Use of organofunctionalized nanoporous silica gel to improve the lifetime of carbon paste electrode for determination of copper(II) ions

A new functionalized nanoporous silica gel with dipyridyl group (DPNSG) was synthesized. Then, the potentiometric response of the copper(II) ion was investigated at a carbon paste electrode chemically modified with this newly designed functionalized nanoporous silica gel. The electrodes with DPNSG proportions of 15.0% (w/w) demonstrated very stable potentials. Calibration plots with Nernstian slopes for Cu²⁺ were observed, 28.4 (±1.0) mV decade⁻¹, over a wide linear concentration range (1.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.0 × 10⁻² M). The electrode exhibited a detection limit of 8.0 × 10⁻⁸ M. Moreover, the selectivity coefficients measured by the match potential method in acetate buffer, pH 5.5, were investigated. The electrode presented a response time of ∼50 s, high performance, high sensitivity in a wide range of cation activities and good long-term stability (more than 9 months). The method was satisfactory and was used to determine the copper ion concentration in waste waters, contaminated by this metal.     

Charge separation by tetrahexahedron-SrTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript>/TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> heterojunction as an efficient photocatalyst

Charge separation plays a key role in the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy for use in the redox reaction and as well as in the photocatalytic activity. In this study, SrTiO₃ particles with different morphologies including irregular, tetrahexahedron, and cube were synthesized by an in situ solvothermal method. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized nanoparticles was investigated in the photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue under UV light irradiation. Tetrahexahedron SrTiO₃ particles exhibited high decomposition activity (70 %), which is about two times higher than those of the irregular and cubic SrTiO₃ particles. The high decomposition activity of tetrahexahedron SrTiO₃ particles could be attributed to the improvement of charge separation achieved on different crystal facets. To reach a good charge separation, tetrahexahedron SrTiO₃/TiO₂ coupled nanoparticles were fabricated by impregnation method. Results showed that coupling tetrahexahedron SrTiO₃ with TiO₂ could produce efficient charge separation between tetrahexahedron SrTiO₃ and TiO₂ due to their matched band edges. In order to achieve better charge separation, the tetrahexahedron SrTiO₃/90 %TiO₂ sample was calcined at different temperatures in the 450–750 °C range. Tetrahexahedron SrTiO₃/90 %TiO₂ coupled nanoparticles calcined at 650 °C show high photocatalytic activity compared with other samples. The prepared samples were characterized by using various techniques such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, photoluminescence emission spectra, and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.     

Fluidized-bed Fenton-like oxidation of a textile dye using natural magnetite

Degradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) as a model azo dye was investigated in a recirculating pilot fluidized-bed reactor by a Fenton-like process using natural magnetite (NM) and potassium persulfate (K₂S₂O₈). Scanning electron microscopy was performed to characterize the magnetite sample. The heterogeneous Fenton-like process (NM/\({\text{S}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{8}^{2 - }\)) is a modified method owing to its enhanced mass transfer. It can be operated reliably and simply by reducing the produced iron oxide sludge in the conventional Fenton process. Degradation efficiency (DE %) of AO7 by NM/ \({\text{S}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{8}^{2 - }\) process was affected by operational parameters. The DE % of 75 % was obtained for the AO7 treatment (15 mg/L) at the desired conditions, such as pH 5, 0.2 mM \({\text{S}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{8}^{2 - }\), and 0.5 g/L NM after 120 min of reaction time. The dye degradation rate in all the experiments followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic with high correlation coefficients (R ² ≥ 0.98). The low released iron concentration, successive reusability at milder pH and the recirculation mode with the proper mixing are the significant advantages of the NM/\({\text{S}}_{2} {\text{O}}_{8}^{2 - }\) process.     

A comparative MP2 study between water- and acid-assisted proton transfer: allophanic acid as a case of study

Electronic structures of allophanic acid were studied using MP2/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. Five most stable tautomers were selected and stability of them was studied in detail. Obtained data showed that tautomer 1 having hydrogen atom in the central nitrogen N3 and also in a trans conformation of carbonyl and amino functional groups becomes the most stable one. Then, interconversion of these tautomers to each other was investigated step by step through internal rotation and proton transfer routes. Results indicated that movement of protons determines rate-determining step of all paths A–E. Effects of different solvents were carefully surveyed for each tautomer, and among investigated solvents, water made slight stabilization. Activation barrier for proton exchange assisted by one water molecule and one formic acid molecule was also studied, separately. Both molecules had a great influence on lowering barrier especially for proton transfer routes. Comparative MP2 study showed that the barrier will be lowered much more when acid-assisted proton exchange takes place.     

