Band 10, Heft 5

Emissions of toxic substances such as oxides of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, and, in addition, aromatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes and heavy metals are the most serious problem of road traffic affecting landscape. Platinum group elements (PGE), which are the main component of the catalyst, are one of the main sources of heavy metals in the environment. Here, we review the way by which emissions and forms of the emitted PGE end up in the environment especially to the soil-water-plant-animal system. The major points discussed are the following: 1) the main sources of PGE emission are automobile exhaust catalysts; 2) hospitals, where platinum is widely used to treat malignant neoplasm, and urban waste water belonging to other important sources of PGE in the environment; 3) soil is one of the most important components of the environment that may be contaminated with platinum metals; 4) phytotoxicity of PGE depends on the following conditions: the concentration of metals in the soil, time of exposure, the chemical form of metal, the chemical composition of exposed soil and plant species; 5) animals are also endangered by the increasing concentration of PGE in the environment. Moreover, we pay our attention to thiol-based mechanisms of how an organism protects itself against platinum group elements.

There has been substantial progress in the development of electron correlation methods with some benefits and drawbacks. In this paper, we give a review of electron correlation effects on many body particles system. We focus more on atoms and molecules rather than solid state and take into account single reference case only. We mainly discuss perturbation theory, coupled electron many electron theory and a few versions of coupled electron pair approximations with comparison configuration interaction and some coupled cluster methods in which coupled cluster method is crucially important for the crystalline solids, the electron gas and the heat of the reaction. We also show some results, reported by several authors, to fairly compare and judge the methods’ feasibility mentioned above.

The contemporary status of experimental as well as theoretical advances within the special view of structural phase transitions is reviewed. A brief outline of phase transitions and its classification is presented first. High-pressure experimental techniques developed for studying the structural phase transitions and elastic properties are reviewed. The complete set of theoretical and experimental data obtained is for the group II–IV alkaline earth chalcogenides. Here the authors review the currently used calculations and high-pressure behavior of these materials and the theoretical work that has been done on them.

Systems far from equilibrium are able to self-organize and often demonstrate the formation of a large variety of dissipative structures. In systems with free liquid interfaces, self-organization is frequently associated with Marangoni instability. The development of solutal Marangoni instability can have specific features depending on the properties of adsorbed surfactant monolayer. Here we discuss a general approach to describe solutal Marangoni instability and review in details the recent experimental and theoretical results for a system where the specific properties of adsorbed layers are crucial for the observed dynamic regimes. In this system, Marangoni instability is a result of surfactant transfer from a small droplet located in the bulk of water to air/water interface. Various dynamic regimes, such as quasi-steady convection with a monotonous decrease of surface tension, spontaneous oscillations of surface tension, or their combination, are predicted by numerical simulations and observed experimentally. The particular dynamic regime and oscillation characteristics depend on the surfactant properties and the system aspect ratio.

Selenium is a micronutrient, localized in the active sites of enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase and thioredoxin reductase, and participating together with these enzymes in an antioxidant defence system of organisms against free radicals. Administration of selenium is necessary for maintaining oxidative homeostasis. The present experiment is aimed at investigation of selenium impact on basal metabolic processes and selected antioxidants in a Wistar rat model, fed selenium in organic and inorganic forms. Liver, kidney, brain and muscle were sampled during a month-long feeding with four different doses of selenium (0.075 mg or 1.5 mg of inorganic and/or organic selenium per kg of feed). We found a significant reduction in glutathione level in liver tissue regardless of the form of the administered selenium. On the other hand, selenium caused a decreased glutathione reductase level in the liver and metallothionein level in the liver, kidney and muscle.

