Pan-European Network of Fundamental pH Research: UnipHied

Initiated by our group, the pan-European research network of fundamental pH Research UnipHied started in May 2018.

Why is such network needed? As of now, it is not possible to compare pH values of solutions made in different solvents, as every solvent has its own pH scale. This situation is highly unfortunate, since it causes confusion and inaccuracies into many fields, extending far beyond the specific field of acid-base chemistry. Examples are industrial catalytic processes, food chemistry, liquid chromatograpy, etc. The central goal of UnipHied is to overcome this situation by putting the new theoretical concept of the recently introduced unified pHabs scale on a metrologically well-founded basis into practice.

The most important specific objectives of UnipHied are (1) to develop and validate a reliable and universally applicable measurement procedure that enables the measurement of pHabs; (2) to create a reliable method for the experimental or computational evaluation of the liquid junction potential between aqueous and non-aqueous solutions; (3) to develop a coherent and validated suite of calibration standards for standardizing routine measurement systems in terms of pHabs values for a variety of widespread systems (e.g., industrial mixtures, soils/waters, food products, biomaterials).

The first version of the pHabs measurement procedure has been created by Agnes Heering (Suu) in the framework of her PhD thesis. The main experimental difficulty is evaluation of the liquid junction potential (LJP), which will be thoroughly addressed by UnipHied. The first important steps towards this goal have very recently been made and published as two back-to-back papers: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 2344–2347 and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 2348–2352
The key achievement described in the papers is finding an ionic liquid, namely [N2225][NTf2], that can be used as salt bridge electrolyte and has such properties that two out of three main sources of LJP are eliminated.

The partners of the UnipHied network are LNE (France, coordinator), BFKH (Hungary), CMI (Czech Republic), DFM (Denmark), IPQ (Portugal), PTB (Germany), SYKE (Finland), TÜBITAK-UME (Turkey), Freiburg University (Germany), ANBSensors (United Kingdom), FCiencias.ID (Portugal), UT (Estonia).

UnipHied is funded from the EMPIR programme (project 17FUN09) co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

 

ASMS 2018 in San Diego

Piia Liigand giving her talk

On 3rd-7th June three members of our group focusing on ionization efficiency studies Dr. Anneli Kruve-Viil, PhD students Piia Liigand and Jaanus Liigand, participated in the 66th Annual Conference of American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) in San Diego, CA. The conference was a huge success. There were altogether about 7500 scientists participating, ca 200 oral presentations and 3300 of posters. We had two oral presentations and one poster presentation.

The conference was kicked off by a presentation by Lisa Shipley from Merck who gave a very informative talk about smart trials and moving to patient-centric clinical trials – most probably the future of clinical trials. It was very inspiring to see how a field that is considered to be relatively conservative is picking up the most modern technical solutions such as clever packages and home-based sample collection.

The first full day of the conference started with a presentation by our PhD student Piia, who gave a talk about achieving more accurate semi-quantitative analysis by predicting electrospray ionization efficiencies. She first gave an overview of the research carried out so far and then, introduced her latest results. She showed that with the help of using ionization efficiencies, concentration estimation in various biological matrices was improved by more than an order of magnitude.

Jaanus Liigand presenting his poster

Jaanus presented a poster on semiquantitative LC/ESI/MS via ionization efficiency prediction. He presented the simple and user-friendly approach of predicting ionization efficiencies using only 2D structures. We are now able to predict ionization efficiencies in both ESI positive and negative mode and in different solvent compositions without time-consuming DFT-COSMO calculations. Additionally, we have shown that using ionization efficiency predictions the validation with LC gradient elution resulted in 2.7-fold mispredicted concentrations compared to 44-fold mispredictions using directly peak areas. We were happy to see that numerous groups were interested in our studies and fruitful discussions about the results did not stop until the end of the poster session.

Dr. Anneli Kruve-Viil giving her talk

Dr. Anneli Kruve-Viil presented some of the latest results obtained in FU Berlin. She talked about using mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry for investigating interlocked nature of catenanes and knots. These results will soon be shared with everyone.

