Speciation analysis of tellurium by solid-phase extraction in the presence of ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Under acidic conditions tellurium(IV) formed a complex with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC). The tellurium(IV) complex was completely retained on a non-polar Isolute silica-based octadecyl (C(18)) sorbent-containing solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge, while the uncomplexed Te(VI) passed through the cartridge and remained as a free species in the solution. Only partial Te(IV) was retained on the SPE cartridge for samples without addition of APDC. On the basis of different retention behaviours of the complexed Te(IV) and uncomplexed Te(VI), a simple and highly sensitive method is proposed for the determination of total tellurium and Te(VI) by SPE separation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection. The Te(IV) concentration was calculated as the difference between total tellurium and Te(VI) concentrations. The detection limit (3 sigma) is 3 ng L(-1) tellurium. Factors affecting the separation and detection of tellurium species were investigated. Coexisting ions did not show significant interferences with the Te(IV)-APDC complex retention and the subsequent ICP-MS detection of Te. The method has been successfully applied to the tellurium speciation analysis in waters with spiked recoveries for Te(IV) and Te(VI) of 86.0-108% and 87.1-97.4%, respectively.     

Antimony speciation by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using solid phase extraction cartridges

A novel and simple method for inorganic antimony speciation is described based on selective solid phase extraction (SPE) separation of antimony(III) and highly sensitive inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) detection of total antimony and antimony(V) in the aqueous phase of the sample. Non-polar SPE cartridges, such as the Isolute silica-based octyl (C8) sorbent-containing cartridge, selectively retained the Sb(III) complex with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC), while the uncomplexed Sb(V) remained as a free species in the solution and passed through the cartridge. The Sb(III) concentration was calculated as the difference between total antimony and Sb(V) concentrations. The detection limit was 1 ng L(-1) antimony. Factors affecting the separation and detection of antimony species were investigated. Acidification of samples led to partial or complete retention of Sb(V) on C8 cartridge. Foreign ions tending to complex with Sb(III) or APDC did not interfere with the retention behavior of the Sb(III)-APDC complex. This method has been successfully applied to antimony speciation of various types of water samples.     

Picogram determination of estrogens in water using large volume injection gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

In this study, a simple and efficient large volume injection gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method, via a programmable-temperature vaporizer (PTV) inlet, has been developed and applied in the determination of estrogens in environmental water samples without a prior derivatization process. Three commonly used estrogens estrone, 17 β-estradiol and 17 α-ethynylestradiol were selected as target compounds for this study. It has been demonstrated that the type of gas chromatograph liner and the initial inlet temperature can greatly affect the response intensity of estrogens. Three different types of PTV liners have been studied; the multibaffle liner generated the strongest response intensities towards the estrogen analytes. The results showed that the response intensities of estrogens reduced sharply while the initial inlet temperature increased. Various instrument conditions and sample preparation methods were studied in detail. The optimized method has been validated with good linearity, precision and accuracy. The method detection limit of each estrogen was found to be 0.041 ng/L for estrone, 0.046 ng/L for 17 β-estradiol and 0.031 ng/L for 17 α-ethynylestradiol. To the best of our knowledge, these results represent the best sensitivities achieved for estrogens analyzed in water samples via traditional GC-MS method without a derivatization process. This method has been successfully applied in the analyses of different water samples.     

Microwave-assisted efficient and convenient synthesis of 2,4(1H,3H)-quinazolinediones and 2-thioxoquinazolines

An efficient and convenient method was developed for the preparation of 2,4(1H,3H)-quinazolinediones and 2-thioxoquinazolinones. Substituted methyl anthranilate reacted with various iso(thio)cyanates in DMSO/H2O without any catalyst or base by using microwave irradiation to generate diversity on the 2,4(1H,3H)-quinazolinediones or 2-thioxoquinazolinones. A variety of substrates can participate in the process with good yields and high purities, making this methodology suitable for library synthesis in drug discovery efforts.     

