Photon-induced dissociation with a four-sector tandem mass spectrometer

The feasibility of using photodissociation of protonated peptide molecules to sequence specific fragment ions with a 193-nm pulsed laser beam in a magnetic deflection tandem mass spectrometer of EBEB configuration was demonstrated. Although the short pulse (15 ns) and low repetition rate (100 Hz) of the excimer laser permitted the irradiation of only ～ 0.02% of the (M + H)⁺ ions exiting MS-1, a photon-induced decomposition spectrum of the heptapeptide angiotensio III (M _r 930.5) was produced that was practically the same (but with better signal-to-noise ratio) as that generated by collision-activated dissociation at the same low duty cycle. Because of the low and pulsed fragment ion currents, an array detector was used to record the spectra. A dependence between laser power and abundance of fragment ions was observed (increased power increases the relative abundance of ions of low mass). Laser power was varied from 6 to 80 mJ. Formation of fragment ions from a large peptide (melittin, M, 2844.75) was also observed. The results permit the design of modifications that may increase the fragment ion yield to 10% or higher, which would make photon-induced decomposition a useful method for magnetic deflection mass spectrometers.     

A theoretical study of configurational inversion of 1,1′-binaphthyl by molecular mechanics

The molecular mechanics method has been applied to the study of various pathways and transition states for the configurational inversion of 1,1′-binaphthyl. The preferred pathway is found to be one on the anti (“trans”) side involving one point of H?H nonbonded contact in each of two identical transition states, separated by a very shallow minimum. Very satisfactory agreement with available experimental values for the enthalpy of activation is achieved.     

Solid products from thermal decomposition of polyethylene terephthalate: Investigation by CP/MAS 13C-NMR and fourier transform-IR spectroscopy

The solid reaction products from pyrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate in the presence and absence of red phosphorus were characterized by CP/MAS ¹³C-NMR, FR-IR, and MAS ³¹P-NMR spectroscopy. Over the temperature range of 300–400°C, polyethylene terephthalate was converted in a sealed vial to a highly crosslinked polymer of terephthalic acid. Pyrolysis in the presence of red phosphorus, which functions as a flame retardant by increasing the amount of char, yielded an intractible polyaromatic phosphate ester. After thermal cleavage of polyethylene terephthalate with formation of free carboxyl and vinyl ester groups, there are two competing reaction pathways. The smaller molecular weight fragments may enter the vapor phase where they undergo further degradation primarily to CO₂, CO, and acetaldehyde, as described by others. However, if volatilization of the oligomeric fragments is inhibited, an alternate reaction pathway gives rise to the formation of highly crosslinked char. Red phosphorus decreases the volatility of the oligomeric fragments by converting them to phosphates and thereby enhances char formation.     

Effects of alloying on the chemistry of CO and H2S on Fe surfaces

Deleterious gases such as CO and H(2)S can cause degradation of steel by reacting with the metal surface. Here we consider whether alloying the steel surface might be able to inhibit these damaging surface reactions by raising the barriers to molecular dissociation. We employ first-principles density functional theory techniques to investigate the elementary reaction pathways and barriers for CO and H(2)S on FeAl and Fe(3)Si surfaces and compare them with pure Fe surfaces (as a model for steel). We find that H(2)S dissociates on iron surfaces much more easily than CO does. Although FeAl surfaces raise the barriers for H(2)S dissociation, they significantly lower the barriers for CO dissociation. On the other hand, Fe(3)Si surfaces raise the barriers for CO dissociation, but they are as vulnerable as Fe surfaces to H(2)S dissociation. Our findings suggest that alloying iron with Al or Si is unlikely to simultaneously increase its resistance to the initial stages of chemical degradation by CO and H(2)S.     

Teaching Operational Research Technique

Good technique, i.e. competence in carrying out operational research, is as vital for the practitioner to acquire as competence in the traditional ‘techniques’. It is suggested that universities should teach students how to conduct simple projects prior to alerting them to more sophisticated methodological issues.As an aid to this task, the traditional five or six parts of an operational research project are broken down and extended into 39 steps, and regrouped into three phases. Also, five skills are identified as being conceptually essential to "good" operational research, which students can develop through tackling suitable case studies.     

Palladium salicylaldimine complexes containing boronate esters

Reactions of salicylaldehydes with boronate ester derivatives of aniline have been examined. Addition of these Schiff base ligands to palladium acetate or Na₂PdCl₄ afforded novel boron-containing trans-bis(N-arylsalicylaldiminato) palladium complexes.Condensation of salicylaldehyde (2-HOC₆H₄C(O)H) with H₂NC₆H₄Bpin (pin=1,2-O₂C₂Me₄) afforded the boron-containing Schiff bases, 2-HOC₆H₄C(H)=NC₆H₄Bpin (1–3a). Similar reactivity with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzaldehyde and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde gave the corresponding Schiff bases (1-3b) and (1-3c), respectively. Reaction of Schiff bases (2) and (3) with palladium acetate or Na₂PdCl₄ afforded complexes of the type PdL₂ (4,5), where L=deprotonated Schiff base. The molecular structure of the nitro-salicylaldehyde 4-Bpin palladium complex (5b) was characterized by an X-ray diffraction study. All new palladium compounds have been characterized fully and tested for their antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus.     

Rapid separation of phenylthiohydantoin amino acids: ambient pressure ion-mobility mass spectrometry (IMMS)

An electrospray ionization (ESI) ambient pressure ion-mobility spectrometer (APIMS) interfaced to an orthogonal reflector time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) was evaluated for the first time as a detector for the identification of phenylthiohydantoin (PTH)-derivatized amino acids, the final products in the Edman sequencing process of peptides and proteins. The drift and flight times of the twenty common PTH amino acids were characterized by a well-defined 2-D mobility/mass spectral pattern. The combination of mobility/mass modes of analysis gave rise to a unique trend-line formation for the series of PTH amino acids. In addition, each PTH amino acid had a unique reduced mobility constant K(o), thus enabling the differentiation of all the amino acid derivatives including the PTH-leucine and PTH-isoleucine isomers. More importantly it was shown that it was possible to resolve a complete reference mixture of PTH amino acids in a single experimental run in less than 1 min. Detection limits for the PTH amino acids were found to range from 1.04 to 3.52 ng; indicating that the limits of detection were less than 17.0 pmol for all of the PTH amino acids.