23 resultados para Arsenic compounds
em Brock University, Canada
Resumo:
The mass spectra of compounds of t he series (C6F5 )3-n MP~ (n = 1,2,3, M = P and As ), (C6F5>3Sb, Ph) Sb and (C6F5 )2SbPh have been studied in detail and the important modes of fragmentation were e1ucidated, a ided by metastable ions. Various trends attributed to the central atom and or the . substituent groups have been noted and, where applicable, compared to recent studies on related phenyl and pentafluorophenyl compounds of groups IV and V. The mass spectra of fluorine containing organometallic compounds exhibit characteristic migrations of fluorine to t he central atom, giving an increasing abundance of MF+, MF2+' and RMF+ (R = Ph or C6F5) ions on descending the group_ The mass spectra of pentafluorophenyl , antimony, and arsenic compounds show a greater fragmentation of the aromatic ring than those of phosphorus. The mixed phenyl pentafluorophenyl derivatives show a characteristic pattern depending on the number of phenyl grm.lps present but show t he general characteristics of both the tris(phenyl) and tris(pentafluorophenyl) compounds. The diphenyl pentafluorophenyl der ivatives show the loss of biphenyl ion as the most import ant step, the los s of phenyl t o give the i on PhMC6F5 + being of secondary importance. The ,bis(pentafluorophenyl) phenyl derivatives fragment primarily by loss of PhC6F5 to give C6F5M+ ions, the abundance of t hese increasing r apidly from phosphorus to arsenic. This species then, exhibits a characteristic fragmentation observed in the tris(penta- fluorophenyl ) compounds. However, the abundance of (C6F5)2M+ species in these compounds i s small. I ons of the type C6H4MC6F4 + and tetrafluorobiphenylene ions C6H4C6F4 + also are observed on substitution of a phenyl group for a penta- fluorophenyl group. The fully fluorinated species (C6F4)2M+ is not observed, although octafluorobiphenylene ions , (C6F4)2+' are evident in several spectra . The appearance potentials of the major ions were obtatned from the ionisation efficiency curves. Attempts were made to correlate these to the effect of the central atom in substituent groups, but the large errors involved prevented the reaching of quantitative conclusions, although it would appear that the electron is removed from the ligand in the ionisation of t he parent molecule .
Resumo:
The deoxy derivative of pancratistatin 1.10 was prepared in good yield through the use of a [4+2] Diels-Alder cycloaddition and Bischler-Napieralski cyclization approach. The Bischler-Napieralski cyclization was shown to yield two additional side products 2.9, 2.10, however, under slightly modified hydrolysis conditions, the tetracyclic product 2.11 was obtained exclusively in greater than 84% yield. Initial screening of the di-hydroxylatgd derivative, and the other complementary pair analogue 1.10' previously prepared in our laboratories gave interesting results. Both of these compounds were shown to exhibit cytostatic activity; the mono-alcohol was marginally active while the di-hydroxylated analogue proved to be more potent although one to two magnitudes less potent than pancratistatin itself Human tumour cell line assay results indicated that the di-hydroxylated derivative exhibited selective cytotoxic inhibition in the following cell lines: non-small cell lung cancer line NCI-H226 (ED50 - 0.65 ^g/mL), leukemia cell lines CCRF-CEM (ED30 = 0.55 Hg/mL) and HL-60(TB) (ED50 = 0.89^ig/mL). Our results demonstrated that the pharmacophore is not a mono-alcohol, and that the minimum pharmacophore contains the hydroxyl group at the C4 position in addition to either, or both, of the hydroxyl groups present at C2 and C3.' The minimum pharmacophore has been narrowed to only three possibilities which are current synthetic targets in several research groups. The controlled Grignard addition to the tartaric acid derived bis-Weinreb amide 1.25 afforded a direct entry to a host of 1,4-diflferentiated tartaric acid derived intermediates (2.12-2.18). This potentially usefiil methodology was demonstrated through the efficient synthesis of the naturally occurring lactone 2.23, which bears the inherent syn-dio\ subunit. Based on this result, a similar approach to the synthesis of syn-dio\ bearing natural products looks very promising? A direct 2,3-diol desymmetrization method using TIPS-triflate was shown to be effective on the selective differentiation of Z,-methyl tartrate (and diisopropyl tartrate). The mono-silyl-protected intermediates 2.31 also proved to be useful when they were selectively differentiated at the 1,4-carboxyl position (2.35, 2.36) through the use of a borohydride reducing agent. Furthermore, the mono-silyl-protected derivative underwent periodate cleavage affording two synthetically useful a,P-unsaturated esters 2.43, 2.44, with one of esters being obtained via a silyl-migration method.''
