Volume 1, Issue 3

The structure and the biosorption properties of fungal biomass of Aspergillus niger originated from citric acid fermentation industry was investigated. This waste biomass, produced in high quantity in carefully controlled industrial processes, has certain favourable characteristics that may be improved for its usefulness. In environmental chemistry, it is known for the removal of heavy metals cations. In this work, different alkaline treatments (1M NaOH/20°C/24 h and 10M NaOH/107°C/6 h) were used to evaluate the dependence of sorption properties of biomass on the cell wall composition. The biosorption was studied by the batch method, with the biomass concentration of 1 g/l, at pH 6. The adsorption of lead was more effective than that of cadmium. The biosorption capacity was evaluated using the biosorption isotherm derived from the equilibrium data. At pH 6, the maximmum lead biosorption capacity estimated with the Langmuir model was 93 mg/g dry biomass.

The possibility of using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) to determine the elemental composition of archaeological bones elements was evaluated and discussed. The interferences of the major elements (Ca, P, K, Na, Al and Fe) on the microelements (Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, Zn) were investigated and the appropriate analytical lines were selected. The role of different nebulizers (cross-flow, Babington and Meinhard) on detection limits were investigated. The applicability of the proposed procedure was demonstrated analyzing IAEA-SRM-H-5 (Animal bone); and authentic bone sample dating back to the 4th century BC. These results were compared to ETAAS and ICP-MS.

The nucleophilic addition of 2,4-dithiobiurete, 1- and 1,4-substituted 2,4-dithiobiuretes (2 a-e) with benzoylacetylene (1) has been studied. 2-(Benzoylmethyl)-4-(R1-imino)-6-(R2-imino)dihydro-4H-1,3,5-dithiazinium perchlorates (3 a-e) are obtained in glacial acetic acid (AcOH) in the presence of equimolar quantities of HClO4. The reaction of benzoylacetylene with 1,5-diphenyl-2,4-dithiobiurete in either of MeOH, C6H6, or MeCN solvents proceeds non-selectively to give a mixture of products such as 2-(benzoylmethyl)-4,6-di(phenylimino)dihydro-4H-1,3,5-dithiazine (5), 2-(benzoylmethyl)-4-(β-benzoylvinyl)thio-3-phenyl-6-(phenylimino)-3,6-dihydro-2H-1,3,5-thiadiazine (8), 2-(benzoylmethyl)-1,3-diphenylhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine-4,6-dithione (7) and N-(β-benzoylvinyl)-N-phenylthioureas (6).

The kinetics of the auto-oxidation of 2-aminophenol (OAP) to 2-amino-phenoxazin-3-one (APX) was followed in air-saturated aqueous solutions and the influence of temperature and pH on the auto-oxidation rate was studied. The kinetic analysis was based on a spectrophotometric method following the increase of the absorbance of APX. The process follows first order kinetics according to the rate law—d[OAP]/dt=k′[OAP]. The experimental data, within the pH range 4–9.85, were analyzed using both differential and incremental methods. The temperature variation of the overall rate constant was studied at pH=9.85 within the range 25–50°C and the corresponding activation energy was evaluated.

The analytical properties of an ion-selective electrode sensitive to labetalol with a liquid membrane, based on ion-pair complexes with sodium tetraphenylborate (TPB-Na+) are described. The studied electrode can be used for the determination of labetalol hydrochloride as a protonated form of labetalol in pharmaceuticals. The calibration curve, e.g. EMF=f(pCLabHCl) is linear in the range from 10−5 to 10−2 mol L−1 with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992 and slope of 61.13 mV/decade, which is close to the Nernstian slope. The detection limit of the examined electrode is 7.20×10−6 mol L−1. The influence of pH of the tested solutions on the formulation of the electrode is not as considerable since the electrode works correctly in the pH range 3.0–8.0. The main attributes of the developed electrode are: stability, good reproducibility of EMF and short response time, close to 30 seconds depending on labetalol concentration in the solution. The electrode shows good selectivity for many inorganic ions. The selectivity for drug cations is weaker due to the structural similarity of the interfering cations to labetalol. The results of labetalol determination using direct potentiometry in drugs such as Pressocard (Polpharma) and Trandate (GlaxoWellcome) were compatible with the quantity of labetalol declared by the manufacturer, and with parallel UV spectrophotometric and HPLC determinations.

4-Chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan reacts by nucleophilic substitution with phenoxide anions derived from estriol (2c), ethynylestradiol (2d), phenol (3e), guaiacol (3f), 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (3g), eugenol (3h), isoeugenol (3i), the cytostatic Etoposide (4), and Reichardt’s betaine (5) in the presence of crown ethers affording the corresponding 4-aryloxy-7-nitrobenzofurazan derivatives 6c, 6d, 7e-7i, 8, and 9. The structure of these compounds was confirmed by NMR spectra. Hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity parameters were investigated by reverse phase thin-layer chromatography.

From the study of the modification of PE and PP with maleic anhydride, maleic acid and an acid salt of maleic acid (sodium maleate) in a liquid or solid state, it was shown that the main controlling factor in the solid state modification of polyolefins is the joint plastic deformation of the system components. The changes of molecular characteristics were investigated by gel permeation chromatography. It was shown, that the molecular weight of modified PP samples increases at times by linking with intermolecular associates in the solutions. The formation of associates plays essential role in the behaviour of solutions of modified PP. The morphology of modified PP samples was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. It was shown, that intermolecular association strongly influences on the processes of formation and growth of nucleus and the structure of generated polymeric materials.

The kinetics of free-radical copolymerization and terpolymerization of acrylamide (AAm), N, N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (MBA) and methacrylic acid (MA) in the inverse water/monomer/cyclohexane/Tween 85 miniemulsion was investigated. Polymerizable sterically-stable miniemulsions were formulated in cyclohexane as a continuous medium. Polymerizations are very fast and reach the final conversion within several minutes. The dependence of the polymerization rate vs. conversion is described by a curve with two nonstationary rate intervals. The maximum rate of polymerization slightly increases with increasing concentration of crosslinking monomer (MBA) and strongly decreases by the addition of MA. The rate of polymerization is inversely proportional to the 0.9th and 1.8th power of the particle concentration without and with MA, respectively. The number of polymer particles is inversely proportional to the 0.18th and 0.13th power of MBA concentration. The kinetic and colloidal parameters of the miniemulsion polymerization are discussed in terms of microemulsion polymerization model.

Isomerization of m-, o-and p-xylenes in the presence of trimethylammonium hydrochloride-AlCl3 ionic liquid with different composition was studied. Ionic liquids with the following ammonium salt: AlCl3 molar ratios were used: 1∶2, 1∶1.5 and 1∶1.25. It was shown that isomerization of xylenes proceeds under mild conditions at temperatures from 60°C to 110°C. It was found that the activity and selectivity of the ionic liquids depends on their composition. The most effective catalyst was the ionic liquid with the ammonium salt: AlCl3 molar ratio equal to 1∶2.

This paper reports the results of an optimisation study for a procedure to determine the total selenium and its inorganic species, Se(IV) and Se(VI) using atomic absorption spectrometry combined with hydride generation and in-situ trapping of the analyte on the inner walls of the graphite tube. With the use of the proposed modification, a detection limit (3σ) of 0.018 ng/ml is achieved. This paper presents exemplary results, according to the proposed procedure, for selenium determination in samples of marine water. The concentrations of selenium in the samples ranged from <0.02 ng/ml to 0.16ng/ml of Se(IV) and from <0.02 ng/ml to 0.10 ng/ml of Se(VI).