A DFT/TDDFT study of the structural and spectroscopic properties of Al(III) complexes with 4-nitrocatechol in acidic aqueous solution

The complexation of 4-nitrocatechol in aqueous solution at pH 5 has been studied by molecular spectroscopy combined with quantum chemical calculations. In these physico-chemical conditions, the formation of the two complexes [4ncatAl(H₂O)₄]⁺ and [(4ncat)₂Al(H₂O)₂]⁻ has been highlighted. The electronic absorption spectra of the 1:1 and 1:2 complexes of Al(III) with 4-nitrocatechol have been computed using the time-dependent density functional theory and the polarizable continuum model. It turns out that the 6-311+G(d,p) basis set provides a good agreement between experimental and theoretical absorption spectra. This good agreement has allowed the determination of the preferential conformation of the 1:2 complex in aqueous solution. A complete assignment of the UV–Vis absorption and Raman spectra of the complexes has been proposed.     

Complexes of aluminium(III) with isoquercitrin: spectroscopic characterization and quantum chemical calculations

The composition and conformation of complexes of aluminium(III) with isoquercitrin (Iso) have been studied in methanol solution. This molecule presents two potential chelating sites in competition. UV–Vis spectroscopy provides evidence of three different species in neutral solution: Al(Iso)²⁺ Al(Iso)₂ ⁺ and Al₂(Iso)³⁺. This last one is formed only if a great quantity of Al(III) is presented in the medium. The first site involved in complexation is the 5-hydroxy-4-keto group. FT-Raman spectroscopy has allowed to confirm this mechanism. The stability constants of this complexes have been determined using the program. In acidic condition, only the first complex is obtained. In alkaline medium, Al(Iso)⁺ and Al(Iso)₂ ⁻ complexes are formed, the catechol group is then the chelating site involved in these species To propose a molecular conformation for the free isoquercitrin and its complexes in neutral medium, both semiempirical molecular orbital and DFT calculations have been performed. It has been showed that the participation of cynnamoyl and benzoyle mesomeric forms stabilise the structure of Al(Iso)²⁺. The structural models have been validated by the good agreement between theoretical and experimental electronic spectra.     

A Review on Coordination Properties of Al(III) and Fe(III) toward Natural Antioxidant Molecules: Experimental and Theoretical Insights

This review focuses on the ability of some natural antioxidant molecules (i.e., hydroxycinnamic acids, coumarin-3-carboxylic acid, quercetin, luteolin and curcumin) to form Al(III)- and Fe(III)-complexes with the aim of evaluating the coordination properties from a combined experimental and theoretical point of view. Despite the contributions of previous studies on the chemical properties and biological activity of these metal complexes involving such natural antioxidants, further detailed relationships between the structure and properties are still required. In this context, the investigation on the coordination properties of Al(III) and Fe(III) toward these natural antioxidant molecules might deserve high interest to design water soluble molecule-based metal carriers that can improve the metal’s intake and/or its removal in living organisms.     

Comparison of synchronous and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy applied to the Eu(III)-fulvate complexation

The complexation of europium ion (Eu(III)) with a soil fulvic acid (FA) has been studied at pH 5 in 0.01 M NaClO₄ by different experimental methods, i.e. synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SyFS) and time resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS). A series of SyFS quenching spectra was obtained by increasing the Eu(III) concentration and keeping the FA concentration constant. The emission spectra and fluorescence lifetimes of the Eu(III) bound to the FA were also measured by a TRLFS system using the same solution used in the SyFS spectral measurement. From the analysis of the fluorescence data obtained by the SyFS and the TRLFS using a non-linear least-squares method, the concentration of the binding sites (C_L) of the FA accessible for the Eu(III) and the corresponding conditional stability constants (log K) were estimated. The two different methods gave rise to constants being comparable with one another. The log K and C_L values (mean ± standard deviation of three determinations) determined by the SyFS were 6.4 ± 0.2 (6.7 ± 0.1 μmol L⁻¹: by the TRLFS) and 10 ± 1 μmol L⁻¹ (7 ± 1 μmol L⁻¹: by the TRLFS), respectively. The applicability of the FA fluorescence quenching techniques for estimating the europium binding parameters was proved by the direct monitoring of the Eu(III) bound to the FA using the TRLFS system.     