Simultaneous separation and determination of six arsenic species in rice by anion‐exchange chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The simultaneous separation and determination of arsenite As(III), arsenate As(V), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), arsenobetaine (AsB), and arsenocholine (AsC) in rice samples have been carried out in one single anion‐exchange column run by high‐performance liquid chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. To estimate the effect of variables on arsenic (As) speciation, the chromatographic conditions including type of competing anion, ionic strength, pH of elution buffer, and flow rate of mobile phase have been investigated by a univariate approach. Under the optimum chromatographic conditions, baseline separation of six As species has been achieved within 10 min by gradient elution program using 4 mM NH₄HCO₃ at pH 8.6 as mobile phase A and 4 mM NH₄HCO₃, 40 mM NH₄NO₃ at pH 8.6 as mobile phase B. The method detection limits for As(III), As(V), MMA, DMA, AsB, and AsC were 0.4, 0.9, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.3 μg/kg, respectively. The proposed method has been applied to separation and quantification of As species in real rice samples collected from Hunan Province, China. The main As species detected in all samples were As(III), As(V) and DMA, with inorganic As accounting for over 80% of total As in these samples.     

Ion chromatography/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of glyphosate, glufosinate, fosamine and ethephon at nanogram levels in water

This paper describes the first approach that simultaneously quantifies four polar, water-soluble organophosphorus herbicides, i.e., glyphosate, glufosinate, fosamine and ethephon, at nanogram levels in environmental waters. The target herbicides were separated completely by ion chromatography (IC) on a polymer anion-exchange column, Dionex IonPac AS16 (4.0 mm x 250 mm), with 30 mM citric acid flowing at 0.70 mL min(-1) as the eluent. On-line inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) using a quadrupole mass spectrometer was employed as a sensitive and selective detector of the effluents. Various parameters affecting the separation and detection were systematically examined and optimized. Detection limits of the herbicides achieved with the proposed IC/ICP-MS method were 1.1-1.4 microg L(-1) (as compound) based on a 500-microL sample injection. Matrix anions, metal ions, phosphate, polyphosphates, non-polar and other polar organophosphorus pesticides showed no interference. The developed method was validated using reservoir water, treated water and NEWater samples spiked at the level of 10-25 microg L(-1) with satisfactory recoveries (95-109%). It is applicable to the simultaneous determination of microg L(-1) concentrations of the herbicides in polluted water.     

Rapid analysis of Gram-positive bacteria in water via membrane filtration coupled with nanoprobe-based MALDI-MS

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) is challenging when it is directly applied to identify bacteria in water. This study demonstrates a rapid, sensitive, and selective technique for detection of Gram-positive bacteria in water. It involves a combination of membrane filtration (MF) and vancomycin-conjugated magnetite nanoparticles (VNPs) to selectively separate and concentrate Gram-positive bacteria in tap water and reservoir water, followed by rapid analysis of the isolates using whole-cell MALDI-MS. VNPs specifically recognize cells of Gram-positive bacteria, which serves as a basis for affinity capture of target Gram-positive bacteria. A two-step procedure of surface modification of bare magnetite nanoparticles was applied to synthesize VNPs. MF prior to VNP-based magnetic separation can effectively increase the enrichment factor and detection sensitivity and reduce time-consuming culture steps and the matrix effect for analysis of bacteria in MALDI-MS. The enrichment factor for the MF-VNP technique is about 6 × 10⁴. A variety of bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, and Enterococcus faecium, were successfully analyzed from aqueous solutions and their mixtures with Gram-negative bacteria. The optimal conditions of the VNP/MALDI-MS technique, including selection of the MALDI matrix, the choice of cell-washing solution, and the VNP concentration, were also investigated. The capture efficiencies of Gram-positive bacteria with VNPs were 26.7–33.3%. The mass variations of characteristic peaks of the captured bacteria were within ±5 Da, which indicated good reproducibility of the proposed technique. The technique was applied to detect Gram-positive bacteria in tap water and reservoir water with an analysis time of around 2 h. The detection limit for Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecium, and Staphylococcus aureus was 5 × 10² cfu/ml for 2.0-l water samples.     

一个求解线性不等式约束的非线性规划的广义梯度投影内点 …

基于内点算法思想,利用广义投影技术设计了求解带线性不等式约束和非负约束的非线性规划的广义梯度投影内点算法,并了算法的收敛性质,数值例子表明算法是有效的。