Silica surface was modified with quaternary ammonium salts to give three matrices of different chain length. The synthesized supports were characterized by elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy, as well as scanning electron microscopy and semi-empirical parametric method 5. Their exchange capacities for ClO4−, F−, NO3− and CH3COO− ions were investigated by conductometric titration. The amount of exchanged chloride ions from the matrix was studied for different initial anions concentration. The functionalized silica gel showed very good ability of perchlorate ions exchange from the water solution in room temperature. The anion-exchange properties were also studied in comparison to different number of reactive sites in the matrices. The increased number of chloride at the silica surface took effect on increased ability of ClO4− anion exchange

The first HPLC method for the separation of three paraben preservatives (methyl-, ethyl- and propyl parabens) using a core-shell analytical column is reported in this study. The separation was completed in less than 8 min at a low flow rate of 0.4 mL min−1 and an isocratic mobile phase containing 20% acetonitrile as organic modifier. The backpressure was HPLC equipment. The proposed analytical procedure was validated for linearity (0.5–20 µg L−1), limits of detection (15–43 µg L−1) and quantification (50–142 µg L−1), selectivity, within day (1.3–1.5%) and day-to-day (3.4–4.6%) precision and accuracy. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of the selected paraben preservatives in commercially available hygiene wipes. The mean percent recoveries were found to be in the range of 98.0–98.4%.

The anticancer activity of monensic acid (MonH) and its biometal(II) complexes [M(Mon)2(H2O)2](M = Mg, Ca, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn) was evaluated against cultured human permanent cell lines established from glioblastoma multiforme (8MGBA) and cancers of the lung (A549), breast (MCF-7), uterine cervix (HeLa) and liver (HepG2). The viability and proliferation of the non-tumor human embryonic cell line Lep3 was also tested. The investigations were carried out using a thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide test, neutral red uptake cytotoxicity assay, crystal violet staining, colony forming method and double staining with acridin orange and propidium iodide. The results obtained reveal that the compounds applied at concentrations of 0.5–25 µg mL−1 for 24–72 h decrease the viability and proliferation of the treated cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The metal(II) complexes studied (especially those of Co(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II)) have been found to express stronger cytotoxic and cytostatic activities than the non-coordinated monensic acid. The non-tumor human cell line showed strong chemosensitivity towards compounds tested comparable to that of cultured human tumor cell lines.

Chemical analysis of various biological matrices is routinely used for assessment of human exposure to various toxic metals. In this work, 489 samples of urinary calculi originating from almost the whole of The Czech Republic, were collected and subjected to mineralogical and elemental analysis. This study was aimed at mercury, the content of which was determined using thermo-oxidation — cold vapor — atomic absorption spectrometry. The effects of mineralogical composition, sex, age and region were recorded in order to verify the applicability of urinary calculi for biomonitoring. Relationships with other minor and trace elements were also investigated. Association of mercury with whewellite mineral was observed as well as a remarkable relationship with selenium, confirming the role of selenium in mercury excretion. No statistically significant effect was observed on the mercury content in stones with regard to the sex or region. Median values in age groups follow a trend with the maximum median value 0.365 mg kg−1 in the group of 41–50 year old donors, decreasing to 0.060 mg kg−1 for the oldest group (81–92 years). Our results confirm that urinary calculi can be helpful in providing complementary information on human exposure to mercury and its excretion.

The adsorption properties of two new nanostructured hybrid materials containing B2O3 and ZrO2 were studied. The new organic-inorganic materials were synthesized via a sol-gel method. As a modifying agent, a quantity of 10 wt.% Zr(OPr)4 or B(OCH3)3 was added. The structure of the hybrid materials was investigated by means of (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), (atomic force microscopy (AFM) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Based on the obtained data, the most probable cross-linking mechanism for the derived gels was proposed. The characterization of texture parameters of both materials was carried out with the use of low-temperature adsorption of nitrogen. Adsorption of Cu(II), Fe(III), Cr(III), Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions on both materials was investigated using multi-component solutions with different concentrations and acidity by means of the batch method. Kinetics of adsorption was also investigated. Pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion models were used to analyze kinetic data. The adsorption was significantly affected by the pH value. Equilibrium data were fitted to linear Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich models and maximum adsorption capacities were calculated.

