A Self‐Sampling‐and‐Flow Biosensor for Continuous Monitoring

A self‐sampling‐and‐flow biosensor was fabricated by sandwiching a nitrocellulose strip on the working electrode side of the double‐sided microporous gold electrodes and a wicking pad on the counter electrode side. The double‐sided microporous electrodes were formed by plasma sputtering of gold on a porous nylon substrate. Sample was taken up to the enzyme‐immobilized working electrode by the capillary action of the front nitrocellulose strip dipped into the sample solution, analyzed electrochemically at the enzyme‐immobilized electrode, and diffuses out to the backside wicking pad through the micropores of the electrodes, constituting a complete flow cell device with no mechanical liquid‐transporting device. Biosensor was formed by co‐immobilizing the glucose oxidase and electron transfer mediator (ferrocene acetic acid) on the thioctic acid self‐assembled monolayer‐modified working electrode. A typical response time of the biosensor was about 5 min with the sensitivity of 2.98 nA/mM glucose, providing linear response up to 22.5 mM. To demonstrate the use of self‐sampling‐and‐flow biosensor, the consumption rate of glucose in the presence of yeast was monitored for five days.     

Highly sensitive catalytic determination of molybdenum

A novel, highly sensitive, selective, and simple kinetic method was developed for the determination of Mo(VI) based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation of 1-amino-2-naphthol-4-sulfonic acid (ANSA) with H₂O₂. The reaction was followed spectrophotometrically by tracing the oxidized product at 465 nm after 30 min of mixing the reagents. The optimum reaction conditions were: 10 mmol l⁻¹ ANSA, 50 mmol l⁻¹ H₂O₂, 100 mmol l⁻¹ acetate buffer of pH 5.0 ± 0.05 and at 40 °C. Addition of 200 μg ml⁻¹ diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) conferred high selectivity for the proposed method. Following the recommended procedure, Mo(VI) could be determined with a linear calibration graph up to 2.5 ng ml⁻¹ and a detection limit, based on the 3S_b-criterion, of 0.027 ng ml⁻¹. The unique sensitivity and selectivity of the implemented method allowed its direct application to the determination of Mo(VI) in natural and industrial waste water. The method was validated by comparison with the standard ETAAS method. Moreover, published catalytic-spectrophotometric methods for the determination of molybdenum were reviewed.     

On the Existence and Hydrolytic Stability of Titanosiloxane Bonds in the System: Glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane-Water-Titaniumtetraethoxide

Heterometal materials based on glycidoxypropyltrialkoxysilane and titaniumalkoxide are used for optical applications and require a high homogeneity on the molecular level. The presence of heterometal titanosiloxanes, their distribution and hydrolytic stability should influence the homogeneity of these materials. 29Si and 17O NMR spectroscopy has been used to investigate sols with molar ratios Si : Ti = 1 and H2O : OR (H) = 0.5 – 2.0 and their gels after heat treatment at 130°C. The presence of Si—O—Ti bonds in sols with a low water content (H < 0.2) and in the corresponding gels was identified by the high-field shift of the 29Si NMR signals of T1 and T2 units of up to 2–3 ppm compared to corresponding signals of homo-condensed Si—O—Si bonds. The existence of Si—O—Ti bonds in the sols is supported by 17O NMR spectra which show a characteristic signal around 340 ppm. A cleavage of the Si—O—Ti bonds occurs with increasing water/OR ratio in the sols. The cleavage of the heterometal bonds and the building up of homo-condensed species leads to a separation into areas with predominantly Ti—O—Ti and Si—O—Si bonds resulting in a decreased molecular homogeneity of the materials.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of ethinylestradiol and levonorgestrel by partial least squares and principal component regression multivariate calibration

Two spectrophotometric methods for the determination of Ethinylestradiol (ETE) and Levonorgestrel (LEV) by using the multivariate calibration technique of partial least square (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR) are presented. In this study the PLS and PCR are successfully applied to quantify both hormones using the information contained in the absorption spectra of appropriate solutions. In order to do this, a calibration set of standard samples composed of different mixtures of both compounds has been designed. The results found by application of the PLS and PCR methods to the simultaneous determination of mixtures, containing 4–11 μg ml⁻¹ of ETE and 2–23 μg ml⁻¹ of LEV, are reported. Five different oral contraceptives were analyzed and the results were very similar to that obtained by a reference liquid Chromatographic method.     

Study of physical and thermochemical properties of modified zeolites

The treatment of zeolite with a solution of NaOH at different concentrations creates modified forms of natural zeolites.These modified zeolites exhibit an increased uptake of caesium and a satisfactory uptake of cobalt. The structural changes in the modified zeolites were studied by XRD analysis, which reveals the mineral compositions of the studied materials. The thermodynamic properties of the modified zeolites were studied by means of DTA and thermogravimetry, and the chemical composition too was determined.     

