Factors affecting interaction of radiocesium with freshwater solids

The paper aims at the analysis of principal factors affecting the interaction of radiocesium with freshwater solids, important for the migration of radiocesium in rivers. Uptake of radiocesium by bottom sediments and suspended solids from small streams was studied as a function of pH and composition of aqueous phase, of the concentration of cesium in water and of the composition of freshwater solids, using laboratory model experiments. pH had negligible effect on the uptake in the pH range 5–9, the uptake decreased at pH values less than 3–5 depending on the nature and concentration of the solids. Addition of cations suppressed the uptake in the order K⁺>Na⁺>Ca²⁺, the suppression began at 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 mol.dm^?3 concentration, respectively. Increase in cesium concentration in water caused a decrease of radiocesium uptake, but at very low concentrations of cesium combined with higher concentration of sediment (2g·dm^?3) the uptake was independent of cesium concentration. Removal of carbonates, oxidic coatings and organic matter from a sediment did not affect the sorption properties of the sediment. The nature of the effects found confirms that cesium is sorbed mainly by clay components of freshwater solids. Results obtained are compared with literature data and conclusions are drawn on the importance of the factors studied for modelling of radiocesium migration in rivers.     

synthesis and properties of β-brominated metal complexes of meso-triphenylcorrole

Spectral properties and chemical stability of Mn(III), Mn(IV), Fe(III), Fe(IV), and Cu(III) complexes of β-octabromotriphenylcorrole [(β-Br)₈(ms-Ph)₃Cor], synthesized from β-unsubstituted compounds by their reaction with molecular bromine, were studied. Cyclic voltammetry, electron microscopy, and X-ray spectral microanalysis were used to obtain electrochemical characteristics of metal corroles M(β-Br)₈(ms-Ph)₃Cor and gain insight into the surface texture of active catalysts on the basis of metal corroles. The electron-acceptor β-bromine substitution in the MCor macrocycle shifts the equilibrium in electron-donor solvents to lower oxidation states of the metals and also stabilizes manganese and destabilizes copper complexes in the protondonor medium HOAc-H₂SO₄. The electrocatalytic activity of the complexes in the reduction of molecular oxygen depends on the nature of the ligand and increases in the order Mn ≤ Cu ? Fe in the case of β-octabrominated macrocycles. The character of distribution of active centers on the surface of the catalysts was established for the first time.     

Reversible Uptake of COS,CS2, and SO2: Ionic Liquids with O‐Alkylxanthate,O‐Alkylthiocarbonyl,and O‐Alkylsulfite Anions

CO₂‐binding organic liquids (CO₂BOLs) are mixtures of a base (typically an amidine or guanidine) and an alcohol, and have been shown to reversibly capture and release CO₂ with low reaction energies and high gravimetric CO₂ capacity. We now report the ability of such liquid blends to chemically bind and release other acid gases such as CS₂, COS, and SO₂ analogously to CO₂. These systems bind with sulfur‐containing acid gases to form colored ionic liquids with new O‐alkylxanthate, O‐alkylthiocarbonyl, and O‐alkylsulfite anions. The capture and thermal stripping of each acid gas from these systems and their applicability towards flue gas desulfurization is discussed.     

Flow injection analysis of angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory activity with enzymatic reactors

Assay of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity always draws much attention because of diverse applications in the field of antihypertension and related pathogenesis. Recently, the use of a new synthetic substrate, 3-hydroxybutyrylglycyl-glycyl-glycine (3HB-GGG), for the assay of ACE inhibitory activity has been confirmed. To construct a rapid, economical, and automatic determination system of ACE inhibitory activity using 3HB-GGG, a flow injection analysis (FIA) system with enzymatic reactors was developed in this study. Enzyme reactors were composed of aminoacylase and 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase immobilized separately on CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. The assay condition was optimized in terms of the conversion of 3HB-G into NADH by the enzymatic reactors when the reaction solution containing 3HB-G generated from 3HB-GGG (after the incubation with ACE) was repetitively injected into the FIA system. Under the optimized conditions, 3HB-G was converted to 3HB, and then 3HB was oxidized by NAD⁺ to form NADH. The developed system successfully detected practical ACE inhibitors with a great sensitivity, high sampling frequency (10 samples h⁻¹) and a durable stability of the enzymatic reactors.     