In conclusion, this year’s ASMS was very successful for our group. We saw a lot of interest in our work, met our collaborators and got some new friends and possible future collaborators. We are already looking forward to the next ASMS in Atlanta. We are also grateful for our financial supporters, who made this conference possible to us: instrumentation provided by Estonian Center of Analytical Chemistry (www.akki.ee), Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia by smart specialization doctoral stipend, Graduate School of Functional Materials and Technologies, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

More information about the group focusing on ionization efficiency studies can be found on the webpage kruvelab.com

Bachelor’s and Master’s Defences 2018

Traditionally, in the first half of June, our bachelor and master students defend their theses. This year there were 3 masters students and 2 bachelor students from our group. Here is how the students described their theses.

Alo Rüütel “Synthesis of bambusuril macrocycles and investigation of their binding properties”, master’s defence
In my master’s thesis, I synthesized bambusuril macrocycles. These receptor molecules are very potent anion binders. Usually, molecular receptors do not function in water because they are not able to bind target molecules with sufficient strength. Some bambusuril derivatives are able to function in aqueous media, which makes them a very special type of macrocyclic receptors. It is possible to use these molecules as ionophores for anion selective electrodes.

Ernesto de Jesus Zapata Flores “Determination of free diisocyanates in polyurethane foam”, master’s defence
My thesis focused on the test of a proposed method to analyze free diisocyanates in polyurethane foams for two reasons, by one side those compounds can represent a danger if care is not taken when the foam is used, and by the other side, new legislation is more aggressive against those compounds. The method is a simpler alternative to achieve the derivatization of diisocyanates.

Andre Leesment “Gas phase acidity measurements of superacids using FT-ICR method”, master’s defence

My master’s thesis was based on gas-phase acidity measurements of some very strong acids. Such strong acids are widely used in organic synthesis as reactants and/or catalysts. The anions of such acids exhibit high stability, which makes the valuable components of contemporary energy storing devices. The obtained results allow us to work on expanding the self-consistent gas-phase acidity scale with acids stronger than the ones experimentally measured so far.

 

Lisett Kiudorv “Quantitative analysis of clay components using ATR-FT-IR spectroscopy”, bachelor’s defence
The main purpose of my bachelor’s thesis was to develop a method that enables quantitative analysis of clays using ATR-FT-IR spectroscopy combined with the chemometric partial least squares method. The developed method is quick and easy to use and reduces the required sample size to around a milligram. The dramatic decrease in sample size makes it possible to analyse samples from archaeology and art. The method was then used to analyse six archaeological samples including one of the oldest potteries found in Estonia and an Egyptian pottery, which holds a bird’s mummy.

Elisabeth Parman “Determination of pKa values of fluorocompounds in water using 19F NMR”, bachelor’s defence
The main aim of my bachelor’s thesis was to determine pKa values of fluorocompounds in water using 19F NMR. This method is not particularly commonly used, but it can be used to verify or disconfirm values that have been measured with different methods, especially in cases where the measurements with other methods are problematic. For example, the purity and accurate concentration of the measured compound need to be concerned for most of the methods, but with 19F NMR it is not problematic.

 

Comparative validation of amperometric and optical dissolved oxygen sensors

A comprehensive comparative validation for two different types of dissolved oxygen (DO) analyzers, amperometric and optical, together with estimation of measurement uncertainty is presented in the recently published article I. Helm, G. Karina, L. Jalukse, T. Pagano, I. Leito, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2018, 190, 313.

A number of performance characteristics were evaluated including drift, intermediate precision, accuracy of temperature compensation, accuracy of reading (under different measurement conditions), linearity, flow dependence of the reading, repeatability (reading stability), and matrix effects of dissolved salts. The matrix effects on readings in real samples were evaluated by analyzing the dependence of the reading on salt concentration (at saturation concentration of DO). The analyzers were also assessed in DO measurements of a number of natural waters. The uncertainty contributions of the main influencing parameters were estimated under different experimental conditions. It was found that the uncertainties of results for both analyzers are quite similar but the contributions of the uncertainty sources are different.

The results imply that the optical analyzer might not be as robust as is commonly assumed, however, it has better reading stability, lower stirring speed dependence, and typically requires less maintenance. On the other hand, the amperometric analyzer has a faster response and wider linear range.

