Structure of zirconium butoxide complexes in n-butanol solutions

EXAFS and SAXS were used for structure elucidation of zirconium butoxide complexes in n-butanol at concentrations from 0.3 g to 0.015 g ZrO₂ in 1 ml. The basic structural unit of the complex is a tetramer. It has two equal sides with zirconium atoms linked by double oxygen bridges and with zirconium-zirconium distances of 3.5 Å. The other sides in the tetramer are 3.3 Å and 3.9 Å. This difference in bond lengths is explained by the different numbers of double or single ligand bridges between zirconium atoms. The tetramers are apt to undergo oligomerization to form particles with a diameter of 80 Å in solution.     

Sorption of europium on zirconium oxide from aqueous solutions

Sorption of europium on zirconium oxide has been studies as a function of shaking time, concentration and nature of electrolyte. The effect of initial europium concentration and the amount of adsorbent has been investigated in the range from 6.6·10^–10 to 6.6·10^–8 mol·dm^–3 and between 10 to 200 mg of the oxide. Maximum sorption (>99.8%) from pH 10 buffer and low sorption (<3%) was observed from 0.01 mol·dm^–3 nitric or perchloric acid solution. Citrate, sulfate, EDTA and carbonate reduced the sorption significantly. Under optimal conditions Ag(I), Cs(I), Tc(VII), Sb(V), Cu(II), Nd(III), Fe(III), and especially Nd and Fe showed low distribution coefficients. The data followed both Dubinin-Radushkevich and Langmuir-type isotherms. The mean free energy, of sorption was evaluated to be 10.1 kJ mol^–1 and the sorption capacity was found to be 22.2 mmol g^–1, using the Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm.     

Cobalt complexes in aqueous solutions as dioxygen carriers

This article provides a short survey on the thermodynamic and kinetic behaviour of cobalt complexes, which are able to bind molecular oxygen in aqueous solutions. The focus is on cobalt complexes with simple polyamines and with polynucleating ligands that share the same basic structure, in terms of them being elements of a sequence with increasing complexity. Ditopic polyazapolyoxalkanes and dicompartimental ligands containing a phenolic moiety are also considered. The aim is to elucidate the relation between the structure of the ligands and the behaviour of their cobalt complexes as donors and acceptors of dioxygen.     

The foam separation of zirconium(IV) from aqueous solutions

Summary The foam separation of zirconium(IV) from chloride solutions has been investigated over the 1.8–12 pH range using sodium lauryl sulphate or cetyl(trimethyl)ammonium bromide as collectors. The effects of gas flow rate, bubbling time, collector and zirconium(IV) concentrations, ageing of the metal ion, and ionic strength have been studied and the results are discussed in relation to the hydrolytic behaviour of zirconium(IV). Under optimum conditions,ca. 99.5% removal can be achieved.     

Sorption of anti-infective organic molecules from aqueous solutions onto zirconium phosphate

Amorphous zirconium phosphate (ZP), an inorganic ion exchange material of tetravalent metal acid (tma) salt, is synthesized by the sol-gel method and characterized by elemental analysis (ICP-AES), thermal analysis (TGA, DSC), FT-IR and X-ray diffraction studies. The resistivity of the material to acids, bases and organic solvents is assessed. The sorption behavior of the dyes acriflavin (AF) and brilliant green (BG) toward ZP was studied at 313, 323 and 333 K and the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters evaluated. Adsorption isotherms [Langmuir and Fruendlich], breakthrough capacity and elution behavior of these dyes are also studied. The sorption affinity of dyes towards ZP is BG > AF.     

