Voltammetric study of the interaction of lomefloxacin (LMF)–Mg(II) complex with DNA and its analytical application

The voltammetric behavior of the LMF-Mg(II) complex with DNA at a mercury electrode is reported for the first time. In NH₃–NH₄Cl buffer (pH=9.10), the adsorption phenomena of the LMF–Mg(II) complex were observed by linear sweep voltammetry. The mechanism of the electrode reaction was found to be a reduction of LMF in the complex, and the composition of the LMF–Mg(II) complex is 2:1. In the presence of calf thymus DNA (ctDNA), the peak current of LMF–Mg(II) complex decreased considerably, and a new well-defined adsorptive reduction peak appeared at −1.63 V (vs. SCE). The electrochemical kinetic parameters and the binding number of LMF–Mg(II) with ctDNA were also obtained. Moreover, the new peak currents of LMF–Mg(II)–DNA system increased linearly correlated to the concentration of DNA in the 4.00×10⁻⁷–2.60×10⁻⁶ g ml⁻¹ range when the concentrations of LMF–Mg(II) complex was fixed at 5.00×10⁻⁶ mol l⁻¹, with the detection limits of 2.33×10⁻⁷ g ml⁻¹. An electrostatic interaction was suggested by electrochemical method.     

Investigation of the spectral properties of a squarylium near-infrared dye and its complexation with Fe(III) and Co(II) ions

The spectral features of the squarylium near-infrared (NIR) dye NN525 in different solutions and its complexation with several metal ions were investigated. The absorbance maximum of the dye is λ=663 nm in methanol. This value matches the output of a commercially available laser diode (650 nm), thus making use of such a source practical for excitation. The emission wavelength of the dye in methanol is λ_em=670 nm. The addition of either Fe(III) ion or Co(II) ion resulted in fluorescence quenching of the dye. The Stern–Volmer quenching constant, K_SV, was calculated from the Stern–Volmer plot to be K_SV=2.70×10⁷ M⁻¹ for Co(II) ion. The K_SV value for Fe(III) ion could not be established due to the non-linearity of the Stern–Volmer plot and the modified Stern–Volmer plot for this ion. The detection limit is 6.24×10⁻⁸ M for Fe(III) ion and 1.55×10⁻⁵ M for Co(III) ion. The molar ratio of the metal to the dye was established to be 1:1 for both metal ions. The stability constant, K_S, of the metal–dye complex was calculated to be 3.14×10⁶ M⁻¹ for the Fe–dye complex and 2.64×10⁵ M⁻¹ for the Co–dye complex.     

Kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of urinary cobalt based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation of -adrenaline hydrochloride by hydrogen peroxide

A catalytic for determination of nanomolar concentrations of Co(II), i.e., oxidation of -adrenaline hydrochloride with H₂O² in alkaline medium, is proposed. The reaction gives a low limit of detection of 2.5 × 10 ⁻⁹ M Co(II) in the reaction mixture, good reproducibility with a relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of 4−5% in the Co(II) concentration range 8.0 × 10⁻⁹−8.0 × 10⁻⁸M and good selectivity. On the basis of this indicator reaction, a catalytic-spectrophotometric method for the determination of cobalt in small urine samples (5.00 ml) was elaborated. The analysis of 17 urine samples, taken from healthy persons of different ages, gave cobalt concentrations in the range 0.20–1.50 μmol 1⁻¹. The R.S.D. for ten replicate analyses of a urine sample with an average cobalt content of 0.63 μmol 1⁻¹ was 5.6%. The reliability of the method was verified by a comparative photometric method (r = 0.9755) and by a determination based on known additions of cobalt (r = 0.9894).     

