Fast Multi‐residue Screening for 84 Pesticides in Tea by Gas Chromatography with Dual‐tower Auto‐sampler,Dual‐column and Dual Detectors

A fast multi‐residue screening method for determining pesticides in tea is described. Pesticides are extracted from tea with acetone and methylene chloride, then enriched and cleaned up with solid phase extraction (SPE) prior to gas chromatographic determination. The fast screening is achieved by a gas chromatograph system equipped with dual‐column, dual‐tower auto‐sampler and both electron capture detector (ECD) and flame photometric detector (FPD). Optimal conditions are investigated for the prospective pesticides including column selection, detection mode, the retention behaviors, quantitative calibration, as well as the recoveries and repeatability of pesticides from tea samples. Under the optimal conditions, with the FPD‐P detector accompanied CP‐SIL 13CB column, 48 pesticides can be separated well and detected within 38 min; and with a DB‐5 column, 35 ECD‐detectable pesticides can be separated and detected within 46 min. The recoveries of 84 pesticides in tea samples are 65–120% with 0.34–16% RSD for spiking 0.02–3.0 mg/kg standard species. Because of the thermal instability of most pesticides, direct cold extraction of pesticides from a tea sample is recommended. The proposed method provided a very fast and efficient procedure to screen 84 pesticides from a complicated tea sample matrix.     

Enhancing the sensitivity of capillary electrophoresis using a microcolumn solid phase extraction setup

In this paper, a setup called micro‐column solid phase extraction (MicroSPE) was developed to enhance the sensitivity of capillary electrophoresis. The setup consists of a manual pump, several insulin syringes, and a Teflon extraction cartridge. The cartridge was made of 2–4 mm irregular C₁₈ solid phase materials in a Teflon tube (375 μm ID) with glass fiber frits. Two pieces of capillary tubing were connected to both the ends of the cartridge. Using sulindac‐spiked urine as the test sample, the extraction and analytical conditions were investigated in detail. When 1 μL 70/30 methanol/water was applied as the elution solvent, satisfactory results could be obtained. The internal standard method was used to quantitatively determine the compound in urine. The detection limit for sulindac was 2.9 ng/mL and the enrichment factor reaches more than 260. The result illustrates that the MicroSPE setup has a significant concentrating effect and is suitable for preconcentrating and cleaning‐up samples with complex matrices.     

Applications of Thermal Analysis and Coupled Techniques in Pharmaceutical Industry

Thermal analysis methods are well-established techniques in research laboratories of pharmaceutical industry. The robustness and sensitivity of instrumentation, the introduction of automation and of reliable software according to the industrial needs widened considerably the areas of applications in the last decade. Calibration of instruments and validation of results follow the state of the art of cGMP as for other analytical techniques. Thermal analysis techniques are especially useful for the study of the behavior of the poly-phasic systems drug substances and excipients and find a unique place for new delivery systems. Since change of temperature and moisture occur by processing and storage, changes of the solid state may have a considerable effect on activity, toxicity and stability of compounds. Current requirements of the International Conference of Harmonisation for the characterization and the quantitation of polymorphism in new entities re-enforce the position of thermal analysis techniques. This challenging task needs the use of complementary methods. Combined techniques and microcalorimetry demonstrate their advantages. This article reviews the current use of thermal analysis and combined techniques in research and development and in production. The advantage of commercially coupled techniques to thermogravimetry is emphasized with some examples. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Phase equilibria in the Ag4SSe–As2Se3 system

The phase diagram of the system Ag₄SSe–As₂Se₃ is studied by means of X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analyses and measurements of the microhardness and the density of the materials. The unit-cell parameters of the intermediate phases 3Ag₄SSe·As₂Se₃ (phase A) and Ag₄SSe·2As₂Se₃ (phase B) are determined as follows for phase A: a=4.495 Å, b=3.990 Å, c=4.042 Å, α=89.05°, β=108.98°, γ=92.93°; for phase B: a=4.463 Å, b=4.136 Å, c=3.752 Å, α=118.60°, β=104.46°, γ=83.14°. The phase 3Ag₄SSe·As₂Se₃ and Ag₄SSe·2As₂Se₃ have a polymorphic transition α?β consequently at 105 and 120°C. The phase A melts incongruently at 390°C and phase B congruently at the same temperature.     

Effect of viscosity on stationary phase stability in capillary column gas chromatography

With recent advances in column technology it is now possible to prepare highly efficient, very inert, and thermally stable capillary columns coated with nonpolar polysiloxane stationary phases. Unfortunately, the same degree of success has not been achieved for some of the more polar polysiloxane phases. A parameter that has been studied little in the past in relation to stationary phase film stability is the viscosity of the stationary phase. In this paper the efficiency and stability of coated columns are correlated to the viscosity of the phase. Due to their structure, the viscosity of the phenyl-containing polysiloxanes change rapidly with temperature and hence, thin-film coatings are not stable at elevated temperatures. By using high viscosity phenyl-containing methylphenylpolysiloxanes which were recently synthesized, efficient and stable columns have been prepared.     