Diastereoselective synthesis of novel <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-substituted pyrrolidine-2-one containing piperazine derivatives

Synthesis of novel hybrid derivatives of two known scaffolds, pyrrolidine-2-one and piperazine, is described. Initially, the Ugi reaction of phenylglyoxal, aromatic amines, coumarin-3-carboxylic acid and isocyanides in methanol resulted in the formation of dihydrochromeno[3,4-c]pyrrole-3,4-diones. The obtained products were then treated with N-alkylpiperazines in dichloromethane to afford the novel N-substituted pyrrolidine-2-one containing piperazine derivatives in satisfactory yields. The proof of the structures was carried out by means of spectroscopic information and X-ray crystallography.     

Chiral separation of three agrochemical toxins enantiomers by high-performance liquid chromatography on a vancomycin crystalline degradation products-chiral stationary phase

This work aims to evaluate for the enantiomeric separations of three agrochemical toxins: haloxyfop-methyl, fenoxaprop-p-ethyl and indoxacarb on crystalline degradation products-chiral stationary phase (CDP-CSP) of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) under normal and polar organic phases. In the normal phase, the mobile phase was n-hexane with alcohols including methanol and isopropanol as polar modifiers. In the polar organic phase mode, the mobile phase was methanol with different percentages of triethylammunium acetate. The influence of flow rate (0.3-0.9 mL/min), analyte concentration and silica gel particle sizes (10, 15 and 30 microm) was investigated. This new chiral stationary phase showed excellent stereoselectivity for the two enantiomers of haloxyfop-methyl and fenoxaprop-p-ethyl and chiral recognition for indoxacarb under normal-phase mode. However, under polar organic phase, only indoxacarb was separated (alpha < 1.5). The chromatographic results were compared with commercial chiral columns.     

HPLC Determination of Letrozole in Plasma Using Fluorescence Detection: Application to Pharmacokinetic Studies

A simple, rapid and sensitive HPLC method has been developed and validated for the analysis of letrozole in human plasma. The separation was achieved on a monolithic silica column using acetonitrile–phosphate buffer. A fluorescence detector was used for the quantitation with excitation and emission wavelengths at 230 and 295 nm. The assay enables the measurement of letrozole for therapeutic drug monitoring with a minimum quantification limit (LOQ) of 0.5 ng mL^?1. The method involves a simple, one-step extraction procedure with complete recovery. Calibration was linear over the concentration range 0.5–80 ng mL^?1. The coefficients of variation for inter-day and intra-day assay were found to be less than 8%.     

Synthesis and structural characterization of ferrocene-based bis(pyrazol-1-yl)borate ligands: FcB(Me)pz2K, Fc2Bpz2K, and 1,1′-fc[B(Me)pz2]2K2 (Fc: ferrocenyl, fc: ferrocenylene, pz: pyrazolyl)

Reaction of the ferrocenyl(dimethylamino)boranes FcB(Me)NMe₂, Fc₂BNMe₂, and 1,1′-fc[B(Me)NMe₂]₂ with 1:1 mixtures of pyrazole and potassium pyrazolide in refluxing THF gave the potassium salts of the ferrocene-based bis(pyrazol-1-yl)borate ligands FcB(Me)pz₂K, Fc₂Bpz₂K, and 1,1′-fc[B(Me)pz₂]₂K₂ in good yield (Fc: ferrocenyl, fc: ferrocenylene, pz: pyrazolyl). In the solid state, FcB(Me)pz₂K and Fc₂Bpz₂K form centrosymmetric dimers with short K?Cp contacts suggesting an η⁵ coordination mode of the potassium ion. The crystal lattice of the ditopic ligand 1,1′-fc[B(Me)pz₂]₂K₂ consists of coordination polymer strands featuring essentially the same structural motif that has been observed for the monotopic derivatives. All three scorpionate ligands are thus promising building blocks for the preparation of ferrocene-containing multiple-decker sandwich complexes.