Study and optimization of the resazurin/diaphorase system

This study describes the resazurin/diaphorase system and its use in a kinetic assay for the determination of dehydrogenase activity. This has increased the sensitivity (limit of detection is 2 × 10⁻⁵ U/ml) and produced calibration curves which have an extended linear range and better separation of points. The specific activity of diaphorase when resazurin (6.7 μM) is used as a substrate is only about 2 × 10⁻³ that when 2,6-dichlorophenol-indophenol (DCPIP)² is used as a substrate. The specific activity of diaphorase can be increased by using higher concentrations of resazurin. The concentration chosen is influenced by the size of fluorometric cuvette used. In a 3.0-ml cuvette, concentrations above 13.4 μM result in lower signals due to the quenching of the fluorescence by resazurin. In a 1.0-ml cuvette, the quenching effect is less severe and a higher concentration (34 μM) of resazurin can be used. Diaphorase activity is first order in the concentration range up to 34 μM of resazurin, and the K_m could not be calculated from the range tested. The K_m of diaphorase with respect to NADPH is dependent on the concentration of resazurin used. It is 0.78 (± 0.04) and 1.31 (± 0.04) μM at resazurin concentrations of 6.7 and 34 μM, respectively.     

Kinetic determination of organosulphur ligands by inhibition: Trace determination of cysteine and maleonitriledithiolate (MNDT)

Some organosulphur ligands have been found to inhibit the mercury(II) catalyzed substitution of cyanide in hexacyanoferrate(II) by N-methylpyrazinium ion (Mpz⁺). The inhibitory effect is due to the binding tendency of catalyst Hg²⁺ with these inhibitors. This effect has been used as a basis to develop a kinetic method for the determination of trace amounts of two organosulphur ligands viz. cysteine and MNDT. The reaction was followed spectrophotometrically at 655 nm by measuring the decrease in absorbance of the product [Fe(CN)₅Mpz]²⁻. The influence of the reaction variables has also been studied. A general mechanistic scheme of the indicator reaction system including the role of inhibitor has been proposed and applied to determine the organosulphur ligands. Under the selected experimental conditions cysteine and MNDT have been determined in the range of 2–20 × 10^− 7 M and 5 × 10^− 8 M to 12 × 10^− 7 M respectively in various aqueous samples. The analytical concentration range depends upon the amount of Hg²⁺ present in the indicator reaction and also on the stability of the Hg²⁺-inhibitor complex in question. Under specified conditions, the detection limit for cysteine and MNDT are 2 × 10^− 7 M and 5 × 10^− 8 M respectively. The influences of possible interference by major amino acids, on the determination of cysteine and their limits have been investigated.     

Piezoelectric Sensor in Situ Monitoring Adsorption of Fibrinogen and Surfactant onto a Self-Assembled Monolayer of Alkanethiols

This report describes the use of a piezoelectric quartz crystal (PQC) sensor to investigate the nonspecific adsorption of fibrinogen (FN) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) onto a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of alkanethiols on gold. The change in adsorption mass was monitored in situ by the PQC sensor. A kinetics model was proposed to describe the adsorption of the FN and SDS on the hydrophobic SAM surface. The adsorption kinetics parameters were determined from the responses of the PQC. The adsorption and desorption rate constants of the FN on the SAM surface were estimated to be (6.18 ± 0.53) × 10³ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ and (6.74 ± 0.72) × 10⁻³ s⁻¹, respectively. The rate constants for the adsorption and desorption of SDS on the SAM are (24.3 ± 1.4 M⁻¹ s⁻¹) and (1.52 ± 0.11) × 10⁻² s⁻¹, respectively. The adsorption of SDS on the SAM was reversible. The fractional coverage of the FN on the SAM surface was estimated from kinetics analyses to be 42–86% for the FN concentration range 25–400 μg/ml. Over 80% of the FN is irreversibly adsorbed on the SAM surface with respect to dilution of the bulk phase. The fraction of FN reversibly adsorbed increases with the bulk concentration of FN.     

Indirect kinetic microdetermination of oxalate, citrate, and fluoride ions

An indirect catalytic method for the separate microdetermination of oxalate, citrate, and fluoride ions is described. The method is based on the inhibition action of oxalate, citrate, and fluoride ions on the catalytic oxidation reaction of 2,4-diaminophenol-hydrogen peroxide by iron(III).Procedures for the determination of 1.76 × 10⁻² to 17.6 × 10⁻² μg/ml for oxalate ion, 3.78 × 10⁻² to 30.24 × 10⁻² μg/ml for citrate ion, and 0.38 to 4.18 μg/ml for fluoride ion are given.Quantities of 1.76 × 10⁻² to 17.6 × 10⁻² μg/ml for oxalate ion, 3.78 × 10⁻² to 30.24 × 10⁻² μg/ml for citrate ion, and 0.38 to 4.18 μg/ml for fluoride ion could be determinated with a relative error of about 1–3.5% for oxalate and citrate ions and 1–2% for fluoride ion.     

