Headspace single-drop microextration for the detection of organotin compounds

The performance of single-drop microextraction (SDME), coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, was assessed for the determination of tributyltin compounds in water and solid samples. Experimental parameters impacting the performance of SDME, such as microextraction solvent and sampling and stirring time, were investigated. Analytical results obtained by SDME were compared with those generated by conventional solid phase microextraction (SPME) and liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) for the determination of TBT in PACS-2 sediment certified reference material (CRM).     

REALISIS: a medicinal chemistry-oriented reagent selection, library design, and profiling platform

REALISIS is a software system for reagent selection, library design, and profiling, developed to fit the workflow of bench chemists and medicinal chemists. Designed to be portable, the software offers a comprehensive graphical user interface and rapid, integrated functionalities required for reagent retrieval and filtering, product enumeration, and library profiling. REALISIS is component-based, consisting of four main modules: reagent searching; reagent filtering; library enumeration; and library profiling. Each module allows the chemist to access specific functionalities and diverse filtering and profiling mechanisms. By implementing the entire process of reagent selection, library design, and profiling and by integrating all the necessary functionalities for this process, REALISIS cuts the time required to design combinatorial and noncombinatorial libraries from several days to a few hours.     

CsMoO2(HO3P–CH2–PO3): a new metallodiphosphonate with a hybrid framework

Crystals of caesium molybdeno­methyl­enedi­phospho­nate, [CsMoO₂(CH₃O₆P₂)], were hydro­thermally synthesized at 473 K. The monoclinic structure, as determined from single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, is two‐dimensional and consists of stacked mixed layers of corner‐sharing tetrahedral di­phosphon­ate groups and MoO₆ octahedra, between which Cs⁺ cations are intercalated.     

Aldol condensations over reconstructed Mg-Al hydrotalcites: structure-activity relationships related to the rehydration method

Two different rehydration procedures in the liquid or gas phase have been applied to reconstruct mixed oxides derived from calcined hydrotalcite-like materials to be used as catalysts for aldol condensation reactions. The as-synthesized hydrotalcite, its decomposition product, as well as the reconstructed solids upon rehydration were characterized by XRD, N(2) adsorption, He pycnometry, FTIR, SEM, TEM, (27)Al MAS-NMR and CO(2)-TPD (TPD=temperature-programmed desorption). Compared to the Mg-Al mixed oxide rehydrated in the gas phase (HT-rg), that rehydrated in the liquid phase (HT-rl) exhibits a superior catalytic performance with respect to the aldol condensation of citral with ketones to yield pseudoionones and in the self-aldolization of acetone. The textural properties of HT-rl and HT-rg differ strongly and determine the catalytic behavior. A memory effect led to a higher degree of reconstruction of the lamellar structure when the mixed oxide was rehydrated in the gas phase rather than in the liquid phase, although liquid-phase rehydration under fast stirring produced a surface area that was 26 times greater. This contrasts to typical statements in the literature claiming a higher degree of reconstruction in the presence of large amounts of water in the medium. CO(2)-TPD shows that the number of OH(-) groups and their nature are very similar in HT-rg and HT-rl, and cannot explain the markedly different catalytic behavior. Accordingly, only a small fraction of the available basic sites in the rehydrated samples is active in liquid-phase aldol condensations. Our results support the model in which only basic sites near the edges of the hydrotalcite platelets are partaking in aldol reactions. Based on this, reconstructed materials with small crystallites (produced by exfoliation during mechanical stirring), that is, possessing a high external surface area, are beneficial in the reactions compared to larger crystals with a high degree of intraplatelet porosity.     

New developments in the Pd-catalysed cyclisation-coupling reaction of alkene-containing carbonucleophiles with organic halides (and triflates). The first examples of asymmetric catalysis.

The results of our preliminary investigations directed toward asymmetric catalysis of the cyclocarbopalladation of alkenes bearing a proximate nucleophile with organic halides (or triflates) are disclosed. A series of bidentate phosphine ligands were evaluated in intramolecular versions of this reaction using (E)-2-[7-(2-bromophenyl)-hept-4-enyl]-malonic acid dimethyl ester (1) and (Z)-2-[7-(2-trifluoromethanesulfonyloxy-phenyl)-hept-4-enyl]-malonic acid dimethyl ester (9) as model substrates. The highest enantioselective induction was obtained with aryl triflate 9 which produced the corresponding cyclopentylindane as a single diastereomer in 54% chemical yield and 43% ee by using PdCl₂[S-(−)-TolBINAP] as chiral catalyst and K₂CO₃ as base.     

