XANES speciation of mercury in three mining districts – Almadén,Asturias (Spain), Idria (Slovenia)

The mobility, bioavailability and toxicity of mercury in the environment strongly depend on the chemical species in which it is present in soil, sediments, water or air. In mining districts, differences in mobility and bioavailability of mercury mainly arise from the different type of mineralization and ore processing. In this work, synchrotron‐based X‐ray absorption near‐edge spectroscopy (XANES) has been taken advantage of to study the speciation of mercury in geological samples from three of the largest European mercury mining districts: Almadén (Spain), Idria (Slovenia) and Asturias (Spain). XANES has been complemented with a single extraction protocol for the determination of Hg mobility. Ore, calcines, dump material, soil, sediment and suspended particles from the three sites have been considered in the study. In the three sites, rather insoluble sulfide compounds (cinnabar and metacinnabar) were found to predominate. Minor amounts of more soluble mercury compounds (chlorides and sulfates) were also identified in some samples. Single extraction procedures have put forward a strong dependence of the mobility with the concentration of chlorides and sulfates. Differences in efficiency of roasting furnaces from the three sites have been found.     

Binding of Ionic Pyrene Derivatives to Polyelectrolytes. A Uv Absorption and Fluorescence Study

Abstract

The binding of pyrenesulfonic acid and pyrenebutyric acid to poly(vinyl benzyl trimethylammonium) chloride was investigated by UV and fluorescence spectroscopy. It was found that the binding constant was 7.5 × 10⁴ and 3.5 × 10⁴M^?1, respectively. The addition of the polyelectrolyte quenches the fluorescence of the pyrene group, and at the same time the typical excimer emission appears. This emission originates in pre-formed ground state aggregates of the pyrene derivatives incorporated into the polyion domain. Similar effects were observed when anionic polyelectrolytes, poly(styrene sulfonic), and poly(vinyl sulfonic) acids were added to cationic pyrene derivatives. The binding constants depend on the length of the aliphatic sidechain of the derivatives.     

Comparison of Three Analytical Methods for the Determination of Quinolones in Pig Muscle Samples

This work presents a comparison between three analytical methods developed for the simultaneous determination of eight quinolones regulated by the European Union (marbofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, enrofloxacin, difloxacin, sarafloxacin, oxolinic acid and flumequine) in pig muscle, using liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (LC–FD), liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The procedures involve an extraction of the quinolones from the tissues, a step for clean–up and preconcentration of the analytes by solid-phase extraction and a subsequent liquid chromatographic analysis. The limits of detection of the methods ranged from 0.1 to 2.1 ng g⁻¹ using LC–FD, from 0.3 to 1.8 using LC–MS and from 0.2 to 0.3 using LC–MS/MS, while inter- and intra-day variability was under 15 % in all cases. Most of those data are notably lower than the maximum residue limits established by the European Union for quinolones in pig tissues. The methods have been applied for the determination of quinolones in six different commercial pig muscle samples purchased in different supermarkets located in the city of Granada (south-east Spain).

     

A Synthesis of Fused Butenoudes

It has been shown that tert-butyldimethylsilylated (Z) 2-carboethoxymethylene cycloalkanols are readily desilylated with concomitant cyclization to give the corresponding butenolides. The (E) isomers are desilylated, but not cyclized under these conditions.     

Use of chromatographic pre-concentration for routine uranium bioassay analysis by ICP-MS

Routine monitoring of urine is an effective way to detect occupational intake of radioactive material. Historically, determinations of uranium isotopic ratios have been performed by radiochemical separation followed by alpha spectrometry. With recent advancements in technology, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has become widely available for the determination of trace metals as well as radioactive nuclides with long half-lives, such as ²³⁸U in urine. Furthermore, ICP-MS measurements of ²³⁸U do not require radiochemical separation since the number of atoms in the sample is determined instead of the number of alpha particles emitted. However, this method does not provide good sensitivity for the determination of ²³⁵U due to its shorter half-life. An improved procedure using pre-concentration of uranium and determination by ICP-MS decreases the detection limit by a factor of ten or greater with only slight increase in total analysis time. The method also has the capability of accurately determining the isotopic ratio of the sample, which is very important in cases where enriched or depleted uranium is involved.     