Indirect atomic absorption spectrometry (IAAS) as a tool for the determination of iodide in infant formulas by precipitation of AgI and redissolution with cyanide

A method to determine iodide in infant formula samples by indirect atomic absorption spectrometry (IAAS) was developed. The iodide in solution resulting from an alkaline digestion (Na₂CO₃–NaOH) of the sample is precipitated with silver; the precipitate is redissolved by adding cyanide solution, and this solution is subjected to GF-AAS. Temperatures of 1000 and 2100°C were selected for the ashing and atomization steps, respectively, using a mixture of Pd and Mg(NO₃)₂ as a matrix modifier (at concentrations of 36 and 16 μg ml⁻¹, respectively). The sensitivity, LOD, LOQ and characteristic mass obtained were, respectively, 1.12×10⁻² l μg⁻¹, 3.1 μg g⁻¹ and 10.4 μg g⁻¹ and 7.3 pg, referred to sample. The linear interval of concentrations extends up to 10 μg l⁻¹ of iodide, with no need to use the standard addition method; the mean R.S.D. of data within this range is 3.4%, with 2.9% over the whole procedure. No interfering effects were observed among the foreign ions studied, and 100.0% was the mean analytical recovery achieved within the linear range of concentrations. The application of the method to seven real samples gave a mean content of 12.8 μg g⁻¹ of iodide, as well as less than 3.1 μg g⁻¹ in eight other samples.     

Ultraviolet spectrophotometric determination of tungsten(VI) with ammonium 1-pyrrolidinecarbodithioate

A simple and rapid ultraviolet spectrophotometric method is proposed for the determination of trace amounts of tungsten(VI) with ammonium 1-pyrrolidinecarbodithioate (APDC). The method is based on measurement of the absorbance of the tungsten APDC complex in fairly concentrated hydrochloric acid medium; no extraction is required. The complex is formed at an initial acidity of 6M hydrochloric acid and has an absorption maximum at 250 nm. The high absorption of the reagent blank at 250 nm disappears on decomposition of excess of reagent by heating. Beer's law is obeyed over the range 0.43–3.2 ppm of tungsten(VI). The molar absorptivity of the complex is 4.5 × 10⁴ l.mole⁻¹ .cm⁻¹ at 250 nm. Tenfold amounts of aluminium, magnesium, calcium, cobalt, iron(II), lead, silver, sodium and titanium do not interfere in the determination of 50 μg of tungsten (VI).     

Spectrophotometric determination of microamounts of gold(III) with propericiazine

Propericiazine is proposed as a new reagent for the spectrophotometric determination of gold(III). The reagent forms an orange-red-colored species with gold(III) instantaneously in 4–8 M phosphoric acid. The orange-red species exhibits maximum absorbance at 511 nm. Beer's law is valid over the concentration range 0.1–7.0 μg/ml. The molar absorptivity is found to be 3.85 × 10⁴ liter mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹. The effects of acidity, time, order of addition of reagents, temperature, reagent concentration, and diverse ions are investigated.     

A study of the spectrophotometric determination of traces of cadmium(II) and copper(II) with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol in the presence of polyglycol octylphenyl ether

A spectrophotometric study of the Cd(II) and Cu(II) complex of a new reagent, 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylamino phenol (5-Br-PADAP) in the presence of polyglycol octylphenyl ether (OP) is presented. A reddish binary complex is formed at pH 9 and shows maximal absorbance at 560 nm with molar absorptivity of 1.16 × 10⁵ · mol⁻¹ · cm⁻¹ liter (Cd), 1.5 × 10⁵ mol⁻¹ · cm⁻¹ · liter (Cu). Beer's law is followed over the range 0.0 to 20 μg cadmium(II) and 0.0–18 μg copper(II). The continuous variation method and molar ratio method showed that the metal ligand ratio is 1:2; ordinarily, most ions do not interfere with the determination and the method can be applied for direct spectrophotometric determination of cadmium(II) and copper(II) in actual samples and the results obtained are satisfactory.     

