Increase in removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during bioremediation of crude oil-contaminated sandy soil

A 2³ full factorial experimental design was adopted to estimate the effects of three variables on the biodegradation of oil during soil bioremediation: bioaugmentation seeding a mixed culture, addition of fertilizer or mineral media, and correction of initial pH of the soil to 7.0. The tests were carried out in polyvinyl chloride reactors with 5.0 kg of crude oil-contaminated soil at 14 g/kg. After screening the variables, soil bioremediation tests were conduced with varied C:N ratios, yielding an increase in biodegradation of the oil heavy fraction from 24 to 65%, consumption of total n-paraffins, and a remarkable decrease in the concentration of residual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of the soil.     

Amide interactions in chlorinated solvents

Enthalpies of solution and of transfer of amides for the solvents chloroform (CHCl₃), methylenechloride (CH₂Cl₂), carbontetrachloride (CCl₄), cyclohexane (C₆H₁₂), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), and ethylacetate (EtOAc) have been used to isolate and quantify the solvation interactions of amides in chlorinated solvents. Specific interactions at the aminde carbonyl and N–H groups have been identified. An analysis of the transfer enthalpies of pyrrole and methylpyrrole from cyclohexane to the chlorinated solvents shows that specific interactions between the pyrroles and these solvents are similar in nature. A means of calculating differences in the transfers of different solutes between the same solvent pair is given.Work done at Lebanon Valley College.     

Stimultaneous quantitative analysis using dual capillary columns of different polarities

Complex organic mixtures, such as coal liquefaction and oil shale products and by-products, are comprised of hundreds or thousands of individual components. State-of-the-art high resolution gas chromatography does not always provide sufficient resolution to allow accurate quantitation or identification of many compounds of interest. The concept of dual capillary column chromatography combines the different resolving characteristics of two capillary columns coated with different stationary phases into a single chromatographic run. In this approach, both columns are connected to the same injection port. Analysis of complex mixtures in this fashion can confirm the identification and quantitation of components on two columns of different polarity with little increased analysis time, can provide a means of obtaining quantitative data for individual components which are known to coelute on any one column, and can alert one to unknown coelution problems that would be undetected by gas chromatographic analysis on a single capillary column. Simultaneous dual column analysis was applied to three samples, the neutral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fraction of a Solvent Refined Coal-II (SRC-II) heavy distillate, the nitrogen-containing polycyclic aromatic compound (N-PAC) fraction of an SRC-II heavy distillate, and the basic fraction from a shale oil process water. Fused silica capillary columns coated with SE-54 and Durawax 3 were used for the analyses of the heavy distillate, while SE-54 an Carbowax 20M capillary columns were used for the analysis of the process water.     

Analysis of heavy organic pollutants of confined atmospheres

Summary An improved procedure for the determination of the less volatile air pollutants of recycled closed atmospheres by activated carbon-Soxhlet extraction is proposed. After total treatment of desorbate, PAH determination is then accomplished by RP-HPLC using both adsorptiometric and fluorimetric UV detection; phenolic compounds are determined by GC-MS.This technique is suitable for very low levels of PAH and phenolic compounds.     

Development of a systems analysis approach for resolving the structure of biodegrading soil systems

An experimental and mathematical method is developed for the microbial systems analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading mixed cultures in PAH-contaminated “town gas” soil systems. Frequency response is the primary experimental and data analysis tool used to probe the structure of these complicated systems. The objective is to provide a fundamental protocol for evaluating the performance of specific mixed microbial cultures on specific soil systems by elucidating the salient system variables and their interactions. Two well-described reactor systems, a constant volume stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and a plug flow differential volume reactor, are used in order to remove performance effects that are related to reactor type as opposed to system structure. These two reactor systems are well-defined systems that can be described mathematically and represent the two extremes of one potentially important system variable, macroscopic mass transfer. The experimental and mathematical structure of the protocol is described, experimental data is presented, and data analysis is demonstrated for the stripping, sorption, and biodegradation of napththalene.     

Development of a pulsed-laser,fiber-optic-based fluorimeter: determination of fluorescence decay times of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sea water

A fiber-optic-based system for remote measurement of time-resolved fluorescence emission spectra is described and characterized. A pulsed nitrogen laser is used to induce fluorescence and a time-gated, one-dimensional photodiode array is used to measure the decay of the fluorescence emission spectra. The results compare favorably with reported values for well characterized compounds having fluorescence decay times in the range 4–50 ns. The potential of using time-resolved fluorimetry (TRF) over fiber-optic cables as a means of improving the specificity of remote fluorescence determinations of spectrally similar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sea water is demonstrated.     

Cyclophanes as hosts for aromatic and aliphatic guests

A series of water-soluble cyclophanes, made by connecting two diarylmethane units and two bridging chains via four nitrogens, were found to provide hydrophobic cavities of definite shape and size for forming inclusion complexes with various organic compounds in aqueous solution. Some chemical modifications of these cyclophanes are described.This paper is dedicated to Professor D. J. Cram to celebrate his honor in receiving the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.     

A theoretical study of the interactions between N, N-dimethylformamide and aromatic hydrocarbons

The B3LYP and MP2 methods with 6-31G* basis set were used to predict the geometries of N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) dimer and DMF–aromatic hydrocarbons interaction systems. A total of 10 conformers were obtained with no imaginary frequencies, respectively. The interaction energies of these binary mixtures have been obtained. The analyses of chelpg charge distribution and the atoms in molecules theory (AIM) were used to analyze the nature of the interaction. The results show the presence of hydrogen bonds between DMF and aromatic hydrocarbons. The interaction between DMF and benzonitrile is the strongest with the interaction energy of −21.58 kJ mol⁻¹ (BSSE corrected), and the intensity order of interactions is DMF–benzonitrile: d2 > DMF–DMF: a2 > DMF–toluene: c1 > DMF–benzene: b2.     

Study of the acylation reaction of 2,6-dimethyl-3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid hydrazides

Acylation of 3-ethoxycarbonyl-2,6-dimethyl-5-pyridinecarboxylic acid hydrazide and 2,6-dimethyl-3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid dihydrazide using aromatic acid chlorides gave the corresponding N-aroyl hydrazides. It was found that the hydrazinolysis of 3-ethoxycarbonyl-2,6-dimethyl-5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid N-aroyl hydrazides occurred not at the ester group but as a rehydrazinolysis reaction at the dihydrazide fragment. __________ Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 12, pp. 1834–1845, December, 2005.     

Thermal Behaviour of the N-donor Adducts of Metal Saccharinates III. Imidazole saccharinates of Co(II), Ni(II) and Cd(II)

The complexes [M(HIm)₄(H₂O)₂](sac)₂ (M=Co, Ni) and [Cd(HIm)₂(sac)₂]₂ with saccharin (sac) and imidazole (HIm) were synthesized and their thermal (TG, DTG and DTA) behaviour in the interval from room temperature up to 1000°C in a static air atmosphere was investigated. Irrespectively of whether the deprotonated saccharinato residues are present as ligands or ions or both as ligands and ions, the anhydrous complexes regularly decompose in two stages. The thermal data of 16 saccharinato complexes (including the title compounds) were correlated with the respective structural data. The general thermal stability order of the saccharinato complexes can be represented as: Pb(II)<Zn(II)<Co(II)Ni(II)<Cd(II) (the stability of the Cu saccharinates depends on the particular compound) and is dictated by several structural factors, e.g. metal ionic radii, participation of the water in the coordination sphere of the metal and other structural characteristics. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.