Quantitative collection of 14CO2 in the presence of labeled short-chain acids

✍ Scribed by Robert E. Anderson; Fred Snyder

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1969
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 187 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-2697
• DOI: 10.1016/0003-2697(69)90038-4

✦ Synopsis

In 1961 our laboratory described the collection of '"COZ for liquid scintillation counting (1). This procedure was subsequently modified by Cuppy and Crevasse (2). In the original communication (l), it was emphasized that "volatile compounds in enzymatic studies might invalidate interpretations based on '"CO, collected in this manner. . . ." This warning has gone essentially unheeded in numerous '"CO, collection experiments in which labeled short-chain acids were used as substrat,es. In our experience with acetate, some "C will always be present in the '"CO, absorbent when the gas is, liberated with mineral acid.

This report describes the collection of "CO? in the presence of other volatile compounds. The basis for the separation is that at pH 6, below the pk', of carbonic acid (6.39), equilibrium favors CO, + H,O. On the other hand, at this pH, equilibrium favors the salt of short-chain acids.