Resumo:
The implementation of chiral centres within biologically active compounds has been a perplexing yet motivational force in chemistry. This work presents the attempted formation of a concurrent or sequential tandem catalyzed methodology of enantioselective nucleophilic addition and electrophilic cyclization. The 2'- arylalkynyl- aldehyde, ketone, and imine substrates used within were adeptly chosen with a dually activated structure; 1) for nucleophilic addition to the electrophilic substituents; and 2) for carbophilic activation of the alkyne substituent to undergo cyclization. To accomplish the nucleophilic addition, two distinct allylation methodologies were pursued: (/?)-BINOL catalyzed-allylboration and (5)- BINAP-AgF catalyzed-allylsilylation. BINAP catalyzed enantioselective allylation of 2'-arylalkynyl-aldehydes, to form chiral homoallylic alcohols, was successful. Homoallylic alcohols were isolated with high enantio-purity (>80%), which then underwent sequential cyclization to form chiral allylic phthalans, in moderate yields. An application of this methodology towards the construction of biologically active compounds was included with the partial synthesis of the natural product and H. pylori inhibitor, (+)-Spirolaxine methyl ether.
Resumo:
An efficient way of synthesizing the deuterium labelled analogues of three methoxypyrazine compounds: 2-d3-methoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine, 2-d3-methoxy-3- isobutylpyrazine, and 2-d3-methoxy-3-secbutylpyrazine, has been developed. To confirm that the deuterium labels had been incorporated into the expected positions in the molecules synthesized, the relevant characterization by NMR, HRMS and GC/MS analysis was conducted. Another part of this work involved quantitative determination of methoxypyrazines in water and wines. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) proved to be a suitable means for the sample separation and concentration prior to GC/MS analysis.Such factors as the presence of ethanol, salt, and acid have been investigated which can influence the recovery by SPE for the pyrazines from the water matrix. Significantly, in this work comparatively simple fractional distillation was attempted to replace the conventional steam distillation for pre-concentrating a sample with a relatively large volume prior to SPE. Finally, a real wine sample spiked with the relevant isotope-labelled methoxypyrazines was quantitatively analyzed, revealing that the wine with 10 beetles per litre contained 138 ppt of 2-methoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine. Interestingly, we have also found that 2-methoxy-3-secbutylpyrazine exhibits an extremely low detection limit in GC/MS analysis compared with the detection limit of the other two methoxypyrazines: 2- methoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine and 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine.
Resumo:
Modifications to the commercial hydride generator, manufactured by Spectrametrics, resulted in improved operating procedure and enhancement of the arsenic and germanium signals. Experiments with arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) showed that identical reiults could be produced from both oxidation states. However, since arsenic(V) is reduced more slowly than arsenic(III), peak areas and not peak heights must be measured when the arsine is immediately stripped from the system (approximately 5 seconds reaction). When the reduction is allowed to proceed for 20 seconds before the arsine is stripped, peak heights may be used. For a 200 ng/mL solution, the relative standard deviation is 2.8% for As(III) and 3.8% for As(V). The detection limit for arsenic using the modified system is 0.50 ng/mL. Studies performed on As(V) standards show that the interferences from 1000 mg/L of nickel(II), cobalt(II), iron(III), copper(II), cadmium(II), and zinc(II) can be eliminated with the aid of 5 M Hel and 3% L-cystine. Conditions for the reduction of germanium to the corresponding hydride were investigated. The effect of different concentrations of HCl on the reduction of germanium to the covalent hydride in aqueous media by means of NaBH 4 solutions was assessed. Results show that the best response is accomplished at a pH of 1.7. The use of buffer solutions was similarly characterized. In both cases, results showed that the element is best reduced when the final pH of the solution after reaction is almost neutral. In addition, a more sensitive method, which includes the use of (NH4)2S208' has been developed. A 20% increase in the germanium signal is registered when compared to the signal achieved with Hel alone. Moreover, under these conditions, reduction of germanium could be accomplished, even when the solution's pH is neutral. For a 100 ng/mL germanium standard the rsd is 3%. The detection limit for germanium in 0.05 M Hel medium (pH 1.7) is 0.10 ng/mL and 0.09 ng/mL when ammonium persulphate is used in conjunction with Hel. Interferences from 1000 mg/L of iron(III), copper(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), cadmium(II), lead(II), mercury(II), aluminum(III), tin(IV), arsenic(III), arsenic(V) and zinc(II) were studied and characterized. In this regard, the use of (NH4)ZS20S and Hel at a pH of 1.7 proved to be a successful mixture in the sbppression of the interferences caused by iron, copper, aluminum, tin, lead, and arsenic. The method was applied to the determination of germanium in cherts and iron ores. In addition, experiments with tin(IV) showed that a 15% increase in the tin signal can be accomplished in the presence of 1 mL of (NH4)2S20S 10% (m/V).
