Volume 4, Issue 2

A new oxidation process has been found where α,ω-dicarboxylic acid esters and ω-hydroxycarboxylic acid esters are formed on heating gem-bishydroperoxides in alcohol in the presence of BF3·Et2O. By addition of H2O2 to this reaction α,ω-dicarboxylic acid esters are formed almost selectively.

Free amino acids, the key quality components of tea, are contained in higher amounts in higher grade teas. Among free amino acids in tea, the content of theanine, which is the amino acid of the highest amount, shows high correlation to the price of green tea. A capillary isotachophoresis (CITP) method was developed for the analysis of L-theanine in tea and food supplements. The optimized electrolyte system was following: 0.01 mol/l HCl + 0.02 mol/l TRIS + 0.05% HEC (leading electrolyte), 0.01 mol/L-valine + barium hydroxide to pH 10 (terminating electrolyte). Good separation of L-theanine from other components of sample was achieved within 20 min. Method characteristics, i.e., linearity (0–200 mg/l), accuracy (99 ± 2 %), intra-assay (1.5 %), quantification limit (2 mg/l), and detection limit (0.7 mg/l) were determined. Sufficient sensitivity, low labouriousness (extraction only) and low running cost are important attributes of this method. It was proved that the developed method is suitable for the routine analysis of L-theanine in green tea and food supplements containing green tea extract.

Equilibrium geometries and electronic structures of complexes between β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and some small molecules as well as monosaccharides were investigated by Austin Model 1 (AM1) to obtain binding energy of the complexes. It was indicated that β-CD could bind the structurally similar solvent molecules and monosaccharides because of the negative binding energy of the complexes, and especially could show the chiral binding ability to monosaccharides with more hydroxyl groups, due to its chiral characteristics. The complexes were stabilized by the hydrogen bonding between β-CD and guests. Based on the AM1 optimized geometries, the IR spectra were calculated by AM1 method. Vibration frequencies of O-H bonds in the guests were red-shifted owing to the weakening of the O-H bonds with the formation of the complexes.

The thin films of TiO2 doped by Mn non-uniformly were prepared by sol-gel method under process control. In our preceding study, we investigated in detail, the effect of doping mode on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 films showing that Mn non-uniform doping can greatly enhance the activity. In this study we looked at the effect of doping concentration on the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 films. In this paper, the thin films were characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometer and electrochemical workstation. The activity of the photocatalyst was also evaluated by photocatalytic degradation rate of aqueous methyl orange under UV radiation. The results illustrate that the TiO2 thin film doped by Mn non-uniformly at the optimal dopant concentration (0.7 at %) is of the highest activity, and on the contrary, the activity of those doped uniformly is decreased. As a comparison, in 80 min, the degradation rate of methyl orange is 62 %, 12 % and 34 % for Mn non-uniform doping film (0.7 at %), the uniform doping film (0.7 at %) and pure titanium dioxide film, respectively. We have seen that, for the doping and the pure TiO2 films, the stronger signals of open circuit potential and transient photocurrent, the better photocatalytic activity. We also discusse the effect of dopant concentration on the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 films in terms of effective separation of the photon-generated carriers in the semiconductor.

The partition behaviour of Hg (II) was studied in an aqueous polyethylene glycol (PEG) — (NH4)2SO4 two-phase system as a function of halide, halide concentration, and pH. For a system prepared by mixing equal volumes of 40 % (w/w) PEG (1550) with 40 % (w/w) (NH4)2SO4, Hg(II) remains almost exclusively in the salt-rich phase. The addition of NaX (X = Cl−, Br−, I−) enhances Hg (II) partition into the PEG-rich phase due to the formation of halide complexes. The efficiency of halide extractants increases in the order: Cl− < Br− < I−. Mercury extraction is improved at lower halide ion concentration by higher stock salt solution acidity. From the distribution coefficients determined as a function of halide ion concentration, the extracted species were identified. The Hg (II) extractability is determined by the type and stability of the Hg (II) halide species, and depends on the stock salt solution acidity. The observed behaviour is discussed and a possible extraction mechanism is proposed.

The formation of a new ternary ion-associate complex of vanadium(V) with 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene and iodonitrotetrazolium chloride with a composition ratio of 1:2:1 is reported. The complex is quantitatively extracted from water into chloroform. The molar absorptivity (ɛ) of the extract at λ max=340 nm is 2.5 × 104 dm3/mol cm, and Beer’s law is obeyed for concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 0.9 µg/cm3 V(V). The following constants are determined: the extraction constant, the association constant, the distribution constant, and the recovery factor. The effects of foreign ions and reagents are studied. A selective and sensitive method is developed for determination of vanadium in steels.

