Synthetic Receptors with Micromolar Affinity for Chloride in Water

A water-soluble coordination cage was obtained by reaction of Pd(NO₃)₂ with a 1,3-di(pyridin-3-yl)benzene ligand featuring a short PEG chain. The cavity of the metal-organic cage contains one nitrate anion, which is readily replaced by chloride. The apparent association constant for chloride binding in buffered aqueous solution is K_a=1.8(±0.1)×10⁵ M⁻¹. This value is significantly higher than what has been reported for other macrocyclic chloride receptors. The heavier halides Br⁻ and I⁻ compete with binding or self-assembly, but the receptor displays very good selectivity over common anions such as phosphate, acetate, carbonate, and sulfate. A further increase of the chloride binding affinity by a factor of 3 was achieved using a fluorinated dipyridyl ligand.     

Copper Complexes with Diazoolefin Ligands and their Photochemical Conversion into Alkenylidene Complexes

Homometallic copper complexes with alkenylidene ligands are discussed as intermediates in catalysis but the isolation of such complexes has remained elusive. Herein, we report the structural characterization of copper complexes with bridging and terminal alkenylidene ligands. The compounds were obtained by irradiation of Cu^I complexes with N-heterocyclic diazoolefin ligands. The complex with a terminal alkenylidene ligand required isolation in a crystalline matrix, and its structural characterization was enabled by in crystallo photolysis at low temperature.     

Deep eutectic solvent-based modified quick,easy, cheap,effective, rugged,and safe extraction combined with solidification of floating organic droplet-dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction of some pesticides from canola oil followed by gas chromatography analysis

Herein, a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction was developed based on deep eutectic solvent for the extraction of several pesticides from canola oil samples. In this work, first, different sorbents were selected to remove the sample interferences, and the composition of the sorbents was optimized by simplex centroid design. The extracted analytes were more concentrated by solidification of floating deep eutectic solvent droplet-dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction. Low limits of detection (0.15–0.23 ng/g) and quantification (0.49–0.76 ng/g), high extraction recoveries (74–87%) and enrichment factors (224–263), and good repeatability (relative standard deviation equal to or less than 5.1 and 4.7% for intra- and interday precisions, respectively) were achieved using the proposed method. The suggested approach was used for the quantification of the analytes in different canola oil samples. Additionally, the effects of microwave irradiations exposure and sonication in decontamination of the samples were evaluated. In this method, there was no need for centrifugation and toxic solvents. Also, effective extraction of the analytes and minimizing interferences were achieved through the use of various sorbents.     

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.     

Surfactant-assisted transport of lead ion through a bulk liquid membrane containing dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6: efficient removal of lead from blood serum and sea water

The selective and efficient surfactant assisted transport of Pb²⁺ ions using a bulk liquid membrane composed of dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6, as a highly selective carrier, in chloroform solution is reported. In the presence of 6.0 × 10^?2 M P₂O₇ ^4? ions and 10^?3 M sodium dodecylsulfate, as suitable stripping agent and membrane/receiving phase interface modifier, respectively, in the receiving phase and 2.4 × 10^?3 M picric acid, as a counter ion in the source phase, the amount of lead transported across the liquid membrane after 5 h is 100.0 ± 1.1. The designed transport system was successfully applied to the removal of lead from sea water and blood serum samples.     

Density functional theory study of the Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectra of Cu(II) bis-acetylacetone

Fourier transform infrared and Fourier transform Raman spectra of Cu(II) bis-acetylacetone have been obtained. The geometry, frequency and intensity of the vibrational bands of this compound and its 1,5-(13)C(2), 3-(13)C, 1,3,5-(13)C(3), 2,4-(13)C(2), (18)O(2) and 2,4-(13)C(2)-(18)O(2) derivatives were obtained by the density functional theory (DFT) with the B3LYP functional and using the 6-31G(*) and 3-21G(*) basis sets. The calculated frequencies are compared with the solid infrared and Raman spectra. All the measured infrared and Raman bands were interpreted in terms of the calculated vibrational modes. The percentage of deviation of the bond lengths and bond angles gives a good picture of the normal modes, and serves as a basis for the assignment of the wavenumbers. Most computed bands are predicted to be at higher wavenumbers than the experimental bands. The calculated geometrical parameters show slight differences compared with the experimental results. These differences can be explained by the different physical state of Cu(II) bis-acetylacetone. The DFT-B3LYP calculations assumed a free molecule in the gas phase. Analysis of the vibrational spectra indicates a strong coupling between the chelated ring modes.     

Immobilized Vanadium Histidine and Tryptophan Schiff Base Complexes on Modified Magnetite Nanoparticles as Epoxidation Catalyst

In this study, magnetically recoverable vanadium complexs designated as VO(Sal-Tryp)/AmpSCMNPs and VO(Sal-His)/AmpSCMNPs were prepared through immobilization of Schiff bases of histidine or tryptophan with salicylaldehyde on the surface of modified silica coated iron oxide magnetite nanoparticles with (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane as aminopropyl (Amp) spacer followed by complexation with VOSO₄. Characterization was carried out by chemical analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, XRD, scanning electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques. VO(Sal-Tryp)/AmpSCMNPs and VO(Sal-His)/AmpSCMNP were found to catalyze the epoxidation of allyl alcohols and olefins with tert-butyl hydroperoxide with excellent conversions and selectivities. Investigation of the stability and reusability revealed the heterogeneity character of the catalyst with no desorption during the course of epoxidation reactions. High yields, clean reactions, easily catalyst separation and recyclability of the solid catalyst are some advantages of this method.     

Application of microcrystalline cellulose as an efficient and cheap sorbent for the extraction of metoprolol from plasma and wastewater before HPLC–MS/MS determination

A dispersive solid-phase extraction method based on a new sorbent has been performed on plasma and wastewater samples to determine metoprolol by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. In this study, the analyte was adsorbed from the samples onto microcrystalline cellulose as a green and efficient sorbent and then eluted for use in the determination step. In the mass spectrometer, the analyte was detected in the positive mode and selectivity of the analysis was increased by sequential mass analysis through multiple reaction monitoring. All of the effective parameters in the extraction of metoprolol from plasma and wastewater were optimized. Under optimal conditions the method was linear in the ranges of 1–1,000 and 0.1–1,000 ng/ml in plasma and wastewater samples, respectively. The detection limits of the method were 0.30 and 0.03 ng/ml in plasma and wastewater samples, respectively. The data showed that the method provides low detection limit, wide linear range, good precision and high extraction recovery. Finally several plasma and wastewater samples were successfully analyzed using the method. The use of a small amount of a green and inexpensive sorbent and a low volume of plasma without the need for further pretreatment steps are the main advantages of the method.