Determination of trace amounts of mercury(II) in water samples using a novel kinetic catalytic ligand substitution reaction of hexacyanoruthenate(II)

A simple, sensitive, selective and rapid kinetic catalytic method has been developed for the determination of Hg(II) ions at micro-level. This method is based on the catalytic effect of Hg(II) ion on the rate of substitution of cyanide in hexacyanoruthenate(II) with nitroso-R-salt (NRS) in aqueous medium and provides good accuracy and precision. The concentration of Hg(II) catalyst varied from 4.0 to 10.0 × 10⁻⁶ M and the progress of reaction was followed spectrophotometrically at 525 nm (λ_max of purple-red complex [Ru(CN)₅NRS]³⁻,  = 3.1 × 10³ M⁻¹ s⁻¹) under the optimized reaction conditions; 8.75 × 10⁻⁵ M [Ru(CN)₆⁴⁻], 3.50 × 10⁻⁴ M [nitroso-R-salt], pH 7.00 ± 0.02, ionic strength, I = 0.1 M (KCl), temp 45.0 ± 0.1 °C. The linear calibration curves, i.e. calibration equations between the absorbance at fixed times (t = 15, 20 and 25 min) versus concentration of Hg(II) ions were established under the optimized experimental conditions. The detection limit was found to be 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ M of Hg(II). The effect of various foreign ions on the proposed method has also been studied and discussed. The method has been applied to the determination of mercury(II) in aqueous solutions.     

The surfactant-sensitized analytical reaction of niobium with some thiazolylazo compounds

Cationic surfactants, such as cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB), sensitize the color reaction of Nb(V) with 1-(2-benzothiazolylazo)-2-hydroxy-3-naphthoic acid (I_a), 5-(benzothiazolylazo)2,5-naphthalenediol (I_b), 5-(2-benzothiazolylazo)8-hydroxyquinoline (I_c) and 4-(2- benzothiazolylazo)2, -biphenyldiol (I_d) reagents. The formation of a ternary complex of stoichiometric ratio 1:2:2 (Nb-R-CPB) is responsible for the observed enhancement in the molar absorptivity and the Sandell sensitivity of the formed complex, when a surfactant is present. The ternary complex exhibits absorption maxima at 649, 692, 661 and 612 nm, (=3.35×10⁴, 3.59×10⁴, 4.46×10⁴ and 2.79×10⁴ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹) on using reagent I_a, I_b, I_c, and I_d, respectively. Beer’s law is obeyed between 0.05 and 2.50 μg ml⁻¹, while applying the Ringbom method for more accurate results is in the range from 0.20 to 2.30 μg ml⁻¹. Conditional formation constants in the presence and absence of CPB for niobium complexes have been calculated. On the basis of a detailed spectrophotometric study, the nature of the chromophoric reagent–surfactant interaction and the peculiar features of the sensitization by CPB are discussed.     

Microdetermination of silver(I) and iodide ions with a pyridinol azo dye: A spectrophotometric method

A simple, rapid, sensitive, and selective method for the spectrophotometric microdetermination of silver(I) using ammonium(2′,3′-dihydroxy pyridyl-4′-azo)benzene-4-arsonate (DHP-4A), a water soluble pyridinol azo dye is proposed. The red colored 1:1 (metal to ligand) complex formed has molar extinction coefficient (ε) 2.95 × 10⁴ 1 mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ and absorbs maximum at 535 nm, in highly alkaline medium. Beer's law is obeyed up to 3.36 ppm and Sandell's sensitivity (for an absorbance 0.001) is 0.0037 μg of Ag(I)/cm². The silver(I)-(DHP-4A) complex has also been used in the microdetermination of iodide ions using ligand exchange reaction. The optimum concentration range of iodide ions which can reproducibly be determined is 1.27–37.9 μg/10 ml.     