Evaluation of an accurate calibration and spectral standardization procedure for Raman spectroscopy

Due to modern developments Raman spectroscopy has evolved into a fast vibrational technique. Detailed fingerprints in combination with non-destructivity and minimal sample preparation has allowed the construction of reference libraries in a variety of research fields. Long-term stability and comparability are important characteristics when developing reference libraries. In addition, small shifts in highly similar spectra of different samples may limit the full potential of Raman spectroscopy. Since libraries often contain a large number of different and/or highly similar spectra, it is important that each data point in all the spectra corresponds to the exact Raman wavenumber. This is often not the case, due to shifts in optical pathway and/or shifts in laser wavelength. This paper describes a complete calibration protocol (wavelength and intensity) and evaluates the procedure for both short and long term stability, by means of 60 randomly selected measurement sessions spread over a period of nine months. A two-step standardization procedure is proposed to deal with spectral shifts.     

Rapid and sensitive determination of urinary 2,5-hexanedione by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

A rapid and sensitive method for the determination of 2,5-hexanedione (HD) (the principal metabolite of n-hexane) in urine samples by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The sample preparation procedure was based on solid-liquid extraction after acid hydrolysis; it was optimized to enable accurate HD determination in less than 30 min. Analysis of spiked real samples showed a recovery of more than 85% at the 0.1-ppm level, with a relative standard deviation of 5% and a detection limit as low as 0.01 ppm. Intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation at the 0.5-ppm level were 4 and 5%, respectively. The chromatographic peak assigned to HD was identified by collecting the HPLC eluate at the retention time of HD and analysing it using Fourier transform infrared spectrometry coupled with high-resolution gas chromatography. Urine samples of unexposed and exposed subjects were analysed following the proposed analytical procedure. HPLC and high-resolution gas chromatographic analyses were also compared on these samples. A correlation factor of 0.992 was obtained, which showed a good agreement between the two sets of data.     

Photodegradation of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins in Liquid Samples by Near UV Light Irradiation

Photodegradation of 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (1,2,3,4-TCDD) in hexane solution was studied under controlled near-UV light exposure in the spectral region from 325 to 269 nm. GC-MS was used to detect the amount of unreacted dioxin and to characterize the relevant degradation products. Irradiation experiments carried out at a constant light energy (700 mJ) showed that the percentage of 1,2,3,4-TCDD left in the solution after irradiation changed from about 55 to 75%, with a minimum of 55% at 310 nm. Further irradiation experiments carried out at two wavelengths, namely 310 and 269 nm, and light energy ranging from 0 to 4000 mJ, showed that the photodegradation reaction of the TCDD always followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic, with a rate constant of 8 × 10⁻⁴and 5 × 10⁻⁴mJ⁻¹, respectively. These experiments also showed that trichloro- and dichloro-dibenzo-p-dioxins were produced with less than 15% of the initial quantity of TCDD, leading to the conclusion that the dechlorination process is a minor photolysis pathway.     

Preparation of amphiphilic polyisobutylenes-b-polyethylenamines by mannich reaction. I. Synthesis and characterization of α-phenololigoisobutylenes

The cationic polymerization of isobutylene initiated by 4-(2-hydroxy-2-propyl)phenol/BCl₃ system results mainly in α-phenol-ω-chlorooligoisobutylene; however p-(2-chloro-2,4-dimethyl-4-pentyl)phenol is present in all cases. α-Methyl-ω-chlorooligoisobutylene is formed only when the temperature is below?50°C; it results from initiation by the phenol/BCl₃ system. Thermal dehydrochlorination of α-phenol-ω-chlorooligoisobutylene is quantitative and leads to a mixture of isomeric ω-unsaturated oligoisobutylenes. α-Methyl-ω-phenololigoisobutylene is prepared by the Friedel—Crafts reaction between industrial unsaturated oligoisobutylene and phenol in the presence of SnCl₄ at ?30°C; the reaction is quantitative between ?50 and ?30°C degradation takes place. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.