Structure of aqueous sodium perchlorate solutions

Salt solutions have been the object of study of many scientists through history, but one of the most important findings came along when the Hofmeister series were discovered. Their importance arises from the fact that they influence the relative solubility of proteins, and solubility is directly related to one of today's holy grails: protein folding. In this work we characterize one of the more-destabilizing salts in the series, sodium perchlorate, by studying it as an aqueous solution at various concentrations ranging from 0.08 to 1.60 mol/L. Molecular dynamics simulations at room temperature permitted a detailed study of the organization of solvent and cosolvent, in terms of its radial distribution functions, along with the study of the structure of hydrogen bonds in the ions' solvation shells. We found that the distribution functions have some variations in their shape as concentration changes, but the position of their peaks is mostly unaffected. Regarding water, the most salient fact is the noticeable (although small) change in the second hydration shell and even beyond, especially for g(O(w)***O(w)), showing that the locality of salt effects should not be restricted to considerations of only the first solvation shell. The perturbation of the second shell also appears in the study of the HB network, where the difference between the number of HBs around a water molecule and around the Na(+) cation gets much smaller as one goes from the first to the second solvation shell, yet the difference is not negligible. Nevertheless, the effect of the ions past their first hydration shell is not enough to make a noticeable change in the global HB network. The Kirkwood-Buff theory of liquids was applied to our system, in order to calculate the activity derivative of the cosolvent. This coefficient, along with a previously calculated preferential binding, allowed us to establish that if a folded AP peptide is immersed in the studied solution, becoming the solute, then increasing the salt concentration will make the helix more stable.     

Structure and interaction in aqueous urea-trimethylamine-N-oxide solutions

The structural and energetic properties of solutions containing water, urea, and trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) are examined using molecular dynamics simulations. Such systems are of interest mainly because TMAO acts to counter the protein denaturing effect of urea. Even at relatively high concentration, TMAO is found to fit well into the urea-water structure. The underlying solution structure is influenced by TMAO, but these perturbations tend to be modest. The TMAO-water and TMAO-urea interaction energies make an important contribution to the total energy in solutions where counter-denaturing effects are expected. TMAO-water and TMAO-urea hydrogen bonds have the largest hydrogen-bond energies in the system. Additionally, TMAO cannot hydrogen bond with itself, and hence it interacts strongly with water and urea. These observations suggest that the mechanism of TMAO counter denaturation is simply that water and urea prefer to solvate TMAO rather than the protein, hence inhibiting its unfolding.     

Gold(I) complexes in sulfite-thiosulfate aqueous solutions

Stepwise substitution equilibria of ligands in the system of gold(I) sulfite-thiosulfate complexes in an aqueous solutions, namely Au(SO₃)₂^3- + S₂O₃^2-= Au(SO₃)(S₂O₃)^3- + (logß₁ = -0.35 ± 0.15) and Au(SO₃)₂^3- + S₂O₃^2- = Au(S₂O₃)₂^3-(S₂O₃)^3-(logß2 = -0.99 ± 0.05), were studied at 25°C and I = 1 M (NaCl). The UV spectra of these species were recorded. The method of taking into account the systematic effect of sulfite oxidation by air oxygen with the use of independent series of measurements under conditions close to the conditions of main experiments was tested.     

Structure and hydration of L-proline in aqueous solutions

The structure and hydration of L-proline in aqueous solution have been investigated using a combination of neutron diffraction with isotopic substitution, empirical potential structure refinement modeling, and small-angle neutron scattering at three concentrations, 1:10, 1:15, and 1:20 proline/water mole ratios. In each solution the carboxylate oxygen atoms from proline accept less than two hydrogen bonds from the surrounding water solvent and the amine hydrogen atoms donate less than one hydrogen bond to the surrounding water molecules. The solute-solute radial distribution functions indicate relatively weak interactions between proline molecules, and significant clustering or aggregation of proline is absent at all these concentrations. The spatial density distributions for the hydration of the COO- group in proline show a similar shape to that found previously in L-glutamic acid in aqueous solution but with a reduced coordination number.     

Thermodynamics of formation of lanthanide hydroxo complexes in aqueous solutions

Gibbs energies of formation have been determined by conductometric titration for hydroxo complexes of cerium, samarium, europium, erbium, ytterbium, and yttrium. All these elements form monohydroxo complexes; yttrium, erbium, and terbium also form dihydroxo complexes. The Gibbs energies of formation of lanthanide hydroxo complexes from ions have virtually equal values of −47.3 ± 0.6 kJ/mol monohydroxo complexes and −44.5 ± 0.5 kJ/mol for dihydroxo complexes, respectively. These values were used to estimate the Gibbs energies of formation of hydroxo complexes for the entire lanthanide series.     