On the discriminating and stability increasing properties of alizarin maroon in mixed-ligand complexes of yttrium(III)

The stability constants of the yttrium(III) mixed ligand complexes (1:1:1) containing alizarin maroon (azm) and as a second ligand salicylic acid (sa), 5-sulphosalicylic acid (ssa), 5-nitrosalicylic acid (nsa), 2,2-bipyridyl (bipy) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) have been determined potentiometrically in 20% (v/v) ethanol-water medium (I=100 mmol dm^–3 NaClO₄, 25±0.1 °C). The complexation equilibria of the different biligand systems were demonstrated. All of these mixed-ligand complexes are considerably more stable than expected from purely statistical reasons. The results obtained were discussed in relation to the nature of the secondary ligands involved. For the equilibrium, Y(azm)₂ + Y(L)₂ 2 Y(azm)(L), the following constants, logX, were determined: Y(azm)(sa) 3.11 (0.46); Y(azm)(ssa) 2.76 (0.33); Y(azm)(nsa) 3.02 (0.48); Y(azm)(bipy) 3.96 (0.99); Yazm(phen) 4.33 (1.07). The constants given in parentheses correspond to logK _Y=[logK _Y(azm)(L) ^Y(azm) - log K _Y(L) ^Y ].

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Die stabilitätserhöhenden Eigenschaften von Alizarin-Maron in Yttrium(III)-Komplexen mit gemischten Liganden

Zusammenfassung Es wurden die Stabilitätskonstanten der 1:1:1-Yttrium(III)-Komplexe mit Alizari-Maron (azm) und mit einer Reihe weiterer Zweitliganden [Salizylsäure (sa), 5-Sulfosalizylsäure (ssa), 5-Nitrosalizylsäure (nsa), 2,2-bipyridyl (bipy) und 1,10-Phenanthrolin (phen)] potentiometrisch in 20% (v/v) Ethanol-Wasser (I=100 mmol dm^–3 NaClO₄,t=25±0.1 °C) bestimmt. Es werden die Komplexierungsgleichgewichte der verschiedenen Zweiligandensysteme angeführt. Alle gemischtligandigen Komplexe zeigten eine deutlich höhere Stabilinisse werden in Relation zur chemischen Natur der Sekundärliganden gesetzt. Für das Gleichgewicht Y(azm)₂ + Y(L)₂ 2 Y(azm)(L) wurden folgende Konstanten logX ermittelt: Y(azm)(sa) 3.11 (0.46); Y(azm)(ssa) 2.76 (0.33); Y(azm)(nsa) 3.02 (0.48); Y(azm)(bipy) 3.96 (0.99); Y(azm)(phen) 4.33 (1.07). Die Werte in Klammern entsprechen logK _Y=[logK _Y(L) ^Y –logK _Y(L) ^Y ].

     

The role of water in structural changes of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide) studied by FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations

Temperature-induced phase transition in water solutions of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide) (PNIPMAM) have been studied by ATR FTIR and Raman spectroscopy in combination with quantum chemical calculations. The presence or absence of the α-methyl group has a strong effect on the physical structure of water solutions. Although the hydrophobic interactions for PNIPMAM and PNIPAM are very similar, PNIPMAM with additional methyl group exhibits significantly weaker intermolecular interactions between the amide groups. That effect is the cause of the higher transition temperature T_t by about 8 °C for PNIPMAM compared to PNIPAM due to the formation of larger compact structures. The presence of the methyl group is significant for the reversibility of the temperature transition during the backward cooling as the dissolution of more stable compact PNIPMAM requires overcoming of a higher energy barrier and shows a strong hysteresis.     

Synthesis, structures and properties of hydrolytic Al(III) aggregates and Fe(III) analogues formed with iminodiacetate-based chelating ligands

Both Al(III) and Fe(III) display a rich hydrolytic chemistry which can lead to the formation of a variety of aggregated oxo and hydroxo-bridged aggregates. The formation, structures and properties of these species are important in defining the availability and reactivity of these species in aqueous environments such as are found in biological systems and the environment. Although there are many similarities in the behaviour of the Al³⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions there are also some important differences between these two metal ions which can lead to a divergence in their chemistries. These considerations are discussed and illustrated with reference to 16 Al(III) and Fe(III) compounds, which have been crystallographically characterised, and which form in aqueous environments in the presence of chelating ligands containing the iminodiacetate functionality.     

Study of the complexation and precipitation equilibria in the system Cr(VI)-Fe(III)-H2O

Potentiometric and spectrophotometric studies of the systems Cr(VI)-Fe(III)-H₂O and Fe(III)-H₂O systems have been performed. The formation of the complex FeCrO ₄ ⁺ is suggested and the corresponding thermodynamic formation constant has been calculated (log₁₁ = 7.77 ± 0.02) . In order to understand the cation-anion interactions, a study of the precipitation equilibrium between Cr(VI) and Fe(III) has been carried out. The results indicate the formation of FeOHCrO₄·2Fe(OH)₃, a mixed precipitate whose thermodynamic solubility product is pK_so=99.8±0.2.     