A group of 22 polymers have been synthesized to test their suitability for recording holographic gratings. Polyamides, polyimides, polyesters and their combinations were functionalized with pendant azobenzene groups containing single or double N=N. The polymers were studied using a standard degenerate two-wave mixing technique, which enables measurement of light-induced periodic modification of polymer refractive index and absorption coefficient by analysis of the diffracted light. Two qualitatively different configurations of the holographic polarization recording were used, s-s and s-p. The relationship between structural properties of polymer matrix and azobenzene groups and the holographic grating recording kinetics and light diffraction efficiency was investigated.

Two heptapeptides have been prepared by Fmoc methodology using Wang resin as solid support. For attachment of the first amino acid, several coupling systems were evaluated, and DIC/DMAP system could give yields of >99% and low levels of racemization. The selection of scavenger combination to deprotect side chains revealed that H2O/p-cresol was good at scavenging trityl and 1,2-ethanedithiol was highly efficient for scavenging t-butyl. Through shortening the preactivation time to 5 min, the racemization which occurred during formation of amide bonds coupled by HBTU was minimized. The crude peptides were characterized by RP-HPLC and MS, and sequenced by MS/MS to acquire reliable amino acid sequence information.

Silylcobalt tetracarbonyls were reacted with various amines (B) in non-polar solvents to form silylammonium tetracarbonylcobaltate contact ion pairs formulated as [BSiR3+, −Co(CO)4]. The compounds were characterized by IR and multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy both in solution and in solid state. Their properties are analogous to the known ion pairs [BH+, −Co(CO)4] and to amine adducts of halosilanes as well.

Uniform nanowires of silver and gold inside the channels of MCM-41 were prepared by controlled reduction of their respective metal salts with sodium borohydride (NaBH4). Presence of nanowires of silver and gold in MCM-41 were confirmed by high angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) data (peaks between 2ϑ = 30 − 60°) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the diameter of the nanowires. Diameter of nanowires is found to be ∼ 2.8 nm which is coincident with channel diameter of MCM-41. Optical properties of these heterostructured materials Ag-MCM-41 and Au-MCM-41 reveals the presence of surface plasmon absorption peaks of silver and gold respectively, and the shift in the absorption bands are associated to agglomeration of clusters inside the channels. Room temperature photoluminescence spectra exhibits interesting optical properties as observed for direct band gap semiconductors. Non-linear optical properties (NLO) corresponding to second harmonic generation (SHG) values were also recorded for self supported films of these heterostructured materials. Enhanced optical non-linearity was found to be arising from a corresponding increase of local field near the surface plasmon resonance. Further enhancement in SHG was found with poling due to an induction of orientation order.

In this work, a simple photometric method with high accuracy and precision for measuring trace amounts of free cyanide ion in aqueous solution is demonstrated. Under the evaluated conditions, we could determine CN− concentration in the range of 5–70 ppm easily. The work is based upon the photometric titration of CN− with Co(II) in the presence of 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) at λmax = 602 nm in aqueous solution. The optimal conditions, such as pH, ionic strength, and concentration of chromopher were evaluated. The interence effect of many other cations and anions studied and the results are given here. The optimized titration was successfully used to determine the concentration of free cyanide ion in aqueous solutions.

The syntheses of seven N-aryl-C,C-dialkoxycarbonylnitrones 1–7, six of which were original, were achieved from the appropriate aryl-nitroso compounds. These ketonitrones were found to trap efficiently carbon-centred free radicals in aqueous media, yielding stable aminoxyl radicals whose EPR spectra lasted several days. The two penta-deuterated compounds 6 and 7 were also found to be efficient at trapping methoxyl radical. Their various spin adducts showed simple three line signals, very sensitive to the polarity of the environment. This study represents the very first use of linear ketonitrones as spin traps.

Two bifunctional sulfur-silicon nucleophilic ionophores 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-propanethiol (Nu1) and 3-(tri-2-methoxyethoxysilyl)-propanethiol (Nu2) were used as reagents in the acyl transfer reaction studied by kinetic methods. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electro-spray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI MS) were used for determination of the stoichiometry and stability constants of the complexes made by the podands and lithium or sodium ions in acetonitrile solution.

A direct and sensitive method for the determination of vanadium concentrations in soil is developed using ultrasonic slurry sampling electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (USSSETAAS). The surfactant, KO300G, is used as the stabilizing agent. The precision and accuracy of the method are investigated. The detection limits are 0.6 and 0.7 µg 1−1 for SRM Montana Soil 2711 and SRM Soil — S, respectively. The method is applied to determine the vanadium content in 10 soil samples from the Wielkopolska region.