Structural and spectroscopic properties of Ru(II) complexes of 4-(aryl)thiosemicarbazones of thiophen-2-carbaldehyde

Six Ru(II) complexes of formula [Ru(L)₂(PPh₃)₂] have been prepared where LH = 4-(aryl)thiosemicarbazones of thiophen-2-carbaldehyde. X-ray crystal structures of five of the complexes are reported. In all the complexes ruthenium is six coordinate with a distorted octahedral cis-P₂, cis-N₂, trans-S₂ donor environment, and each of the two thiosemicarbazone ligands are coordinated in a bidentate fashion forming a four membered chelate ring. The complexes undergo a one-electron oxidation at ～0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The EPR spectrum of the electrochemically oxidized solution at 100 K shows a rhombic signal, with transitions at g₁ = 2.27, g₂ = 2.00 and g₃ = 1.80. DFT calculations on one of the complexes suggest that there is 35% ruthenium and 17% sulfur orbital contribution to the HOMO. These results suggest that the assignment of metal atom oxidation states in these compounds is not unambiguous.     

Synthesis,characterization and cytotoxicity of polyethylene glycol coupled zinc oxide–chemically converted graphene nanocomposite on human OAW42 ovarian cancer cells

Present work reports for the first time on successful synthesis of polyethylene glycol (PEG) coupled ZnO–chemically converted graphene (CCG) nanocomposites (ZGP) as well as pristine nano ZnO (ZO), ZnO–CCG (ZG) and ZnO–PEG (ZP) by adopting facile solvothermal method using zinc acetate dihydrate, graphene oxide and PEG as precursor materials. X‐ray diffraction measurement of samples showed nanocrystalline hexagonal ZnO. Agglomeration of ZnO nanoparticles formed microspheres in ZG, and the agglomeration was found to be decreased in ZGP as revealed from field emission scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Raman and FTIR spectral studies evidenced the presence of chemically interacted CCG and polyethylene glycol in the nanocomposites. Content of the organics in ZGP was determined by thermogravimetric analysis. A mechanism was proposed on the formation of ZGP nanocomposite. From the measurement of in vitro cytotoxicity, quantitative cell viability (CV) of human ovarian cancer cell line, OAW42, was obtained from control to a maximum of 200 µg/ml of sample concentrations. An excellent CV of the cancer cells was observed (nearly ~80% of viable cells at 50 µg/ml dose with respect to the control) for ZGP compared to ZO, ZG and ZP samples. The effective role of CCG and PEG in ZGP nanocomposite for enhancing the cell viability was explained. This simple strategy could be beneficial for synthesis of other metal oxide towards biomedical applications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Versatile Aerogel Fabrication by Freezing and Subsequent Freeze‐Drying of Colloidal Nanoparticle Solutions

A versatile method to fabricate self‐supported aerogels of nanoparticle (NP) building blocks is presented. This approach is based on freezing colloidal NPs and subsequent freeze drying. This means that the colloidal NPs are directly transferred into dry aerogel‐like monolithic superstructures without previous lyogelation as would be the case for conventional aerogel and cryogel fabrication methods. The assembly process, based on a physical concept, is highly versatile: cryogelation is applicable for noble metal, metal oxide, and semiconductor NPs, and no impact of the surface chemistry or NP shape on the resulting morphology is observed. Under optimized conditions the shape and volume of the liquid equal those of the resulting aerogels. Also, we show that thin and homogeneous films of the material can be obtained. Furthermore, the physical properties of the aerogels are discussed.     

A review on adsorption mediated phosphate removal and recovery by biomatrices

Low cost biosorbents have gained considerable importance in the past decade for their removal efficiency of contaminants from wastewaters. Both removal and recycle of the phosphate anion through benign methods are relevant to sustain a steady balance. An attempt has been made to give a comprehensive insight into several physico-chemical factors leading to the adsorption process by various natural biosorbents. Few important facts regarding phosphate biosorption have emerged out as key points viz., pH < pHpzc, high uptake capacity; correlation with Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo second order kinetics; decrease of uptake capacity with longer contact time; enhancement of adsorption process in presence of counter ions, etc. Also, it was noted that the adsorbate: adsorbent ratio is crucial for the removal efficiency of the phosphate ions. A few biosorbents exhibit removal efficiency to a large extent (>95%) although even higher adsorption capacity can be obtained by the modification of the adsorbents. Commercial biomatrices like biochars have shown wide applications for removal of phosphates. Magnetic biochars have shown special performance owing to the presence of iron and a porous nature of their structure. Desorption studies revealed that almost complete recovery of the phosphate ion is possible through simple ion exchange mechanism.     

Square planar Ni(II) thiosemicarbazone complexes as functional models for carbon monoxide dehydrogenase

Two Ni(II) complexes, [Ni(dmoTSCH)Cl] (1) and [Ni(dmoPhTSCH)Cl] (2) of the tridentate thiosemicarbazone ligands diacetylmonooxime thiosemicarbazone (dmoTSCH₂) and diacetylmonooxime (4-phenyl)thiosemicarbazone (dmoPhTSCH₂) have been synthesized. X-ray crystal structure of [Ni(dmoTSCPhTSCH)Cl] (2) indicates that the Ni(II) assumes a square planar geometry in the complexes, with the ligand coordinated in a monoanionic N,N,S donor mode and the fourth coordination position of Ni(II) is occupied by a chloride ion. Cyclic and differential pulse voltammetric experiments suggest that the Ni(II) complexes can undergo a two electron reduction at about ?1.0V. It is shown that the Ni(II) complexes in DMF or DMSO solutions can mimic CO-dehydrogenase activity by oxidizing CO to CO₂ in presence of a base like NaOAc and a sacrificial electron acceptor like methyl viologen and the colour of the resultant MV^.+ can be used to monitor the reaction.     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a Complex of Palladium(II) with 2-Hydroxyimino-3-(2-hydrazonopyridyl)-butane