Resumo:
A method using L-cysteine for the determination of arsenous acid (As(III)), arsenic acid (As(V)), monomethylarsonic acid (MMAA), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA) by hydride generation was demonstrated. The instrument used was a d.c. plasma atomic emission spectrometer (OCP-AES). Complete recovery was reported for As(III), As(V), and DMAA while 86% recovery was reported for MMAA. Detection limits were determined, as arsenic for the species listed previously, to be 1.2, 0.8, 1.1, and 1.0 ngemL-l, respectively. Precision values, at 50 ngemL-1 arsenic concentration, were f.80/0, 2.50/0, 2.6% and 2.6% relative standard deviation, respectively. The L-cysteine reagent was compared directly with the conventional hydride generation technique which uses a potassium iodide-hydrochloric acid medium. Recoveries using L-cysteine when compared with the conventional method provided the following results: similar recoveries were obtained for As(III), slightly better recoveries were obtained for As(V) and MMAA, and significantly better recoveries for DMAA. In addition, tall and sharp peak shapes were observed for all four species when using L-cysteine. The arsenic speciation method involved separation by ion exchange .. high perfonnance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with on-line hydride generation using the L.. cysteine reagent and measurement byOCP-AES. Total analysis time per sample was 12 min while the time between the start of subsequent runs was approximately 20 min. A binary . gradient elution program, which incorporated the following two eluents: 0.01 and 0.5 mM tri.. sodium citrate both containing 5% methanol (v/v) and both at a pH of approximately 9, was used during the separation by HPLC. Recoveries of the four species which were measured as peak area, and were normalized against As(III), were 880/0, 290/0, and 40% for DMAA, MMAA and As(V), respectively. Resolution factors between adjacent analyte peaks of As(III) and DMAA was 1.1; DMAA and MMAA was 1.3; and MMAA and As(V) was 8.6. During the arsenic speciation study, signals from the d.c. plasma optical system were measured using a new photon-signal integrating device. The_new photon integrator developed and built in this laboratory was based on a previously published design which was further modified to reflect current available hardware. This photon integrator was interfaced to a personal computer through an AID convertor. The .photon integrator has adjustable threshold settings and an adjustable post-gain device.
Resumo:
Incubations of several polycyclic heteroaromatic compounds and two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with a series of common fungi have been performed. The fungi Cunninghamella elegans ATCC 26269, Rhizopus arrhizus ATCC 11145, and Mortierella isabellina NRRL 1757 were studied in this regard. Of the aza heteroaromatics, only dibenzopyrrole gave a ring hydroxylated product following the incubation with C. elegans. From the thio heteroaromatics studied, dibenzothiophene was metabolized by all the three fungi and thioxanthone by C. elegans and M. isabellina giving sulfones and sulphoxides. Thiochromanone was metabolized stereoselectively to the corresponding sulphoxide by C. elegans. Methyl substituted thioxanthones on incubation with C. elegans produced oxidative products, arising from S -oxidation and hydroxylation at the methyl group. Of the cyclic ketones studied, only fluorenone was reduced to hydroxyfluorene and this metabolism is compared with that reported with cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases of hepatic microsomes. A series of para-substituted ethylbenzenes has been transformed stereoselectively to the 1-phenylethanols by incubation with M. isabellina. Comparisons of the enantiomeric purities obtained from products with their respective para substituent of the same steric size but different electronic properties indicate that the stereoselectivity of hydroxylation at benzylic carbon may be susceptible to electron donating or withdrawing factors in some cases, but that observation is not va lid in all the comparisons. The stereochemistry of the reaction is discussed in terms of three possible steps, ethylbenzene ---) 1-phenylethanol ---) acetophenone ---) 1-phenylethanol. This metabolic pathway could account for the inconsistencies observed in the comparisons of optical purities and electronic character of para substituents. Furthermore, formation of 2-phenylethanol (in some cases), l-(p-acetylphenyl)ethanol from p-diethylbenzene, and N-acetylation of p-ethylaniline was observed. n-Propylbenzene was also converted to optically active 1-phenylpropanol. Acetophenone, p-ethylacetophenone, and o(,~,~-trifluoroacetophenone were transformed to 1-phenylethanol, l-(p-ethylphenyl)ethanol, and 1-phenyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, respectively, with high chemical and excellent optical yields. The 13 C NMR spectra of several substrates and metabolic products have been reported and assigned for the first time.
