A Fluorogenic Reagent, 7-Phenylsulfonyl-4-(2,1,3-benzoxadiazolyl) Isocyanate for Alcohols, with Development Based on the Empirical Method for Prediction

During the course of our studies, we found the relationship between the fluorescence characteristics (the fluorescence intensity and the maximum excitation and emission wavelengths) of benzofurazan compounds and the sum and difference of Hammett substituent constants (σp) at the 4- and 7- positions. This prompted us to design a useful fluorogenic derivatization reagent having the benzofurazan skeleton for alcohols along this line of thought. Accordingly, the fluorogenic derivatization reagents, which have no fluorescence themselves, 7-N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl-4-(2,1,3-benzoxadiazolyl) isocyanate (DBD-NCO), 7-phenylsulfonyl-4-(2,1,3-benzoxadiazolyl) isocyanate (PSBD-NCO), and 7-methylsulfonyl-4-(2,1,3-benzoxadiazolyl) isocyanate (MSBD-NCO), were synthesized. Among the derivatives derived from the three reagents, that from PSBD-NCO was most strongly fluorescent. PSBD-NCO reacted with 1-octanol within 4 h in acetonitrile solution in the absence of a catalyst at 60 °C. The derivatives with four alcohols (1-octanol, 1-nonanol, 1-decanol, and 1-undecanol) were separated on a reversed-phase column and detected fluorimetrically at 490 nm with the excitation at 368 nm. The detection limits were at the 10-femtomole level. PSBD-NCO was superior to other fluorescent-labeling reagents with regard to the avoidance of the interfering peaks derived from the reagents themselves and degradation products in the chromatogram. The effectiveness of our approach is disccussed in terms of the development of new fluorogenic reagents.     

Absolute measurements of the thermal conductivity of alcohols by the transient hot-wire technique

New absolute measurements of the thermal conductivity of methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, pentanol, and hexanol at atmospheric pressure and in the temperature range 290–350 K are reported. The overall uncertainty in the reported thermal conductivity data is estimated to be better than ±0.5%, an estimate confirmed by the measurement of the thermal conductivity of water. The measurements presented in this paper have been used to develop a consistent theoretically based correlation for the prediction of the thermal conductivity of alcohols. The proposed scheme, based on an extention of the rigid-sphere model, permits the density dependence of the thermal conductivity of alcohols, for temperatures between 290 and 350 K and atmospheric pressure, to be represented successfully by an equation containing just one parameter characteristic of the fluid at each temperature.Paper presented at the Tenth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 20–23, 1988, Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S.A.     

C60 and C70 HPLC retention reversal study using organic modifiers

A novel equation (Guillaume Y. C. et al. Anal. Chem. 1998, 70, 608) modeling the weak polar solute retention in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) was applied to fullerene molecules C60 and C70. In RPLC, with an organic modifier (OM)/water mobile phase, the fullerene cluster solvation energies were calculated for OM = methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and pentanol. An enthalpy-entropy compensation revealed that the type of interactions between fullerenes and the stationary phase was independent of both the fullerene and organic modifier structures. The energetics of OM and OM-water cluster exchange processes in the mobile phase were investigated in relation to the carbon atom number of the hydrophobic chain of the OM. Two linear correlations were found between the Gibbs free energy changes in the solvent exchange processes which confirmed that (i) a reversal elution order existed for C60 and C70 when methanol was changed into ethanol, propanol, butanol, pentanol and that (ii) the mobile phase was dominant in governing selectivity changes in nonpolar solutes.     

高效液相色谱柱前衍生荧光检测法测定游离脂肪醇

本文利用新型荧光试剂1,2-苯并-3,4-二氢咔唑-9-乙酸(BCAA)作为柱前衍生试剂建立了测定游离脂肪醇的方法,实验以1-乙基-3-(3-二甲氨基丙基)环己碳二亚胺(EDAC)作为缩合剂,4-二甲氨基吡啶(DMAP)为催化剂,55℃下衍生反应25min后获得稳定的荧光产物。在Eclipse XDB-C8色谱柱上,通过梯度洗脱对12种游离脂肪醇进行了分离和在线质谱定性。采用大气压化学电离源(APCI)正离子模式,对抗静电剂(十二烷基磷酸酯钾盐)中游离脂肪醇进行定性及相应含量测定。脂肪醇的线性回归系数大于0.9997,检测限在9.40-25.32fmol。     

