Organotin compounds: an ionophore system for fluoride ion recognition

Ion-selective properties were established for membrane electrodes prepared by using organotin compounds of type (L^CNRSnF₂)_n, (R = n-Bu (I), = Ph (II)) and (L^CNSnF₃)_n (III) (L^CN = C₆H₄(CH₂NMe₂)-2). Electrodes formulated with the optimized membranes containing the organotin compounds I-III as ionophores and sodium tetraphenylborate (10-30%) exhibited high selectivity for fluoride over other anions. An electrode prepared with ionophore II using dibutyl phthalate as the plasticizer and 15% sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) as anion additive, possesses the best potentiometric response characteristics. It shows a detection limit of 7.9 × 10⁻⁷ M with a slope of 62.7 mV decade⁻¹ of activity in buffer solutions of pH 5.5. The interference from other anions is suppressed under this optimized measurement conditions. An entirely non-Hofmeister selectivity sequence (F⁻ > CH₃COO⁻ > Cl⁻ > I⁻ ∼ Br⁻ >ClO₄⁻ > NO₂⁻ > NO₃⁻ > SCN⁻) with remarkable preference towards fluoride is obtained. The influence on the electrode performances by anion additive was studied, and the possible response mechanism was investigated by UV-vis spectra. The electrode has been used for direct determination of fluoride in drinking mineral water with satisfactory results.     

Volumetric studies of some electrolytes in water and in aqueous sodium dodecylsulfate solutions at different temperatures

Abstract  

The apparent molar volumes (φ _v) of KCl, KNO₃, MgCl₂, and Mg(NO₃)₂ have been determined in water and in aqueous sodium dodecylsulfate solutions from density measurements at 303.15, 308.15, 313.15, 318.15, and 323.15 K. The limiting apparent molar volumes (j_v⁰ \varphi_{v}^{0} ) and experimental slopes (S _v) were derived from the Masson equation. The partial molar volume transfer (\Updelta [`(V)]<sub>\texttr</sub> ) (\Updelta {\bar{V}}_{\text{tr}} ) of the electrolytes were obtained from limiting apparent molar volume data from water to aqueous sodium dodecylsulfate solutions and have been interpreted in terms of ion–ion, hydrophilic–hydrophilic, and hydrophobic–hydrophobic interactions on the basis of a co-sphere overlap model. It is shown that the transfer volumes (\Updelta [`(V)]_\texttr ) (\Updelta {\bar{V}}_{\text{tr}} ) are positive and increase with increasing sodium dodecylsulfate concentration for all electrolytes. The structure making or breaking capacities of the electrolytes have been inferred from the sign of [∂² φ _v⁰/∂T ²]_p, i.e., the second derivative of the limiting apparent molar volume with respect to temperature at constant pressure. In water, KCl and KNO₃ exhibit structure breaking and MgCl₂ and Mg(NO₃)₂ exhibit structure making behavior. All the studied electrolytes were found to act as structure makers in aqueous sodium dodecylsulfate solutions.     

An easy entry into 2-halo-3-aryl-4(3H)-quinazoliniminium halides from heteroenyne-allenes

An efficient three-step synthesis of 2-halo-3-aryl-4(3H)-quinazoliniminium halides from commercially available materials is described. Upon reaction with hydrogen halides, generated in situ from a Lewis acid (MX) and trace water, a variety of easily accessible heteroenyne-allenes underwent facile intramolecular cyclization to afford the title compounds in good yields. The method is highly versatile and provides a general way to construct quinazoliniminium ring systems with a variety of different substitutions.     

UV-Vis, fluorescence and NMR spectroscopic investigations on inclusion properties of a designed tetrahomocalix[8]arene with fullerenes C60 and C70 in solution

The present article reports the spectroscopic investigations on non-covalent interaction of fullerenes C(60) and C(70) with a macrocyclic receptor molecule, namely, 1,3,5,7-tetrahomo-p-tert-butylcalix[8]arene (1) in toluene. Jobs method of continuous variation reveals 1:1 stoichiometry for the fullerene complexes of 1. The most fascinating feature of the present study is that 1 binds selectively C(60) compared to C(70) as obtained from binding constant (K) data of C(60)-1 (K(C60-1)) and C(70)-1 (K(C70-1)) complexes which are enumerated to be 265,000 dm(3) mol(-1) and 63,43 dm(3) mol(-1), respectively, and selectivity in binding (K(C60-1)/K(C70-1)) is estimated to be 4.18 as obtained from UV-Vis study. Steady state fluorescence studies reveal quenching of fluorescence of 1 in presence of fullerenes and the K value of the C(60)-1 and C(70)-1 complexes are estimated to be 80,760 and 68,780 dm(3) mol(-1), respectively, with selectivity in binding (K(C60-1)/K(C70-1)) ~1.18. (1)H NMR analysis provides very good support in favor of strong binding between C(60) and 1. The high value of K value for C(60)-1 complex indicates that 1 forms an inclusion complex with C(60).     

Microwave promoted synthesis of cycl[3.2.2]azines in water via a new three-component reaction

A microwave-promoted and base-catalyzed synthesis of cycl[3.2.2]azines is accomplished in water via a three-component reaction (3-CR) of 2-picoline, α-bromoacetophenone and alkyne. The extension of the methodology to the synthesis of steroidal and carbocyclic cycl[3.2.2]azine is also reported.     

