Quantitative immunoassay for determining polyaromatic hydrocarbons in electrical insulating oils

The development and application of a combined sample extraction and immunoassay protocol for the quantification of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in transformer oils is reported. Tests were performed on 12 different used transformer oils from three major manufacturers. The removal of matrix interferents was achieved by loading oil fractions onto silica solid phase extraction cartridges and eluting with non-polar solvent prior to evaporation and reconstitution in a more polar medium. Extracts were immunoassayed using two commercially available PAH test kits either having broad specificity towards priority PAHs or enhanced binding specificity toward more carcinogenic PAHs. The total and carcinogenic PAH test kits yielded PAH levels in the oil extracts 5.86-fold and 126-fold lower than the industry-standard IP346 method. The latter method, widely used by the industry, since it correlates with biological carcinogenicity tests, grossly over-estimates PAH levels in oils since it is a non-specific gravimetric solvent extraction approach. The assay was found to be unaffected by the extract sample matrix and was capable of determining PAHs at the nanogram per millilitre level. The assay protocol was simple, low-cost and rapid (<2 h) and equally amenable to operation at remote sites or high-throughput sample screening. The binding specificity of the total anti-PAH antibody was examined by preparing and loading an anti-PAH immunosorbent with oil, prior to solvent displacement of antibody-bound compounds and by gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS) analysis.     

嵌入配位不饱和金属位对多孔芳香骨架材料储氢性能的影响

基于密度泛函理论(DFT)和巨正则蒙特卡洛(GCMC)模拟方法,系统地研究了引入配位不饱和金属位(CUS)对PAF-30n (n = 1–4)材料储氢性能影响的规律。结果表明,77 K下PAF-302MgO₂_PBE100的最大过量质量储氢量达到7.97% (w);77 K、10 MPa下100%醇镁功能化改性PAF-302和PAF-303的绝对储氢量分别达到9.9% (w) (65.9 g∙L^-1)和15.0% (w) (50.5 g∙L^-1),分别超过美国能源部(DOE)标准80% (64.8%)和173% (26.3%),均超过在相同条件下目前储氢性能最佳的NU-1101 (9.1% (w), 46.6 g∙L^-1)。即使在243 K、10 MPa下,其绝对质量和绝对体积储氢量也能分别达到5.13% (w)和34.19 g∙L^-1,占DOE质量与体积储氢标准的93.3%和85.5%,是目前为止常温储氢性能较为均衡的多孔材料之一。结合等量吸附热(Q_st)、径向分布函数(RDF)和质心几率密度分布(MCPD)方法进一步分析,发现有机链长度增加导致孔隙率增加和体积比表面积减小,是引起多孔材料绝对质量和绝对体积储氢量此消彼长的根本原因。另外,引入CUS能提高PAFs材料对H₂分子亲和力,显著增强其体积储氢量。     

A novel synthetic strategy for preparing semi‐aromatic components modified polyamide 6 polymer

In this work, a novel synthetic path for preparing semi‐armotic components modified polyamide 6 was developed by caprolactam as solvent of purified terephthalic acid and 1,6‐hexanediamine. First, the ring opening reaction and poly‐addition of caprolactam were initiated by 1,6‐hexanediamine to generate a prepolymer containing amino groups in both ends, then followed by the poly‐condensation reaction with purified terephthalic acid, a long chain copolymer was produced, which the reaction time was reduced by 4 h compared with conventional hydrolytic ring‐opening polymerization of pure caprolactam. By varying the ratio of terephthalic acid and 1,6‐hexanediamine, a series of copolymers with different number average molecular weight and physical properties were prepared. Analytical results showed that the conversion percentage of caprolactam is significantly increased by the proposed method. Furthermore, this new copolymers exhibited excellent transparence and high decomposition temperature. Besides, the copolymers with average molecular weight ≥15,000 present good mechanical properties, making it a potentially useful application in plastics, textile yarn, and membranes. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 959–967     

The keto→enol photoisomerization of N‐salicilydenemethylfurylamine: Nonadiabatic ab initio dynamics simulation

The photoinduced isomerization of cis‐keto and trans‐keto isomers in N‐salicilydenemethylfurylamine has been studied using the surface‐hopping approach at the CASSCF level of theory. After the cis‐keto or trans‐keto isomer is excited to S₁ state, the molecule initially moves to a excited‐state local minimum. The torsional motion around relative bonds in the chain drives the molecule to approach a keto‐form conical intersection and then nonadiabatic transition occurs. According to our full‐dimensional dynamics simulations, the trans‐keto and enol photoproducts are responsible for the photochromic effect of cis‐keto isomer excited to S₁ state, while no enol isomer was obtained in the photoisomerization of trans keto on excitation. The cis keto to enol and cis keto to trans keto isomerizations are reversible photochemical reactions. It is confirmed that this aromatic Schiff base is a potential molecular switch. Furthermore, the torsion of C N bond occurs in the radiationless decay of trans‐keto isomer, while it is completely suppressed by an intramolecular hydrogen bonding interaction in the dynamics of cis‐keto form. Moreover, the excited‐state lifetime of cis keto is longer than that of trans‐keto form due to the O···H N hydrogen bond.     

