Electrocatalytic Reduction of Dioxygen on the Surface of Glassy Carbon Electrodes Modified with Cobalt Porphyrin Complexes

The preparation and electrocatalytic behavior of glassy carbon electrodes modified with three different cobalt porphyrin complexes were investigated. The electrocatalytic ability of the modified electrodes for the reduction of dioxygen to hydrogen peroxide and water in air‐saturated aqueous solutions was examined by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry techniques. The porphyrin‐adsorbed glassy carbon electrodes possess excellent electrocatalytic abilities for dioxygen reduction with overpotential about 0.5 V lower than that at a plain glassy carbon electrode. The experimental parameters were optimized and the mechanism of the catalytic process was discussed. The possible effects of the electron‐donating properties of groups in the meso‐position of the porphyrin ring were investigated.     

Mechanism of deleading of silicate glass by 0.5 N HNO3

Mechanism of removal of lead from silicate glass containing 68.5 wt% PbO by 0.5 N HNO₃ was investigated by incorporation of the chemical-analyses/weight-loss data into shrinking-core model (SCM) and minimization of the difference. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma (ICP), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS) were used to determine the compositional changes of the lead-silicate glass (LSG) samples. Dual inter-diffusion chemical reaction mechanisms having respective activation energies of 83.49 and 47.80 kJ/mol dominated the deleading process.     

Surfactant-Free Hydrothermal Synthesis of Mesoporous Niobia Samples and Their Photoinduced Decomposition of Terephthalic Acid (TPA)

This study introduces a low temperature surfactant-free hydrothermal method to synthesize mesoporous Nb₂O₅ photocatalysts using NbCl₅ and H₂O₂ as precursors that are subsequently calcinated at 300, 400 and 450 °C and are assigned as mNb₂O₅-300, mNb₂O₅-400 and mNb₂O₅-450, respectively. Commercial niobia sample was used as reference sample for comparison purpose. All of materials were characterized by XRD, SEM, UV–Vis DRS, FTIR, TG/DTG and BET techniques. The synthesized Nb₂O₅ particles especially mNb₂O₅-300 sample shows a high surface area (240 m²/g), a large pore volume (0.21 cm³/g) and an identifying morphology of these features. Photocatalytic decomposition of terephthalic acid was evaluated using UV–Vis spectrophotometer. The photocatalytic reactions followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with an apparent rate constant of k = 105 × 10^?3 min^?1 for mNb₂O₅-300 sample with the highest activity among all samples at natural pH (pH = 6). Meanwhile, it was observed that optimum pH of 4 resulted in fast photocatalytic reaction for mNb₂O₅-300 sample.     

Cold column trapping-cloud point extraction coupled to high performance liquid chromatography for preconcentration and determination of curcumin in human urine

A cold column trapping-cloud point extraction (CCT-CPE) method coupled to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed for preconcentration and determination of curcumin in human urine. A nonionic surfactant, Triton X-100, was used as the extraction medium. In the proposed method, a low surfactant concentration of 0.4% v/v and a short heating time of only 2 min at 70 °C were sufficient for quantitative extraction of the analyte. For the separation of the extraction phase, the resulted cloudy solution was passed through a packed trapping column that was cooled to 0 °C. The temperature of the CCT column was then increased to 25 °C and the surfactant rich phase was desorbed with 400 μL ethanol to be directly injected into HPLC for the analysis. The effects of different variables such as pH, surfactant concentration, cloud point temperature and time were investigated and optimum conditions were established by a central composite design (response surface) method. A limit of detection of 0.066 mg L⁻¹ curcumin and a linear range of 0.22–100 mg L⁻¹ with a determination coefficient of 0.9998 were obtained for the method. The average recovery and relative standard deviation for six replicated analysis were 101.0% and 2.77%, respectively. The CCT-CPE technique was faster than a conventional CPE method requiring a lower concentration of the surfactant and lower temperatures with no need for the centrifugation. The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of curcumin in human urine samples.     

Influence of growth phase on the essential oil composition and antimicrobial activities of Satureja hortensis

The variations in quantity and quality of essential oils (EOs) from the aerial parts of cultivated Satureja hortensis were determined at different stages of harvesting. The EOs of air-dried samples were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The antimicrobial activity of the EOs was investigated by broth microdilution methods. The amount of EOs (w/w, %) were 2.3, 2.5, 2.0, and 1.8% at floral budding, full flowering, immature fruit, and ripened fruit stages, respectively. gamma-Terpinene was the major compound of the EO at all developmental stages, except the ripened fruit stage when it was replaced by carvacrol (46.4%). The EOs exhibited strong antibacterial activities against the tested bacteria. Moreover, the EOs either inhibited or killed the examined yeasts at concentrations ranging from 0.03-8.0 microL/mL. Considering the wide range of antimicrobial activities of the examined EOs, they might have potential to be used in the management of infective agents.     

