Kinetics and mechanism of nitration of cellulose with the HNO3-CH2Cl2 mixture

Complexing in the HNO₃-CH₂Cl₂ system was confirmed tensimetrically. The kinetics of nitration of wood cellulose by the HNO₃-CH₂Cl₂ mixture were investigated. A large part of the cellulose is nitrated in a first fast reaction in comparison to the HNO₃-H₂SO₄ mixture with the same concentration of HNO₃. The rate of the process is determined by the rate of diffusion of the HNO₃, the rate of the process decreases more rapidly in the case of HNO₃-CH₂Cl₂ than in the HNO₃-H₂SO₄ mixture, which is probably due to the effect of CH₂Cl₂ on the diffusion coefficient of HNO₃.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 2445–2450, November, 1989.     

Characterization of microcystins using in-source collision-induced dissociation

The efficiency of the in-source collision-induced dissociation (in-source CID) technique for the structural characterization of microcystins (MCYSTs) was evaluated. Microcystins that did not contain arginine underwent facile fragmentation to produce characteristic product ions at relatively low cone voltage and could be fully characterized based on their mass spectra. On the other hand, cyclic peptides possessing arginine residues, such as MCYST-RR, -LR, -YR and nodularin, were considerably more stable under in-source CID conditions and required higher cone voltage to induce fragmentation. This behaviour is explained in terms of the mobile proton model for peptide fragmentation that can be used as an indication for the presence of arginine when unknown microcystins are analyzed. In-source CID was applied to the characterization of microcystins released into water from a Microcystis aeruginosa culture (UTCC299) (UTCC: University of Toronto Culture Collection of Algae and Cyanobacteria). Six microcystins were detected in extracts from UTCC299: I, [D-Asp(3)]MCYST-LR; II, MCYST-LR; III, isomer of MCYST-LR; IV, isomer of methyl MCYST-LR; V, [D-Asp(3), Glu(OCH(3))(6)]MCYST-LR; and VI, [D-Glu(OCH(3))(6)]MCYST-LR. In-source CID provided mass spectral patterns similar to those obtained by CID in the collision cell of the mass spectrometer but was more sensitive for the analysis of microcystins.     

Correlation of the electrochemical reversibility and resolution of the anode and cathode peaks of the electrode processes of hydroquinone and metol on graphite and platinum

Cyclic and direct voltammetry with linear potential sweep was used to study the potential difference of the anode and cathode peaks for hydroquinone and metol in the cyclic voltammograms (CVA) of their individual solutions on the main factors affecting the reversibility of the electrochemical process on electrodes of a graphite-epoxy composite (GEC), namely, the state of the surface of the indicator electrode, the pH of the buffer solution, and the mode of polarization. The surface state of the GEC electrode was affected by its passivation in air for various periods of time; the reversibility of the electrode process was judged by the difference between the anode and cathode potentials on the CVAs of hydroquinone and metol. A correlation was found between the degree of reversibility and the difference of peak potentials for similar electrode processes of hydroquinone and metol on the GEC electrode and other solid electrodes made of graphite materials and platinum.     

Condensation reaction in the bandpass reaction cell improves sensitivity for uranium,thorium, neodymium and praseodymium measurements

Condensation reactions in the bandpass reaction cell or dynamic reaction cell (DRC) were used for the determination of actinides and lanthanides such as uranium, thorium, neodymium and praseodymium. These elements react with oxygen reagent gas in the dynamic reaction cell of the ELAN DRC II instrument to give mono- and/or dioxo cationic species (UO₂⁺, ThO⁺, NdO⁺ and PrO⁺, respectively). Increasing the oxygen flow rate in the dynamic reaction cell leads to the rapid decrease of the singly charged metal ions accompanied by the fast increase in the intensity of the oxide ion. This phenomenon is used to improve considerably the sensitivity of ICP-MS instruments equipped with a dynamic reaction cell for actinides and lanthanides. Estimated detection limits (EDL) obtained in this work for uranium, thorium, neodymium-144 and praseodymium are 0.022, 1.0, 0.045, and 0.10 ng L^–1, respectively. The detection limit for uranium measured in the standard (vented) mode of an ELAN DRC II was found to be 0.22 ng L^–1, which is an order of magnitude higher compared to the pressurized mode.     

Visualising mouse neuroanatomy and function by metal distribution using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry imaging

Metals have a number of important roles within the brain. We used laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to map the three-dimensional concentrations and distributions of transition metals, in particular iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) within the murine brain. LA-ICP-MS is one of the leading analytical tools for measuring metals in tissue samples. Here, we present a complete data reduction protocol for measuring metals in biological samples, including the application of a pyramidal voxel registration technique to reproducibly align tissue sections. We used gold (Au) nanoparticle and ytterbium (Yb)-tagged tyrosine hydroxylase antibodies to assess the co-localisation of Fe and dopamine throughout the entire mouse brain. We also examined the natural clustering of metal concentrations within the murine brain to elucidate areas of similar composition. This clustering technique uses a mathematical approach to identify multiple ‘elemental clusters’, avoiding user bias and showing that metal composition follows a hierarchical organisation of neuroanatomical structures. This work provides new insight into the distinct compartmentalisation of metals in the brain, and presents new avenues of exploration with regard to region-specific, metal-associated neurodegeneration observed in several chronic neurodegenerative diseases.     

Pyrimidines

A method for the preparation of 2-amino(acetamido)pyrimidines by condensation of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds with guanidine (acetylguanidine) was developed.     

On the theory of nonlinear Thomson scattering of a highly focused laser pulse

The problem of nonlinear Thomson scattering of an ultrashort laser pulse on free electrons from a sharp focus is solved within the test particle approach. To describe the laser beam fields, an exact solution to the Helmholtz equation is used, which allows simulation of the electron dynamics and emission when the paraxial approximation is certainly inapplicable. Characteristics of attosecond electromagnetic pulses of secondary emission from test electrons during their motion near the laser focus are studied.