Synthesis of 9-O-acyl- and 4-O-acetyl-sialic acids.

Various 9-O-acyl derivatives of N-acetyl- and N-glycoloyl-neuraminic acid, and O-(5-acetamido-3,5-dideoxy-D-glycero-alpha- and beta-D-galacto-2-nonulopyranosylonic acid)-(2----6)-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1----4)-D-glucopyranose were regioselectively synthesized by use of ortho esters. In addition, 5-acetamido-4-O-acetyl-D-glycero-D-galacto-2-nonulopyranosonic acid was prepared starting from the benzyl and methyl esters of N-acetylneuraminic acid.

A kinetic method for the determination of nitrite by its catalytic effect on the oxidation of chlorpromazine with nitric acid.

A catalytic spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace amounts of nitrite is proposed. In acidic solution, chlorpromazine (CP) is oxidized by nitric acid to form a red compound, which is further oxidized to a colorless compound. The reaction is accelerated by trace amounts of nitrite and can be followed by measuring the absorbance at 525 nm: nitrite ion is regenerated and multiplied by nitric acid. The absorbance of the reaction increased with an increase in the reaction time, reached a maximum and decreased rapidly. Since the time required for the absorbance to reach the maximum decreased with increasing nitrite concentration, this value was used as the measured parameter for the nitrite determination. Under the optimum experimental conditions (2.3 M nitric acid, 1.2 x 10(-5) M CP, 40 degrees C), nitrite can be determined in the range 0-100 microg l(-1). The relative standard deviations (n = 6) are 4.7 and 1.8% for 40 and 100 microg l(-1) nitrite, respectively. The detection limit of this method (3sigma) is 1.2 microg l(-1). This method was successfully applied to a determination of nitrite in natural water samples.

Determination of trace amounts of total arsenic in environmental samples by hydride generation flow injection-AAS using a mixed acid as a pretreatment agent.

A method is described for the determination of total arsenic by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrophotometry using a mixed acid as a pretreatment. Hydride generation is done by the flow-injection method. The authors investigated in detail the temperature and time of decomposition using inorganic, organic arsenic and environmental standard samples, pretreated with nitric-perchloric-sulfuric mixed acid. By using a mixed acid as a pretreatment agent at 220 degrees C, the decomposition time could be shortened and the blank value of arsenic from the reagents used was reduced. The mixed acid of nitric-perchloric-sulfuric was also found to be effective as a pretreatment agent for organic arsenic compounds in which a dimethylated compound, sodium cacodylate or biological samples, is known to be one of the indecomposables. The present approach was proved to be satisfactory as a pretreatment for the quantitative analysis of trace amounts of total arsenic in liquid or solid environmental samples, such as geothermal water, sediments and biological samples.

Microstructure of fragile metallic glasses inferred from ultrasound-accelerated crystallization in Pd-based metallic glasses.

By utilizing ultrasonic annealing at a temperature below (or near) the glass transition temperature Tg, we revealed a microstructural pattern of a partially crystallized Pd-based metallic glass with a high-resolution electron microscopy. On the basis of the observed microstructure, we inferred a plausible microstructural model of fragile metallic glasses composed of strongly bonded regions surrounded by weakly bonded regions (WBRs). The crystallization in WBRs at such a low temperature under the ultrasonic vibrations is caused by accumulation of atomic jumps associated with the beta relaxation being resonant with the ultrasonic strains. This microstructural model successfully illustrates a marked increase of elasticity after crystallization with a small density change and a correlation between the fragility of the liquid and the Poisson ratio of the solid.