Effects of tryptic peptide esterification in MALDI mass spectrometry

The effect of esterification on MALDI ion yield is investigated by using alcohols having different aliphatic chain lengths. For peptides whose ionization yields increase with derivatization, more hydrophobic alcohols tend to yield greater peak enhancements. The completeness of the reaction increases from propanol to methanol. Undesired solvolysis of the amide group in the side chain of Asn or Gln leads to unexpected ester products. Ethanol is suggested as the optimal alcohol for esterification in proteomics experiments since it yields almost complete esterification without substantial solvolysis. Ethanol esterification was employed to facilitate the identification of gel-separated proteins.     

Dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyls using magnesium and acidified alcohols

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were widely used in industry until their regulation in the 1970s. However, due to their inherent stability, they are still a widespread environmental contaminant. A novel method of degradation of PCBs (via hydrodehalogenation) has been observed using magnesium powder, a carboxylic acid, and alcohol solvents and is described in this paper. The rates of degradation were determined while varying the type of acid (formic, acetic, propionic, butyric, valeric, benzoic, ascorbic, and phosphoric), the amount of magnesium from 0.05 to 0.25 g, the amount of acetic acid from 0.5 to 50 μL and the concentration of PCB-151 from 0.1 to 50 μg/mL, as well as the alcohol solvent (methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, octanol, and decanol). The results of these studies indicate that the most rapid PCB dechlorination is achieved using a matrix consisting of at least 0.02 g Mg/mL ethanol, and 10 μL acetic acid/mL ethanol in which case 50 ng/μL of PCB-151 is dechlorinated in approximately 40 min.     

甲醇和乙醇溶液光谱学特性的对比研究

通过对甲醇和乙醇溶液的吸收光谱和荧光光谱的研究,对应比较两种溶液的光谱,结果表明,两者的最长吸收波长差为15nm左右,荧光中心波长差为33nm左右,从而为准确区分甲醇、乙醇提供了直接的实验依据。根据分子结构理论,合理解释了两种溶液的光谱特性存在差异的原因在于羟基的位置排列上;由此提出了用最长吸收波长和荧光光谱中心位置的光谱特性来有效区分甲醇、乙醇分子的方法。此外,根据实验结果,推算出甲醇分子产生荧光主跃迁能级差为3.66ev,乙醇分子产生荧光主跃迁能级差为4.05ev,这些数据可为理论计算提供验证参考。     

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence derivatization reagents for carboxylic acids and amines in high-performance liquid chromatography using tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II)

2-(2-Aminoethyl)-1-methylpyrrolidine and N-(3-aminopropyl)pyrrolidine (NAPP) were found to be selective and sensitive derivatization reagents for carboxylic acid by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrogenerated chemiluminescence detection using tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II). Free fatty acids and ibuprofen were used as model compounds of carboxylic acids, and the derivatization conditions were optimized with myristic acid as a representative of free fatty acids. All the fatty acids tested were reacted with NAPP to produce highly sensitive derivatives under the mild reaction conditions of room temperature for 30 min in acetonitrile containing 2-bromo-1-ethylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate and 9-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-2-one. The chemiluminescence intensities were similar for all fatty acids. The derivatives obtained from 10 free fatty acids were completely separated by reversed-phase chromatography under isocratic elution conditions. The on-column detection limits (signal-to-noise ratio of 3) with proposed HPLC separation and chemiluminescence detection were 70 and 45 fmol for myristic acid and ibuprofen, respectively. The free fatty acids in human plasma were successfully determined using the present method. Histamine, a model compound of primary amines, was also determined after precolumn derivatization with 3-(diethylamino)propionic acid at room temperature for 60 min in acetonitrile containing N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and 3,4-dihydro-3-hydroxy-4-oxo-1,2,3-benzotriazine with the detection limit of 70 fmol.     

