Square-planar coordinated polyanions of palladium, platinum, and gold stannaborate [SnB11H11]2- coordination chemistry

The tetrasubstituted polyanions of platinum, palladium, and gold [M(SnB(11)H(11))(4)](x-) (x=6, M=Pd, Pt; x=5, M=Au) have been prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR, Raman, (11)B, and (119)Sn heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. In the case of the platinum derivative [Bu(3)MeN](6)[Pt(SnB(11)H(11))(4)] (2) (119)Sn M?ssbauer spectroscopy has been carried out. The isolated salts are stable towards moisture and air and the complexes 2 and 3 were treated with 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane (dppp) to give the respective substitution products [Bu(3)MeN](2)[(dppp)M(SnB(11)H(11))(2)] (M=Pd, Pt).     

Modification of HPTLC-plates by in situ chemical bonding with non-polar and polar organosilanes

A method has been developed for the preparation of modified silica plates for high performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC). Some typical organosilanes were thus allowed to react in situ with the silica of Merck HPTLC-plates. This method was found to be highly reproducible, simple and cheap. Non-polar plates were prepared and compared with commercial plates from Merck, Whatman and Macherey-Nagel. Modification with cyanodecyltrichlorosilane resulted in plates that showed good coverage, efficiency and low residual silica activity. Silica modified with a multifunctional silane has different properties in different organic solvents. It will appear to be non-polar in a polar solvent and vice versa. New advantageous separation systems are thus made feasible by the presence of cyano groups on the plate. The utility of modified thin-layer plates is demonstrated by the separation of some homologues of p-hydroxybenzoic acid esters and of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Conversion of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere

Summary Pertinent, previous studies of the oxidation of SO₂ in the atmosphere are briefly reviewed. A project dealing with the conversion in the plume from an oil-fired power station is described in greater detail. Measurements were performed from an aircraft and included continuous registration of NO_x, SO₂ and ozone concentrations. The possibility of using NO_x as an internal tracer is discussed; also the use of the inert tracer SF₆ is treated and a special detector for the continuous registration of SF₆ in relative concentrations down to 10^–6 ppm is described. Preliminary results indicate a half-life for SO₂ in the plume of about half an hour.

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Umsetzung von Schwefeldioxid in der Atmosphäre

Zusammenfassung Einschlägige frühere Studien über die Oxidation von SO₂ in der Atmosphäre werden kurz diskutiert. Ein Projekt zum Studium der Umwandlung im Abrauch eines ölbefeuerten Kraftwerkes wird im Detail beschrieben. Die Messungen wurden mit Hilfe eines Flugzeuges vorgenommen und schließen die kontinuierliche Aufzeichnung von NO_x-, SO₂- und Ozon-Konzentrationen ein. Die Möglichkeit der Verwendung von NO_x als interner Indicator wird diskutiert. Außerdem wird der Gebrauch des inerten Indicators SF₆ behandelt und ein spezieller Detektor für die kontinuierliche Aufzeichnung von SF₆ mit relativen Konzentrationen bis herunter auf 10^–6 ppm beschrieben. Vorläufige Ergebnisse deuten auf eine Halbwertszeit von SO₂ im Abrauch von etwa 30 min hin.

Presented at the 6th Annual Symposium on Recent Advances in the Analytical Chemistry of Pollutants, April 21–23, 1976; Vienna, Austria     

Carbon fibre electrodes in flow potentiometric stripping analysis

The construction of carbon fibre flow electrodes suitable for use in connection with potentiometric and constant-current stripping is described, and the fibre electrodes are compared with a glassy carbon disc thin layer cell. The signal-to-background ratio is approximately 1.6 times higher for an 8–10 μm carbon fibre compared to the glassy carbon disc electrode. If an Ag/AgCl tube is used as both counter and reference electrode, the signal-to-noise ratio of the fibre electrode is approximately five times better than for a glassy carbon disc electrode with a calomel reference; the latter electrode design, however, gives slightly better precision. The dead volume and internal potential drop of the fibre electrodes are more than one order of magnitude smaller than for the glassy carbon disc electrode. Because of the simplicity of the manufacturing process and low material cost, the fibre cells can be used as disposable electrodes and the polishing process necessary in connection with glassy carbon disc electrodes can be omitted.     

Non-use and misinterpretation of CRMs. Can the situation be improved?

A survey of 82 scientific papers on trace elements in foods found the use of Certified Reference Materials to be less than anticipated. Less than 50% of the papers reported use of CRMs. When used, the evaluation is usually very crude and provides the user with very little information about his analytical performance. This is mainly due to lack of information/communication between the producers of CRMs, the users and those writing guidelines for the use of CRMs. Several specific problems are pointed out and remedies to improve the situation are described.     

A new approach to the synthesis of conjugated polymer-nanocrystal composites for heterojunction optoelectronics

We report a simple one pot process for the preparation of lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystals in the conjugated polymer poly (2-methoxy-5-(2'ethyl-hexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene)(MEH-PPV), and we demonstrate electronic coupling between the two components.     