Resumo:
Arsenic, bismuth, germanium, antimony and tin were simultaneously determined by continuous hydride generation and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry . I Hydrides were introduced into four different types of gas-liquid separators. Two of the gas-liquid separators were available in-house. A third was developed for this project and a fourth was based on a design used by CET AC. The best signal intensity was achieved by the type II frit-based gas-liquid separator, but the modified Cetac design gave promise for the future, due to low relative standard deviation. A method was developed for the determination of arsenic, bismuth, antimony and tin in low-alloy steels. Four standard reference materials from NIST were dissolved in 10 mL aqua regia without heat. Good agreement was obtained between experimental values and certified values for arsenic, bismuth, antimony and tin. The method was developed to provide the analyst with the opportunity to determine the analytes by using simple aqueous standards to prepare calibration lines. Within the limits of the samples analyzed, the method developed is independent of matrix.
Resumo:
Reactions of the boron halides with organic halides and organo-silicon compounds have been investigated. The results show exchange of halogens between the BX3 (X = Br# 1) and the organic halidef exchange of the halogen of the C-X bond being proved. The rates of halogen exchange vary. Reaction of the heavier halides with organo-silicon compounds indicated that the silicon-carbon bonds ruptured in the absence of electronegative atom attached to the silicon. The presence of an electronegative atom (halogen or oxygen) attached to the silicon causes the bond between the silicon and the electronegative atom to be preferentially broken. Products of exchange reactions of the boron halides and the organic halides or the organo-silicon compounds were studied by use of 1H NMR and GC/MS. From these results some possible mechanisms for the exchange reactions are postulated, but further work is indicated to prove the real courses of the reactions
Resumo:
Both El MS and FAB MS behavior of two groups of compounds, aryltin and ferrocene compounds, have been studied. For the aryltin compounds, the effect of substituent group position, substituent group type and ligand type on the El spectra have been explored in the El MS studies. The fragmentation mechanism has been investigated under El with linked scans, such as fragment ion scans(BJE), parent ion scans(B2JE) and constant neutral radical loss scans(B2(1-E)JE2). In the FAB MS studies, matrix optimization experiments have been carried out. The positive ion FAB MS studies focused on the effect of substituent group position, substituent group type and ligand type on the spectra. The fragmentation mechanisms of all the samples under positive ion FAB have been studied by means of the linked scans. The CA positive ion FAB fragmentation studies were also carried out for a typical sample. Negative ion FAB experiments of all the compounds have been done. And finally, the comparison of the El MS and FAB MS has been made. For ferrocenes, the studies concentrated on the fragmentation mechanism of each compound under El with linked scan techniques in the first field-free region and the applicability of positive/negative ion FAB MS to this group of compounds. The fragmentation mechanisms under positive ion FAB of those ferrocenes which can give positive ion FAB MS spectra were studied with the linked scan techniques. The CA +ve F AB fragmentation studies were carried out for a typical sample. Comparison of the E1 MS and FAB MS has been made.
Resumo:
Improvements have been made on the currently available hydride generator system manufactured by SpectraMetrics Incorporated, because the system was found to be unsatisfactory with respect to the following: 1. the drying agent, anhydrous calcium chloride, 2. the special sample tube, 3. the direction of argon flow through the Buchner funnel when it came to dealing with real sample, that is, with reference only to aqueous extracts of soil samples. Changes that were made on the system included the replacement of anhydrous calcium chloride with anhydrous calcium sulphate and the replacement of the special sample tube with a modified one made from silica. Re-directing the flow of argon through the top of the Buchner funnel appeared to make the system compatible with aqueous extracts of soil samples. The interferences from 1000 ~g/mL of nickel(II) , cobalt(II), iron(III), copper(II) have been eliminated with the aid of 1.4 M hydrochloric acid and 1% (weight/volume) L-cystine. Greater than 90% recovery of 0.3 ~g/mL arsenic signal was achieved in each case. Furthermore, 103% of arsenic signal was accomplished in the presence of 1000 ~g/mL cadmium with 5 M Hel. tVhen each of the interferents was present in solution at 1000 ppm, a recovery of 85% was achieved by using 5 M hydrochloric acid and 3% (weight/volume) L-cystine. Without L-cystine and when 1.4 M hydrochloric acid was used, the recoveries were 0% (Ni), 0% (Co), 88% (Fe), 15% (Cu), 18% (Cd). Similarly, a solution containing 1000 ppm of each interferent gave a zero percent recovery of arsenic. The reduction of trivalent and pentavalent arsenic at a pH less than one has also been investigated and shown to be quantitative if peak areas are measured. The reproducibility determination of a 0.3 Vg/mL standard arsenic solution by hydride generation shows a relative standard deviation of 3.4%. The detection limits with and without Porapak Q have been found to be 0.6 ng/mL and 1.0 ng/mL, respectively.