Abstract  

Schiff-base condensation of an equimolar proportion of diacetyl-monoxime and 2-hydrazino pyridine in methanol gives rise to 2-hydroxyimino-3-(2-hydrazonopyridyl)-butane (HL). The ligand has been characterised by FT-IR, ¹H NMR and UV–Vis spectra. Reaction of 1:1 stoichiometric proportion of HL with Na₂[PdCl₄] in methanol affords a mononuclear palladium(II) compound, [PdLCl]·H₂O (1). The compound is characterised by C, H and N analyses, FT-IR, conductivity measurement, UV–Vis spectra, thermal analysis and magnetic susceptibility measurement. The X-ray crystal structure of the title compound (1) has been determined. The compound crystalises in the triclinic space group P[`1] P\overline{1} with a = 7.3033(3), b = 9.4139(4), c = 9.4445(5) ?, α = 79.789(3), β = 68.285(2), γ = 77.978(3)o, V = 586.42(5) ?³ and Z = 2. Pd(II) is in ‘N₃Cl’ coordination chromophore. The geometry around Pd(II) is square-planar. The compound is essentially diamagnetic.     

Reactive EB Processing of Polymer Compounds

Polymer modification with high energy electrons is well-established in polymer industry and used for degradation, cross-linking, grafting, curing, and polymerization. These applications use local and temporal precise input of energy in order to generate excited atoms or molecules as well as ions for subsequent molecule changes via radical induced chemical reactions. Reactive electron beam (EB) processing combines melt mixing process and chemical reaction simultaneously. For this purpose, a 1.5 MeV electron accelerator was directly coupled to an internal mixer in order to induce chemical reactions by energy input via high energy electrons under dynamic conditions of melt mixing of different polymer compounds. In the present study, reactive EB processing was used for the development of a flame retardant polyethylene composite as well as Thermoplastic Vulcanizate. The influence of absorbed dose as well as electron energy and electron treatment time was studied. Increased values of both tensile strength and elongation at break of polymer compounds indicated in-situ compatibilization upon reactive EB processing.     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of [Cu(BDBPH)(ClO<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>2</Subscript>] (BDBPH = Butane-2,3-dione bis(2′-pyridylhydrazone)

Abstract  

Butane-2,3-dione bis(2′-pyridylhydrazone) (BDBPH), a Schiff-base condensate, was synthesized by 1:2 mol ratio condensation of butane-2,3-dione with 2-hydrazino pyridine in dehydrated methanol. BDBPH has been characterised by C, H and N microanalyses, FT-IR, ¹H NMR and UV–Vis spectra. Reaction of 1:1 stoichiometric proportion of BDBPH with copper(II)perchlorate hexahydrate in methanol affords a mononuclear copper(II) complex, [Cu(BDBPH)(ClO₄)₂] (1). 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P [`1] \overline{1} with a = 8.4230(2), b = 9.7869(3), c = 12.3508(3) ?, α = 103.784(2), β = 90.900(2), γ = 94.906(2)^°, V = 984.51(5) ?³ and Z = 2. The copper(II) compound is octahedral and one-electron paramagnetic. Bond Valence Sum (BVS) model calculation was also performed to assign the oxidation number of the copper center.     

Sol-Emulsion-Gel Synthesis of Alumina-Zirconia Composite Microspheres

Oxide microspheres in the system Al₂O₃-ZrO₂ (AZ), with the Al₂O₃:ZrO₂ molar ratios as 87:13, 78:22, 74:26 and 64:36 were obtained from emulsified bi-component sols by the sol-emulsion-gel method. The surfactant concentration and viscosity of the sols were found to affect the characteristics of the derived microspheres. The gel and calcined microspheres were investigated by using thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and particle size analysis. TGA indicated the removal of most of the volatiles, i.e. 40 ± 2 wt% up to about 500°C. Crystallization of gel microspheres at about 900°C was confirmed by DTA and XRD. XRD results also indicated the retainment of tetragonal (t-)ZrO₂, in the absence of stabilizers, at 1600°C. The optical and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the spherical morphology of the gel and calcined particles. The particle size distribution of the AZ microspheres calcined at 1200°C for 1 h exhibited a size range of 5–60 m with the average particle size (d ₅₀) varied from 23 to 26 m.     

Crystal engineering with aroyl hydrazones of diacetyl monooxime – Molecular and supramolecular structures of two Ni(II) and two Zn(II) complexes

Four new Schiff bases of aroyl hydrazides with diacetyl monooxime have been prepared, and Ni(II) and Zn(II) complexes of these ligands have been synthesized. Two Ni(II) and two Zn(II) complexes have been characterized by X-ray crystallography. The aroyl hydrazone ligands were designed in such a way that there is a systematic variation in the H-bond forming abilities of their aroyl moiety, e.g. both H-bond acceptor and donor (salicyloyl), only H-bond donor (anthraniloyl), only H-bond acceptor (isonicotinoyl). It is shown in this work that such a variation in the H-bond donor acceptor properties of the ligands leads to considerable diversity in their supramolecular architecture.