(Photo by Lauri Jalukse: measurements of dissolved oxygen concentration with amperometric and optical analyzers at Jordan spring, Karksi-Nuia, Estonia)

 

Measurement uncertainty online course (MOOC) 2018 edition successfully finished!

Measurement_Uncertainty_MOOC_Successfully_FinishedOn May 14, 2018 the on-line course (MOOC) Estimation of measurement uncertainty in chemical analysis offered by University of Tartu finished successfully.
Eventually altogether 521 people registered (270 in 2014, 489 in 2015, 757 in 2016, 363 in 2017) from 76 countries (a number of participants joined after the start of the course). 358 participants actually started the course (i.e. tried at least one graded test at least once) and out of them 218 successfully completed the course (141 in 2014, 169 in 2015, 308 in 2016, 148 in 2017). The overall completion rate was 42% (52% in 2014, 34% in 2015, 40% in 2016, 41% in 2017). The completion rate of participants who started the studies was 61% (67% in 2014, 60% in 2015, 67% in 2016, 68% in 2017). The completion rates are nicely consistent over the last years and can be considered very good for a MOOC, especially one that has quite difficult calculation exercises, which need to be done correctly for completing the course.

The participants were very active and asked lots of questions. The questions were often very much to the point and addressed things that are really important to analysts in their everyday work. The course has several forums (general and by topic) and the overall number of posts to them during the course period reached almost 300 (!) (overall number of posts, both from participants and from teachers) and the forums are still active and posts are still coming in.

This active participation made teaching of this MOOC a great experience also for us, the teachers. The discussion threads gave a lot of added value to the course and some of them triggered making important modifications to the course materials, even during the course.

We want to thank all participants for helping to make this course a success!

We plan to repeat this course again in Spring 2019.

 

Another motivational group seminar took place on last weekend, 5-6th May

Traditional analytical chemistry group seminar was this time held in beautiful Voore Guest House on 5-6th of May. Despite the sunny and wonderful weather outside, a group of analytical chemists were pleased to stay inside to discuss research. Since many of our group members are going to defend their theses soon (PhD students Märt Lõkov and Sofja Tšepelevitš, master’s students Alo Rüütel and Andre Leesment, and bachelor’s students Elisabeth Parman and Lisett Kiudorv), their presentations were followed by many questions and fruitful discussions. Another PhD student, Max Hecht, joined us via Skype and gave us an interesting presentation about sponge spray while reminding that every chemist must face many problems and difficulties before gaining the expected results. Besides numerous analytical chemistry research-related presentations, our research fellow Dr. Riin Rebane, who is currently studying law, introduced us a world of law and talked about patent applications in Estonia. The whole seminar was finished with a gripping presentation about postdoctoral studies in the University of Helsinki by Dr. Hanno Evard.
In addition to the intense seminar, we were able to enjoy the beautiful nature and landscape of Vooremaa while taking a long walk in the village and discussing the day’s events in a hot sauna.

Recent study emphasizes that pesticide traces in Estonian groundwater under farmlands exceed the allowed limit

Sum of pesticide traces in samples from 2016-2017. Source: Estonian Environmental Research Centre

Our joint research fellow with Estonian Environmental Research Centre Dr. Riin Rebane and joint PhD candidate Siiri Saaver participated in the study “Analysis of pesticide traces and dynamics in surface and groundwater” . In this study, 137 surface and groundwater samples from all over Estonia were analysed with a targeted screening of 135 pesticides. From 137 analysed samples 49 pesticide traces were detected in more than half of the samples. In 34 samples 9 pesticides and their metabolites exceeded the allowed concentration level of 0.1 μg/L. In 9 samples pesticides and their transformation products exceeded 0.5 μg/L. Interestingly, the main compound found (in 26 samples) was chloridazon-desphenyl, which is a metabolite of pesticide chloridazon that is not registered on Estonian market and therefore not sold, which makes the determination of the origin of this compound complicated. It needs further research whether it is a remnant of Soviet times and slowly moving in the soil towards groundwater or if it is in use now.
This study was also reported in news portal Novaator and in environmental TV show Osoon

Moreover, there are hundreds of different pesticides and targeted screening methods usually look for compounds that are banned or known to be problematic. This study used the broader list of pesticides than regular yearly monitoring of pesticides indicating that broader coverage of potential pollutants is needed. Therefore, there is a need for the suspect and non-target screening methods for detecting more compounds and their metabolites.