Resumo:
Linear alkylbenzenes, LAB, formed by the Alel3 or HF catalyzed alkylation of benzene are common raw materials for surfactant manufacture. Normally they are sulphonated using S03 or oleum to give the corresponding linear alkylbenzene sulphonates In >95 % yield. As concern has grown about the environmental impact of surfactants,' questions have been raised about the trace levels of unreacted raw materials, linear alkylbenzenes and minor impurities present in them. With the advent of modem analytical instruments and techniques, namely GCIMS, the opportunity has arisen to identify the exact nature of these impurities and to determine the actual levels of them present in the commercial linear ,alkylbenzenes. The object of the proposed study was to separate, identify and quantify major and minor components (1-10%) in commercial linear alkylbenzenes. The focus of this study was on the structure elucidation and determination of impurities and on the qualitative determination of them in all analyzed linear alkylbenzene samples. A gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, (GCIMS) study was performed o~ five samples from the same manufacturer (different production dates) and then it was followed by the analyses of ten commercial linear alkylbenzenes from four different suppliers. All the major components, namely linear alkylbenzene isomers, followed the same elution pattern with the 2-phenyl isomer eluting last. The individual isomers were identified by interpretation of their electron impact and chemical ionization mass spectra. The percent isomer distribution was found to be different from sample to sample. Average molecular weights were calculated using two methods, GC and GCIMS, and compared with the results reported on the Certificate of Analyses (C.O.A.) provided by the manufacturers of commercial linear alkylbenzenes. The GC results in most cases agreed with the reported values, whereas GC/MS results were significantly lower, between 0.41 and 3.29 amu. The minor components, impurities such as branched alkylbenzenes and dialkyltetralins eluted according to their molecular weights. Their fragmentation patterns were studied using electron impact ionization mode and their molecular weight ions confirmed by a 'soft ionization technique', chemical ionization. The level of impurities present i~ the analyzed commercial linear alkylbenzenes was expressed as the percent of the total sample weight, as well as, in mg/g. The percent of impurities was observed to vary between 4.5 % and 16.8 % with the highest being in sample "I". Quantitation (mg/g) of impurities such as branched alkylbenzenes and dialkyltetralins was done using cis/trans-l,4,6,7-tetramethyltetralin as an internal standard. Samples were analyzed using .GC/MS system operating under full scan and single ion monitoring data acquisition modes. The latter data acquisition mode, which offers higher sensitivity, was used to analyze all samples under investigation for presence of linear dialkyltetralins. Dialkyltetralins were reported quantitatively, whereas branched alkylbenzenes were reported semi-qualitatively. The GC/MS method that was developed during the course of this study allowed identification of some other trace impurities present in commercial LABs. Compounds such as non-linear dialkyltetralins, dialkylindanes, diphenylalkanes and alkylnaphthalenes were identified but their detailed structure elucidation and the quantitation was beyond the scope of this study. However, further investigation of these compounds will be the subject of a future study.
Resumo:
This work contains the results of a series of reduction studies on polyhalogenated aromatic compounds and related ethers using alkali metals in liquid ammonia. In general, polychlorobenzenes were reduced to t he parent aromatic hydrocarbon or to 1 ,4-cyc1ohexadiene, and dipheny1ethers were cleaved to the aroma tic hydrocarbon and a phenol. Chlorinated dipheny1ethers were r eductive1y dechlorinated in the process. For example, 4-chlorodipheny1- ether gave benzene and phenol. Pentach1orobenzene and certain tetrachlorobenzenes disproportionated to a fair degree during the reduction process if no added proton source was present. The disproportionation was attributed to a build-up of amide ion. Addition of ethanol completely suppressed the formation of any disproportionation products. In the reductions of certain dipheny1ethers , the reduction of one or both of the dipheny1ether rings occurred, along with the normal cleavage. This was more prevalent when lithium was the metal used . As a Sidelight, certain chloropheno1s were readily dechlorinated. In light of these results, the reductive detoxification of the chlorinated dibenzo-1,4-dioxins seems possible with alkali metals in l iquid ammonia.