Molecular simulation of protein dynamics in nanopores. I. Stability and folding

Discontinuous molecular dynamics simulations, together with the protein intermediate resolution model, an intermediate-resolution model of proteins, are used to carry out several microsecond-long simulations and study folding transition and stability of alpha-de novo-designed proteins in slit nanopores. Both attractive and repulsive interaction potentials between the proteins and the pore walls are considered. Near the folding temperature T(f) and in the presence of the attractive potential, the proteins undergo a repeating sequence of folding/partially folding/unfolding transitions, with T(f) decreasing with decreasing pore sizes. The unfolded states may even be completely adsorbed on the pore's walls with a negative potential energy. In such pores the energetic effects dominate the entropic effects. As a result, the unfolded state is stabilized, with a folding temperature T(f) which is lower than its value in the bulk and that, compared with the bulk, the folding rate decreases. The opposite is true in the presence of a repulsive interaction potential between the proteins and the walls. Moreover, for short proteins in very tight pores with attractive walls, there exists an unfolded state with only one alpha-helical hydrogen bond and an energy nearly equal to that of the folded state. The proteins have, however, high entropies, implying that they cannot fold onto their native structure, whereas in the presence of repulsive walls the proteins do attain their native structure. There is a pronounced asymmetry between the two termini of the protein with respect to their interaction with the pore walls. The effect of a variety of factors, including the pore size and the proteins' length, as well as the temperature, is studied in detail.     

Synthesis and characterization of 2-phenylaniline cyclopalladated complexes

Reaction of the dinuclear complex [Pd{κ2-N2′,C1-2-(2′-NH₂C₆H₄)C₆H₄}Cl]₂ (1) with ligands (L = 4-picoline, sym-collidine) gave the six-membered palladacycles [Pd{κ2-N2′,C1-2-(2′-NH₂C₆H₄)C₆H₄}Cl(L)] (2). The complex 1 reacted with AgX (X = CF₃SO₃, BF₄) and bidentate ligands [L–L = phen (phenanthroline), dppe (bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane), bipy(2,2′-bipyridine) and dppp (bis(diphenylphosphino)propane)] giving the mononuclear orthopalladated complexes [Pd{κ2-N2′,C1-2-(2′-NH₂C₆H₄)C₆H₄}(L–L)] (3) [L–L = phen, dppe, bipy and dppp]. These compounds were characterized by physico-chemical methods, and the structure of [Pd{κ2-N2′,C1-2-(2′-NH₂C₆H₄)C₆H₄}Cl(L)] (L = sym-collidine) was determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis.     

Nanofluid flow and MHD mixed convection inside a vertical annulus with moving walls and transpiration considering the effect of Brownian motion and shape factor

In the present study, the exact solution of a nanofluid flow and mixed convection within a vertical cylindrical annulus with suction/injection, which is adjacent to the radial magnetic field, is presented with regard to the motion of cylinders’ walls. The impact of Brownian motion and shape factor on the thermal state of CuO–water nanofluid is also considered. The influence of such parameters as Hartmann number, mixed convection parameter, suction/injection, volume fraction of nanoparticles and motion of cylinders’ walls on flow and heat transfer is probed. The results show that the shape of the nanoparticles could change the thermal behavior of the nanofluid and when the nanoparticles are used in the shape of a platelet, the highest Nusselt number is obtained (about 2.5% increasement of Nusselt number on internal cylinders’ wall comparison to spherical shape). The results shed light on the fact that if, for example, the external cylinder is stationary and the internal cylinder moves in the direction of z axis, the maximum and minimum heat transfer take place on the walls of internal and external cylinders, respectively (for η?=?300, about 15% increasement of Nusselt number on internal cylinders’ wall). Furthermore, the enhancement of radius ratio between two cylinders increases the rate of heat transfer and decreases the shear stress on the internal cylinder’s wall.

     

Substituent Effect on the Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Carbyne Complex [(η5-C5H5)(CO)(COMe)Re≡CC6H4X] Isomerization to Carbene Complex [(η5-C5H5)(CO)2Re=C(Me)(para-C6H4X]: A Theoretical Study

Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A - This study investigates the effect of different substituents on the isomerization reaction of the [(η5‑C5H5)(CO)(Me)Re≡CC6H5] carbyne...     

Preparation of a trihydrazinotriazine-functionalized core-shell nanocatalyst as an extremely efficient catalyst for the synthesis of benzoxanthenes

In recent years, there is a high demand on utilizing heterogeneous nanocatalysts in organic synthetic routes because of their green approach, facile purification of the products, and reusability of the catalyst. Herein, we introduced trihydrazinotriazine (THDT)-coated Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ as a novel amino-functionalized magnetic nanocompostie. We fully characterized the nanocatalyst and proved the morphology and magnetic property of the nanoparticles by using essential analyses. The basic attribute of the amino-rich porous surface of the nanocomposite provides a desirable environment for enhancing various reaction conditions. To examine the applicability of the nanocatalyst in organic reactions, we synthesized several benzoxanthenes using Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-THDT nanocatalysts. The nanocomposite successfully improved the reaction conditions and provided the benzoxanthenes in an environmentally friendly procedure, which afforded product in excellent yields (80–96%) and reduced time. The nanomagnetic catalyst was easily recovered after each trial by using an external magnet. After six successive runs, the loss of catalytic activity of the nanocomposite was negligible. Finally, we propounded a plausible mechanism for the preparation of the benzoxanthenes derivatives using the THDT-functionalized core-shell magnetic nanocatalyst.