied to analyse more than 100 real human urine samples with optimum sensitivity and specificity rates.     

New liquid‐crystal alignment agents based on fluorinated polyimides with trifluoromethyl‐substituted benzene or diphenylether in the side chain

Fluorinated copolyimides derived from 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA) with 4,4′‐oxydianline (ODA) and trifluoromethyl‐containing aromatic diamines have been synthesized and characterized. The trifluoromethyl‐containing diamines include 2,4‐diamino‐3′‐trifluoromethylazobenzene, 2,4‐diamino‐1‐[(4′‐trifluoromethylphenoxy) phenyl] aniline, 3,5‐diamino‐1‐[(4′‐trifluoromethylphenoxy) phenyl] benzamide, 3,5‐diamino‐1‐[(3′‐trifluoromethyl) phenyl] benzamide, 1,4‐bis(4′‐aminophenoxy)‐2‐(3′‐trifluoromethylphenyl) benzene, 3,5‐diaminobenzenetrifluoride, 4,4′‐diamino‐4″‐(p‐trifluoromethyl phenoxy) triphenylamine, and 4‐[(4′‐trifluoromethylphenoxy) phenyl]‐2,6‐bis(4″‐aminophenyl)pyridine. Strong and flexible copolyimide films, produced by casting the polyamic acid solution followed by thermal imidization, exhibited great thermal stability and high mechanical properties. The polyimides had an ultraviolet–visible absorption cutoff at 330–340 nm and pretilt angles as high as 20° for nematic liquid crystals, making them great potential candidates for advanced liquid‐crystal display applications. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1583–1593, 2002