Fusion reagents

Substances which are insoluble or only partially soluble in acids are brought into solution by fusion with the appropriate reagent. The most commonly used fusion reagents, or fluxes as they are called, are anhydrous sodium carbonate, either alone or, less frequently, mixed with potassium nitrate or sodium peroxide potassium pyrosulphate, or sodium pyrosulphate sodium peroxide sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Anhydrous lithium metaborate has found favour as a flux, especially for materials containing silica 12 when the resulting fused mass is dissolved in dilute acids, no separation of silica takes place as it does when a sodium carbonate melt is similarly treated. Other advantages claimed for lithium metaborate are the following. 

Fusion reagent for sample preparation in the analysis of organic and inorganic materials ... 

A number of materials requiring analysis that are difficult to dissolve by conventional methods are best fused with a fusion reagent to form a fused mixture that dissolves... 

Table 3.3 List of common fusion reagents used in sample preparation...

Disadvantages of the fusion method are that some elements may be volatile at 900°C, the fusion reagent may cause contamination, and the presence of high amounts of dissolved solid content may not be suitable for trace analysis. Blanks of fusion reagents must also be prepared alongside samples. The fusion fluxes are expensive and give rise to spectral interferences and must be considered a last resort. 

Incomplete attack Fusion/Oxidation reagents Power too low Pressurised digestion with oxidising acids residue checked to verify the total digestion of the matrix. Increase fusion reagents... 

Disadvantages of the process are loss of volatile radionuclides at the elevated temperature and the large amount of the fusion reagent added to the sample. Handling the crucibles at the specified high temperatures is a safety concern. Platinum crucibles are expensive, while other crucibles (e.g., nickel and iron) are attacked by some reagents and contribute a contaminant to the sample. 

Refractory species (such as zirconium oxide) are incompletely atomized at the temperatures of a flame or a muffle furnace. If the radionuclide of interest may be in a refractory form, the material must be mixed with fusion reagents and melted at a high temperature. After cooling, the solidified melt is dissolved in a HNOj solution. Fusion mixtures that have been tested for many types of soil are listed in Table 4.2. Sample masses are limited by practical consideration of the final sample size, taking into consideration the large amounts of fusion reagents added to the sample. 

Tetra-(chloromethyl)-phosphonium chloride (5 g) in 20 mL water was treated with 8 g sodium bicarbonate. The solution became milky and gave a strong formaldehyde reaction with fusion reagent. The phosphine was shaken out with carbon bisulfide, dried over sodium sulfate, and distilled under diminished pressure b.p. 100°C (7 mmHg). While heated at atmospheric pressure, tri-(chloromethyl)phosphine decomposes. It is a colorless, mobile liquid with a powerful, benumbing odor and with slight solubility in water. 

Volumen pro Zeit pro Querschnitt) dectr Stromung fluxing agent (flux)/ fusion reagent Flussmittel,... 

Fusion reagent. The alkali fusion is a prefused mixture of potassium hydroxide (J.T. Baker, Analytical reagent grade) and 0.5% sodium acetate. 

Stetter, H., Ramsch, K.-D., and Elfert, K., Compounds with urotropine structure. LIV. 2,2-B/s(chlo-romethyl)acetophenone as a new a,a -fusion reagent, Liebigs Ann. Chem., 1322, 1974. 

Phosphorus. The presence of phosphorus may be indicated by a smell of phosphine during the sodium fusion. Treat 1 ml. of the fusion solution with 3 ml. of eoneentrated nitric acid and boil for one minute. Cool and add an equal volume of ammonium molybdate reagent. Warm the mixture to 40-50°, and allow to stand. If phosphorus is present, a yellow erystalline precipitate of ammonium phosphomolybdate wUl separate. 

Stannic and stannous chloride are best prepared by the reaction of chlorine with tin metal. Stannous salts are generally prepared by double decomposition reactions of stannous chloride, stannous oxide, or stannous hydroxide with the appropriate reagents. MetaUic stannates are prepared either by direct double decomposition or by fusion of stannic oxide with the desired metal hydroxide or carbonate. Approximately 80% of inorganic tin chemicals consumption is accounted for by tin chlorides and tin oxides. 

Arsenic III oxide (arsenic trioxide, arsenious oxide) [1327-53-3] M 197.8, three forms m 200°(amorphous glass), m 275°(sealed tube, octahedral, common form, sublimes > 125° without fusion but melts under pressure), m 312°, pKj 9.27, pK 13.54, pK 13.99 (for H3ASO3). Crystd in octahedral form from H2O or from dil HCl (1 2), washed, dried and sublimed (193°/760mm). Analytical reagent grade material is suitable for use as an analytical standard after it has been dried by heating at 105° for l-2h or has been left in a desiccator for several hours over cone H2SO4. POISONOUS (particulary the vapour, handle in a ventilated fume cupboard). 

In general, epoxidation of steroids with trans-anti-trans ring fusions leads to exclusive formation of the a-oxirane. Steroid Reactions lists examples of exclusive a-epoxide formation from 2-, 4-, 6-, 7-, 8(9)-, 14-, 16- and 17(20)-unsaturated steroids. Further examples of a-epoxidation of steroid 1-enes, 3-enes, 8-enes, 9(ll)-enes, 8(14)-enes and 16-enes have been reported. The preferred attack by the reagent on the a-side of the steroid nucleus can be attributed to shielding of the -side of the molecules by the two angular methyl groups. 

Aziridines can best be obtained by ring closure of amine derivatives which contain a tm 5-oriented leaving group at the -position, see (89). The variable conformational and steric influences in the steroid skeleton limit the generality of a particular synthetic method and necessitate a selection of reagents based on the position of fusion of the aziridine ring. 

Cyclotrithiazyl chloride is also a useful reagent in organic chemistry in the fusion of 1,2,5-thiadiazoles to quinones as well as the synthesis of (a) isothiazoles from 2,5-disubstituted furans and (b) bis-1,2,5-thiadiazoles from A-alkylpyrroles (Scheme 8.4). Alkenes and alkynes react readily with (NSC1)3 to give 1,2,5-thiadiazoles, while 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene gives a variety of heterocyclic products including a bis(l, 2,5-thiadiazole). ... 

The power of the pooled GST fusion protein approach will increase as new biochemical reagents and assays become available. The development of chemical probes for biological processes, termed chemical biology, is a rapidly advancing field. For example, the chemical synthesis of an active site directed probe for identification of members of the serine hydrolase enzyme family has recently been described (Liu et al., 1999). The activity of the probe is based on the potent and irreversible inhibition of serine hydrolases by fluorophosphate (FP) derivatives such as diisopropyl fluorophosphate. The probe consists of a biotinylated long-chain fluorophosphonate, called FP-biotin (Liu et al., 1999). The FP-biotin was tested on crude tissue extracts from various organs of the rat. These experiments showed that the reagent can react with numerous serine hydrolases in crude extracts and can detect enzymes at subnanomolar... 

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