Spectroscopic and Structural Study of the 1:2 Aluminium(III) Complex of Quercetin

Quercetin (3, 3’, 4’, 5, 7-pentahydroxyflavone) is one of the most common flavonols present in nature. The complexation of Al(III) by various flavonoids has been suggested to reduce the overload of aluminum in the diet, a metal which has been implicated…     

Application of the spectral correction method and "neural networks" for simultaneous determination of V(V) and Al(III)

Simultaneous determination of V(V) and Al(III) was performed by application of neural networks when the calibration matrix was performed using β-correction spectra. Two reactions between V(V) and Al(III) and Alizarin Red S (ARS) as a ligand have been investigated and applied for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of these metal ions. The parameters controlling behavior of the system were investigated and optimum conditions selected. Feed-forward neural networks have been trained to quantify considered metal ions in mixtures under optimum conditions. Sigmoidal functions were used in the hidden and output layers. Determinations were made over the concentration range 0.10-7.80 μg ml⁻¹ of V(V) and 0.11-4.20 μg ml⁻¹ of Al(III). Applying this method satisfactorily to simultaneous determination of these metal ions in several synthetic solutions with total relative standard error less than 4.02% validated the proposed method.     

Asymmetric hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes catalyzed by bifunctional chiral Al(III) complexes

A new bifunctional chiral Al(III) complex of BINOL derivative, which contained tert-amine at 3,3′-position of the BINOL, has been developed for the effective enantioselective hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes. A variety of aromatic, heteroaromatic, condensed-ring, α,β-unsaturated, and aliphatic aldehydes were found to be suitable substrates for the reaction, and the desired α-hydroxy phosphonate were obtained in good to excellent yields (up to 99%) with moderate to good enantioselectivities (up to 87% ee) under mild conditions (at 0 °C). A possible catalytic cycle based on the experimental results was proposed.     

Effect of the pH on the complexation of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Fe(III) Ions by a vine leaf litter extract by fluorescence quenching

An extract of dead vine leaves (vitis viniferal) (VLE) was obtained by the extraction procedure for fulvic acids and its interaction (at a concentration of 25mg/L in 0.1 M KNO₃) with the Cu(II), Ni(II) and Fe(III) ions was studied in the pH range between 3 and 6. This interaction was monitored by synchronous molecular fluorescence, since bands due to the fluorescent ligands undergo quenching upon complex formation. After the chemometric isolation of the quenching profiles from the raw spectra by a self-modeling mixture analysis, SIMPLISMA, they were analyzed by two methods: (i) graphical procedures based on the Stern-Volmer model; and (ii) a non-linear least-squares procedure. For the Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions, the treatment by these two methods provided similar values both for the logarithm of the conditional stability constants (log Kc) and the percentage of fluorescent structures that do not participate in the complexation. The log Kc were (standard deviations in parenthesis): Cu(II) ion, 2.4 (3), 3.37(3), 4.4(1) and 4.92(9), respectively, for pH = 3, 4, 5 and 6; Ni(II)ion, 2.9(1), 3.3(2), and 4.09(3), respectively, for pH = 4, 5 and 6. For Fe(III) an interaction with VLE was observed, but no values for Kc could be obtained.     

H- and C-NMR as tools to study aluminium coordination chemistry—aqueous Al(III)-citrate complexes

Based on the use thermodynamic and solid state structure data, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR is a very useful tool to understand the conformational and dynamic behavior of complexes containing organic ligands in solution. In this paper we describe shortly the possibilities of the assignation of the spectra by means of modern NMR techniques. From the assigned spectra the scalar and dipolar couplings make it possible to determine the orientation of the ligand around the metal ion and the distances between hydrogen atoms in space. Aluminium-citrate complexes are reviewed as examples. It is shown that with the armory of correlation NMR spectroscopy unique insight can be obtained in the behavior of Al-citrate species even if oligomers are present in the solution.     

Characterization of the malate-aluminum(III) complex using 1H and 27Al NMR spectroscopy

Structural elucidation of a malate-aluminum(III) complex has been carried out using 1H and 27Al NMR spectroscopy. The 1H chemical shift perturbation clearly indicated the interaction between malate and Al(III) ion. The measurements of 27Al NMR and 1H-13C HSQC spectra demonstrated that the major form of a complex comprised two equivalent malate ions and two unequivalent Al(III) ions. With this constraint, an equilibrium geometry of the complex was proposed by a semi-empirical molecular orbital calculation.     

Computational Analysis of Photophysical Properties and Reactivity of a New Phototherapeutic Cyclometalated Au(III)-Hydride Complex

Gold(III) complexes have recently emerged as new versatile and efficacious metal containing anticancer agents. In an attempt to reconcile the specific affinity of such complexes for target sulfur containing biomolecules with their capability to strongly bind thiol-containing compounds widely distributed in non-tumoral cells, a new series of cyclometalated Au(III)-hydride complexes has been proposed as photoactivatable anticancer prodrugs. Here, the computational exploration of the photophysical properties and reactivity in dark and under light irradiation of the first member of the series, named 1 a , is reported. Complex 1 a low hydricity in dark together with facile hydride substitution leading to H₂ elimination under excitation by visible light have been examined by means of DFT and TD-DFT computations. Both singlet and triplet excited states have been characterized, allowing the identification of the active species involved in photoactivation pathways leading to the controlled detachment of the hydride ligand. Also the viable two-photon activation at the ideal phototherapeutic window has been investigated.     