Resumo:
1-(0- and m-Ohlorobenzoyl)isoquinolines have been synthesized by two routes involving Reissert compounds. One route involves condensation of 2-benzoyl-l,2-dihydroisoquinaldonitrile with the appropriate chlorobenzaldehyde and the second involves rearrangement of the appropriate Z-(chlorobenzoyl)-l,Z-dihydroisoquinaldonitrile under basic conditions. The action of potassamide in anhydrous liquid ammonia on both ketones gave unexpectedly N-(l-isoquinolyl)benzamide (67) as the major product and the use of dibenzo-18-crown-6-ether 98% substantially improved the yd..e.ld in the case of l-chloroketone. This amide (67) exhibits unusual hydrogen bonding. 1-(o-chlorobenzoyl)-6,7-dimethoxyisoquinoline (79) was prepared in very s,amll quantities by the route involving condensation of 2-benzoyll, Z-dihydro-6,7-dimethoxyisoquinaldonitrile with o-chlorobenzaldehyde. The poor yields are due to the instability of the anion of 2-benzoyl1, Z-dihydro-6,7-dimethoxyisoquinaldonitrile. Attempted preparation of the ketone (79) by rearrangement of 2-(o-chlorobenzoyl)-l,2-dihydro6,7- dimethoxyisoquinaldonitrile under basic conditions yielded the start~ng material (Reissert compound) and 6,7-dimethoxyisoquinoline. The action of potassamide in anhydrous liquid ammonia on l-(o-bromo-4,5-dimethoxybenzoyl)isoquinoline (85), which was prepared by the route involving the condensation of 2-benzoyl-l,4-dihydroisoquinaldonitrile with o-bromo-4,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde, gave two products, which have not yet been identified. The ketone (85) and its precursors are interest~ng in that their 20 eV and 70 eV mass spectra do not show molecular ions.
Resumo:
The work described in this thesis has been divided into seven sections. The first section involves the preparation of N'-acyl-N'-arylN- benzothiohydrazides by the acylation of N'-aryl-N-benzothiohydrazides and is followed by a brief discussion of their possible conformation in solution. The second section deals with the preparation of 1,3,4-thiadiazolium salts by the action of perchloric acid/acetic anhydride on N'-acylN'- aryl-N-benzothiohydrazides and also by the reaction of N'-arylN- benzothiohydrazides with nitriles in an acidic medium. The preparation of 2-methylthio-I,3,4-thiadiazolium methosulfate by methylating the corresponding thione is also described. The third section deals with the reaction of 2-phenyl- and 2-methyl-I,3,4-thiadiazolium salts with alcohols in the presence of base. The stability and spectra of these compounds are discussed. Treatment of the 2-methyl-I,3,4-thiadiazolium salt with base was found to give rise to a dimeric anhydrobase and evidence supporting its structure is given. The anhydrobase could be trapped by a variety of acylating and thioacylating agents before dimerization occurred. In the fourth section, the reaction of N'-acyl-N'-aryl-N-benzothiohydrazides with a variety of acid anhydrides is described. These compounds were found to be identical with those obtained by acylating the anhydrobase. The mass spectral fragmentation of these compounds is described and the anomolous product obtained upon thiobenzoylation of 3-methyl-l-phenyl-pyrazal-5-one is also discussed. The fifth section deals with thioacyl derivatives of the anhydrobase which were prepared by the action of phosphorus pentasulfide upon the oxygen analogues and also obtained as the major product of the reaction of thioacetic acid with compounds related to N'-aryl-N-benzothiohydrazides. The mass spectra and p.m.r. spectra of these compounds are discussed. In the sixth section, the reaction of the 2-methylthio-l,3,4- thiadiazolium salt with active methylene compounds to give acyl and diacyl derivatives of the anhydrobase is described. Some aspects of these compounds are discussed. The seventh section describes the synthesis of ncyanine~' type dyes incorporating the l,3,4-thiadiazole ring and their spectra are briefly discussed.