Synthesis and characterization of the azido-bound five-coordinate high-spin iron(II) “picket fence” porphyrin complex

An Fe(II)-azido five-coordinate picket fence porphyrin complex with the formula [Na(2,2,2-crypt)][Fe^II(TpivPP)(N₃)] · 3C₆H₅Cl (TpivPP = α,α,α,α-tetrakis(o-pivalamidophenyl)porphinato, known as a picket fence porphyrin, and 2,2,2-crypt is the cryptand-222) has been synthesized and characterized. The synthesis utilizes cryptand-222 to solubilize sodium azide in the preparation procedure. The UV–Vis and IR spectroscopic data are consistent with an azido ferrous porphyrinate. The X-ray structural analysis and the Mössbauer results indicate that the ion complex [Fe^II(TpivPP)(N₃)]⁻ is high-spin and has the (d_xy)²(d_xz)¹(d_yz)¹(d_z2)¹(d_x2-y2)¹$({\text{d}}_{\mathit{xy}}{)}^2({\text{d}}_{\mathit{xz}}{)}^1({\text{d}}_{\mathit{yz}}{)}^1({\text{d}}_{z^2}{)}^1({\text{d}}_{x^2-y^2}{)}^1$ ground state electronic configuration.     

Iron organic speciation determination in rainwater using cathodic stripping voltammetry

A sensitive method using Competitive Ligand Exchange-Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry (CLE-ACSV) has been developed to determine for the first time iron (Fe) organic speciation in rainwater over the typical natural range of pH. We have adapted techniques previously developed in other natural waters to rainwater samples, using the competing ligand 1-nitroso-2-naphthol (NN). The blank was equal to 0.17 ± 0.05 nM (n = 14) and the detection limit (DL) for labile Fe was 0.15 nM which is 10–70 times lower than that of previously published methods. The conditional stability constant for NN under rainwater conditions was calibrated over the pH range 5.52–6.20 through competition with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The calculated value of the logarithm of β^′_Fe3+(NN)3${{\beta }^{\prime }}_{{\text{Fe}}^{3+}{(\text{NN})}_3}$ increased linearly with increasing pH according to log β^′_Fe3+(NN)3=2.4±0.6×pH+11.9±3.5$\text{log}{{\beta }^{\prime }}_{{\text{Fe}}^{3+}{(\text{NN})}_3}=2.4\pm 0.6\times \text{pH}+11.9\pm 3.5$ (salinity = 2.9, T = 20 °C). The validation of the method was carried out using desferrioxamine mesylate B (DFOB) as a natural model ligand for Fe. Adequate detection windows were defined to detect this class of ligands in rainwater with 40 μM of NN from pH 5.52 to 6.20. The concentration of Fe-complexing natural ligands was determined for the first time in three unfiltered and one filtered rainwater samples. Organic Fe-complexing ligand concentrations varied from 104.2 ± 4.1 nM equivalent of Fe(III) to 336.2 ± 19.0 nM equivalent of Fe(III) and the logarithm of the conditional stability constants, with respect to Fe³⁺, varied from 21.1 ± 0.2 to 22.8 ± 0.3. This method will provide important data for improving our understanding of the role of wet deposition in the biogeochemical cycling of iron.     

Synthesis,spectral characterization and crystal structure of copper(II) complexes of 2-hydroxyacetophenone-N(4)-phenyl semicarbazone

Six new copper(II) complexes of 2-hydroxyacetophenone-N(4)-phenyl semicarbazone have been synthesized and physico-chemically characterized. The tridentate character of the semicarbazone is inferred from IR spectra. Based on EPR studies, the spin Hamiltonian and bonding parameters have been calculated. The g   values, calculated for all the complexes in frozen DMF, indicate the presence of the unpaired electron in the d_x2-y2${\text{d}}_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital. The metal–ligand bonding parameters evaluated showed strong in-plane σ and in-plane π-bonding. The structure of the compound, CuLphen has been resolved using single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The crystal structure revealed a monoclinic lattice with space group symmetry P2₁/c. The compound adopts a distorted square pyramidal geometry with a N₂O₂ core as the base.     

A ratiometric chemodosimeter for highly selective naked-eye and fluorogenic detection of cyanide