Systematic mutational analysis of an ubiquitin ligase (MDM2)-binding peptide: computational studies

To understand the importance of amino acids that comprise the peptide PMI (p53-MDM2/MDMX inhibitor), a p53-mimicking peptide with high affinity for the ubiquitin ligase MDM2, computational alanine scanning has been carried out using various protocols. This approach is very useful for identifying regions of a peptide that can be mutated to yield peptides that bind to their targets with higher affinities. Computational alanine scanning is a very useful technique that involves mutating each amino acid of the peptide in its complex with its target (MDM2 in the current study) to alanine, running short simulations on the mutated complex and computing the difference in interaction energies between the mutant peptides and the target protein (MDM2 in the current study) relative to the interaction energy of the original (wild-type) peptide and the target protein (MDM2 in the current study). We find that running multiple short simulations yield values of computed binding affinities (enthalpies) that are similar to those obtained from a long simulation and are well correlated with the trends in the data available from experiments that used Surface Plasmon Resonance to obtain dissociation constants. The p53-mimicking peptides contain three amino acids (F19, W23 and L26) that are major determinants of the interactions between the peptides and MDM2 and form an essential motif. We find in the current study that the trends amongst the contributions to experimental binding affinities of the hydrophobic residues F19, W23 and L26 are the best reproduced in all the computational protocols examined here. This study suggests that running such short simulations may provide a rapid method to redesign peptides to obtain high-affinity variants against a target protein. We further observe that modelling an extended conformation at the C-terminus of the helical PMI peptides, in accord with the conformation of the p53-peptide complexed to MDM2, reproduces the trends seen amongst the experimental affinities of the peptides that carry the alanine mutations at their C-termini. This suggests that some of the mutant peptides possibly interconvert between helical and extended states and can bind to MDM2 in either conformation. This novel feature, not obvious from the crystallographic data, if factored into modelling protocols, may yield novel high-affinity peptides. Our findings suggest that such protocols may enable rapid investigations of at least certain types of amino acid mutations, notably from large to small amino acids.     

A vanadium (VO2+) metal-organic framework: selective vapor adsorption, magnetic properties, and use as a precursor for a polyoxovanadate

The reaction of VOSO(4) with 2-carboxyethylphosphonic acid (H(2)-CEP) in presence of piperazine (PIP) produces a 3D inorganic-organic hybrid framework, {(H(2)PIP)(0.5)[VO(CEP)]·H(2)O} (1) with bidirectional channels occupied by the H(2)PIP cations and H(2)O molecules. The PO(3)(2-) unit of CEP connects three V(IV) centers to generate a 1D ladder, which is further linked to four such ladders by the CEP linkers to form a 3D hybrid framework. The dehydrated framework, {(H(2)PIP)(0.5)[VO(CEP)]} (1') shows selective and gated adsorption behavior with H(2)O but not with methanol and ethanol. Very interestingly, when 1 is treated with an aqueous solution of LiNO(3)/NaNO(3), the framework breaks down and results in a new polyoxovanadate (POV) cluster, [H(5)(H(2)PIP)(3)][V(V)(12)V(IV)(2)O(38)(PO(4))]·8H(2)O (2) at pH ≈ 2.1. The cluster has been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, (31)P NMR, EPR, and magnetic studies. The temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurement suggests antiferromagnetic ordering in 1 with T(N) ≈ 3.8 K.     

Nonideality in diffusion of ionic and neutral solutes and hydrogen bond dynamics in dimethyl sulfoxide-chloroform mixtures of varying composition

Molecular dynamics simulations of charged and neutral solutes in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-chloroform mixtures reveal pronounced nonideality in the solute diffusion with changes of composition of the mixtures. The diffusion coefficient of the anionic solute first decreases, passes through a minimum at DMSO mole fraction of about 0.50, and then increases to reach its value for pure DMSO. The diffusion coefficients of the cationic and neutral solutes are found to decrease with increase in DMSO content of the solvent mixture. The extent of nonideality in the diffusion and orientational relaxation of solvent molecules is found to be somewhat stronger than that in diffusion of the anionic solute in these mixtures. We have also calculated the relaxation of hydrogen bonds formed between DMSO and chloroform molecules. The lifetimes of DMSO-chloroform hydrogen bonds are found to increase monotonically with increase in DMSO concentration. The average number of hydrogen bonds and their average energies are also computed. It is found that an increase in DMSO concentration causes a decrease in the number of DMSO-chloroform hydrogen bonds per DMSO or chloroform molecules but increases the strength of these hydrogen bonds.     

A rapid and simple route for the synthesis of lead and palladium nanoparticles in tetrazolium based ionic liquid

In the present work, we report a novel method for the synthesis of palladium and lead nanoparticles by the reduction method in tetrazolium ring based ionic liquid. Palladium and lead nanoparticles so-prepared were well characterized by powder X-ray diffraction measurements (pXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and quasi elastic light scattering (QELS) techniques. Powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD) analysis revealed all relevant Bragg's reflection for crystal structure of palladium and lead. Powder X-ray diffraction plots also revealed no oxidized material of palladium and lead nanoparticles. TEM showed nearly uniform distribution of the particles in methanol and confirmed by QELS. Typical applications of palladium nanoparticles include in vitro use and sensor design applications. Palladium nanoparticles is also ideal for spin coating, self-assembly and monolayer formation. Palladium nanoparticles can also be considered as potential new catalysts.