Structure and dynamics of dinuclear zirconium(IV) complexes

We have determined by X-ray crystallography the structures of three dinuclear zirconium(IV) complexes containing the heptadentate ligand dhpta (where H(5)dhpta = 1,3-diamino-2-propanol-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, 1) and different countercations: K(2)[Zr(2)(dhpta)(2)].5H(2)O (2.5H(2)O), Na(2)[Zr(2)(dhpta)(2)].7H(2)O.C(2)H(5)OH (3.7H(2)O.C(2)H(5)OH), and Cs(2)[Zr(2)(dhpta)(2)].H(5)O(2).Cl.4H(2)O (4.H(5)O(2).Cl.4H(2)O). In the K(I) complex 2, crystallized from water, the two Zr(IV) ions are 3.5973(4) A apart and bridged via two alkoxo groups (average Zr-O 2.165 A). Each Zr(IV) is eight-coordinate and also bound to two N atoms (average Zr-N 2.448 A), and four carboxylate O atoms (average Zr-O 2.148 A). The two dhpta ligands in the dinuclear unit have different conformations. One face of the complex contains an array of 14 oxygen atoms and interacts strongly with the two K(I) ions, one of which is 6-coordinate, the other 8-coordinate, which are 3.922(4) A apart and bridged by a carboxylate O and by two water molecules. The structures of the dinuclear anion [Zr(2)(dhpta)(2)](2-) in the Na(I) complex 3 and in the Cs(I) complex 4 are essentially identical to that found in complex 2, although the alkali metal ions coordinate differently to the oxygen-rich face. All Zr(IV) ions have a distorted triangulated dodecahedral geometry. Although the crystal structure of complex 2 does not indicate the presence of acidic protons, in 4 an [H(5)O(2)](+) unit is strongly H-bonded to an oxygen atom of a coordinated carboxylate group. 1D and 2D (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopic and potentiometric studies reveal two deprotonations with pK(a) values of 9.0 and 10.0. At low pH, two carboxylate groups appear to undergo protonation accompanied by chelate ring-opening, and the complex exhibits dynamic fluxional behavior in which the two magnetically nonequivalent dhpta ligands exchange at a rate of 11 s(-1) at pH 3.30, 298 K, as determined from 2D EXSY NMR studies. Ligand interchange is not observed at high pH (>11). The same crystals of complex 2 were obtained from solutions at pH 3 or 12. The dynamic configurational change is therefore mediated by the aqueous solvent.     

Inclusion complexes of spin-labeled indoles with cyclodextrins in aqueous solutions

Guest-host complexes of β- and γ-cyclodextrins (CDs) with two spin-labeled indole derivatives having the same molecular weights but different structures were studied by EPR spectroscopy in aqueous solutions and semiempirical quantum-chemical calculations of these systems were carried out. In the presence of CD the polarity of the NO group environment decreases and the rotational correlation time (τ) of guest molecules increases. Both indole derivatives form 1 : 1 complexes with γ-CD, the binding constants of the complexes being different more than twice. Simulation of EPR spectra made it possible to determine the indole ring orientation relative to the plane of the host molecule (at angles in the range 30–60°) and the rotational diffusion coefficients of the complexes, which corresponded to the hydrodynamic volume of one γ-CD molecule. In contrast to the complexes with γ-CD the rotational correlation times, τ, of the complexes with β-CD correspond to a hydrodynamic volume which much exceeds the volume of a single β-CD molecule. The complexes with β-CD are also characterized by more hydrophobic environment for guest molecules and absence of spin exchange with Ni²⁺ ions in the aqueous solution. There results are consistent with a dimeric structure of β-CD in the complex and with the orientation of the long axis of the guest molecule along the dimer axis. The energies and geometric parameters were calculated for all complexes by the PM3 method with a conventional set of parameters. The optimized energetically stable structures of the 1 : 1 complexes with γ-CD and of the 1 : 2 complexes with β-CD are consistent with experimental data. __________ Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 1139–1147, May, 2005.     

Photolysis of aqueous solutions of lead thiosulfate thiourea complexes

Photolysis of aqueous solutions of lead thiosulfate thiourea complexes by the action light from a mercury lamp (λ = 253.7 nm) was investigated. The optimal conditions for photolysis of the photosensitive compounds were found. The kinetic parameters for the buildup of photolytic PbS formed on a paper substrate were determined. The morphology of PbS particles was studied by means of microscopic analysis.