Conformational properties and electronic structure of tetrahydrotetrazines studied by photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations

The photoelectron (PE) spectra of tetrahydro-1,2,3,4-tetrazines 1 and 2 and tetrahydro-1,2,4,5-tetrazines 3–5 have been recorded and their conformations have been investigated by ab initio SCF calculations. While v-tetrazine2 is planar, tetrazines 1 and 3–5 each possess two low-energy conformations, according to ab initio HF and Becke3LYP methods. Attempts to assign ionization potentials to molecular orbitals obtained by semiempirical PM3 calculations indicate that this method is not suited for the compounds studied. Best results were obtained when the ab initio hybrid method Becke3LYP of the density functional theory was employed. Two conformers of 1 and 3–5 are present in the gas phase and their PE spectra are superimposed one upon the other. For v-tetrazine1, ionizations arising from half-chair and unsymmetrical boat conformers have similar energies and cannot be separated in the PE spectrum. For s-tetrazine3, on the other hand, the spectrum clearly shows different ionizations of both half-chairs, 3ee and 3ae.     

Kalman filter deconvolution after cubic splines background removal in the HPLC determination of Cr(III) and Al(III) as 8-hydroxyquinolines

Summary A procedure for the simultaneous quantitation of Al(III) and Cr(III) ions by reversed-phase HPLC, after pre-column complexation with 8-hydroxyquinoline, is described. The deconvolution of the partially overlapped peaks was by the Kalman filter method which yielded accurate and precise results. Background removal from the chromatograms was by a new approach employing cubic splines as interpolators between the peak valleys. Finally, it is shown that the Kalman filter deconvolution, after subtraction of the background by cubic spline interpolation, allowed quantitation of Al(III) and Cr(III) down to 25 ppb for each metal. These concentrations were not detectable by conventional integration methods due to a very low signal-to-noise ratio.     

Electron-donor substituents on the dppz-based ligands to control luminescence from dark to bright emissive state in Ir(III) complexes

The structures and electronic properties of a series of cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes with substituted dppz ancillary ligand (dppz: dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine) including tert-butyl, pyrrolidine ring, and alkoxys substituents as donor group have been theoretically study. With the aim of highlight the attractive qualities of each system for their use as luminescent material, the effects of the electron-donor substituents onto dppz was evaluated on the structural, charge transport, absorption, and phosphorescent properties. The effect of the substituent was studied on the modulation of the bright and dark triplet states. Main results show that ortho-methoxy and tert-butyl substituents act as lower electron-donating groups, then, efficient electron donation ability was displayed with alkoxy (ethoxy and propoxy) substituents. The best performance was found in a complex with pyrrolidine ring according since their phosphorescence is favored, highlighting their larger electric transition dipole moment value, proposing this system as potential candidate to LEC technology.     

Hydrogen-bond structures in poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate): Infrared spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations with model compounds

Hydrogen-bond structures in poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) were investigated by infrared (IR) spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations (QCC). A monomer of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and model compounds of methyl acetate (MA) and methanol (MeOH) were also used. Evidences for OHOC and OHOH types of hydrogen-bonds were observed in an IR spectrum of a PHEMA solid. It was estimated from the present study that 47.3% of OH groups on the PHEMA side chain terminal are engaged in the OHOC type of hydrogen-bond, while the rest contributes to the OHOH type of hydrogen-bond.     

Host-guest complexes of the Beer-Can-cryptand: prediction of ion selectivity by quantum chemical calculations XI

Abstract

Based on DFT calculations (B3LYP/LANL2DZp) and the application of model equations, as well as a comparison of M-N-donor length with an unstrained reference ([M(solvent)₆]ⁿ⁺), the selectivity of the alkali and alkaline earth cations (Li⁺ – Cs⁺ and Be²⁺ – Ba²⁺) for the recently synthesized cryptand bis-triazacyclononane tris-pyridyl N₉-azacryptand (Beer-Can) was investigated. The host can bind the alkali cation K⁺ best, followed by the alkaline earth cations Ca²⁺ and Sr²⁺, and by Na⁺ and Ba²⁺. This selectivity pattern is identical to the selectivity of the Lehn-type cryptand [phen.phen.phen], which suggests a similar cavity size. The good flexibility of the Beer-Can is provided by the aza-crown-like top and bottom of the “can,” and the pyridines on the “can-wall.”