Isotope ratio monitoring gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry of D/H by high temperature conversion isotope ratio mass spectrometry

Of all the elements, hydrogen has the largest naturally occurring variations in the ratio of its stable isotopes (D/H). It is for this reason that there has been a strong desire to add hydrogen to the list of elements amenable to isotope ratio monitoring gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (irm-GC/MS). In irm-GC/MS the sample is entrained in helium as the carrier gas, which is also ionized and separated in the isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS). Because of the low abundance of deuterium in nature, precise and accurate on-line monitoring of D/H ratios with an IRMS requires that low energy helium ions be kept out of the m/z 3 collector, which requires the use of an energy filter. A clean mass 3 (HD(+.)) signal which is independent of a large helium load in the electron impact ion source is essential in order to reach the sensitivity required for D/H analysis of capillary GC peaks. A new IRMS system, the DELTA(plus)XL(trade mark), has been designed for high precision, high accuracy measurements of transient signals of hydrogen gas. It incorporates a retardation lens integrated into the m/z 3 Faraday cup collector. Following GC separation, the hydrogen bound in organic compounds must be quantitatively converted into H(2) gas prior to analysis in the IRMS. Quantitative conversion is achieved by high temperature conversion (TC) at temperatures >1400 degrees C. Measurements of D/H ratios of individual organic compounds in complicated natural mixtures can now be made to a precision of 2 per thousand (delta notation) or, better, with typical sample amounts of approximately 200 ng per compound. Initial applications have focused on compounds of interest to petroleum research (biomarkers and natural gas components), food and flavor control (vanillin and ethanol), and metabolic studies (fatty acids and steroids). Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transient kinetic and isotopic tracer studies of the myosin adenosine triphosphatase reaction.

From transient kinetic studies of the Mg2+-dependent adenosine triphosphatase of myosin subfragment 1, prepared from rabbit skeletal muscle, a seven-step mechanism has been proposed. Features of this mechanism include two-step processes for ATP and ADP binding in which the binary complex isomerizes in addition to a rapid nucleotide association step. In the case of ATP a large negative standard free energy change is associated with the isomerization. An overall rate-limiting isomerization of the myosin-product complex prior to product release has been identified. Studies on the mechanism of cleavage of ATP bound to the active site indicate the process is readily reversible and can account for the observation that more than one oxygen of the product phosphate arises from water. This proposal has been substantiated by the finding that the oxygen atoms of the gamma-phosphoryl group of bound ATP also undergo extensive exchange with water.     

Headgroup effects on the krafft temperatures and self-assembly of ω-hydroxy and ω-carboxy hexadecyl quaternary ammonium bromide bolaform amphiphiles: Micelles versus molecular clusters?

Eight bolaform amphiphiles were synthesised and characterised; 4 α,ω-hydroxy-alkane trialkyl (and pyridyl) ammonium bromides and 4 α,ω-carboxy-alkane trialkyl (and pyridyl) ammonium bromides where the alkyl groups were methyl, ethyl and propyl. Four of these represented new compounds. Overall the Krafft temperatures (T(K)) of the eight amphiphiles were high, with 6 of the eight possessing T(K)s greater than 45 °C. Thus most of the amphiphiles could only expect to find applications at raised temperatures limiting their potential utility. However in addition to the previously reported α,ω-hydroxy-hexadecyl triethylammonium bromide (2b) with a T(K) of 19.1 °C, another amphiphile, α,ω-carboxy-hexadecyl tripropylammonium bromide (2c) has been identified with a T(K) near ambient temperatures (T(K) of 22.1 °C). This provides an acid functional ammonium bolaform amphiphile that micellises at ambient temperatures to complement the hydroxyl derivative. A correlation between T(K) and the product of the enthalpies and T(m)s of the compounds was observed for 7 of the eight compounds. No correlation between the amphiphile critical micelle concentrations (cmc) and T(K)s was observed confirming previous reports that T(K) values are predominantly determined by crystalline stability rather than solubility. Considerable differences were observed between the various amphiphile T(K)s at different pHs but no clear trend was apparent for the various compounds (despite the degree to which the compounds' carboxylic acid and hydroxyl functionalities were likely to be ionised). The cmcs for the amphiphiles were an order of magnitude larger than those for analogous mono-ammonium amphiphiles with little difference in between the hydroxyl- and carboxy-functionalised compounds. The aggregation numbers (N(agg)) obtained for all compounds were very low (N(agg)<7) and the apparent micellar diameters for the hydroxyl-bolaforms were in the range 1.0-1.4 nm whereas those for the carboxy-compounds were in the range 2.1-2.4 nm. These results strongly suggest a difference in the packing of the two sets of amphiphiles with loose low density aggregates or 'molecular clusters' for the carboxy compounds and denser classical micellar type aggregates for the hydroxyl-compounds. In both cases however the sizes and the low aggregation numbers point suggest that these aggregates are more characteristic of the pre-micellar aggregates observed for many amphiphiles but in particular gemini surfactants.