An air‐assisted flow‐gating interface for capillary electrophoresis

A new kind of flow gating interface (FGI) has been designed for online connection of CE with flow‐through analytical techniques. The sample is injected into the separation capillary from a space from which the BGE was forced out by compressed air. A drop of sample solution with a volume of 75 nL is formed between the outlet of the delivery capillary supplying the solution from the flow‐through apparatus and the entrance to the CE capillary; the sample is hydrodynamically injected into the CE capillary from this drop. The sample is not mixed with the surrounding BGE solution during injection. The functioning of the proposed FGI is fully automated and the individual steps of the injection process are controlled by a computer. The injection sequence lasts several seconds and thus permits performance of rapid sequential analyses of the collected sample. FGI was tested for the separation of equimolar 50 μM mixture of the inorganic cations K⁺, Ba²⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, and Li⁺ in 50 mM acetic acid/20 mM Tris (pH 4.5) as BGE. The obtained RSD values for the migration times varied in the range 0.7–1.0% and the values for the peak area were 0.7–1.4%; RSD were determined for ten repeated measurements.     

Raman and FTIR spectroscopic characterization of electrochemically synthesized poly(triphenylamine), PTPA

Triphenylamine was electrochemically polymerized in a mixture of toluene and acetonitrile with different electrolyte salts. The poly(triphenylamine) (PTPA) films are insoluble in polar solvents and show high stability and no degradation or loss in electrochemical properties when stored in a laboratory atmosphere. The PTPA films were characterized in situ by FTIR external reflection spectroscopy and by Raman spectroscopy. Electronic Publication     

Dynamic light scattering from ternary polymer blends: critical behavior and bicontinuous microemulsions

We have used dynamic light scattering to study the dynamics of ternary polymer blends consisting of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and poly(ethylethylene) (PEE) homopolymers and a PDMS‐PEE diblock copolymer nearly symmetric in composition. The intensity autocorrelation functions for the binary blend are single‐exponential, and the associated correlation length ξ scales with reduced temperature ϵ in accordance with the Ising universality class (i.e., ξ ∼ ϵ^−ν, with ν = 0.63). An addition of copolymer depresses the critical temperature, but also increases the magnitude of ν. For compositions within the microemulsion channel, ξ exhibits a distinct maximum with decreasing temperature, near the Lifshitz line obtained from the static structure factor. For a particular composition, there is a “re‐entrant” microemulsion, as the system passes into and then out of the phase‐separated region upon cooling.     

Capillary electrophoretic studies of acid-base properties of sanguinarine and chelerythrine alkaloids

Capillary zone electrophoresis with UV detection was used for determination of dissociation constants of alkaloids sanguinarine and chelerythrine. Despite the limited solubility of the uncharged forms of the alkaloids resulting in insufficient analytical signal at higher pH the reliable dissociation constants were obtained when acidified samples containing low amount of the alkaloid were injected into the capillary. The precipitation of the alkaloid in the capillary induced by injecting sample of low pH into the background electrolyte of higher pH does not affect the mobility of the alkaloid if its concentration injected exceeds the solubility only to a small extent. Dissociation constants (pK(R+)) of sanguinarine and chelerythrine calculated to 8.3 +/- 0.1 and 9.2 +/- 0.1, respectively, are relevant to Good buffers of ionic strength of 30 mM.     

Determination of the LOQ in real-time PCR by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis: application to qPCR assays for Fusarium verticillioides and F. proliferatum

Real-time PCR (qPCR) is the principal technique for the quantification of pathogen biomass in host tissue, yet no generic methods exist for the determination of the limit of quantification (LOQ) and the limit of detection (LOD) in qPCR. We suggest using the Youden index in the context of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for this purpose. The LOQ was defined as the amount of target DNA that maximizes the sum of sensitivity and specificity. The LOD was defined as the lowest amount of target DNA that was amplified with a false-negative rate below a given threshold. We applied this concept to qPCR assays for Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum DNA in maize kernels. Spiked matrix and field samples characterized by melting curve analysis of PCR products were used as the source of true positives and true negatives. On the basis of the analysis of sensitivity and specificity of the assays, we estimated the LOQ values as 0.11 pg of DNA for spiked matrix and 0.62 pg of DNA for field samples for F. verticillioides. The LOQ values for F. proliferatum were 0.03 pg for spiked matrix and 0.24 pg for field samples. The mean LOQ values correspond to approximately eight genomes for F. verticillioides and three genomes for F. proliferatum. We demonstrated that the ROC analysis concept, developed for qualitative diagnostics, can be used for the determination of performance parameters of quantitative PCR.     