Kinetic Determination of Mercury(II) at Trace Level from Its Catalytic Effect on a Ligand Substitution Process

A catalytic kinetic method (CKM) is presented for the determination of mercury(II) based on its catalytic effect on the rate of substitution of N-methylpyrazinium ion (Mpz⁺) onto hexacyanoferrate(II). The progress of the reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically at 655 nm by registering the increase in absorbance of the product [Fe(CN)₅(Mpz]²⁻ under the reaction conditions: 5 × 10⁻³ mol L⁻¹ [Fe(CN)₆]⁴⁻), 5 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ [Mpz⁺], T = 25.0 ± 0.1°C, pH 5.00 ± 0.02 and ionic strength, I = 0.1 mol L⁻¹ (KNO₃). Quantitative rate data at specified experimental conditions showed a linear dependence of the absorbance after fixed time A _t on the concentration of mercury(II) catalyst in the range 20.06–702.1 ng mL⁻¹. The maximum relative standard deviations and percentage errors for the determination of mercury(II) in the range of 20.06–200.6 ng mL⁻¹ were calculated to be 1.7 and 2.7% respectively. The detection limit was found to be 7.2 ng mL⁻¹ of mercury(II). Accuracy (expressed in terms of recoveries) was in the range of 98–103%. Figures of merit and interference due to many cations and anions was investigated and discussed. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by determining the mercury(II) in different synthetic samples and confirming the results using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The proposed method allowed determination of mercury(II) in the range 20.06–702.1 ng mL⁻¹ with very good selectivity and an output of 30 samples h⁻¹.__________From Zhurnal Analiticheskoi Khimii, Vol. 60, No. 6, 2005, pp. 654–661.Original English Text Copyright © 2005 by Surendra Prasad.This article was submitted by the author in English.     

Binding of 6-propyl-2-thiouracil to human serum albumin destabilized by chemical denaturants

We compared the binding affinity of 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) with native and destabilized human serum albumin (HSA) as a model to assess the binding ability of albumin in patients suffering from chronic liver or renal diseases. Urea (U) and guanidine hydrochloride (Gu·HCl) at a concentration of 3.0 M were used as denaturation agents.Increasing the concentration of PTU from 0.8 × 10⁻⁵ to 1.20 × 10⁻⁴ M in the systems with HSA causes a decrease in fluorescence intensity of the protein excited with both 280 and 295 nm wavelengths. The results indicate that urea and Gu·HCl bind to the carbonyl group and then to the NH-group. To determine binding constants we used the Scatchard plots. The presence of two classes of HSA–PTU binding sites was observed. The binding constants (K_b) are equal to 1.99 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ and 1.50 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ at λ_ex = 280 nm, 5.20 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ and 1.65 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ at λ_ex = 295 nm. At λ_ex = 280 nm the number of drug molecules per protein molecule is a_I = 1.45 and a_II = 1.32 for I and II binding sites, respectively. At λ_ex = 295 nm they are a_I = 0.63 and a_II = 1.54 for the I and II binding sites.The estimation of the binding ability of changed albumin in the uremic and diabetic patients suffering from chronic liver or renal diseases is very important for safety and effective therapy.     

Palladized aluminum electrode covered by Prussian blue film as an effective transducer for electrocatalytic oxidation and hydrodynamic amperometry of N-acetyl-cysteine and glutathione

The mediated oxidation of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and glutathione (GL) at the palladized aluminum electrode modified by Prussian blue film (PB/Pd–Al) is described. The catalytic activity of PB/Pd–Al was explored in terms of Fe^III[Fe^III(CN)₆]/Fe^III[Fe^II(CN)₆]¹⁻ system by taking advantage of the metallic palladium layer inserted between PB film and Al, as an electron-transfer bridge. The best mediated oxidation of NAC and GL on the PB/Pd–Al electrode was achieved in 0.5 M KNO₃ + 0.2 M potassium acetate of pH 2. The mechanism and kinetics of the catalytic oxidation reactions of the both compounds were monitored by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The charge transfer-rate limiting step as well as overall oxidation reaction of NAC or GL is found to be a one-electron abstraction. The values of transfer coefficients α, catalytic rate constant k and diffusion coefficient D are 0.5, 3.2 × 10² M⁻¹ s⁻¹ and 2.45 × 10⁻⁵ cm² s⁻¹ for NAC and 0.5, 2.1 × 10² M⁻¹ s⁻¹ and 3.7 × 10⁻⁵ cm² s⁻¹ for GL, respectively. The modifying layers on the Pd–Al substrate have reproducible behavior and a high level of stability in the electrolyte solutions. The modified electrode is exploited for hydrodynamic amperometry of NAC and GL. The amperometric calibration graph is linear in concentration ranges 2 × 10⁻⁶–40 × 10⁻⁶ for NAC and 5 × 10⁻⁷–18 × 10⁻⁶ M for GL and the detection limits are 5.4 × 10⁻⁷ and 4.6 × 10⁻⁷ M, respectively.     