From extraction experiments and γ-activity measurements, the exchange extraction constants corresponding to the general equilibrium C+(aq) + 1·Na+(nb) 1·C+ (nb) + Na+(aq) taking place in the two-phase water-nitrobenzene system (C+ = methylammonium, ethylammonium, propylammonium, ethanolammonium, diethanolammonium, triethanolammonium, cation TRIS+, hydrazinium, hydroxylammonium; 1 = benzo-18-crown-6; aq = aqueous phase, nb = nitrobenzene phase) were evaluated. Furthermore, the stability constants of the 1·C+ cationic complex species in nitrobenzene saturated with water were calculated; they were found to increase in the following cation order: triethanolammonium +

Cyclic chalcone analogues (2–5) and their ferrocenyl counterparts (6–10) were synthesized and their logP and P388 cyctotoxity were investigated. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by IR 1H and 13NMR spectroscopy. Comparison of conjugation and stereochemistry of the respective derivatives showed similar characteristics compared to ones with some higher degree of conjugation in the ferrocenyl series. Comparison of logP of the ferrocenyl derivatives determined by a validated RP-TLC method showed the ferrocenyl derivatives to have higher logP TLC. The results demonstrate that the differences in three dimensional shape, conjugation and lipophilicity do not have strong influence on the P388 cytotoxicity of the investigated phenyl (1−5) and ferrocenyl (6−10) enones.

The syntheses and characterizations of salicylatocopper(II) complexes of the formula Cu(X-sal)2(2-pyme)2 (X = 3-MeO (1), 4-MeO (2), 3-Me (3), 4-Me (4) and 5-Me (5), where 3-MeOsal− = 3-methoxysalicylate, 4-MeOsal− = 4-methoxysalicylate, 3-Mesal− = 3-methylsalicylate, 4-Mesal− = 4-methylsalicylate, 5-Mesal− = 5-methylsalicylate anion, and 2-pyme = 2-pyridylmethanol) are reported. The composition was determined by elemental analysis, and ligand coordination modes have been determined by spectroscopic methods (IR, UV-VIS). The crystal structure determination of [Cu(3-MeOsal)2(2-pyme)2] (1) and [Cu(5-Mesal)2(2-pyme)2] (5) have confirmed conclusions originally based on spectral data. EPR measurements of frozen water/methanol solutions containing different copper(II): 2-pyme molar ratios have indicated presence of complexes with only two nitrogen donor atoms bonded to each central atom.

Benzimidazole, benzimidazoles diversely substituted at position 2, and 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole have been alkylated at N 1 with ketonic Mannich bases derived from acetophenones, acetylnaphthalenes, 2-acetylthiophene and 1-tetralone to afford a series of novel 1-(3-oxopropyl)benzimidazoles. The reduction of these transamination products with NaBH4 in methanol produced the corresponding 1-(3-hydroxypropyl)benzimidazoles in excellent yields.

An important function of many copper-containing proteins is activation of O2 and subsequent substrate oxidation. The Cu (III) oxidation state is generally considered to be less accessible because of the highly positive Cu (III)/Cu (II) redox potentials with typical amino acid ligands. Here, we employ density functional (DFT) calculations to explore to what extent copper (III) may be accessed in a biologically-relevant coordination environment around a mononuclear copper center, by breaking the oxygen-oxygen bond in a copper-(hydro) peroxide complex. In agreement with previous findings by Solomon and co-workers on copper models with related coordination patterns, the formally high-valent copper complex produced by O-O bond cleavage appears to harbor both oxidizing equivalents on the ligands. The potential energy surface for such a reaction reveals that with the three-histidine binding motif at the copper, O-O bond cleavage is not impossible, but rather disfavored thermodynamically.