Application of micro‐solid‐phase extraction for the on‐site extraction of heterocyclic aromatic amines in seawater

An efficient on‐site extraction technique to determine carcinogenic heterocyclic aromatic amines in seawater has been reported. A micro‐solid‐phase extraction device placed inside a portable battery‐operated pump was used for the on‐site extraction of seawater samples. Before on‐site applications, parameters that influence the extraction efficiency (extraction time, type of sorbent materials, suitable desorption solvent, desorption time, and sample volume) were investigated and optimized in the laboratory. The developed method was then used for the on‐site sampling of heterocyclic aromatic amines determination in seawater samples close to distillation plant. Once the on‐site extraction completed, the small extraction device with the analytes was brought back to the laboratory for analysis using high‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Based on the optimized conditions, the calibration curves were linear over the concentration range of 0.05–20 μg/L with correlation coefficients up to 0.996. The limits of detection were 0.004–0.026 μg/L, and the reproducibility values were between 1.3 and 7.5%. To evaluate the extraction efficiency, a comparison was made with conventional solid‐phase extraction and it was applied to various fortified real seawater samples. The average relative recoveries obtained from the spiked seawater samples varied in the range 79.9–95.2%.     

Ionic liquid chemically bonded basalt fibers for in‐tube solid‐phase microextraction

Ionic liquids have been widely used in different fields by advantage of their specific properties. In this work, 1‐methyl‐3‐(3‐trimethoxysilyl propyl)imidazolium chloride was prepared and chemically bonded onto basalt fibers for in‐tube solid‐phase microextraction. Through combining in‐tube extraction device with high‐performance liquid chromatography equipped with a diode array detector, an online enrichment and analysis method for eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was established under the optimum conditions. A good enrichment factor (52–814), good linearity (0.10–15 and 0.20–15 μg/L), low limits of detection (0.03–0.05 μg/L), and low limits of quantitation (0.10–0.20 μg/L) were achieved using a sample volume of 50 mL. Analysis method was applied to the real samples including the groundwater and wastewater from a chemical industry park, some target analytes were detected and the relative recoveries were in the range of 80.4–116.8%.     

Multidimensional Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Method for Fingerprinting Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Their Alkyl-Homologs in Crude Oil

The composition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in crude oil is usually too complex to use standard capillary gas chromatography to separate all of the components. In this study, a multidimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique was used to analyze polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fractions of crude oil collected from the Dongying oil field in the Bohai Sea. A DB-17MS column (30?m?×?0.25?mm?×?0.25?µm) was used as a prefractionating column and only selected heart-cuts were transferred to the second chromatographic dimension (HP-5MS, 15?m?×?0.25?mm?×?0.25?µm) by a pressure-adjusted continual flow-type switching device for quantification of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The chromatographic elements and parameters, such as detector selection and column combinations, were optimized. Naphthalene, phenanthrene, fluorene, dibenzothiophene, chrysene, and their C₁–C₄ alkyl homologs were identified. The profile of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons obtained using the multidimensional GC-MS method was compared with the results obtained by traditional one-dimensional GC-MS.     

Unusual synthesis of azines and their oxidative degradation to carboxylic acid using iodobenzene diacetate

Reaction of 3-hydrazonobutan-2-one oxime with aromatic aldehydes resulted in the formation of 1,2-bis(arylidene)hydrazine commonly referred as azine as an unexpected product, instead of expected product 3-(aryl)methylenehydrazonobutan-2-one oxime, which were subsequently oxidized to corresponding aromatic acids with an ecofriendly oxidizing agent iodobenzene diacetate. Azines and carboxylic acids were characterized by IR and NMR (¹H, ¹³C, HMBC, and HMQC) studies.     

Comparison of μ-nitrido diiron phthalocyanine – H2O2 and Fenton systems in transformation of poly- and perfluorinated aromatics does not support the involvement of hydroxyl radicals

Abstract

μ-Nitrido diiron tetrabutylphthalocyanine, (FePc^tBu₄)₂N, in combination with H₂O₂ can perform an efficient defluorination of heavily fluorinated aromatics via an oxidative pathway. To check whether hydroxyl radicals might be involved in this reaction we have compared catalytic activities of (FePc^tBu₄)₂N – H₂O₂ and FeSO₄ – H₂O₂ systems in the transformation of five differently fluorinated benzenes, perfluoronaphthalene, pentafluoropyridine, and eight functionalized perfluorinated benzenes. In sharp contrast with (FePc^tBu₄)₂N – H₂O₂ system, all fluorinated benzene derivatives were completely stable in the presence of FeSO₄ and H₂O₂ at 60 °C during 15 h. Perfluorinated aromatic compounds functionalized with electron-donating or electron-withdrawing groups as well as pentafluoropyridine exhibited very low conversions. These results unambiguously show that Fenton chemistry is not responsible for the oxidative defluorination of highly fluorinated aromatic compounds performed by the (FePc^tBu₄)₂N – H₂O₂ system.