The work of ISO-REMCO’s accreditation task group

This paper discusses some of the work of ISO-REMCO’s Task Group 4 (TG4) – the Accreditation TG, giving firstly a brief account of the recently published ISO Guide 34 – which gives guidance on the type of quality system a reference material producer should have in place. Secondly, work on the future development of Guide 34 to produce a document against which it will be possible for producers to be accredited without reference to ISO Guide 25 is discussed, and thirdly, the possible formation of an international register of CRM producers, which will provide users with information about the quality status of different producers, is considered.     

Coordinate Structures of PrIII, GdIII, TmIII, and YbIII Complexes with Nitrilotriacetic Acids

The crystal and molecular structures of the [Pr^III(nta)(H₂O)₂]·H₂O (nta = nitrilotriacetic acids), K₃[Gd^III(nta)₂(H₂O)]·6H₂O, and K₃[Yb^III(nta)₂]·5H₂O complexes have been determined by single-crystal X-ray structure analyses. In [Pr^III(nta)(H₂O)₂]·H₂O, the Pr^IIINO₈ part forms a nine-coordinate pseudo-monocapped square antiprismatic structure in which one N and three O atoms are from one nta ligand in the same molecule, three O atoms from another nta ligand in the neighboring molecule and two O atoms from two coordinate water molecules. In K₃[Gd^III(nta)₂(H₂O)]·6H₂O, the [Gd^III(nta)₂(H₂O)^3- complex anion has a nine-coordinate pseudo-monocapped square antiprismatic structure in which each nta acts as a tetradentate ligand with one N atom of the amino group and three O atoms of the carboxylic groups. In K₃[Yb^III(nta)₂]·5H₂O, each nta also acts as a tetradentate ligand with one N atom of amino group and three O atoms of the carboxylic groups, but the [Yb^III(nta)₂ ^3- complex anion has an eight-coordinate structure with a distorted square antiprismatic prism. All the results including those for [Tm^III(nta)(H₂O)₂]·2H₂O confirm the inferences on the coordinate structures and coordination numbers of rare earth metal complexes with the nta ligand.     

The Effect of Solute Concentration on Equilibrium Partitioning in Polymeric Gels

The effect of solute concentration on the equilibrium partitioning of sphere-like, colloidal solutes in stiff polymer hydrogels is examined theoretically and experimentally. The theoretical development is a statistical mechanics approach, and allows quantitative calculations to be performed to determine the concentration-dependent partition coefficient correct to first order in solute concentration at specific surface charge densities. The theory predicts that repulsive steric and/or electrostatic solute-fiber interactions exclude solute from the gel phase, but that repulsive solute-solute interactions cause partitioning into the gel to increase with increasing solute concentration. These trends are enhanced for larger solutes, increased fiber volume fractions, or stronger electrostatic repulsion. Partition coefficients have also been measured for two proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and alpha-lactalbumin (ALA), in a system consisting of a salt solution and cubes of agarose hydrogel. To investigate the effect of electrostatic interactions, the experiments were performed at 0.15 M KCl and 0.01 M KCl. The theory underpredicts the strong electrostatic repulsion between BSA macromolecules at the lower ionic strength. The experimental results for ALA show the influence of an attractive interaction between the protein macromolecules, in addition to hard-sphere repulsive and electrostatic interactions. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Particles by Suspension Polymerization in Silicon Oil

Molecular imprinting is a method to prepare polymers with recognition site of desired and predetermined selectivity1. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) are prepared by copolymerizing functional and cross-linking monomers in the presence of a molecular …     

Polymer microgels: reactors for semiconductor, metal, and magnetic nanoparticles

We report a strategy for the production of materials with structural hierarchy. The approach employs polymer microgels as templates for the synthesis of semiconductor, metal, or magnetic nanoparticles (NPs). We show that NPs with predetermined dimensions and size-dependent properties can be synthesized by using a very delicate balance between the reaction conditions, the composition and the structure of microgel templates, and the concentration of NPs in the microgel. Postheat treatment of microgels doped with semiconductor nanoparticles reduces NP polydispersity and allows control of their photoluminescence. Microgel templates are particularly beneficial in the synthesis of polymer microspheres heavily loaded with monodisperse superparamagnetic Fe(3)O(4) NPs. Hybrid submicrometer-size microgels have promising potential applications in photonics, catalysis, and separation technologies.     