The objective of this study was to learn whether or not the pattern recognition methods, such as agglomerative cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA), can be used as supplementary techniques for identification of salicylamide (SAA) inclusion complexes with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD). To do this, phase-solubility of SAA in the presence of the cyclodextrins was studied by the Higuchi-Connors method, which showed that the cyclodextrins enhanced the solubility of SAA in water as compared to that of the drug. Next, the solid phase complexes of the drug with β-CD and HP-β-CD were prepared by using the coprecipitation, precipitation-evaporation, and kneading methods. Identification of the inclusion complexes was performed by using thermal analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and wide angle X-ray scattering. Two multivariate statistical methods, CA and PCA, were used as the supplementary techniques for identification of the inclusion complexes. The results of the statistical analysis have shown that CA and PCA are helpful for interpretation of the thermoanalytical and spectral data. Moreover, these methods enabled proper classification of the products in all doubtful cases. They can be used as supplementary techniques to verify the conclusions of the above-mentioned standard methods.

We report hereby the first method of direct treatment of a wet soil containing toxic polychloroderivatives. Using a system with metallic Ca and 5% Rh fixed on charcoal in methanol, soil samples artificially polluted with fly ash containing polychloro-dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychloro-dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (co-PCBs), and having 69.2% to 84.6% moisture content, were successfully treated and decontaminated. This treatment afforded excellent hydrodechlorination yields for the 29 most toxic congeners of PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs (98.3% degradation yield based on toxic equivalent quotient — or TEQ) after a 24 h treatment, at room temperature.

This paper presents an experimental characterization of two sources of calcium carbonate, limestone and calcium carbonate precipitate (CCP) used in wet flue gas desulphurization processes. Characterization of the two carbonate sources was carried out by chemical analysis, IR spectra, thermal behavior, particle size distribution for CCP, BET surface area and absorption capacity of SO2 in calcium carbonate suspensions. The absorption temperature, suspension concentration and carbonate grain size were found to be the most influential parameters in the absorption capacity measurements.

Mercury forms in contaminated environmental samples were studied by means of sequential extraction and thermal desorption from the solid phase. The sequential extraction procedure involved the following fractions: water soluble mercury, mercury extracted in acidic conditions, mercury bound to humic substances, elemental Hg and mercury bound to complexes, HgS, and residual mercury. In addition to sequential extraction, the distribution of mercury species as a function of soil particles size was studied. The thermal desorption method is based on the thermal decomposition or desorption of Hg compounds at different temperatures. The following four species were observed: Hg0, HgCl2, HgS and Hg(II) bound to humic acids. The Hg release curves from artificial soils and real samples were obtained and their applicability to the speciation analysis was considered.

In the present work, the formation of cobalt aluminium spinel (CoAl2O4) as well as novel cobalt neodymium-aluminates with nominal compositions of CoAl1.75Nd0.25O4, CoAl1.5Nd0.5O4 and CoAlNdO4 by an aqueous sol-gel process and the sinterability of the products are investigated. The metal ions, generated by dissolving starting materials of metals in the diluted acetic acid were complexed by 1,2-ethanediol to obtain the precursors for the mixed metal ceramics. The phase purity of the synthesized compounds was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction analysis and infrared spectroscopy. The microstructural evolution and morphological features of the products were studied by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, which together with the optical characterization of these new compounds showed that the sol-gel-derived materials could be successfully used as effective cobalt-based ceramic pigments.

The solid — liquid phase equilibria for binary mixture of citric acid with tartaric acid were measured using differential scanning calorimetry. The phase diagram showed the existence a simple eutectic behavior. The thermal properties of this system as heat of mixing, entropy of fusion and excess thermodynamic functions were computed using enthalpy of fusion values. The composition of eutectic was determined using a Tammann diagram.

