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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1997  > November  >
In the Laboratory
Calculationg Microspecies Concentration of Zwitterion Amphoteric Compounds: Ciprofloxacin as Example
Jordi Hernàndez-Borrell and M. Teresa Montero
Universitat de Barcelona, Unitat de Fisicoqu’mica, Faculatat de Farmàcia, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

Cover
November 1997
Vol. 74 No. 11
p. 1311

Abstract
In this paper we describe a method normally used for calculating microspecies concentration of zwitterion amphoteric compounds. Dissociation constants at microscopic level are frequently ignored in general textbooks of physical chemistry or only introduced when amino acid or nucleic acid are of particular interest. Therefore a detailed theoretical description is presented in the paper together with the experimental section. A combination of basic spectrophotometric and potentiometric methods enable students the calculation of the total concentration of each microspecies. To emphasize the interest of microspeciation in the biochemical and biological fields the antimicrobial drug ciprofloxacin was selected as example. The experiment can be extended to other active compounds as cephalosporins or pyridoxine and the relation of this phenomena with the pharmacological activity of drugs discussed in the classroom.
More Information
*  Citation
Hernandez-Borrell, Jordi; Montero, M. Teresa. J. Chem. Educ. 1997 74 1311.
*  Keywords
Physical Chemistry, Laboratory, UV-Vis Spectroscopy, and Equilibrium
*  History
Created:
Last Updated:
July 26, 1999
June 23, 2005
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1997 > November > Page 1311


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