凝胶介质对聚酰亚胺膜凝胶速率及膜断面结构的影响

以一种可溶性的新型聚酰亚胺ODPA—BAPP为膜材料,N-甲基吡咯烷酮（NMP）为溶剂,采用浸入凝胶相转化法制备非对称膜．分别以水乙醇正丙醇异丙醇正丁醇以及正戊醇作为凝胶介质,用凝胶动力学测定装置和相分离动力学测定仪分别对其成膜过程中的凝胶速率和相分离时间进行测定．研究结果表明：（1）凝胶介质对凝胶速率大小影响的排序依次为：水〉乙醇〉正丙醇〉异丙醇〉正丁醇〉正戊醇;（2）瞬时相分离易生成指状结构的膜,延时相分离易生成海绵状结构的膜,与相关文献报道一致．     

Extraction and GC/MS analysis of the human blood plasma metabolome

Analysis of the entire set of low molecular weight compounds (LMC), the metabolome, could provide deeper insights into mechanisms of disease and novel markers for diagnosis. In the investigation, we developed an extraction and derivatization protocol, using experimental design theory (design of experiment), for analyzing the human blood plasma metabolome by GC/MS. The protocol was optimized by evaluating the data for more than 500 resolved peaks using multivariate statistical tools including principal component analysis and partial least-squares projections to latent structures (PLS). The performance of five organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, acetonitrile, acetone, chloroform), singly and in combination, was investigated to optimize the LMC extraction. PLS analysis demonstrated that methanol extraction was particularly efficient and highly reproducible. The extraction and derivatization conditions were also optimized. Quantitative data for 32 endogenous compounds showed good precision and linearity. In addition, the determined amounts of eight selected compounds agreed well with analyses by independent methods in accredited laboratories, and most of the compounds could be detected at absolute levels of approximately 0.1 pmol injected, corresponding to plasma concentrations between 0.1 and 1 microM. The results suggest that the method could be usefully integrated into metabolomic studies for various purposes, e.g., for identifying biological markers related to diseases.     

Using optical methods to reveal structural features in porous nanocomposite films of the tin dioxide-silicon dioxide system

Nanocomposite films of the tin dioxide-silicon dioxide system have been obtained by the sol-gel method using various solvents (ethanol, butanol) and their optical properties have been studied in the 300–700 nm wavelength range. The obtained data were used to calculate the Uhrbach energy parameters, slope parameters, and band-gap energies of the films. The results are interpreted within the framework of the model of fractal nanocluster growth and evolution during the sol-gel process. The employed optical method can be effectively used to study the optical properties of nanocomposites for optimizing their production technology.     

Flow analysis method for determining the concentration of methanol and ethanol in the gas phase using the nitrite formation reaction

This paper presents a flow determination method for low molecular weight alcohols (methanol, ethanol) in the gas phase using the nitrite formation reaction, which was developed from an earlier method using a glass bottle. In this method, the ambient air and nitrogen dioxide (1,000 ppmv) were allowed to continuously flow in a glass tube, which had been filled with 10 g of Pyrex glass beads. The flow rates of the ambient air and nitrogen dioxide were 30 and 20 cm3/min, respectively. The gas-phase alkyl nitrites produced by the dark reaction of atmospheric alcohols and nitrogen dioxide on the Pyrex glass beads were then analyzed by gas chromatography with an electron capture detector. The alcohol concentrations of the samples were calculated using a calibrated conversion factor for each alcohol to its nitrite. The detection limits for the methanol and ethanol are 0.7 and 0.5 ppbv, respectively. This flow method was used to determine the atmospheric alcohol concentrations and was found to have the advantages of a short sampling time and simple quantitative procedure compared with the previously reported method (glass bottle method). The feasibility of this method was also established.     

Development of a precolumn derivatization method for the determination of free amines in wastewater by high-performance liquid chromatography via fluorescent detection with 9-(2-hydroxyethyl)acridone.

