Dithia-crown-annelated tetrathiafulvalene disulfides: synthesis, electrochemistry, self-assembled films, and metal ion recognition

The synthesis and electrochemistry of a series of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) and dithia-crown-TTF derivatives attached with one or two disulfide group(s) 7a-f are reported. The self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of these TTF disulfides on gold were prepared and characterized by reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy. The SAMs are extremely stable under a wide variety of conditions and over extended periods of time and show remarkable electrochemical stability upon repeated potential scans. SAMs of the crown-TTF disulfides 7c,d,f can recognize alkali metal ions, and the process can be monitored following the electrochemical potential shift of the surface-confined TTF group.     

Single-sweep polarography of the copper(II)-3-hydroxy-1-p-sulphonatophenyl-3-phenyltriazene complex and its analytical applications

A polarographic investigation of the copper-3-hydroxy-1-p-sulphonatophenyl-3-phenyltriazene (HSPT) complex in 0.05 M sodium tetraborate medium is described and a simple and sensitive single-sweep polarographic method for the determination of trace amounts of copper in biological samples is proposed. The complex was shown to be Cu(HSPT)2 with log beta' = 11.38. The polarographic wave is caused by the reduction of copper(II) in the adsorbed complex to copper amalgam on the surface of a mercury electrode. The current peak is directly proportional to the concentration of copper in the range 8.0 x 10(-9)-4.0 x 10(-6) M and the detection limit is 5.0 x 10(-9) M.     

New Host Molecules with Imidazoliums as Functional Arms:Syntheses and Anion Recognition

The bridged tri-imidazoliums 3.3X^--5.3X^-(X^-=PF6^-,Br^-,I^-)and bis-imidazoliums 6.2PF6^- were synthesized by N-quaternization of imidazole derivative 1 in acetonitrile under reflux.UV spectroscopic titration experiments showed that the halide salts and hexafluorophosphate salts of these imidazoliums exhibited good recognition toward anions in water and in acetonitrile,respectively.     

Capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection of curcumin in Chinese herbal medicine pretreated by solid-phase extraction

In the present study, curcumin from Chinese herbal medicine turmeric was determined by capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection (CE-AD) pretreated by a self-designed, simple, inexpensive solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge based on the material of tributyl phosphate resin. An average concentration factor of 9 with the recovery of > 80% was achieved when applied to the analysis of curcumin in extracts of tumeric. Under the optimized CE-AD conditions: a running buffer composed of 15 mM phosphate buffer at a pH 9.7, separation voltage at 16 kV, injection for 6 s at 9 kV and detection at 1.20 V, CE-AD with SPE exhibited low detection limit as 3 x 10(-8) mol/l (S/N = 3), high efficiency of 1.0 x 10(5) N, linear range of 7 x 10(-4) -3 x 10(-6) mol/l (r = 0.9986) for curcumin extracted from light petroleum. The method developed resulted in enhancement of the detection sensitivity and reduction of interference from sample matrix in complicated samples and exhibited the potential application for routine analysis, especially in food, because a relatively complete process of sample treatment and analysis was described.     

The intercalation of cetyltrimethylammonium cations into muscovite by a two-step process: II. The intercalation of cetyltrimethylammonium cations into Li-muscovite

The alkylammonium cations were successively intercalated into the interlayer of muscovite. It was achieved by inorganic-organic ion exchange in the hydrothermal reaction of the LiNO₃-treated muscovite with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide solution. One-dimensional Patterson plots and electron density calculations show that hydrated Li⁺ and CTA⁺ cations entered the interlayer of muscovite successively. The CTA⁺-intercalated muscovite was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and elemental analysis, in conjunction with FTIR, nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray photoelectron spectra, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, etc. The experiments show that organo-muscovite composite with ordered structure has been obtained. The CTA⁺ headgroups are distributed in the interlayer uniformly. However, the arrangement and conformation of CTA⁺ chains are strongly dependent upon the reaction temperature. At lower reaction temperature, the chains of CTA⁺ ions adopt a little more disordered arrangement and have higher gauche/trans conformer ratio, resulting in the disturbance to the interlayer symmetry. Whereas at higher reaction temperature, the sample with paraffin-like arrangement of CTA⁺ chains could be obtained, in which the methylene chains of CTA⁺ adopt a fully stretched, all-trans conformation.     