Analytic continuation at first-order phase transitions

We study the analytic structure of thermodynamic functions at first-order phase transitions in systems with short-range interactions and in particular in the two-dimensional Ising model. We analyze the nature of the approximation of the d=2 system by anN × strip. Investigation of the structure of the eigenvalues of the transfer matrix in the vicinity of H=0 in the complexH plane allows us to define a new function which provides rapidly convergent approximations to the stable free energyf and its derivatives for allH 0. This new function is used for numerical calculation of the coefficients C_n in the power series expansions of the magnetizationm in the form m(H)=1 + C_n(H-H ₀ )ⁿ for various H₀ 0. The resulting series are studied by conventional methods. We confirm recent series analysis results on the existence of the droplet model type essential singularity at H=0. Evidence is found for a spinodal at H=H_sp(Ti < 0.     

Application of HPLC to measure vanadium in environmental,biological and clinical matrices

Vanadate and vanadium compounds exist in many environmental, biological and clinical matrices, and despite the need only limited progress has been made on the analysis of vanadium compounds. The vanadium coordination chemistry of different oxidation states is known, and the result of the characterization and speciation analysis depends on the subsequent chemistry and the methods of analysis. Many studies have used a range of methods for the characterization and determination of metal ions in a variety of materials. One successful technique is high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) that has been used mainly for measuring total vanadium level and metal speciation. Some cases have been reported where complexes of different oxidation states of vanadium have been separated by HPLC. Specifically reversed phase (RP) HPLC has frequently been used for the measurement of vanadium. Other HPLC methods such as normal phase, anion-exchange, cation-exchange, size exclusion and other RP-HPLC modes such as, ion-pair and micellar have been used to separate selected vanadium compounds. We will present a review that summarizes and critically analyzes the reported methods for analysis of vanadium salts and vanadium compounds in different sample matrices. We will compare various HPLC methods and modes including sample preparation, chelating reagents, mobile phase and detection methods. The comparison will allow us to identify the best analytical HPLC method and mode for measuring vanadium levels and what information such methods provide with regard to speciation and quantitation of the vanadium compounds.     

X-ray and Thermal Analysis of Selected Drugs Containing Acetaminophen

Studies carried out by X-ray and thermal analysis confirmed that acetaminophen (paracetamol), declared by the manufacturers as an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), was present in all studied medicinal drugs. Positions of diffraction lines (2θ angles) of the studied drugs were consistent with standards for acetaminophen, available in the ICDD PDF database Release 2008. |Δ2θ| values were lower than 0.2°, confirming the authenticity of the studied drugs. Also, the values of interplanar distances d_hkl for the examined samples were consistent with those present in the ICDD. Presence of acetaminophen crystalising in the monoclinic system (form I) was confirmed. Various line intensities for API were observed in the obtained diffraction patterns, indicating presence of the preferred orientation of the crystallites in the examined samples. Thermal analysis of the studied substances confirmed the results obtained by X-ray analysis. Drugs containing only acetaminophen as an API have melting point close to that of pure acetaminophen. It was found that presence of other active and auxiliary substances affected the shapes and positions of endothermal peaks significantly. A broadening of endothermal peaks and their shift towards lower temperatures were observed accompanying an increase in the contents of additional substances being “impurities” in relation to the API. The results obtained by a combination of the two methods, X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetry (DSC/TGA), may be useful in determination of abnormalities which can occur in pharmaceutical preparations, e.g., for distinguishing original drugs and forged products, detection of the presence of a proper polymorphic form or too low content of the active substance in the investigated drug.     

Improving resins for solid phase synthesis: incorporation of 1-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]-4-vinyl-benzene

The preparation, characterisation and application of a series of non-grafted polystyrene (PS) resins containing a styrenic methoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) derivative is presented. These novel PS-MPEG resins were designed to balance swelling and solvation with improved handling. The monomer, 1-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]-4-vinyl-benzene, contained an inert phenyl ether linkage designed to provide broad chemical compatibility and stability, yet imparting all the favourable properties of the PEG group into the new resin, whilst maintaining a high loading capacity. The synthetic performance of the new resins compared very favourably to those of TentaGel™, ArgoGel™ and aminomethyl PS.     

Selective water sorbents for multiple applications, 3. CaCl2 solution confined in micro- and mesoporous silica gels: Pore size effect on the “solidification-melting” diagram

In this communication we present a low-temperature “solidification-melting” phase diagram for CaCl₂/H₂O solutions confined in KSK and KSM silica gels. At salt concentrations of 0–48 wt. %, the diagram has been found to lie below the diagram reported for the bulk system by 15–30°C. It shows a depression of the solution melting point due to its confinment to the pores. Several other peculiarities of melting and solidification in this system are also reported and discussed. Beside fundamental interest, the data obtained could be of importance in many commercial areas such as refrigeration, accumulation of low temperature heat, frost prevention in building materials,etc.