Electrochemical and DNA-binding properties of dipyridophenazine complexes of osmium(II)

A transition metal complex as an electrochemical probe of a DNA sensor must have an applicable redox potential, high binding affinity and chemical stability. Some complexes with the dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine (DPPZ) ligand have been reported to have high binding affinity for DNA. However, it was difficult to detect the targeted DNA electrochemically using these complexes because of the relatively high redox potential. In this work, a combination of bipyridine ligands with functional groups (---NH₂, ---CH₃ and ---COOH) and the DPPZ ligand were studied. The introduction of electron-donating groups was effective for controlling the redox potential of the DPPZ-type osmium complex. The [Os(DA-bpy)₂DPPZ]²⁺ complex (DA-bpy; 4,4′-diamino-2,2′-bipyridine) had a lower half-wave potential (E_1/2) of 147 mV (vs. Ag AgCl) and higher binding affinity with DNA {binding constant, K=3.1×10⁷ M⁻¹ in 10 mmol dm⁻³ Tris–HCl buffer with 50 mmol dm⁻³ NaCl (pH 7.76)} than those of other complexes. With the single stranded DNA (ssDNA) modified gold electrode, the hybridization signal (ΔI) of the [Os(DA-bpy)₂DPPZ]²⁺ complex was linear in the concentration range of 1.0 pg ml⁻¹–0.12 μg ml⁻¹ for the targeted DNA with a regression coefficient of 0.999. The detection limit was 0.1 pg ml⁻¹.     

Interactions of thioflavin T with serum albumins: Spectroscopic analyses

The interaction of thioflavin T (ThT) with serum albumins from four different mammalian species i.e. human, bovine, porcine and rabbit, has been investigated by circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence spectroscopy and ITC. The binding constant (K) for HSA was found to be 9.9 × 10⁴ M⁻¹, 4.3 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ for RSA, 1.07 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ for PSA and 0.3 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ for BSA and the number of binding sites (n) were 1.14, 1.06, 0.94 and 0.8, respectively, which is very significant. By using unfolding pathway of HSA in the presence of urea, domain II of HSA has been assigned to possess binding site of ThT. Its binding constant is comparable to many drugs that bind at domain II of HSA, like salicylate, warfarin, digitoxin, etc. Acting force between HSA and ThT is showing that both hydrophobic and electrostatic forces have contributed for the interaction. ΔG_binding, ΔH and ΔS were calculated to be −28.46 kJ mol⁻¹, −3.50 kJ mol⁻¹ and 81.04 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹, respectively. The data described here will help to increase our understanding about the interaction of ThT with native proteins. The results also indicate that care must be taken while using ThT as a probe for detecting amyloid fibrils.     

Positronium inhibition and quenching by organic electronic acceptors and charge transfer complexes

Positron lifetime measurements were performed on a series of organic electron acceptors and charge-transfer complexes in solution. The acceptors cause both positronium (Ps) inhibition (with maybe one exception) and quenching, but when an acceptor takes part in a charge-transfer complex the inhibition intensifies and the quenching almost vanishes. The reaction constants between ortho-Ps and the acceptors were determinded to be: 1.5 × 10¹⁰ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ for SO₂ in dioxane 3.7 × 10¹⁰ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ for SO₂ in n-heptane, 3.4 × 10¹⁰ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ for tetracyanoquinodimethane in tetrahydrofurane and 1.6 × 10¹⁰ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ for tetracyanoethylene in dioxane. From the ortho-Ps lifetimes in solutions containing charge-transfer complexes complexity constants were determined that were in reasonable agreement with constants obtained from optical data. The influence of acceptors and charge-transfers complexes on the Ps yield was interpreted in terms of the spur reaction model of Ps formation. Correlation was also made to gas phase reaction between electron acceptors and free electron, as well as to pulse radiolysis data.