The aim of this study was to find correlations between several studied elements and analyzed materials as well as the application and validation of an analytical method to determine trace elements in hair, fingernails and toenails of healthy volunteers (normal concentration). The method developed covers washing, mineralization and ICP-MS determination of 10 elements (Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Ni, Pb and Zn) in hair and nails. Concentrations of the selected elements in hair, fingernails and toenails were measured for 24 women and 18 men. Furthermore, a chemometric approach (Principal Component Analysis, PCA) was employed to evaluate the correlations between concentrations of the elements in hair and nails and between these materials. Until now PCA has not been frequently applied in handling and interpretation of the results of analysis of biological materials. However, the results of the present investigation show the high potential of PCA in extraction of valuable information from analytical measurements. Additionally, PCA has become a useful tool for visualization of the obtained results. Moreover, the cluster analysis (CA) was used to group the samples according to gender, taking into account two different groups of elements: essential and toxic.

Kinetic data for organic reactions in various binary water-organic solvent mixtures were collected and quantitatively analysed in terms of linear-free-energy relationships by using tert-butyl chloride (2-chloro-2-methylpropane) solvolysis as the reference system. Linear similarity plots for these kinetic data were determined for solvent systems ranging from pure water mixtures up to considerable amount of cosolvent, and 161 similarity coefficients were calculated from slopes of these plots. The existence of these linear plots demonstrated that the solvent effects are of some common nature in all analysed reaction mixtures independent of the reaction type and the cosolvent used. Therefore it was concluded that the observed effects could be connected to the specific solvating properties of water, which govern reactivity even in significant dilution of water by an organic cosolvent. This conclusion was supported by the linear interrelationship between the slopes of similarity plots of different reactions, and hydrophobicity parameters log P of the reacting compounds. The relative solvent effects observed in binary water-organic solvent mixtures were for the first time directly related to the structure of reacting compounds.

Rutin is a flavonoid commonly employed for many therapeutic purposes. Although the electroactive phenolic groups of rutin might be oxidized at low applied potential, the adsorption of oxidized species changes the electrode surface. As a consequence, the repeatability and reproducibility of the method decreases, which limits electroanalytical applications. This paper describes the use of disposable screen-printed electrodes as an alternative to improve the electrochemical quantification of rutin in commercial and standard samples. The electrochemical behavior was consistent to what is observed using other carbon electrodes: an adsorption-involved step and a pH-dependent oxidation process. The replacement of the electrodes between the analyses ensured rapid analysis, good intermediate precision and repeatability. The proposed method was successfully applied to rutin determination in pharmaceutical samples of capsules, with the limit of quantification being 0.30 µM.

Photometric determination of aqueous Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Fe(III) was performed using indicator films prepared by immobilization of 1-nitroso-2-naphthol-3,6-disulfonic acid disodium salt (NRS) into hardened photographic film. Immobilization was based on electrostatic interaction of reagent and metal complexes with the gelatin. The isoelectric point pH of hardened gelatin (4.46±0.04) was evaluated by viscometry. Co(II), Fe(III), Ni(II) form 1:3 complexes with NRS in gelatin at pH 2 and Cu(II) forms 1:2 complexes. Their log β′ values were: Co-6.7, Fe-8.6, Cu-8.0, and Ni-6.4. The absorption maxima were: 370nm for NRS, and 430nm, 470nm, 495nm and 720nm for complexes of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Fe(III). An algorithm for their simultaneous determination using the indicator films was developed. The detection limits were: clim(Co2+) = 0.45×10−5 M, clim(Fe3+) = 0.50×10−5 M, clim(Cu2+) = 0.67×10−5 M, clim(Ni2+) = 0.75×10−5 M,; and their sum clim(ΣMn+) = 0.82×10−5 M.