In collaboration with Estonian Environmental Research Centre, our group has also contributed to studying and developing the non-target approach. Namely, Gunnar Printsmann developed in his master thesis suspect and non-target screening method for groundwater using high-resolution mass spectrometry which also included pollutants database. He found and confirmed a new industrial pollutant dibutyl phthalate in one sample from North-Eastern Estonia.

Belgian Society for Mass Spectrometry 2018 Annual Meeting

Our PhD student Jaanus is currently doing research in the group of Prof. Edwin De Pauw at the University of Liege in Belgium and he had a nice opportunity to take part in a 21st annual meeting of Belgian Society for Mass Spectrometry that was held on 29th of March in Liege. The meeting was organized in honour of Prof. Edwin De Pauw to summarize his work as he intended to retire after this year. Luckily for the mass spectrometric community, he will be actively involved in the research at least for four coming years.

Prof. Scott McLuckey opened the day with a presentation about strategies for achieving enzyme-like specificity in the gas-phase fragmentation of peptide and proteins. He showed different strategies how to cleave for example specifically at asparagine or lysine.

Prof. Andrea Sinz presented the results of the development of cleavable cross-linkers. Additionally, she pointed out that although cleavable crosslinkers are available on the market most of the groups determining the protein structures still use the noncleavable crosslinkers and do not take advantage of additional information provided by cleavable crosslinkers.

Dr. Valérie Gabelica presented the results of the studies of nucleic acid noncovalent complexes in native MS. She said that by knowing and studying the fundamentals of ESI processes one gets also a real insight into phenomena seen in different applications (in her case, nucleic acid noncovalent complexes). She also pointed out that unfortunately, scientific community publishes solely positive results which result in biased and non-universal theories.

Jaanus Liigand also had the possibility to present the results of our studies of standard substance free quantitation in LC/ESI/MS analysis and industry showed a great interest in our approach which could be beneficial for their needs (see the poster here).

It was a really nice day full of interesting presentations and discussions.

Pilleriin, Eliise and Signe at inArt 2018 Conference

On 26-29th March three members of the UT Analytical chemistry group – Eliise, Signe and Pilleriin – attended the conference inArt 2018 (3rd International Conference on Innovation in Art Research and Technology). The conference was held in a small, yet beautiful town of Parma in Italy.

The aim of the conference was to bring together chemists, physicists, geologists, art historians, conservators, archaeologists, etc. to create a wide community and a mutual environment for a fruitful discussion. Four days were filled with wide-ranging presentations, museum visits and interesting discussions with other scientist from the same scientific fields. The work of our cultural heritage group was also introduced with both oral and poster presentations.

On the left picture you can see Eliise standing next to her poster about the comparison of derivatization methods for GC-MS analysis of binding materials in oil paints. The results of this work are going to be published soon.

On the right picture is Pilleriin presenting her work on textile dye analysis. This work has already been submitted.

 

Analytical chemists fighting food fraud

Every year Estonian University of Life Sciences organises a conference called “Healthy animal and healthy food” where Dr. Riin Rebane made a presentation “Fight against food fraud” which explained the ever-expanding role of analytical chemists in food science. Reasons for food fraud vary, but are almost always for monetary gain and therefore food fraud is in constant progress. One good example is honey analysis, where for decades there has been a change in methods in order to identify whether honey is real or whether it is identified with correct botanical or geographical origin. As a natural product, no two honeys are identical and this makes identification further more challenging for the chemists. One of the possible methods is amino acid analysis since the amino acid content can be like a fingerprint for honeys and in University of Tartu we have analysed few hundreds of Estonian honeys and have seen that that foreign honeys do differ in most cases and also that there is a correlation between the amino acid content and botanical origin. But nevertheless, even this method might not work every time and chemists are looking towards methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and even DNA-analysis to get better certainty for determining the origin of honey.

The summary based on the presentation was also reported in the newspaper Maaleht.