Development and application of an ultratrace method for speciation of organotin compounds in cryogenically archived and homogenized biological materials

An accurate, ultra-sensitive and robust method for speciation of mono, di, and tributyltin (MBT, DBT, and TBT) by speciated isotope-dilution gas chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SID-GC-ICPMS) has been developed for quantification of butyltin concentrations in cryogenic biological materials maintained in an uninterrupted cryo-chain from storage conditions through homogenization and bottling. The method significantly reduces the detection limits, to the low pg g(-1) level (as Sn), and was validated by using the European reference material (ERM) CE477, mussel tissue, produced by the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements. It was applied to three different cryogenic biological materials-a fresh-frozen mussel tissue (SRM 1974b) together with complex materials, a protein-rich material (whale liver control material, QC03LH03), and a lipid-rich material (whale blubber, SRM 1945) containing up to 72% lipids. The commutability between frozen and freeze-dried materials with regard to spike equilibration/interaction, extraction efficiency, and the absence of detectable transformations was carefully investigated by applying complementary methods and by varying extraction conditions and spiking strategies. The inter-method results enabled assignment of reference concentrations of butyltins in cryogenic SRMs and control materials for the first time. The reference concentrations of MBT, DBT, and TBT in SRM 1974b were 0.92 +/- 0.06, 2.7 +/- 0.4, and 6.58 +/- 0.19 ng g(-1) as Sn (wet-mass), respectively; in SRM 1945 they were 0.38 +/- 0.06, 1.19 +/- 0.26, and 3.55 +/- 0.44 ng g(-1), respectively, as Sn (wet-mass). In QC03LH03, DBT and TBT concentrations were 30.0 +/- 2.7 and 2.26 +/- 0.38 ng g(-1) as Sn (wet-mass). The concentration range of butyltins in these materials is one to three orders of magnitude lower than in ERM CE477. This study demonstrated that cryogenically processed and stored biological materials are a promising alternative to conventional freeze-dried materials for organotin speciation analysis, because these are, at present, the best conditions for minimizing degradation of thermolabile species and for long-term archival. Finally, the potential of the analytical method was illustrated by analysis of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leuca) liver samples that had been collected in the Arctic and archived at the Marine Environmental Specimen Bank. Significant concentrations of butyltin compounds were found in the samples and provide the first evidence of the presence of this class of contaminant in the Arctic marine ecosystem. Figure Eye catch image.     

Certification of methylmercury content in two fresh-frozen reference materials: SRM 1947 Lake Michigan fish tissue and SRM 1974b organics in mussel tissue (Mytilus edulis)

This paper describes the development of two independent analytical methods for the extraction and quantification of methylmercury from marine biota. The procedures involve microwave extraction, followed by derivatization and either headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated silica fiber or back-extraction into iso-octane. The identification and quantification of the extracted compounds is carried out by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (GC/ICP-MS) detection. Both methods were validated for the determination of methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in a variety of biological standard reference materials (SRMs) including fresh-frozen tissue homogenates of SRM 1946 Lake Superior fish tissue and SRM 1974a organics in mussel tissue (Mytilus edulis) and then applied to the certification effort of SRM 1947 Lake Michigan fish tissue and SRM 1974b organics in mussel tissue (Mytilus edulis). While past certifications of methylmercury in tissue SRMs have been based on two independent methods from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and participating laboratories, the methods described within provide improved protocols and will allow future certification efforts to be based on at least two independent analytical methods within NIST.     

Three-phase contact parameters measurements for silica-mixed cationic–anionic surfactant systems

The stability and interactions in thin wetting films between the silica surface and air bubble containing (a) straight chain C₁₀ amine and (b) cationic/anionic surfactant mixture of a straight chain C₁₀ amine with sodium C₈, C₁₀ and (straight chain) C₁₂ sulfonates, were studied using the microscopic thin wetting film method developed by Platikanov [D. Platikanov, J. Phys. Chem. 68 (1964) 3619]. Film lifetimes, three-phase contact (TPC) expansion rate, receding contact angles and surface tension were measured. The presence of the mixed cationic/anionic surfactants was found to lessen contact angles and suppresses the thin aqueous film rupture, thus inducing longer film lifetime, as compared to the pure amine system. In the case of mixed surfactants heterocoagulation could arise through the formation of positively charged interfacial complexes. Mixed solution of cationic and anionic surfactants shows synergistic lowering in surface tension. The formation of the interfacial complex at the air/solution interface was confirmed by surface tension data. It was also shown, that the chain length compatibility between the anionic and cationic surfactants system controls the strength of the interfacial complex. The observed phenomena were discussed in terms of the electrostatic heterocoagulation theory, where the interactions can be attractive or repulsive depending on the different surface activity and charge of the respective surfactants at the two interfaces.     

The synthesis, spectroscopic, electrochemical and X-ray diffraction characterization of novel bridged ferrocene precursors for use in self-assembled monolayers

The synthesis of 1,6-diferrocenylhexane-1,6-dione (I), 1-ferrocenylcarbonyl-2-ferrocenylcyclopentene (II) and 1,6-diferrocenylhexane (III) is reported. All three compounds were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and infra-red spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Compounds I and III each exhibit a single two electron transfer, while compound (II) exhibits two single electron transfers. Compounds (I) and (II) were further studied by single crystal X-ray diffraction. In compound (I), both carbonyl groups are in plane with the adjacent ferrocenyl Cp ring. For compound (II) one of the ferrocenyl Cp rings is coplanar with the carbonyl group, the other with the double bond of the cyclopentene ring, but the CO moiety and the double bond are basically perpendicular to each other.     