An effective and economic route was developed to synthesize a novel betaine zwitterionic surfactant gondoyl dimethyl amidopropyl betaine (GDAB) directly from natural fatty acid gondoic acid. The optimal processing conditions for synthesizing the intermediate and final product were probed: N,N-dimethyl-N′-gondoyl-1,3-propylenediamine was synthesized by the reaction of gondoic acid with N,N-dimethyl-1,3-propylenediamine at 160°C for 6 h, then the intermediate was reacted with sodium chloroacetate in methanol-water system (methanol/water:20% at 60°C and the product was obtained after 6h. The compounds were confirmed by IR and 1HNMR. The properties of GDAB acid solution were investigated and the results indicated that viscosity of acid solution increased with decreasing hydrochloric acid concentration and was mainly controlled by surfactant concentration and temperature. The viscosity of acid solution reached the maximum value when the concentration of hydrochloric acid was 2.28 mo L−1.

The chloro functionality of allyldichlorosilane (HSiCl2(C3H5)) and allyldichloromethylsilane (MeSiCl2(C3H5)) were replaced by alkynyl groups and new compounds, allyldialkynylsilane 1 and allyldialkynylmethylsilane 2, were obtained. These silanes, which served as starting materials for the onward reactions, were purified by fractional distillation. They were further subjected to hydroboration with 9-BBN (9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane) and were converted into 1-silacyclohex-2-ene derivatives 5 and 6. The competition between C≡C and C=C in the reaction was studied. The hydroborating reagent 9-BBN was expected to prefer terminal C=C bonds and to leave C≡C bond untouched. This hypothesis of preferable hydroboration was experimentally proved, and hence, 1-silacyclohex-2-ene derivatives were obtained in reasonably pure form. The reaction of allyldialkynylsilane 2 with one equivalent of 9-BBN affords 1-silacyclohex-2-ene bearing Si-C≡C-function, ready to be hydroborated further with one equivalent of 9-BBN. The obtained compound bears two C-B bonds, which are attractive synthones for further transformations. This study aims to highlight the chemistry of C-B and Si-H functional groups. All new compounds obtained were colorless air and moisture sensitive oils, and they were studied by multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 11B, 29Si NMR) in solution.

Two new long-chain carboxylic acids (1, 2) bearing strong fluorescent group pyrene as ligands for Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAMs) have been synthesized. The multistep targeted synthesis is accomplished by use of Pyren-1-yl methylamine hydrochloride and employing simplified synthetic protocols. Compound 2 contains a chiral center purposely introduced along the atom chain in order to make it suitable for chiro-optical studies of the resulting SAMs.

Theoretical calculations of structures, stability and vibrational spectra of 1-butene secondary ozonide (SOZ) conformers were performed using DFT method B3LYP with a 6-311++G(3df, 3pd) basis set. The calculations predict six staggered structures of 1-butene SOZ. The FTIR spectra of 1-butene SOZ isolated in Ar, N2 and Xe matrices were recorded. It was found that nitrogen is the best suited for the matrix isolation of 1-butene SOZ. The bandwidth of the spectral bands of the ozonide isolated in nitrogen was as narrow as 2 cm−1. For the first time the existence of five conformers of 1-butene SOZ were confirmed experimentally by means of matrix isolation infrared absorption spectroscopy. The equatorial gauche (∠OCCC=−66.1°) conformer was proved theoretically and experimentally to be the most stable. It was found that due to high potential barriers of the conformational transitions annealing of the matrix is useless for the assignment of spectral bands to various conformers of 1-butene SOZ. Using the hot nozzle technique the van’t Hoff experimental plots were made for three additional conformers of 1-butene SOZ and experimental ΔH values for these additional conformers were established. The crystallization problems of 1-butene SOZ are discussed which accounts for the rich conformational diversity of the ozonide as well as high conformational barriers for axial-equatorial transitions.

The protective, anticorrosion properties of 4-aminobenzoic acid (4-ABA) films are evaluated in the paper. The 4-ABA films were electrodeposited on the surface of both X20Cr13 stainless steel and glassy carbon electrodes by galvanostatically and cyclic voltammetry methods. The protective properties of the resulting films on stainless steel were investigated in the aggressive medium of acidified (pH=4) 0.25 mol dm−3 K2SO4 in the absence and with the presence of 0.5 mol dm−3 KCl. Morphology of the 4-ABA films was examined using scanning electron microscopy.

