Iron-cyanide (Fe-CN) complexes have been detected at Manufactured Gas Plant sites (MGP) worldwide. The risk of groundwater contamination depends mainly on the dissolution of ferric ferrocyanide. In order to design effective remediation strategies, it is relevant to understand the contaminant’s fate and transport in soil, and to quantify and mathematically model a release rate. The release of ir...

1. The reversible inhibition of the oxidase activity of caeruloplasmin by cyanide was investigated. 2. The kinetics are unusual, being competitive but with the inhibited complex formed only during cycling. 3. Inhibitory concentrations of cyanide are comparable with that of caeruloplasmin. 4. One azide group completely inhibits a caeruloplasmin molecule but two cyanide groups are required. 5. Th...

Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF)-based separation of iron-cyanide complexes, ferriccyanide and ferrocyanide, was investigated in order to assess the potential of MEUF for the removal of ferriccyanide and ferrocyanide with a cationic surfactant, cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). The removals of ferriccyanide and ferrocyanide were >99% and 99%, respectively, with the molar ratio of CPC to f...

A bacterial strain able to use cyanide as the sole nitrogen source under alkaline conditions has been isolated. The bacterium was classified as Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes by comparison of its 16S RNA gene sequence to those of existing strains and deposited in the Coleccion Espanola de Cultivos Tipo (Spanish Type Culture Collection) as strain CECT5344. Cyanide consumption is an assimilative p...

Spent pot lining (SPL), a waste product containing cyanide, has been deposited in a landfill at an aluminum refining site in British Columbia (Canada). Since the capping of the landfill, a continuous decline of the cyanide level in the groundwater was observed for more than a decade, suggesting that natural attenuation might be taking place. The information gathered from a critical review of th...

Zinc-cyanide complexes are found in gold mining effluents and in metal finishing rinse water. The effect of Zn(II) on the oxidation of cyanide by ferrate(VI) (Fe(VI)O(4)(2-), Fe(VI)) was thus investigated by studying the kinetics of the reaction of Fe(VI) with cyanide present in a potassium salt of a zinc cyanide complex (K(2)Zn(CN)(4)) and in a mixture of Zn(II) and cyanide solutions as a func...

This thesis deals with the development of new methods for efficient synthesis and analysis in asymmetric catalysis. It focuses on the preparation of chiral cyanohydrins by enantioselective addition of cyanide to prochiral aldehydes. The initial part of the thesis describes the development of a dual Lewis acid– Lewis base activation system for efficient synthesis of chiral O-acylated and Ocarbon...

Cisplatin holds an illustrious position in the history of chemistry most notably for its role in the virtual cure of testicular cancer. Here we describe a role for this small molecule in cyanide detoxification in vivo. Cyanide kills organisms as diverse as insects, fish, and humans within seconds to hours. Current antidotes exhibit limited efficacy and are not amenable to mass distribution requ...