A simple indole-based chemosensor (1) with a very low molecular weight of 207 g mol⁻¹ has been synthesized for the highly reactive and selective detection of CN⁻ in aqueous media, even in the presence of other anions, such as F⁻, Cl⁻, Br⁻, AcO⁻, S₂⁻${{\mathrm{S}}_2}^{-}$, SCN⁻, NO₂⁻${{\text{NO}}_2}^{-}$, NO₃⁻${{\text{NO}}_3}^{-}$, CO₃⁻${{\text{CO}}_3}^{-}$, BzO⁻, H₂PO₄⁻${{\mathrm{H}}_2{\text{PO}}_4}^{-}$, and HSO₄⁻${{\text{HSO}}_4}^{-}$. The sensor achieves rapid detection of cyanide anion in 2 min, and the pseudo-first-order rate constant is estimated as 1.576 min⁻¹. The colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent response of the sensor to CN⁻ is attributable to the addition of CN⁻ to the electron-deficient dicyanovinyl group of 1, which prevents intramolecular charge transfer. The sensing mechanism is supported by density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory calculations. Moreover, sensor 1 exhibits both high accuracy in determining the concentration of CN⁻ in real samples and 1-based test strips can conveniently detect CN⁻ without any additional equipment. The detection limit of the sensor 1 (1.1 μM) for cyanide is lower than the maximum permissible level of CN⁻ (1.9 μM) in drinking water.     

Intercalation of quantum dots as the new signal acquisition and amplification platform for sensitive electrochemiluminescent detection of microRNA

Herein, we report on the development of a simple and sensitive biosensor for electrochemiluminescent (ECL) detection of microRNAs (miRNA) based on the intercalation of doxorubicin-conjugated quantum dot nanoparticles (Dox-QDs) into the DNA/RNA hybrids as the new signal acquisition and amplification platform. The thiolated DNA capture probes are self-assembled onto gold electrodes via   the formation of Au–S bonds. The sensing surface is then incubated in a target miRNA-containing buffer solution to form the double-stranded duplexes. In this case, massive Dox-QDs can intercalate into the base pairs of the hybrid duplexes, resulting in amplified ECL emissions due to their reactions with the coreactant S₂O₈²⁻${{\text{S}}_2{\text{O}}_8}^{2-}$ and the dissolved oxygen in the detection buffer. The increase in ECL intensity proportional to the amount of target miRNA in the testing samples serves as the quantitative basis. Different from traditional QDs-based methods such as labeling and embedding, our sensor involves the employment of the intercalation of the Dox-QDs as the signal acquisition and amplification platform. The combination of the QDs intercalation amplification with the high sensitivity of the ECL technique enables us to detect miRNA down to the low femtomolar level. Moreover, our method is also coupled with acceptable selectivity in discriminating the target miRNA and against its family members as well as other interference sequence, and can monitor miRNAs from human prostate carcinoma (22Rv1) cell lysates.     

Thermodynamic properties of the ternary system {yNH4Cl + (1 − y)MgCl2} (aq) at 298.15 K

The mixture {yNH₄Cl + (1 − y)MgCl₂} (aq) has been studied using the hygrometric method at the temperature 298.15 K. The water activities are measured at total molalities from 0.30 mol kg⁻¹ up to saturation for different ionic strength fractions y of NH₄Cl with y = 0.20, 0.50 and 0.80. The obtained data allow the deduction of osmotic coefficients. Experimental results are compared with the calculations using the models of Zdanovskii–Stokes–Robinson, Kusik and Meissner, Robinson and Stokes, Lietzke and Stoughton, Reilly–Wood and Robinson and Pitzer. Thermodynamic properties have been modeled using the Pitzer ion-interaction model with inclusion of an ionic strength dependence of the third virial coefficient for the binary systems. From these measurements and the obtained binary parameters β⁽⁰⁾, β⁽¹⁾, C⁽⁰⁾ and C⁽¹⁾, the mixing ionic parameters θNH₄Mg${\theta }_{\text{N}{\text{H}}_4\text{Mg}}$ and ψNH₄MgCl${\psi }_{\text{N}{\text{H}}_4\text{MgCl}}$ are determined by the standard Pitzer model. The results show that a good accuracy is obtained with the standard Pitzer model using extended binary parameters. The parameters θNH₄Mg${\theta }_{\text{N}{\text{H}}_4\text{Mg}}$ and ψNH₄MgCl${\psi }_{\text{N}{\text{H}}_4\text{MgCl}}$ were used for evaluation of activity coefficients in the mixture. The excess Gibbs energy is also determined.     

Dynamic polymer membranes displaying tunable transport properties on constitutional exchange

Functional dynamic polymers, “dynamers”, are used to design new membrane materials. Our efforts involve the synthesis and the fabrication of dynamic thin-layer supported solid membrane films. The transport performances of (permeability, selectivity and partition coefficients) are evaluated by using the solution-diffusion model. The membrane performances designed to transport ionic salts NaCl and KCl depend and are based on encoded molecular features of the monomeric subcomponents. Thanks to the possibility to combine the structural and functional features of different monomers, the heteropolymeric membrane materials can exhibit very different properties from their original homopolymeric components. In the examples developed here, this strategy revealed itself as a versatile way for the synthesis of new membranes presenting different permeabilities and preserving their selectivity (SK_+/Na₊∼1.4)$(S_{{\text{K}}^{+}/\text{N}{\text{a}}^{+}}\sim 1.4)$.