利用压电频移法测定水中的痕量亚硝酸盐

提出了利用压电频移法测定亚硝酸盐的方法。方法以碘离子与亚硝酸根之间的氧化还原反应为依据，通过测定由反应生成的碘所引起的压电晶体频率的变化，在被萃取水相中亚硝酸盐浓度为０．００９￣２．３ｍｇ／Ｌ范围内，频移值与浓度成正比：ΔＦ＝５．８＋２．５×１０＾３Ｃ（ｍｇ／Ｌ），ｒ＝０．９９０１。方法简便，用于天然水中亚硝酸盐的测定，结果令人满意。     

Effect of deacetylation rate on gelation kinetics of konjac glucomannan

Effect of deacetylation rate on the gelation behaviors on addition of sodium carbonate for native and acetylated konjac glucomannan (KGM) samples with a degree of acetylation (DA) range of 1.38-10.1 wt.% synthesized using acetic anhydride in the presence of pyridine as catalyst was studied by dynamic viscoelastic measurements. At a fixed alkaline concentration (C(Na)), both the critical gelation times (t(cr)) and the plateau values of storage moduli (G'(sat)) of the KGM gels increased with increasing DA. While at a fixed ratio of alkaline concentrations to values of DA (C(Na)/DA), the similar t(cr) and (G'(sat)) values independent of DA were observed. On the whole, increasing KGM concentration or temperature shortened the gelation time and enhanced the elastic modulus for KGM gel. The effect of deacetylation rate related to the C(Na)/DA on the gelation kinetics of the KGM samples were discussed.     

Direct optical detection of singlet oxygen from a single cell

Singlet oxygen has been detected in single nerve cells by its weak 1270 nm phosphorescence (a1deltag --> X3sigmag-) upon irradiation of a photosensitizer incorporated in the cell. Thus, one can now consider the application of direct optical imaging techniques to mechanistic studies of singlet oxygen at the single-cell level.     

Thermal degradation of wood treated with guanidine compounds in air: Flammability study

Wood has been treated with guanidine phosphate, guanidine nitrate, guanidine carbonate and guanidine chloride to impart flame retardancy. The samples were subjected to differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetry (TG) from ambient temperature to 800°C in air to study their thermal behaviors. From the resulting data, kinetic parameters for different stages of thermal degradation were obtained following the method of Broido. For the decomposition of wood and flame retardant wood, the activation energy was found to decrease from 116 to 54 kJ mol^–1; the char yield was found to increase from 5.6 to 34.9%, LOI from 18 to 41.5, which indicated that the flame retardancy of treated wood was improved. Effects of the different compounds on the degradation and flammability of wood have also been proposed.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Fluorescence ratiometric pH sensor prepared from covalently immobilized porphyrin and benzothioxanthene

A fluorescence ratiometric sensor for pH determination is described in this paper. The sensor incorporated the pH-sensitive dye meso-5,10,15,20-tetra-(4-allyloxyphenyl)porphyrin (TAPP) as an indicator and a pH-insensitive dye N-(2-methacryloxyethyl)benzo[k,l]thioxanthene-3,4-dicarboximide (MBTD), a benzothioxanthene derivative, as a reference for fluorescence ratiometric measurement. To prevent leakage of the dyes, both were photocopolymerized with acrylamide, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate on the silanized glass surface. The reproducibility and response time of the prepared sensor were sufficient. Most common coexisting inorganic ions and organic compounds did not interfere with pH sensing. In the acidic pH range from 1.5 to 5.0 the fluorescence intensity ratio of the two dyes varied linearly as a function of pH. The sensing membrane was found to have a lifetime of at least one month. The sensor was applied to the analysis of waste water and artificial samples.