Simultaneous Kinetic‐Spectrophotometric Determination of Hydrazine and its Derivatives by Partial Least Squares and Principle Component Regression Methods

Simultaneous kinetic‐spectrophotometric determination of a ternary mixture of hydrazine (HZ) and its derivatives by principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS) calibration is described. The methods were based on the difference observed in the reduction rate of iron(III) with HZ, thiosemicarbazide (TSCZ) and phenylhydrazine (PHZ) in the presence of 2,2′‐bipyridine (Bpy). The colored complex of [Fe(Bpy)₃]²⁺ was formed in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as micellar media, and then monitored at 520 nm. The results showed that simultaneous determination of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ could be performed in their concentration ranges of 1.0–70.0, 0.2–6.0 and 0.1–10.0 μg mL^?1, respectively. The root mean squares errors of prediction (RMSEP) of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ were 0.719, 0.164 and 0.105 (for PLS) 0.788, 0.166 and 0.993 (for PCR), respectively. Both methods (PCR and PLS) were validated using a set of synthetic sample mixtures and then applied for simultaneous determination of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ in water samples.     

Triterpene glycosides from Pulsatilla chinensis

Four triterpene glycosides were isolated from the roots of Pulsatilla chinensis (Bunge) Regel (Ranunculaceae). Two new glycosides, chinensiosides A (1a) and B (2), were identified as 3-O-[-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(12)--L-arabinopyranosyl]-28-O-[-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(14)--D-glucopyranosyl-(16)--D-glucopyranosyl]-3,23-dihydroxylup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid and 3-O-{-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(12)-[-D-glucopyranosyl-(14)]--L-arabinopyranosyl}-28-O-[-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(14)--D-glucopyranosyl-(16)--D-glucopyranosyl]-3,23-dihydroxylup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid. The other two glycosides were identified as previously known hederasaponin C (3) from Hedera helix and glycoside III (4) from Pulsatilla cernua.     

Preparation and characterization of Mg(II)-, Ca(II) and Cd(II) complexes of 1,2-ethanediol and water

Mixed ligand complexes of different compositions were prepared with water, sulfate ion and 1,2-ethanediol as ligand. IR spectra and the thermoanalytical curves of the complexes were recorded. Oxygen atoms bound by one or two coordinate bonds to the metal ion, or by hydrogen-bonds in the crystal, were observed. As for the water molecule, 1,2-ethanediol molecules of crystal and monohydrate type were found, depending on the type of binding of the oxygen atoms.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A revised quantum chemistry-based potential for poly(ethylene oxide) and its oligomers in aqueous solution

We have conducted a high-level quantum chemistry study of the interactions of 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) with water for complexes representing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic hydration. It was found that our previous quantum chemistry-based force field for poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and its oligomers in aqueous solution did a poor job in describing the hydrophobic binding of water to the ether, consistent with our recent calculations of the excess free energy and entropy of hydration of DME. Our original force field was revised to more accurately reproduce the interaction of water with the carboneous portions of DME. Molecular dynamics simulations of aqueous DME solutions using the revised quantum chemistry-based potential yielded good agreement with experiment for excess free energy, enthalpy, and volume as well as excess solution viscosity and the self-diffusion of water. Comparison with our original potential revealed that the relatively hydrophobic ether-water interactions in the new potential strongly reduced the favorable excess free energy and enthalpy but have relatively little influence on the excess entropy for dilute DME solutions. Other properties of DME and PEO solutions including conformational populations and dynamics, solution viscosity, hydrogen bonding, water translational and rotational diffusion and neutron structure factor as a function of solution composition were found to be largely unchanged from those obtained using the original potential.     

Multivariate calibration techniques applied to the spectrophotometric analysis of one-to-four component systems

The UV spectrophotometric analysis of a multicomponent mixture containing paracetamol, caffeine, tripelenamine and salicylamide by using multivariate calibration methods, such as principal component regression (PCR) and partial least-squares regression (PLS), was described. The calibration set was based on 47 reference samples, consisting of quaternary, ternary, binary and single-component mixtures, with the aim to develop models able to predict the concentrations of unknown samples containing as many as one-to-four components. The calibration models were optimized by an appropriate selection of the number of factors as well as wavelength ranges to be used for building up the data matrix and excluding any information about the interfering excipients included in pharmaceutics. The PCR and PLS models were compared and their predictive performance was inferred by a successful application to the assays of synthetic mixtures and pharmaceutical formulations.