Determination of cerium in rare earth ores by fluorescence quenching of rhodamine 6G

A fluorescence quenching method has been developed to determine cerium with rhodamine 6G. The method is based on the oxidation of rhodamine 6G by cerium(IV) in sulfuric acid solution. The linear calibration range is 4.0 × 10^–7 -1.6 × 10^–6mol/L. The detection limit is 1.0 × 10^–7 mol/L. The relative standard deviation was 1.0% (n = 5). The method has been used to determine cerium in rare earth ores, with satisfactory results. The method offers the advantages of simplisity, sensitivity and selectivity.     

HPLC of amino acids and oligopeptides by pre-column fluorescence derivatization with N-hydroxysuccinimidyl-α-(9-phenanthrene)-acetate

Summary A sensitive LC method for the detection of amino acids and oligopeptides with pre-column fluorescence derivatization has been developed. Glycine, glycylglycine, triglycine, glutathione, glutamic acid, and cysteine were separated on a reversed-phase C₁₈ column with methanol-water-triethylamine eluent, derivatization and chromatographic conditions were optimized. The six derivatives were eluted in 20 min with good reproducibility. The relative standard derviations (n=6) at an analytical concentration of 2×10⁻⁶ M are <5%. Detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio=3) for the six derivatives are 23–68 fmol.     

Determination of lutetium by fluorimetry, using BPMPHD and CTMAB

Lutetium(III) forms an association compound with a new synthetic reagent, 1,6-bi(1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone-4)hexandione (BPMPHD), and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB). The compound enhances the natural fluorescence of BPMPHD remarkably, upon which a new fluorescence method was developed for determining lutetium in rare earth (RE) samples. The determination range was 1.80 × 10^–7–8.8 × 10^–6 g/ml. The determination limit was 29 ng/ml. The composition of the ion associate was [Lu(BPMPHD)₂]–CTMAB⁺.     

Phase behaviour and microstructures of microemulsions (I)

By the orthogonal design, the optimal formation conditions for the middle-phase microemulsions in the system dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride (DODMAC)/ sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/n-butanol/n-hep-tane/brine were obtained as follows: W_DODMAC: W_SDS = 1:4-1:5,C _π-butanol (%) = 11.0-12.0, andC _NaCl (%) = 3.25 Investigations have been made on the effects of the concentrations of NaCl and n-butanol (l.0%-14.0%), the ratios ofWDODMAC: to W_SDS, and the kinds of alcohols (n-propanol, n-butanol, and n-pentanol) on the formation, the phase behaviour, the ultralow interfacial tensions, the optimal salinity (S^*), and the length of salinity (δS). Some rules and data were worked out about the formation and characteristics of the middle-phase microemulsions. The mi-crostructures of the middle-phase microemulsions were also studied by using FT-IR, ESR, and freeze fracture electron microscopy techniques. The results from the three methods show that the microstructures of the middlephase mi-croemulsions undergo the change from O/W to bicontinuous (B.C.) and to W/O. The distribution rule of the orga-nized molecule assemblies in the middle-phase microemulsions is conducible to constructing the model of microemulsion systems, to recognizing the microstructures of the middle-phase microemulsions, and to setting forth the relationship between the microstructures and macro-properties of rnicroemulsions. Project supported by the Niltional Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation.     

Biological Activities and Crystal Structure of the Natural Anti-cancer Drug: Cucurbitacin Ⅱa

We isolated cucurbitacin Ⅱa from the rhizomes of Hemsleya pengxianensis, and tested the cytotoxicity of cucurbitacin Ⅱa against various cancer cell lines by the sulforhodamine B assay(SRB). At the same time, we preliminarily found that cucurbitacin Ⅱa has a certain inhibitory activity on kinase CDK1/cyclin B, and shows potent inhibitory activities against many cancer cell lines. The cucurbitacin Ⅱa was structurally characterized by specific optical rotation measurement, high-resolution mass spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopic analysis. In addition, the molecular structure of cucurbitacin Ⅱa was further determined by X-ray single-crystal crystallography.     

Quantitative determination of glutathione in single human erythrocytes by capillary zone electrophoresis with electrochemical detection

Glutathione (GSH) in single human erythrocytes is determined by capillary zone electrophoresis with end-column amperometric detection at a gold/mercury amalgam microelectrode. A capillary of 10 microm inner diameter is suitable for determination of GSH in an individual erythrocyte with a good signal-to-noise ratio. The limit of detection is 1 x 10(-7) mol/L or 26 amol and the linear dynamic range is 2 x 10(-7) to 2 X 10(-5) mol/L for the capillary. In this method, the calibration line is obtained with a capillary adsorbed before a certain amount of hemoglobin can be used for the quantification of GSH in the external standardization. The whole cell injection and the lack of necessity of a derivatization reaction lead to more accurate and precise results, which are closer to the macroscopic values of glutathione in human red blood cell (i.e., hemolysate) than those determined by indirect laser-induced fluorescence detection.     

A new capillary electrophoresis end-column amperometric detection system without the need for capillary/electrode alignment

A self-aligning end-column amperometric detection system for capillary electrophoresis was constructed. In this system, the electrode and capillary were exchanged easily and the capillary/electrode alignment procedure is not required. Gold, gold/mercury amalgam, copper and carbon fiber could be used as the working electrode. The principle is in the use of two disk holders with the capillary and the electrode in the center, so that by inserting the disk holders into a groove in the working electrode port, the capillary and the electrode are automatically aligned and the distance between the capillary and the electrode is assured at 0.24 mm. The relative standard deviation obtained using five different gold/mercury amalgam microdisk electrodes for determination of cysteine was 1.5% for the migration time and 3.3% for the electrophoretic peak current. The simple and convenient system was attractive for the routine analysis by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection. The system was applied to the determination of promethazine hydrochloride in human serum.     

Potential energy surface for linear triatomic molecules: An algebraic method

Recently, we proposed a new transformation between the angle of canonical coordinates and the bond angle to describe the bending motion in Potential Energy Surfaces (PES) of bent triatomic molecules. In this work we extend the transformation to include linear triatomic molecules. Results for the linear triatomic molecule N₂O are reported.