Flow constant-current stripping analysis for antimony(III) and antimony(V) with gold fibre working electrodes : Application to Natural Waters

Antimony(III) is determined by means of electrolysis at ?0.40 V vs. Ag/AgCl on a gold-coated gold fibre electrode for 0.5–10 min in a redox buffer containing 0.01 M iron(II) in 0.10 M hydrochloric acid, and subsequent stripping with a constant current of 0.50μA either in 2 M hydrochloric acid or in 4 M hydrochloric acid/4 M calcium chloride. Antimony(V) is determined by the same procedure in 4 M hydrochloric acid medium. Bismuth(III) is masked by the addition of iodide to the sample prior to electrolysis. Antimony(III) and antimony(V) are determined by standard addition methods; the whole procedure including digital and graphical evaluation of the results is fully automated. The antimony(V) concentrations in the river water reference sample SLRS-1 and the seawater reference sample NASS-1 were found to be 0.63 and 0.31 μg l^?1 with standard deviations of 0.046 and 0.051 μg l^?1, respectively (n=15). The certified value for SLRS- 1 is 0.63±0.05 μg l^?1; no certified value is available for NASS-1.     

Utility of 4,6-dichloro-2-(methylthio)-5-nitropyrimidine. Part 2: Solution phase synthesis of tetrasubstituted purines

A simple synthesis of tetrasubstituted purines is disclosed based on the solution phase elaboration of 4,6-dichloro-2-methylthio-5-nitropyrimidine. One-pot sequential C4 and C6 chloride substitution by secondary and primary amines yields 4,6-diamino-2-methylthio-5-nitropyrimidines. mCPBA-mediated oxidation of the methylthio moiety to the corresponding sulfone allows facile substitution at the 2-position. CrCl₂ assisted reduction of the nitro group, followed by acid catalyzed orthoester cyclization, then provides novel tetrasubstituted purines not accessible by other methods.     

Decoupling the effects of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties at the neuron–nanofibre interface

Peptide-based nanofibres are a versatile class of tunable materials with applications in optoelectronics, sensing and tissue engineering. However, the understanding of the nanofibre surface at the molecular level is limited. Here, a series of homologous dilysine–diphenylalnine tetrapeptides were synthesised and shown to self-assemble into water-soluble nanofibres. Despite the peptide nanofibres displaying similar morphologies, as evaluated through atomic force microscopy and neutron scattering, significant differences were observed in their ability to support sensitive primary neurons. Contact angle and labelling experiments revealed that differential presentation of lysine moieties at the fibre surface did not affect neuronal viability; however the mobility of phenylalanine residues at the nanofibre surface, elucidated through solid- and gel-state NMR studies and confirmed through tethered bilayer lipid membrane experiments, was found to be the determining factor in governing the suitability of a given peptide as a scaffold for primary neurons. This work offers new insights into characterising and controlling the nanofibre surface at the molecular level.

The mobility of hydrophobic moieties at a peptide nanofibre surface determines its suitability as a scaffold for sensitive primary cells.     

Competitive Substitution and Electron Transfer in Reactions between Haloamminegold(III) and Halocyanoaurate(III) Complexes and Thiocyanate

Kinetics for reactions between thiocyanate and trans-Au(CN)(2)Cl(2)(-), trans-Au(CN)(2)Br(2)(-), and trans-Au(NH(3))(2)Cl(2)(+) in an acidic, 1.00 M perchlorate aqueous medium have been studied by use of conventional and diode-array UV/vis spectroscopy and high-pressure and sequential-mixing stopped-flow spectrophotometry. Initial, rapid formation of mixed halide-thiocyanate complexes of gold(III) is followed by slower reduction to Au(CN)(2)(-) and Au(NH(3))(2)(+), respectively. This is an intermolecular process, involving attack on the complex by outer-sphere thiocyanate. Second-order rate constants at 25.0 degrees C for reduction of trans-Au(CN)(2)XSCN(-) are (6.9 +/- 1.1) x 10(4) M(-)(1) s(-)(1) for X = Cl and (3.1 +/- 0.7) x 10(3) M(-)(1) s(-)(1) for X = Br. For reduction of trans-Au(CN)(2)(SCN)(2)(-) the second-order rate constant at 25.0 degrees C is (3.1 +/- 0.1) x 10(2) M(-)(1) s(-)(1) and the activation parameters are DeltaH() = (55 +/- 3) x 10(2) kJ mol(-)(1), DeltaS() = (-17.8 +/- 0.8) J K(-)(1) mol(-)(1), and DeltaV() = (-4.6 +/- 0.5) cm(3) mol(-)(1). The activation volume for substitution of one chloride on trans-Au(NH(3))(2)Cl(2)(+) is (-4.5 +/- 0.5) cm(3) mol(-)(1), and that for reduction of trans-Au(NH(3))(2)(SCN)(2)(+) (4.6 +/- 0.9) cm(3) mol(-)(1). The presence of pi-back-bonding cyanide ligands stabilizes the transition states for both substitution and reductive elimination reactions compared to ammine. In particular, complexes trans-Au(CN)(2)XSCN(-) with an unsymmetric electron distribution along the X-Au-SCN axis are reduced rapidly. The observed entropies and volumes of activation reflect large differences in the transition states for the reductive elimination and substitution processes, respectively, the former being more loosely bound, more sensitive to solvational changes, and probably not involving any large changes in the inner coordination sphere. A transition state with an S-S interaction between attacking and coordinated thiocyanate is suggested for the reduction. The stability constants for formation of the very short-lived complex trans-Au(CN)(2)(SCN)(2)(-) from trans-Au(CN)(2)X(SCN)(-) (X = Cl, Br) by replacement of halide by thiocyanate prior to reduction can be calculated from the redox kinetics data to be K(Cl,2) = (3.8 +/- 0.8) x 10(4) and K(Br,2) = (1.1 +/- 0.4) x 10(2).