Intermolecular contact interactions and their temperature dependence

A model, based on inverse gas chromatography experiments, has been developed for intermolecular interaction and its temperature dependence. The model ascribes to each substance a four-component solubility parameter; the four components reflect the van der Waals, polar, electron donor, and electron acceptor interactive properties. Their values depend on temperature in the same manner as does the cohesive energy. The latter was found to depend only on the critical temperature, the acentric factor, and the reduced temperature. The model was used for evaluation of the solubility parameters from polymer-solvent interaction coefficients and their temperature dependence with high accuracy. For binary solventsolvent mixtures, the free energy of mixing and its temperature dependence, as well as enthalpy of mixing can be derived from this model with a good accuracy.     

Ultrathin functional films of titanium(IV) oxide

Chemistry and physics of thin semiconducting layers of various types are subjects of intense research. Especially when nanotechnology methods such as self-assembly are involved, amazing structural and/or functional properties may appear. Also modern physical methods using variously organized plasma arrangements are able to produce uniform structures with distinctive functionality. In this review, based virtually on our own work, discussions on the preparation, structure, morphology, and function of titanium(IV) oxide nanoscopic thin films are presented. It was shown that structurally and functionally similar titanium(IV) oxide films can be prepared via completely different preparation techniques. Function tests were arranged as “primary”, covering the assessment of the light induced charge separation efficiency, and “secondary”, based on photocatalytic surface oxidations.     

CE of inorganic species--a review of methodological advancements over 2009-2010

This article is the seventh in a series examining biannually the methodological developments in the field of CE analysis of inorganic species and covers relevant documents published between January 2009 and December 2010. Following an analysis of the significant accomplishments that have impacted the field in two recent years, a survey of advances in general CE methodology is presented. Subsequently, several notable trends that can be perceived in this well-established field are discussed: the continuing rise of ME and consequent development of suitable detection techniques, most notably contactless conductivity detection, the constant pace of advances in speciation analysis, and an increase in non-analytical CE applications to study complexation and (bio)transformation reactions of metal analytes. A range of recently emerged multi-detection designs, ICP-MS interface devices, and separation systems, for which outpacing work has been conducted, are also brought into focus.     

Determining the absolute configuration of two marine compounds using vibrational chiroptical spectroscopy

Chiroptical techniques are increasingly employed for assigning the absolute configuration of chiral molecules through comparison of experimental spectra with theoretical predictions. For assignment of natural products, electronic chiroptical spectroscopies such as electronic circular dichroism (ECD) are routinely applied. However, the sensitivity of electronic spectral parameters to experimental conditions and the theoretical methods employed can lead to incorrect assignments. Vibrational chiroptical methods (vibrational circular dichroism, VCD, and Raman optical activity, ROA) provide more reliable assignments, although they, in particular ROA, have been little explored for assignments of natural products. In this study, the ECD, VCD, and ROA chiroptical spectroscopies are evaluated for the assignment of the absolute configuration of a highly flexible natural compound with two stereocenters and an asymmetrically substituted double bond, the marine antibiotic Synoxazolidinone A (SynOxA), recently isolated from the sub-Arctic ascidian Synoicum pulmonaria. Conformationally averaged nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), ECD, Raman, ROA, infrared (IR) and VCD spectral parameters are computed for the eight possible stereoisomers of SynOxA and compared to experimental results. In contrast to previously reported results, the stereochemical assignment of SynOxA based on ECD spectral bands is found to be unreliable. On the other hand, ROA spectra allow for a reliable determination of the configuration at the double bond and the ring stereocenter. However, ROA is not able to resolve the chlorine-substituted stereogenic center on the guanidinium side chain of SynOxA. Application of the third chiroptical method, VCD, indicates unique spectral features for all eight SynOxA isomers in the theoretical spectra. Although the experimental VCD is weak and restricted by the limited amount of sample, it allows for a tentative assignment of the elusive chlorine-substituted stereocenter. VCD chiroptical analysis of a SynOxA derivative with three stereocenters, SynOxC, results in the same absolute configuration as for SynOxA. Despite the experimental challenges, the results convincingly prove that the assignment of absolute configuration based on vibrational chiroptical methods is more reliable than for ECD.     

Adiabatic triplet state tautomerization of p-hydroxyacetophenone in aqueous solution

The primary photophysical processes of p-hydroxyacetophenone (HA) and the ensuing proton transfer reactions in aqueous solution were investigated by picosecond pump-probe spectroscopy and nanosecond laser flash photolysis. Previous studies have led to mutually inconsistent conclusions. The combined data allow us to rationalize the excited-state proton transfer processes of HA in terms of a comprehensive, well-established reaction scheme. Following fast and quantitative ISC to the triplet state, (3)HA*, adiabatic proton transfer through solvent water simultaneously forms both the anion, (3)A(-)*, and the quinoid triplet enol tautomer, (3)Q*. The latter subsequently equilibrates with its anion (3)A(-)*. Ionization and tautomerization are likely to compete with the desired release reactions of p-hydroxyphenacyl photoremovable protecting groups.