Fatty amides have been widely produced by the reaction of ammonia and amines with fatty acids. Fatty amide formation from fatty esters (i.e. the ester-ammonia route) is not widely applied because it does not have much practical value. There are no reported cases of these fatty esters being used directly in amide production. When, however, a fatty ester is to be employed in the production of an amide, the ester is first stripped to the fatty acid. The methods of synthesis employing even the simple esters require in most cases harsh reaction conditions. In this work, a fatty ester (groundnut oil) was hydrolyzed using sodium hydroxide in acetone and reacted in-situ with ammonium chloride and methyl amine at 50 o C. Conversions of more than 80% were obtained in a reaction time of 60 minutes beyond which the reaction attained equilibrium with reversal to starting material. IR, GC/MS and GC-FID analyses of the product samples revealed the presence of amides, ammonium salts, simple as well as mixed anhydrides of fatty acids.
Graphene oxide (GO) has a wide range of applications. It has been identified to have significant potential for important biomedical and biochemical uses. Graphene and its derivatives are known to elicit toxic effects. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a versatile yeast of importance with several uses, one of which is its application as a human probiotic. The interaction of GO with living systems is of interest and relevance. The effect of GO on the yeast S.cerevisiae was investigated. The yeast cell line was cultured in a liquid media composed of Yeast Peptose Dextrose and incubated at room temperature (25°C) for 72 h. Antibody RAD 17 was labelled with fluorescent dye fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) to detect cell structure change. 500, 750, 1000 and 1250 μg/ml GO aliquots were prepared from a stock solution and 96 microplate wells of S. cerevisiae were treated with various doses of GO for 24, 48 and 72 h. Microscopic analysis on treated yeast showed no apparent effect on the cell after exposure to GO.
Unextracted lignocellulose from corn stalks was investigated for its anaerobic biodegradability at 38 o C using mixed micro organisms harnessed directly from the air. The effects of particle diameter and certain nutrients on biodegradability were investigated. The highest biogas yield was observed for ≤ 1.0 mm particle diameter size, followed by ≤ 2.0 mm particle diameter and then ≤ 3.0 mm particle diameter. Potato dextrose agar (PDA) and urea were found to increase biogas yield when in low concentrations. The combination of PDA and urea in low concentrations is a better nutrient than either PDA or urea alone.
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