A novel approach for an automated liquid/liquid extraction system—principle and application for the determination of several trace contaminants in highly alloyed steels and base alloys
AbstractA novel automated liquid/liquid extraction system was developed for the determination of trace contaminants in unalloyed, alloyed and highly alloyed steels and super alloys. In the presented batch extraction system the aqueous phase and the non-water miscible organic phase were brought into close phase contact by high-speed stirring with a magnetic stir bar. Iodide complexes of Ag, Bi, Cd, Pb, Sb, Sn, Tl, and Zn were extracted from aqueous steel digests into 4-methylpentan-2-one (MIBK) containing 20 g L−1 trioctylphosphine oxide. Ag, Bi, Cd, Pb, and Tl were extracted quantitatively whereas the extraction yields of Sb, Sn, and Zn were 83%, 61% and 75% respectively. Using high resolution continuum source flame AAS (HR-CS-FAAS) for analyte quantification the method was validated using 21 certified steel reference materials (CRMs).
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Determination of tin, bismuth, antimony, indium, gallium and arsenic by solvent extraction cum atomic absorption spectrophotometry.
A rapid atomic absorption spectrometric method for the determination of tin, antimony, bismuth, indium, gallium and arsenic in geological materials, steels and alloys is described. The samples are fused with sodium peroxide (for geological samples such as cassiterite and sulphides) or decomposed with sulphuric/hydrochloric acid mixture or by alkaline fusion (for silicates or bauxites) or by acid treatment (for steels, alloys and certain geological samples). The elements of interest are extracted as their iodides into methyl isobutyl ketone, stripped into aqueous solution by treatment with benzene, concentrated nitric acid and water, and determined by flame atomic-absorption spectrometry. Detailed study is made on stripping of the metals from organic phase as there no simple and rapid stripping procedures available. The method allows the determination of Sn, Sb, Bi and In down to 2 ppm and Ga down to 5 ppm. The relative standard deviations range up to 10% with an average of 2.5%. Apparent recoveries of these metals range from 90 to 110 with an average of 95% for Sb and 99% for others.
Design and synthesis of water-soluble prodrugs of rifabutin for intraveneous administration.
Acinetobacter baumannii is a gram-negative bacterium causing severe hospital-acquired infections such as bloodstream infections or pneumonia. Moreover, multidrug resistant A. baumannii becomes prevalent in many hospitals. Consequently, the World Health Organization made this bacterium a critical priority for the research and development of new antibiotics. Rifabutin, a semisynthetic product from the rifamycin class, was recently found to be very active in nutrient-limited eukaryotic cell culture medium against various A. baumannii strains, including extremely drug-resistant strains, with minimal inhibitory concentrations as low as 0.008 μg/mL. Moreover, this in vitro potency translates into in vivo efficacy. Thus, rifabutin appears to be an attractive novel antibiotic against A. baumannii. In this work, our objective was to design and synthetize rifabutin prodrugs with increased aqueous solubility to allow intraveneous use. Synthetic methodologies were developed to selectively functionalize the hydroxyl group in position 21 and to afford 17 prodrugs. We measured the water solubility of the prodrugs, the stability in human and mouse plasma and their antimicrobial activity against A. baumannii after incubation in human serum. Finally, a pharmacokinetic release study of rifabutin was performed in CD1 mice with three selected prodrugs as a proof of concept.