Selenides and diselenides containing oxadiazoles: a new class of functionalised materials

A simple and efficient procedure for the synthesis of a new class of organoselenium liquid crystal compounds was developed. The coupling of aryl bromides with elemental selenium was catalysed using copper oxide nanopowder in the presence of potassium hydroxide employing dimethyl sulfoxide as the solvent. This is the first report of the synthesis and characterisation of liquid crystal-based diselenides. Their mesophases were characterised by polarising optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Compounds 1, 2 and 4b exhibited the smectic A phase. In addition, these compounds showed weak blue fluorescence in solution (λ_{max. em.} 350–405 nm) and a Stokes shift of around 90 nm.     

Regiospecific synthesis of 1-acetamide-5-methoxy-2-oxindoles in two steps: (Ugi-SN2)/xanthate mediated free radical cyclization

A series of twelve novel 1-acetamide-5-methoxy-2-oxindoles were prepared in moderate to good yields (30–88%) by an Ugi-S_N2 one pot process with a xanthate mediated free radical cyclization. Additionally, Density Functional Theory (DFT) based calculations were performed at UB3LYP/6-311G(d) level in order to rationalize the energy profile of the xanthate mediated free radical cyclization because the benzo-fused γ-lactams (ortho products) were obtained as sole regioisomers over the spiro β-lactams (ipso products).     

On‐line solid‐phase extraction for liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of pesticides

Public concern about pesticides in food and water has increased dramatically in the last two decades. In order to guarantee consumers’ health and safety, analytical methods that could provide fast and reliable answers without compromising accuracy and precision are required. Sample treatment is probably the most tedious and time‐consuming step in many analytical procedures and, despite the significant advances in chromatographic separations and mass spectrometry techniques, sample treatment is still one of the most important parts of the analytical process for achieving good analytical results. Therefore, over the last years, considerable efforts have been made to simplify the stage and to develop fast, accurate, and robust methods that allow the determination of a wide range of pesticides without compromising the integrity of the extraction process. This review article intends to give a short overview of recently developed on‐line solid‐phase extraction, preconcentration, and clean‐up procedures for the determination of pesticides in complex matrices by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry techniques.     

Characterization and optimization of heroin hapten-BSA conjugates: method development for the synthesis of reproducible hapten-based vaccines

A potential new treatment for drug addiction is immunization with vaccines that induce antibodies that can abrogate the addictive effects of the drug of abuse. One of the challenges in the development of a vaccine against drugs of abuse is the availability of an optimum procedure that gives reproducible and high yielding hapten-protein conjugates. In this study, a heroin/morphine surrogate hapten (MorHap) was coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA) using maleimide-thiol chemistry. MorHap-BSA conjugates with 3, 5, 10, 15, 22, 28, and 34 haptens were obtained using different linker and hapten ratios. Using this optimized procedure, MorHap-BSA conjugates were synthesized with highly reproducible results and in high yields. The number of haptens attached to BSA was compared by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) assay, modified Ellman’s test and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Among the three methods, MALDI-TOF MS discriminated subtle differences in hapten density. The effect of hapten density on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) performance was evaluated with seven MorHap-BSA conjugates of varying hapten densities, which were used as coating antigens. The highest antibody binding was obtained with MorHap-BSA conjugates containing 3–5 haptens. This is the first report that rigorously analyzes, optimizes and characterizes the conjugation of haptens to proteins that can be used for vaccines against drugs of abuse. The effect of hapten density on the ELISA detection of antibodies against haptens demonstrates the importance of careful characterization of the hapten density by the analytical techniques described.