A simple, sensitive, and mild method for the determination of amino compounds based on a condensation reaction with fluorescence detection has been developed. 9-(2-Hydroxyethyl)acridone reacts with coupling agent N,N'-carbonyldiimidazole at ambient temperature to form activated amide intermediate 9-(2-acridone)oxyethylcarbonylimidazole (AOCD). The amide intermediate (AOCD) preferably reacts with amino compounds under mild reactions in the presence of 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine (base catalyst) in acetonitrile to give the corresponding sensitively fluorescent derivatives with an excitation maximum at lambda(ex) 404 nm and an emission maximum at lambda(em) 440 nm. The labeled derivatives exhibit high stability under reversed-phase conditions. The fluorescence intensities of derivatives in various solvents or at different temperatures were investigated. The method, in conjunction with a gradient elution, offers a baseline resolution of the common amine derivatives on a reversed-phase C18 column. The LC separation for the derivatized amines shows good reproducibility with acetonitrile-water including 2.5% DMF as mobile phase. The relative standard deviations (n = 6) for each amine derivative are <4.5%. The detection limits (at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3) per injection were 0.16-12.8 ng/mL. Further research for the field of application, based on the AOCD amide intermediate as derivatization reagent, for the determination of free amines in real water samples is achieved.     

Conformation transition of Bombyx mori silk protein monitored by time-dependent fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy: effect of organic solvent

The conformation transition from random coil and/or helix to β-sheet of silk protein is the most important step in the formation of silk fiber in nature as well as by artificial spinning. Time-dependent Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used in this research to monitor such a conformation transition process induced by the organic solvents methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, and acetone. The kinetics of β-sheet formation of regenerated Bombyx mori silk fibroin in these organic solvents was obtained by the Δabsorbance-time curve from the time-dependent difference infrared spectra. The results showed that the conformation transition rate of silk fibroin was methanol > ethanol > acetone > propanol > isopropanol, which is in accordance with the polarity of these organic solvents. In connection with the mechanical properties and morphologies of regenerated silk fibers using these organic solvents as coagulation bath reported in the literature, we may conclude that the conformation transition rate of silk protein in the organic solvent is very important in wet-spinning to produce high-performance regenerated silk fibers.     

Indium Tin Oxide Thin-Film Sensor for Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Indium tin oxide (ITO) (In₂O₃ + 17% SnO₂) thin films were grown on glass substrate by direct evaporation method. Two thick gold pads were deposited to take out contacts. The response of these films at different operating temperatures, when exposed to various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as methanol, ethanol, butanol, and acetone in the concentration range 200-2500 ppm was evaluated. Additionally, the effect of film thickness on the response charateristics of methanol and acetone was studied. The linearity and sensitivity of the sensors were measured. The ITO thin-film sensors showed a sensitivity of 0.256 ohms/ppm to acetone vapors, which was almost linear in the range 200-2500 ppm. In order to improve sensitivity and selectivity, a thin layer of various metal and metal oxides such as Cu and PbO was deposited on the sensor surface to work as catalytic layer and the effect on the performance of the sensor was studied. The response and recovery times of the sensor were determined for acetone vapors and were found to be 155 sec and 110 sec, respectively.     

Trace-concentration detection of cobalt in a liquid flow cell by degenerate four-wave mixing using low-power off-resonant laser excitation.

Optical phase conjugation by degenerate four-wave mixing (D4WM) in an absorbing metal-ion solution using a low-power argon-ion laser as the excitation source is demonstrated. This nonlinear laser technique can be used as a sensitive analytical spectroscopic method for trace-concentration measurement of metal ions in a small-volume continuously flowing analyte cell. Several important characteristics are discussed, including the effects of solvent properties, excitation wave-length, laser intensity, and analyte absorptivity on signal intensity. Detection of 0.26 ng (4.4 pmol) of cobalt inside the laser probe volume of 0.14 microL is reported using an excitation wavelength that is 136 nm away from the maximum absorption wavelength of the analyte solution. The minimum absorbance measured in our D4WM experiment is 2.0 X 10(-5) without complex formation for cobalt. The D4WM detection sensitivity, in terms of the concentration-absorptivity product, is 4.05 X 10(-4) cm-1 for cobalt(II) in ethanol. Our preliminary detection sensitivity compares favorably with other laser-based spectrometric methods. This nonlinear laser technique is applicable to both fluorescing and nonfluorescing analytes.     

