Gravimetric determination of zirconium with a new azopyrazolone derivative

3-Methyl-5-oxo-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-4-ylazo-2'-(6',8'-naphthalenedisulfonic acid) (disodium salt) is proposed as a new reagent for the gravimetric determination of zirconium. The precipitate formed at pH 1–1.5 can be weighed directly and there are few interferences.     

The interaction between TEOS and some polyols

Hybrid organic-inorganic materials, silica – polyols (ethylene-glycol – EG; 1,2 propane diol – 1,2PG; 1,3 propane diol – 1,3PG and glycerol – GL), were prepared by a sol-gel process starting from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and polyols, in acid catalysis. The resulting materials were studied by thermal analysis (in air and nitrogen), FTIR and solid state ²⁹Si-NMR spectroscopy. These techniques evidenced the presence of polyols in the silica matrix both hydrogen bounded and chemically bounded in the silica network. The thermal analysis proves to be the most appropriate technique to evidence the organic chains linked in the matrix network and to follow the thermal evolution of the gels to the SiO₂ matrix.     

Superacid cyclization of esters of some bishomoisoprenoid acids

It is shown that on the superacid cyclization of esters of bishomobicyclogeranylgeranic and E,E-bishomofarnesic acids fully cyclized hydroxyesters are formed in good yield, while on the interaction of esters of 6-hydroxy- and 6-acyloxy-15-bishomobicyclogeranylgeranic acids with a superacid no carbocyclization takes place.     

Polyelectrolyte capsules made of two biocompatible natural polymers

In this study the influence of the experimental conditions on the obtention of polyelectrolyte multilayer capsules was investigated. Two ways of the simple coacervation method was used to obtain spherical capsules involving chitosan and hyaluronan, chitosan being inside the particle covered by a hyaluronan layer to increase the biocompatibility. The ¹H-NMR spectroscopy confirmed a polyelectrolyte complex formation and the optical microscopy shows that the complexed capsules have good sphericity with average diameters ranging from 590 at 1550 μm in the experimental conditions adopted. One can observe that in the acid medium the complexed capsules are much stable than the chitosan beads. The structures described provide a starting point for the design and fabrication of complexed capsules made of two biocompatible natural polymers with potential applicability in medical or pharmaceutical applications. Few diffusion experiments demonstrated that the complexed layer controls the diffusion of dextran included in the chitosan inner domain.     

Bioaccumulation of thorium and uranyl ions on Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The efficiency of the yeast suspension ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae was studied in the decontamination of radioactive residual waste waters and in the biological behavior of the levuric mass. The effect of reaction time on the amino acid content in the supernatant and on the concentration of radioactive ions was also investigated. The reaction of yeast with the toxic agent showed that the living matter behaves differently from the chemical components of the cell. The yeast had the tendency to aggregate in the presence of radioactive ions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Multiple rate-determining steps for nonideal and fractal kinetics

We show that the kinetic model of a single rate-determining step in a reaction mechanism can be extended to systems with multiple overall reactions for which the elementary reactions obey nonideal or fractal kinetics. The following assumptions are necessary: (1) The system studied is either closed or open, but no constraints exist preventing the evolution toward equilibrium. (2) Elementary reactions occur in pairs of forward and backward steps. (3) The kinetics of the elementary steps are either nonideal or fractal and are compatible with equilibrium thermodynamics. (4) The number of reaction routes is identical with the number of rate-determining steps. If these hypotheses are valid, then the overall reaction rates can be explicitly evaluated: they have a form similar to the kinetic equations for the elementary reactions and the apparent reaction orders and fractal coefficients can be expressed analytically in terms of the kinetic parameters of the elementary reactions. We derive a set of relationships which connect the equilibrium constants of the reaction routes, the corresponding overall rate coefficients, and the stoichiometric numbers of the rate-determining steps. We also derive a set of generalized Boreskov relations among the apparent activation energies of the forward and backward overall processes, the corresponding reaction enthalpies, and the stoichiometric coefficients of the rate-determining steps. If the elementary reactions obey fractal kinetics, the same is true for the rate-determining steps. The fractal exponents of the forward and backward overall reactions are linear combinations of the fractal exponents of the fractal elementary reactions. Similar to the theory of single rate-determining steps, our approach can be used for selecting suitable reaction mechanisms from experimental data.     

Polarometrische bestimmung von zirkonium(IV) mit tartrazin

A new polarimetric procedure has been developed for the rapid determination of zirconium in the presence of tartrazin as reagent This determination is possible in the presence of uranium.     

Purification of waste waters containing 60Co2+, 115mCd2+ and 203Hg2+ radioactive ions by ETS-4 titanosilicate

Summary The sorption of ⁶⁰Co²⁺, ^115mCd²⁺ and ²⁰³Hg²⁺ from diluted solutions (as analogues for radioactive waste waters) on ETS-4 microporous titanosilicate was studied at 277, 293, 313 and 333 K by measuring the sorption kinetics using a batch-method. The sorption of these radiocations was compared by means of the distribution coefficient and of the sorption capacity. The maximum sorption capacities follow the order: ²⁰³Hg²⁺>^115mCd²⁺3⁶⁰Co²⁺. The thermodynamic functions of the sorption processes have been estimated. The increase of the absolute value of DG° with increasing temperatures shows that higher temperatures favor ionic exchange.     

Capillary zone electrophoresis of alpha-helical diastereomeric peptide pairs with anionic ion-pairing reagents

The present study uses an unique capillary electrophoresis (CE) approach, that we have termed ion-interaction capillary zone electrophoresis (II-CZE), for the separation of diastereomeric peptide pairs where a single site in the centre of the non-polar face of an 18-residue amphipathic alpha-helical peptide is substituted by the 19 L- or D-amino acids. Through the addition of perfluorinated acids at very high concentrations (up to 400 mM), such concentration levels not having been used previously in chromatography or CE, to the background electrolyte (pH 2.0), we have been able to achieve baseline resolution of all 19 diastereomeric peptide pairs with an uncoated capillary. Since each diastereomeric peptide pair has the same sequence, identical mass-to-charge ratio and identical intrinsic hydrophobicity, such a separation by CZE has previously been considered theoretically impossible. Excellent resolution was achieved due to maximum advantage being taken of even subtle disruption of peptide structure/conformation (due to the presence of D-amino acids) of the non-polar face of the amphipathic alpha-helix and its interaction with the hydrophobic anionic ion-pairing reagents. In addition, due to the excellent resolution of diastereomeric peptide pairs by this novel CZE approach, we have also been able to separate a mixture of these closely-related alpha-helical peptides.     

Capillary electrophoresis of cationic random coil peptide standards: effect of anionic ion-pairing reagents and comparison with reversed-phase chromatography

The present study compares a charge/hydrophobicity capillary electrophoresis (CE) approach to reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) for the separation of three series of four synthetic, random coil peptide standards. Each series has peptides of the same positive charge (+1, +2 and +3 series) and length but differing in hydrophobicity. Complete resolution of the 12 peptides was achieved via a novel CE approach: a capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) mode effected a separation of identically charged peptides; within each charged group of peptides, the addition of perfluorinated acid anionic ion-pairing reagents allowed resolution of the peptides through a mechanism based on peptide hydrophobicity which we have termed ioninteraction (II)-CZE. The peak capacity and peptide resolution of this CE approach was superior to that of RP-HPLC and stresses an important role for CE for peptide/proteomic applications.