The role of the surfactant head group in the emulsification process: Single surfactant systems

To clarify the effect of the surfactant head group on the emulsification process, dilute dodecane in water emulsions were prepared in a small flow-through cell with three surfactants which had the same hydrocarbon tail length but different head groups. The different surfactants types were (a) a nonionic, hexa(ethyleneglycol) mono n-dodecyl ether (C12E6), (b) an anionic, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and (c) a cationic, n-dodecyl pyridinium chloride (DPC), and the emulsions were prepared under the same conditions. From dynamic light scattering measurements, it was shown that the mean steady state droplet size of the emulsions (obtained after 20 min dispersion) could be related to the interfacial tension at concentrations in the region of the cmc. This result was in agreement with laminar and turbulent viscous flow theory. However, the particle size versus surface tension data for the different surfactant systems did not fall on a single line. This behavior suggested that the surfactant played a secondary role in defining the droplet size (in addition to reducing the interfacial tension) possibly through diffusion and relaxation, during deformation of the interface. In addition, it was found that the values of the equilibrium "surfactant packing densities" of the different surfactants at the oil/water interface were almost equal near the cmc, but the mean droplet size and the interfacial tension at the cmc decreased following the order DPC>SDS>C12E6 .     

Gallium hydride complexes stabilised by multidentate alkoxide ligands: precursors to thin films of Ga2O3 at low temperatures

The donor-functionalised alkoxides {Me(3-x)N(CH(2)CH(2)O)(x)} (L(x); x = 1, 2) have been used to form gallium hydride complexes [{GaH(2)(L(1))}(2)] and [{GaH(L(2))}(2)] that are stable and isolable at room temperature. Along with a heteroleptic gallium tris(alkoxide) complex [Ga(L(1))(3)] and the dimeric complex [{GaMe(L(2))}(2)], these compounds have been used as single-source precursors for the deposition of Ga(2)O(3) by aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) with toluene as solvent. The resulting films were mostly transparent, indicating low levels of carbon contamination, and they were also mainly amorphous. However, [Ga(L(1))(3)] did contain visibly crystalline material deposited at a substrate temperature of 450?°C, by far the lowest ever observed for the CVD of gallium oxide.     

Multinuclear copper(I) guanidinate complexes

A series of multinuclear Copper(I) guanidinate complexes have been synthesized in a succession of reactions between CuCl and the lithium guanidinate systems Li{L} (L = Me(2)NC((i)PrN)(2) (1a), Me(2)NC(CyN)(2) (1b), Me(2)NC((t)BuN)(2)(1c), and Me(2)NC(DipN)(2) (2d) ((i)Pr = iso-propyl, Cy = cyclohexyl, (t)Bu = tert-butyl, and Dip = 2,6-disopropylphenyl) made in situ, and structurally characterized. The di-copper guanidinates systems with the general formula [Cu(2){L}(2)] (L = {Me(2)NC((i)PrN)(2)} (2a), {Me(2)NC(CyN)(2)} (2b), and {Me(2)NC(DipN)(2)} (2d) differed significantly from related amidinate complexes because of a large torsion of the dimer ring, which in turn is a result of transannular repulsion between adjacent guanidinate substituents. Attempts to synthesis the tert-butyl derivative [Cu(2){Me(2)NC((t)BuN)(2)}(2)] result in the separate formation and isolation of the tri-copper complexes [Cu(3){Me(2)NC((t)BuN)(2)}(2)(μ-NMe(2))] (3c) and [Cu(3){Me(2)NC((t)BuN)(2)}(2)(μ-Cl)] (4c), both of which have been unambiguously characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Closer inspection of the solution state behavior of the lithium salt 1c reveals a previously unobserved equilibrium between 1c and its starting materials, LiNMe(2) and N,N'-di-tert-butyl-carbodiimide, for which activation enthalpy and entropy values of ΔH(?) = 48.2 ± 18 kJ mol(-1) and ΔS(?) = 70.6 ± 6 J/K mol have been calculated using 1D-EXSY NMR spectroscopy to establish temperature dependent rates of exchange between the species in solution. The molecular structures of the lithium complexes 1c and 1d have also been determined and shown to form tetrameric and dimeric complexes respectively held together by Li-N and agostic Li···H-C interactions. The thermal chemistry of the copper complexes have also been assessed by thermogravimetric analysis.     

Nuclear stopping power in αα anddd collisions

Inelasticαα anddd collisions were studied at a centre-of-mass energy √S _NN=31.2 GeV per nucleon-nucleon collision, using the Split-Field Magnet (SFM) detector at the CERN ISR. In this paper we show the inclusive and semi-inclusive rapidity distributions of protons, compare them with predictions of the Lund model, and calculate the average rapidity loss for participant protons. From the negative particles we calculate the inelasticity of the interaction, the average energy per particle, and the degree of isotropy of the produced hadrons.     

Free radical reactions for heterocycle synthesis. Part 6: 2-Bromobenzoic acids as building blocks in the construction of nitrogen heterocycles

A general method to construct a variety of nitrogen heterocycles is introduced. 2-Bromobenzoic acids or acid chlorides are used as the common building blocks to couple with appropriate nitrogen-containing compounds. Sequential aryl radical cyclizations including conjugate additions, spirocyclizations, homolytic and ipso aromatic substitutions, and 1,5-hydrogen atom transfers are employed to prepare tri- and tetracyclic isoindolinones, benzolactams, isoquinolinones, azabenzoisocoumarins, and bridged-azabicyclic compounds.