Absolute measurements of the thermal conductivity of mixtures of alcohols with water

New absolute measurements of the thermal conductivity of mixtures of methanol, ethanol, and propanol with water are presented. The measurements were performed in a tantalum-type transient hot-wire instrument at atmospheric pressure, in the temperature range 300–345 K. The overall uncertainty of the reported values is estimated to be less than ±0.5%, an estimate confirmed by measurements of the thermal conductivity of water. The mixtures with water studied have compositions of 25. 50, and 75%, by weight, of methanol and ethanol and 50%, by weight, of propanol. A recently proposed semiempirical scheme for the prediction of the thermal conductivity of pure liquids is extended to allow the prediction of the thermal conductivity of these mixtures from the pure components, as a function of both composition and temperature.     

Simultaneous high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis for famotidine, ranitidine HCl, cimetidine, and nizatidine in commercial products

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure for the simultaneous determination of famotidine (FMT), ranitidine HCl (RNT), cimetidine (CMT), and nizatidine (NZT) was developed using a two-level, full-factorial design with three variables (volume of methanol, percentage of triethylamine, and concentration of phosphate buffer) to select an acceptable mobile phase. A column (15cm × 4.6 mm ID) of Inertsil ODS-2 (5 μm) was used, and 0.04M aqueous sodium dihydrogen phosphate/acetonitrile/methanol/TEA at a proportion of 345/20/35/0.7 (v/v/v/v) was the selected mobile phase (1 ml/min). The detection wavelength was set at 230 nm, and procaine HCl was used as the internal standard. Precision and linearity of the method were assessed. None of the commercial samples was found to be outside the compendial limits of 90.0% to 110.0% of the claim amount.     

Performance of a gasoline engine powered by a mixture of ethanol and n-butanol

In the last decades, the need of cleaner and renewable fuels has increased the use of alcohols to power internal combustion engines. The ABE (acetone–butanol–ethanol) method to produce purified biobutanol and bioethanol is the most known and well-studied method to produce those alcohols. Nevertheless, it is not yet clear how the bioethanol’s content in the biobutanol stream could affect the engine’s biofueled performance. Thus, this study focuses on (1) the performance of an internal combustion engine and (2) on the different compositions of n-butanol/ethanol mixtures, up to 20 vol%, to assess the operative issues of the use of both alcohols instead of pure n-butanol. In order to get the most reliable results of the engine’s performance, we conducted three different experiments for each alcohols’ composition, including conventional gasoline testing as reference. The experimental tests were carried out in a CT 150 Internal Combustion Engine Basic Module and conducted at various speeds—from 700 to 1500 rpm—resulting in load variation. In general, the changes in the composition of ethanol in n-butanol do not seem to affect the performance of the engine considerably, as variations occur at an approximate rate of 3.7% in effective power, 3.3% in torque and 5.4% in specific fuel consumption.     

Selective determination of beryllium(II) ion at picomole per decimeter cubed levels by kinetic differentiation mode reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection using 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-10-hydroxybenzo[H]quinoline as precolumn chelating reagent

A highly sensitive and selective method for the determination of the Be(II) ion has been developed by the use of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorometric detection using 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-10-hydroxybenzo[h]quinoline (HPHBQ) as a precolumn (off-line) chelating reagent. The reagent HPHBQ has been designed to form the kinetically inert Be chelate compatible with high fluorescence yield, which is appropriate to the HPLC-fluorometric detection system. The Be-HPHBQ chelate is efficiently separated on a LiChrospher 100 RP-18(e) column with a methanol (58.3 wt %)-water eluent containing 20 mmol kg(-1) of tartaric acid and is fluorometrically detected at 520 nm with the excitation at 420 nm. Under the conditions used, the concentration range of 20-8,000 pmol dm(-3) of Be(II) ion can be determined without interferences from 10 micromol dm(-3) each of common metal ions, typically Al(III), Cu(II), Fe(III), and Zn(II), and still more coexistence of Ca(II) and Mg(II) ions at 0.50 mmol dm(-3) and 5.0 mmol dm(-3), respectively, is tolerated. The detection limit (3a baseline fluctuation) is 4.3 pmol dm(-3) (39 fg cm(-3)). The extraordinarily high sensitivity with toughness toward the matrix influence was demonstrated with the successful application to environmental Be analyses, such as determination of Be in rainwater and tap water.