There is a special reason for reviewing this book at this time: it is the 50th edition of a compendium that is known and used frequently in most chemical and physical laboratories in many parts of the world. Surely, a publication that has been published for 56 years, withstanding the vagaries of science in this century, must have had something to offer. There is another reason: while the book is a standard fixture in most chemical and physical laboratories, including those in medical centers, it is not as frequently seen in the laboratories of physician's offices (those either in solo or group practice). I believe that the Handbook can be useful in those laboratories. One of the reasons, among others, is that the various basic items of information it offers may be helpful in new tests, either physical or chemical, which are continuously being published. The basic information may relate

Handbook of Chemistry and Physics

Synthesis, structure, and bonding in polyiodide and metal iodide-iodine systems.

Antimony in the environment: a review focused on natural waters: II. Relevant solution chemistry

Selenium is usually known as the ‘double-edged sword element' for its dual toxic and beneficial character to health. Since the pioneer works by Schwarz and Foltz on the relationships between selenium deficiency and liver, muscle and heart diseases, many efforts have been undertaken to better understand the role of selenium in health. At the same time, an increasing number of publications have appeared during these last years on the selenium physico–chemical interactions within the environment. Both types of research represent ongoing efforts to correctly estimate the bioavailability of selenium species for health and the environment. Redox reactions, diffusion, adsorption and precipitation processes or interactions with organic matter and biota govern the speciation and mobility of selenium in the environment. This review intends to emphasize and collect the important advances made during these last years in the mechanistic understanding of processes which govern selenium cycling and bioavailability, like adsorption at the mineral/water interface, precipitation of elemental selenium, or bioavailability of nanoscaled precipitates. The advent of powerful spectroscopic techniques, like X-ray absorption spectroscopy, has allowed the structural description of adsorption and substitution processes that selenium undergoes in a variety of minerals. These and other structural details about selenium precipitates are reviewed here, together with their relationships to the bioavailability of the element in the environment.

Selenium environmental cycling and bioavailability: a structural chemist point of view

Small-molecule fluorophores manifest the ability of chemistry to solve problems in biology. As we noted in a previous review (Lavis, L. D.; Raines, R. T. ACS Chem. Biol. 2008, 3, 142–155), the extant collection of fluorescent probes is built on a modest set of “core” scaffolds that evolved during a century of academic and industrial research. Here, we survey traditional and modern synthetic routes to small-molecule fluorophores and highlight recent biological insights attained with customized fluorescent probes. Our intent is to inspire the design and creation of new high-precision tools that empower chemical biologists.

Bright Building Blocks for Chemical Biology

1 – Trifluoroacetic Acid

Selenium dibromide and dichloride in acetonitrile

Selenium chloride and bromide equilibria in aprotic solvents; a 77Se NMR study

The dissociation constant of trifluoroacetic acid in aqueous solution has been determined at 25°C by electrical conductivity (0.65 mol-l−1) and at 0°C by cryoscopy (1.05 mol-l−1) and electrical conductivity (0.98 mol-l−1). The good agreement between the values of the constant determined by cryoscopy and conductivity at 0°C lends confidence to the value at 25°C determined by electrical conductivity. The constant determined at 25°C is in reasonable agreement with values determined by differential refractometry (0.92 mol-l−1) and from acidity function data (0.80 mol-l−1) reported by other workers. This work renews confidence in the electrical conductivity method for determining dissociation constants of moderately strong acids.

Dissociation constant of aqueous trifluoroacetic acid by cryoscopy and conductivity

Raman and Se-77 NMR spectroscopy confirm that when selenous acid is reduced by thiosulfate in water selenopentathionate and tetrathionate are formed.Depending upon the stoichiometry and pH, two iso...

John Milne

Papers

1 – Trifluoroacetic Acid

Selenium dibromide and dichloride in acetonitrile

Selenium chloride and bromide equilibria in aprotic solvents; a 77Se NMR study

Dissociation constant of aqueous trifluoroacetic acid by cryoscopy and conductivity

Studies on the interaction of selenite and selenium with sulphur donors. Part 4. Thiosulfate