Antifeedants in the Feces of the Pine Weevil Hylobius abietis: Identification and Biological Activity

Egg-laying females of the pine weevil, Hylobius abietis (L.), regularly deposit feces adjacent to each egg. Egg cavities are gnawed in the bark of roots of recently dead conifer trees. After egg deposition, the cavity is sealed by feces and a plug of bark fragments. Root bark containing egg cavities with feces is avoided as food by pine weevils, which indicates the presence of natural antifeedants. Here we present the first results of the isolation and chemical analyses of antifeedant compounds in the feces of H. abietis. In feeding bioassays, methanol extracts of the feces revealed strong antifeedant properties. Methanol extracts were fractionated by medium-pressure liquid chromatography and the antifeedant effects were mainly found in the fractions of highest polarity. Volatile compounds in the active fractions were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and the nonvolatile compounds were characterized by pyrolysis–GC–MS. Based on mass spectra, a number of compounds with various chemical structures were selected to be tested for their antifeedant properties. Antifeedant effects were found among compounds apparently originating from lignin: e.g., a methylanisol, guaiacol, veratrol, dihydroxybenzenes, and dihydroconiferyl alcohol. A weak effect by fatty acid derivatives was found. The types of naturally occurring antifeedant compounds identified in this study may become useful for the protection of planted conifer seedlings against damage by H. abietis.     

Electrochemical behavior and simultaneous determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers at a functionalized SBA-15 mesoporous silica modified carbon paste electrode

The simultaneous voltammetric determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers was investigated using cyclic and differential pulse voltammetries at the amino-functionalized SBA-15 mesoporous silica-modified carbon paste electrode (NH₂-SBA15/CPE) in phosphate buffer solution (pH 6.0). The NH₂-SBA15/CPE showed a larger peak current and higher selectivity for the dihydroxybenzene isomers in comparison with the bare carbon paste electrode (CPE) and SBA-15 mesoporous silica-modified carbon paste electrode (SBA15/CPE). The oxidation peak potential difference between hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC) was 115 mV and was 396 mV between catechol and resorcinol (RC). This indicated that catechol, resorcinol and hydroquinone could be identified entirely at the NH₂-SBA15/CPE. Under the optimized conditions, the amperometric currents were linear over ranges from the following: 0.8–160 μmol L⁻¹ for hydroquinone, 1.0–140 μmol L⁻¹ for catechol and 2.0–160 μmol L⁻¹ for resorcinol. The detection limits were 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8 μmol L⁻¹, respectively. The proposed electrode can be applied to the simultaneous determination of dihydroxybenzene isomers in mixtures without previous chemical or physical separations.     

超声萃取-快速HPLC法测定卷烟主流烟气中的苯酚、甲酚和苯二酚

建立了超声萃取-快速高效液相色谱同时测定卷烟主流烟气中的苯酚、甲酚和苯二酚的方法。即用1%的醋酸水溶液于室温下对捕集了烟气粒相物的剑桥滤片超声萃取20min,将萃取液用0.45μm滤膜过滤后,滤液直接用配置荧光检测器的快速分离柱-高效液相色谱进行分析。并应用该法测定了10种国产烤烟型和10种混合型卷烟主流烟气中的挥发酚,结果表明:①该法的相对标准偏差为1.92%～4.62%,回收率97.9%～100.3%,检测限5.74～14.70ng/支,分析时间6min;②烤烟型卷烟主流烟气中苯二酚、苯酚的含量明显高于混合型卷烟,而甲酚的含量整体上略高于混合型;③同类型卷烟主流烟气中挥发酚含量高低的次序为p-苯二酚>o-苯二酚>苯酚>(m、o)-甲酚>p-甲酚>m-苯二酚。该法适合批量卷烟主流烟气中苯酚、甲酚和苯二酚的快速分析。     

t-Butylation of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene over acidic zeolites

t-Butylation of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene (DHB) with isobutene as alkylating agent was carried out over various acidic zeolites such as USH-Y, H-beta, and H-ZSM-5. USH-Y zeolite exhibits the highest catalytic activity and considerable selectivity of 4-t-butylcatechol (4-TBC). The selectivity of 4-TBC is increased in the order of H-ZSM-5>USH-YH-beta. 3-t-Butylcatechol (3-TBC) is well produced over catalyst with high SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio and large pore aperture. 3,5-Di-t-butylcatechol (3,5-DTBC) selectivity is maximum in zeolite which contains strong acidity and large pore channel. The influences of various reaction parameters such as reaction temperature, space velocity, reactant molar ratio are discussed. In order to improve 4-TBC formation and decrease in 3,5-DTBC selectivity simultaneously, USH-Y zeolite was silylated by tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) resulting in the decrease of 3,5-DTBC selectivity over modified catalysts by about 25%. USH-Y zeolite shows high stability in the t-butylation for at least 350 h. The coke formed during the reaction was identified by FT-IR and the USH-Y zeolite could be regenerated through oxidative thermal treatment.