Thanksk, it was writing the quotes to the file. I have correct the problem. However, I am now faced with another for which there may be a simple explanation. When I run the command:

cat test1.txt | $($sedcmd) > temp2.txt

where sedcmd = sed -n '/08465696_1215781522540/,/70225547_1215781581748/p'

I don't get an output in the temp2.txt. When I run the script in debug it states 'No such file or directory'

The same message is displayed in debug even when I run:
sed -n '/08465696_1215781522540/,/70225547_1215781581748/p' test1.txt > temp2.txt


Any ideas why?