A novel mimetic enzymatic fluorescence immunoassay for hepatitis B surface antigen by using a thermal phase separating polymer

Iron tetrasulfonatophthalocyanine (FeTSPc), a peroxidase mimic, was used as a labeling reagent and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIP) as the separation support of the immune complex for the mimetic-enzymatic immunoassay of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). PNIP was precipitated from aqueous solution when the ambient temperature was higher than its lower critical solution temperature of 31 degrees C. In a sandwich immunoassay, the antigen (HBsAg) first reacted with mouse anti-human HBsAg antibody immobilized on PNIP (PNIP-antibody) and then further reacted with FeTSPc-labeled mouse anti-HBsAg antibody (antibody-FeTSPc) at room temperature in a homogeneous format. After changing the temperature to separate the PNIP-antibody-HBsAg-antibody-FeTSPc conjugate moiety, it was re-dissolved and determined by coupling with the fluorogenic reaction of hydrogen peroxide and p-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid. The sensitivity of this method (3 ng mL-1) was close to that of the traditional ELISA using the same reactants. However, the assay was much faster (the assay time decreased from 100-120 to 45 min). This method was applied to determine HBsAg in human serum with satisfactory results.     

Fabrication of poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic system based on masters directly printed with an office laser printer

Applications of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based microfluidic systems are more popular nowadays. Previous fabrication methods of the masters for PDMS microchannels require complicated steps and/or special device. In this paper, we demonstrated that the toner printed on the transparency film with the office laser printer (1200 dpi) can be used as the positive relief of the masters. The transparency film was printed in two steps in order to obtain the same printing quality for the crossed lines. With the laser-printed master, the depth of the fabricated PDMS microchannels was ca. 10 microm and the smallest width was ca. 60 microm. Surface characteristics of the PDMS/PDMS microchannels were performed with SEM. Their electrokinetic properties were investigated by the aids of the measurement of electroosmotic flow (EOF) and the Ohm's curve. Using the PDMS/PDMS microchip CE systems, electroactive biological molecules and non-electroactive inorganic ions were well separated, respectively. This simple approach could make it easy to carry out the studies of PDMS microfluidic systems in more general labs without special devices.     

ReO(N2O2)X] complexes: "4 + 1"?

[ReO(ppme)X] (where ppme(2-) is 2,5-diazo-N,N'-dimethylhexyl-1,6-bis(phenylphosphinate), X = Br0.3Cl0.7) has been synthesized via a substitution reaction and structurally characterized. The coordination geometry is a distorted octahedron and one phosphinate coordinates cis and the other trans to the oxo O atom. This coordination mode is conserved in all [ReOppmeX] complexes synthesized in this study. [ReO(ppme)Cl] has been prepared by a reduction/complexation reaction from [NH4][ReO4]. [ReO(ppme)Cl] reacts with thiocyanate and benzene thiolate forming [ReO(ppme)X] (X = (-)NCS, (-)SC6H5), but the one-pot synthesis of the respective ternary thiolate complexes from perrhenate was not successful. The reduction/complexation reaction of a thiol, H2ppmeCl4, and perrhenate resulted in the formation of [H3ppme][ReO(SR)4], the reaction of which with [ReO(ppme)Cl] does not lead to [ReO(ppme)SR] in high yields.     

关于统计学中一个新兴化学分支学科的建立、定义和教育

本文追溯了统计学发展、建立中的大事, 陈述了它的定义及其化学分支发展、建立的梗概; 鉴于化学界对该新兴化学分支学科的名称长期存在争议, 提出了以化学统计学而不以化学计量学为该学科名称的理由, 把化学统计学定义为一个研究有关数据的收集或产生、描述、分析、综合和解释, 以获得新化学知识或信息的学科; 阐明了许多公认属于统计学的方法, 如显著性检验、方差分析、回归和相关, 以及一些尚未认定属于统计学的方法, 如模型建立、蒙特卡罗方法、傅立叶变换和人工神经网络, 都含有统计学5 个内涵中的一个或多个; 探讨了化学统计学家成长的模式, 认为当务之急是把化学统计学纳入化学专业的教学计划, 以培养懂统计学的化学家。     

Study on the isolation, purification and physicochemical properties of polysaccharides from Indocalamus tesselatus

Polysaccharides prepared from Chinese traditional medicine "Ruoye" (Indocalamus tesselatus), a kind of bamboo leaves, were studied. Eight crude polysaccharides were isolated from the dried leaves by successive extraction with 85% ethanol (FE), 0.9% sodium chloride (FS), hot water (FI), 1% ammonium oxalate (FII), 5% NaOH (FIII-a, FIII-b) and 20% NaOH (FIV-a, FIV-b). They were decolorized by hydrogen peroxide treatment and the protein was removed with Savag's method. The polysaccharides were precipitated by three volumes of absolute ethanol. After further purification by gel filtration chromatography on a Sephadex G-200 column, these polysaccharides were lyophilized. Their physicochemical properties and structural feature were elucidated by modern analytical technique such as UV, elemental analysis and high performance gel permeation chromatography. From the results of partial hydrolysis, FE and FIII-b have a main chain comprised solely of glucuronic acid and xylose residues, respectively.