Pesticides in water and the performance of the liquid-phase microextraction based techniques. A review

The control of pesticides in surface, drinking and groundwater is nowadays a real necessity. In the European Community, their concentration must comply with the established parametric and environmental quality standards (EQSs). Regarding the new legislation, this article updates the information concerning the monitoring of pesticides and the technical specifications for their measurement in water samples where ultra-sensitive analytical methods are required. For some compounds, like pesticides, there is still a need to improve the performance of the existing methods. High sensitive techniques like gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC–MS) have been developed. However, for most of the substances present at trace and ultra-trace levels the extraction and preconcentration steps are so far essential for their detection. Advances at a micro scale have been made and different types of microextractions are being developed. Liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) is an example. The study of this technique has increased in the last years and some innovations have been recently reported for pesticides water analysis. This article reviews the new developed LPME-based techniques and compares its performance with the analytical specifications established for pesticides water monitoring. The results show that LPME-based techniques can be a promising tool to improve the nowadays performance of methods used in pesticides water control.     

Colored supramolecular charge-transfer host system using 10,10′-dihydroxy-9,9′-biphenanthryl and 2,5-disubstituted-1,4-benzoquinone

A colored charge-transfer (CT) host complex is formed using racemic (rac)-10,10′-dihydroxy-9,9′-biphenanthryl, which has a large and widely π-conjugated phenanthrene ring, as the electron donor and 2,5-disubstituted-1,4-benzoquinone as the electron acceptor. This CT host complex can include aromatic molecules as guests and its color and diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) change according to the type of guest molecules included. Characteristically, it is possible to tune the color and DRS of the inclusion CT complex by changing the type of the component 2,5-disubstituted-1,4-benzoquinone.     

Three-component reaction of N′-(2-alkynylbenzylidene)hydrazide, α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compound, with bromine

Different outcomes were generated under different conditions for the three-component reaction of N′-(2-alkynylbenzylidene)hydrazide, α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compound, with bromine. 6-BromoH-pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinoline was obtained when the reaction was performed in NMP at 70 °C in the presence of DABCO as base, while 6-bromo-1,2,3,10b-tetrahydropyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinoline was afforded when the reaction occurred in DMAc at 10 °C in the presence of K₃PO₄ as the base.     

A single chalcone and additional rotenoids from Lonchocarpus nicou

The lipophile extract of Lonchocarpusnicou roots afforded the new pyranochalcone 3-O-methylabyssinone A as well as the new rotenoids 7′-hydroxytephrosin, and 7′-nor-6′-oxo-2′,3′-dehydrorotenone, both compounds occurring with the known 7′-hydroxydeguelin and 7′-nor-6′-oxo-2′,3′-dehydro-12aβ-hydroxyrotenone. Furthermore, two rotenoid epoxides previously reported as resulting from the direct oxidative conversion of rotenone and 12aβ-hydroxyrotenone, respectively, were isolated for the first time from a plant source. All the structures were established on the basis of UV, MS, and NMR data.     

One-pot synthesis of 5,5′-dibromo-2,2′-dipyridylacetylene and its boronic acid derivative

5,5′-Dibromo-2,2′-dipyridylacetylene was prepared from 2,5-dibromopyridine and (trimethylsilyl)acetylene via the new one-pot synthesis approach using a regioselective palladium-catalyzed coupling reaction with a 60% yield. Several protocols of lithium-halogen exchange were then attempted to synthesize 6,6′-(1,2-ethynediyl)bis[3-pyridylboronic acid] from 5,5′-dibromo-2,2′-dipyridylacetylene. The former was successfully obtained with a 54% yield by a reverse addition method using toluene and THF and it showed potential as a useful building block for cross-coupling reactions in the formation of carbon-carbon bonds.     

Speciation analysis of aluminium and aluminium fluoride complexes by HPIC-UVVIS

The study presents a new analytical method for speciation analysis in fractionation of aluminium fluoride complexes and free Al³⁺ in soil samples. Aluminium speciation was studied in model solutions and soil extract samples by means of high performance ion chromatography (HPIC) with UV-VIS detection using post-column reaction with tiron for the separation and detection of aluminium fluoride complex and Al³⁺ forms during one analysis. The paper presents particular stages of the chromatographic process optimization involving selecting the appropriate eluent strength, type of elution or concentration and quantity of derivatization reagent. HPIC was performed on a bifunctional analytical column Dionex IonPac CS5A. The use of gradient elution and the eluents A: 1 M NH₄Cl and B: water acidified to pH of eluent phase, enabled full separation of fluoride aluminium forms as AlF₂⁺, AlF₃⁰, AlF₄⁻ (first signal), AlF²⁺ (second signal) and form Al³⁺ in a single analytical procedure. The proposed new method HPIC-UVVIS was applied successfully in the quantitative and qualitative analysis of soil samples.     

Efficient construction of functionalized 5-carboxymethyl tetramic acids using N-Ac-l-aspartic anhydride as chiral building block

A novel method for the synthesis of densely functionalized optically active 5-carboxymethyl tetramic acids is reported. The proposed strategy is focused on the synthesis of 3,3′-disubstituted pyrrolidine-2,4-diones as useful molecules for the synthesis of natural products. The proposed methodology has been established by X-ray diffraction structure analysis.     

Gas-phase pyrolysis of benzimidazole derivatives: novel route to condensed heterocycles

Gas-phase pyrolysis of N-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-N′-arylidenehydrazines 1a-e gave the corresponding arylnitriles 2a-e, 2-aminobenzimidazole 3, 2,4,5-triphenylimidazole 4, 1,3-diphenyl-8H-2,3a,8-triazacyclopenta[a]indene 5, and 5,11-diphenyl-6H,12H-dibenzimidazo[1,2-a];1’,2’-d]pyrazine 6. The kinetics and analysis of the products of reaction are reported and used to elucidate the mechanism of the elimination process.     

Applications of NHC-mediated O- to C-carboxyl transfer: synthesis of (±)-N-benzyl-coerulescine and (±)-horsfiline

NHC-promoted O- to C-carboxyl transfer of 3-allyl indolyl phenyl carbonates generates 3-allyl-3-phenoxycarbonyl-oxindoles with good catalytic efficiency, which are readily converted into (±)-N-benzyl-coerulescine and (±)-horsfiline.     

Excited-state intramolecular proton transfer in 2-(2′,6′-dihydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole: effect of dual hydrogen bonding on the optical properties

2-(2′,6′-Dihydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole (DHBO) has been synthesized by using palladium-catalyzed oxidative cyclization. The compound utilizes both O-H···N and O-H···O bonds to ensure a coplanar structure between the benzoxazole and phenol fragments. Optical comparison with the parent compound 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole (HBO) reveals that the dual hydrogen bonding in DHBO plays an essential role in raising the desirable keto emission for ESIPT and tuning the polarity sensitivity toward the molecular environment. DHBO also exhibits a higher quantum yield (?_fl = 0.108 in methanol) than HBO (?_fl = 0.0025) in the same solvent.