This paper deals with a study of the biosorption of UO22+ ions on two green algae: Chlorella vulgaris and Dunaliella salina. By investigating the retention degree versus contact time from Langmuir and Freundlich biosorption isotherms, kinetic investigations and FTIR spectra it was found that the biosorption process was greater for Chlorella vulgaris than for Dunaliella salina. A new kinetics method is proposed to establish the reaction order concerning the biosorption process of uranyl ions on these biomasses.

The crystalline structure of diamond may consist of C8, C10 or C12 building units. C8 was regarded as the building block of the hexagonal diamond also known as Lonsdaleite. Adamantane (C10H16) alicyclic hydrocarbon has the same arrangement of carbon atoms as the basic C10 unit of the cubic diamond lattice. C12 has five rings of mixed type, three of them in boat, two in chair conformation. Model building revealed that the C8 unit containing exclusively three rings in boat conformation does not exist. Further addition of carbon atoms to C8: a) results in C12 unit, b) allows the multiplication of C12 units, and c) by reducing the boat-to-chair ratio explains the hardness of the hexagonal diamond Lonsdaleite. The Lonsdaleite nucleus can be grown to special diamond grains with the outer atoms of the C12 building units replaced by different elements. This recognition can be utilized in the production of synthetic diamonds under high-pressure high-temperature conditions or in the chemical vapor deposition growth technique.

α-Amino acid-derived 2-phenylimidazole derivatives were designed, synthesized, and further investigated as potential antimycobacterial agents. The synthesis of target imidazole derivatives involved the transformation of Cbz-protected α-amino acids (Ala, Val, Phe, Leu, iLe, and Pro) into α-diazoketones and α-bromoketones, respectively. Subsequent treatment of α-bromoketones with (4-nitro)benzamidine afforded imidazole derivatives bearing α-amino acid residue appended to the imidazole C4 and (4-nitro)phenyl ring in the position C2. Antimycobacterial activities of both series of compounds against M. tuberculosis, M. avium, and M. kansasii were screened and basic structure-activity relationships were further evaluated.

Mesoporous alumina has many environmental applications as catalysts support and adsorption or separation material. We studied the synthesis conditions for the mesoporous alumina formation from aluminum isopropoxide in the presence of anionic (lauric and stearic acid), cationic (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB) and non-ionic (triblock poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-polyethyleneoxide, P123) templates. The X-ray diffraction data show that the alumina mesophases obtained at 550°C in the presence of fatty acids or P123 have amorphous walls, whereas the samples prepared at 500°C by using CTAB, in alkaline medium are crystalline with a γ-alumina structure. The solvothermal treatment caused the alumina mesophase with crystalline walls to be obtained at 550°C. The samples were investigated by nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms and scanning electron microscopy. The obtained alumina mesophases have specific surface areas in the range of 300–450 m2 g−1, narrow pore size distribution, and different morphology depending on the template used in the synthesis.

Chemometric analysis was performed to determine the heavy metal content, such as Zn, Cd, Ni, Mn, Cu, Pb, and Fe, in 36 samples of Scots Pine taken from 9 locations within the Upper Silesian Industrial Basin. The samples, after being pre-processed, were examined for the above elements through the use of atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The highest concentration of heavy metals was discovered in samples from Jaworzno. Based on the concentration assessment, the relationship between element quantity, sampling location, and matrix type has been determined, and definite element group co-existence has been confirmed and described.

The original version of the article was published in Cent. Eur. J.Chem. 10(4) (2012) pp. 1328–1337. Unfortunately, the original version of this article contains a mistake in the affiliation section. Dr Marilena Meira’s affiliation is IFBA - Federal Institute for Education, Science and Technology, Simoes Filho, Bahia 43700-000, Brazil.