pyrimidine compounds found in this study to be amenable to analysis by coulometric bromination. The only real assumptions involved would be that of 100% current efficiency and that a single, stoichiometric overall bromination reaction were occurring. By combined coulometric-spectrophotometric analysis of solutions of highly purified nucleotides, absorptivity values obtained would be independent of calculated or corrected nucleotide molecular weight values. The present, direct spectrophotometric method requires assay for, or assumptions concerning, metal ion content of charged nucleotides and hydrated or adventitious water content, processes which in themselves usually result in uncertainties on the order of ±2-4% (1, 17). The limiting factor in determining absorptivity values, for example, would probably be the calibration of the spectrophotometric system itself. Efforts are now under way in this laboratory along these lines.
The title of this column indicates a means of getting in touch with ideas and people which other media cannot reach! A wide freedom of expression - both in content and in form - is offered to contributors. Please send your contribu tions to: MIKE PEDLER, Department of Management Studies, Sheffield City Polytechnic, Dyson House, Sheffield S1 1WB. Tel: 0742 738621.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.