Synthesis and Crystal Structure of the Hydrogen Polyphosphide Bis(Tetraphenylphosphonium) hydrogenheptaphosphide‐ammonia(1/3) (PPh4)2HP7 · 3NH3

(PPh₄)₂HP₇ · 3NH₃ was prepared by the reaction of K₃P₇ with a proton‐charged ion exchange resin in the presence of (PPh₄)Br in liquid ammonia, and characterized by low temperature X‐ray structure analysis. The thermally very unstable compound contains the hydrogenheptaphosphide anion HPequation/tex2gif-stack-1.gif, the nortricyclane‐like cage of which is slightly distorted by the attachment of the hydrogen atom.     

Spontaneous Liquid/Liquid Displacement in a Capillary

When a two-phase column consisting of paraffin oil and silicon oil is placed in an otherwise air-filled, horizontal glass capillary, the column starts moving spontaneously. Silicon oil displaces paraffin oil, which in its turn displaces air at atmospheric conditions; a stable film of silicon oil is left at the receding silicon oil/air meniscus. The driving force for the motion is the difference in capillary pressure at the free interfaces. However, the column moves considerably more slowly than predicted by the driving forces; it appears that the forces resisting the motion at the moving liquid/liquid/solid line are much larger than one would expect on the basis of the interfacial tension and the viscosities of the two phase system. Some considerations are made on the relationship of the theory of Fowkes to our system. Also, a method for measuring low interfacial tensions between immiscible liquids is proposed.     

Kinetics of the surface tension of micellar solutions: Comparison of different experimental techniques

The kinetics of the surface tension of micellar solutions of nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 is measured experimentally by means of three different techniques: oscillating jet, maximum bubble pressure and inclined plate. They allow to study the micellization kinetics at various time scales (from a few milliseconds to a few seconds) in fairly large concentration region up to 50 times CMC. The experimental data are satisfactorily explained by a theoretical model accounting for the kinetics of micellization, diffusion of surfactant species and expansion of the bubble interface. By this model are computed the characteristic times of diffusion and micellization, which are of comparable magnitude (about 5 to 200 ms), and the Gibbs' elasticity. The micellization time constant corresponds to the slow relaxation process known to coincide with the disintegration of micelles. Comparing our data with other data from literature one can conclude that more realistic information for the micellization kinetics is obtained by the maximum bubble pressure and the oscillating jet method. The inclined plate seems too slow to measure the relaxation processes in micellar solutions of this surfactant.     

Accurate mass determination,quantification and determination of detection limits in liquid chromatography–high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry: Challenges and practical solutions

Uniform guidelines for the data processing and validation of qualitative and quantitative multi-residue analysis using full-spectrum high-resolution mass spectrometry are scarce.     

Non-contact protein microarray fabrication using a procedure based on liquid bridge formation

Contemporary microarrayers of contact or non-contact format used in protein microarray fabrication still suffer from a number of problems, e.g. generation of satellite spots, inhomogeneous spots, misplaced or even absent spots, and sample carryover. In this paper, a new concept of non-contact sample deposition that reduces such problems is introduced. To show the potential and robustness of this pressure-assisted deposition technique, different sample solutions known to cause severe problems or to be even impossible to print with conventional microarrayers were accurately printed. The samples included 200 mg mL^–1 human serum albumin, highly concentrated sticky cell adhesion proteins, pure high-salt cell-lysis buffer, pure DMSO, and a suspension of 5-μm polystyrene beads. Additionally, a water-immiscible liquid fluorocarbon, which was shown not to affect the functionality of the capture molecules, was employed as a lid to reduce evaporation during microarray printing. The fluorocarbon liquid lid was shown to circumvent hydrolysis of water-sensitive activated surfaces during long-term deposition procedures.     

Advanced high-performance liquid chromatography method for highly polar nitroaromatic compounds in ground water samples from ammunition waste sites

An advanced HPLC-photodiode array detection method for the determination of 12 selected highly polar nitroaromatic compounds in ground water samples of ammunition waste sites has been developed and validated. After solid-phase extraction the limits of detection were in the range 0.1–0.5 μg/l. To prove the applicability of the method to other polar nitroaromatic compounds the retention time of another 32 polar compounds under the specified chromatographic conditions were determined and their UV spectra recorded. To review the method, interlaboratory comparisons were performed with a spiked and a real ground water sample.