Gas-phase fragmentation of long-lived cysteine radical cations formed via no loss from protonated S-nitrosocysteine

In this work, we describe two different methods for generating protonated S-nitrosocysteine in the gas phase. The first method involves a gas-phase reaction of protonated cysteine with t-butylnitrite, while the second method uses a solution-based transnitrosylation reaction of cysteine with S-nitrosoglutathione followed by transfer of the resulting S-nitrosocysteine into the gas phase by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Independent of the way it was formed, protonated S-nitrosocysteine readily fragments via bond homolysis to form a long-lived radical cation of cysteine (Cys^•+), which fragments under collision-induced dissociation (CID) conditions via losses in the following relative abundance order: •COOH ≫ CH₂S > •CH₂SH-H₂S. Deuterium labeling experiments were performed to study the mechanisms leading to these pathways. DFT calculations were also used to probe aspects of the fragmentation of protonated S-nitrosocysteine and the radical cation of cysteine. NO loss is found to be the lowest energy channel for the former ion, while the initially formed distonic Cys^•+ with a sulfur radical site undergoes proton and/or H atom transfer reactions that precede the losses of CH₂S, •COOH, •CH₂SH, and H₂S.     

Identification of chemicals and their metabolites from PHY906, a Chinese medicine formulation,in the plasma of a patient treated with irinotecan and PHY906 using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS)

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is increasingly being used in combination with Western medicine. In general, TCM is comprised of multiple components in sharp contrast to Western medicine, where a single active chemical is used. Presently, there are no well-established standards for most of the chemical compounds of TCM and their respective metabolites. Moreover, there are no formal analytical methods for the identification of these chemicals, especially in trace amounts. The ability to measure the pharmacokinetic behaviors of chemicals and their metabolites from these herbal formulations are critical in understanding of the action of TCM. This paper describes the use of LC/MS/MS along with enzyme treatments and n-octanol/water partition coefficient, to investigate the chemical components of PHY906 and their metabolites in the plasma of a patient with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treated with irinotecan and PHY906. The chemicals from an aqueous extract of PHY906 and the plasma from a patient was prepared and separated on an Agilent ZORBAX-SB C₁₈ column, and eluted with acetonitrile/0.05% (v/v) formic acid. From the PHY906 aqueous extract, a total of 57 compounds and 27 metabolites were identified and tentatively assigned structures based on their identified mass spectrometry, enzyme digestion and n-octanol/water partition coefficient. In contrast, analysis of patient plasma identified only 33 chemicals and new metabolites. These findings demonstrated that LC/MS/MS was and effective and reliable method for studying the parent chemicals of the Chinese herbal medicine PHY906 and their metabolites in a patient with metastatic colorectal cancer.     

Simple Biosensor with High Selectivity and Sensitivity: Thiol‐Specific Biomolecular Probing and Intracellular Imaging by AIE Fluorogen on a TLC Plate through a Thiol–Ene Click Mechanism

A handy, specific, sensitive bioprobe has been developed. Tetraphenylethene (TPE) was functionalized by a maleimide (MI) group, giving a TPE‐MI adduct that was nonemissive in both solution and the solid state. It was readily transformed into a fluorogen showing an aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) property by the click addition of thiol to its MI pendant. The click reaction and the AIE effect enabled TPE‐MI to function as a thiol‐specific bioprobe in the solid state. Thus, the spot of TPE‐MI on a TLC plate became emissive when it had been exposed to L ‐cysteine, an amino acid containing a thiol group, but remained nonemissive when exposed to other amino acids that lack free thiol units. The thiol‐activated emission was rapid and strong, readily detected by the naked eye at an analyte concentration as low as approximately 1 ppb, thanks to the “lighting up” nature of the bioprobing process. Similarly, the emission of TPE‐MI was turned on only by the proteins containing free thiol units, such as glutathione. Clear fluorescence images were taken when living cells were stained by using TPE‐MI as a visualization agent, affording a facile fluorescent maker for mapping the distribution of thiol species in cellular systems.