Anaerobic reduction of a sulfonated azo dye, Congo Red, by sulfate-reducing bacteria

The capacity for anaerobic decolorization of a sulfonated azo dye, Congo Red, by a strain of a sulfate-reducing bacterium was evaluated. After optimizing the growth rate of the bacteria on a simple carbon source and terminal electron acceptor pair, lactate and sulfate, respectively, the effect of the dye concentration on their growth rate was analyzed. The decolorization rate was affected by the dye concentration in the growth medium. The azo-bond cleavage mechanism of reductive decolorization with the formation of benzidine was consistent with the results, as this metabolite was identified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Several fractions of the culture medium, including lysed cell extracts, were examined for the capacity to reduce the azo dye. This reduction capacity was found in the culture medium in which the cells had previously grown. The results showed that the mechanism of reductive decolorization of this sulfonated azo dye was extracellular and nonenzymatic, consistent with the production of sulfide anion by the microorganisms while growing on lactate and sulfate. The sulfide anions were the cause of the reduction leading to the disappearance of color in the medium. To increase the rate of decolorization, the presence of ferrous ion was also necessary together with the lactate and sulfate substrates.     

Two isomeric butadiene–N‐(acetoxy­phenyl)maleimide Diels–Alder adducts: supramolecular structure directed by C—H⋯X (X = O and π) hydrogen bonds and perpendicular dipole carbonyl–carbonyl inter­actions

The mol­ecular and supramolecular structures of 2‐(1,3‐dioxo‐2,3,3a,4,7,7a‐hexa­hydro‐1H‐isoindol‐2‐yl)phenyl acetate, C₁₆‐H₁₅NO₄, (I), and its para isomer, 4‐(1,3‐dioxo‐2,3,3a,4,7,7a‐hexa­hydro‐1H‐isoindol‐2‐yl)phenyl acetate, (II), are reported. The torsion angle between the succinimide and benzene rings depends on the position of the acet­oxy substitution [89.7 (1) and 61.9 (1)° for (I) and (II), respectively]. The twist of the acet­oxy group relative to the mean plane of the benzene ring is almost independent of the acet­oxy position [66.0 (1) and 70.0 (1)°]. Packing inter­actions for both compounds include soft C—H⋯X (X = O and Ph) inter­actions, forming chains of centrosymmetric dimers and inter­linked chains for (I) and (II), respectively. In addition, three perpendicular dipole C=O⋯C=O inter­actions contribute to the supramolecular structure of (II).     

Study of the Reaction 2-(p-Nitrophenyl)Ethyl Bromide + OH(-) in Sulfobetaine Aqueous Micellar Solutions in the Presence and Absence of Added Salts

The reaction of dehydrobromination of 2-(p-nitrophenyl)ethyl bromide with hydroxide ions has been studied in aqueous micellar solutions of N-tetradecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate, SB3-14. The kinetic effects of added salts (NaF, NaCl, NaBr, and NaNO(3)) on the reaction rate in SB3-14 aqueous micellar solutions have also been studied. They were rationalized by considering the binding of the anions, which come from the salt, to the sulfobetaine micelles and their competition with the reactive hydroxide ions for the micellar surface. The equilibrium binding constant of the 2-(p-nitrophenyl)ethyl bromide to the sulfobetaine micelles was estimated by recording the changes in the spectra of the organic substrate when the SB3-14 concentration in the micellar medium changed. This value was in agreement with that obtained from fitting of kinetic data. The second-order rate constant in the micellar pseudophase revealed that the reaction is faster in SB3-14 micelles than in water. This acceleration seems independent of the presence of added salts and can be explained by considering that SB3-14 micelles favor reactions in which charge is delocalized in the transition state. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Solvent effects on substitution reactions at complexes of the [Fe(CN)5L]3- type in binary aqueous mixtures

Summary The kinetics of replacement of 4,4-bipyridine, (4,4-bipy), and 4-cyanopyridine, (4-CNpy), by cyanide in [Fe(CN)₅-(4,4-bipy)]^3-. at 298 K have been studied in binary aqueous mixtures containing different amounts of t-butanol, methanol, glycerol, ethyleneglycol and sucrose. The plots of logarithms of the limiting rate constantsversus the mole fraction of water are linear over the entire composition range studied, showing the importance of solvation phenomena. A different straight line of log (k_L/s^–1)versus X_H2O is obtained for each mixture, indicating the influence of other solvent parameters on the reaction rate. A multiparameter regression of G _exp with A (acidity vector), B (basicity vector) and G^E is used for both reactions; plots of G _calc versus G _exp are linear with slopes of near unity.     

Reductive lithiation of alkoxy-substituted benzyl methyl ethers and connection with cross-coupling reactions

2-and 4-Ethoxymethoxybenzyl methyl ethers were employied as useful starting materials for the synthesis of 1,2- or 1,4-dicarbo-substituted benzenes. The proposed reaction sequence involves connection between the reductive lithiation of benzyl alkyl ethers and the metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of aromatic triflates.     

Comparative study on the determination of cephalexin in its dosage forms by spectrophotometry and HPLC with UV-vis detection

This paper discusses the spectrophotometric determination of cephalexin as the intact cephalexin or as its acid-induced degradation product. Cephalexin can be determined in the range 1 × 10^–5–18 × 10^–5 M with relative standard deviations of 5-1%. The limits of quantitation and detection were 10^–5 and 0.3 × 10^–5 M, respectively. These procedures were compared with reversed-phase HPLC determination. No interference was observed in the presence of common pharmaceutical adjuvants. The H-point standard additions method was applied in order to correct for the possible presence of the cephalexin precursor, 7-aminocephalosporanic acid; this improves the selectivity of the UV-vis spectrophotometric method.     

Determination of As, Sb, Se, Te and Bi in milk by slurry sampling hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A simple and fast analytical procedure has been developed for the determination of As, Sb, Se, Te and Bi in milk samples by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). Samples were treated with aqua regia for 10 min in an ultrasound water bath and pre-reduced with KBr for total Se and Te determination or with KI and ascorbic acid for total As and Sb, the determination of Bi being possible in all with or without pre-reduction. Slurries of samples, in the presence of antifoam A, were treated with NaBH₄ in HCl medium to obtain the corresponding hydrides, and AFS measurements were processed in front of external calibrations prepared and measured in the same way as samples. Results obtained by the developed procedure compare well with those found after microwave-assisted complete digestion of samples. The proposed method is simple and fast, and only 1 ml of milk is needed. The values obtained for detection limit are 2.5, 1.6, 3, 6 and 7 ng l⁻¹ for As, Sb, Se, Te and Bi respectively in the diluted samples, with average relative standard deviation values of 3.8, 3.1, 1.9, 6.4 and 1.2% for three independent analysis of a series of commercially available samples of different origin. Data found in Spanish market samples varied from 3.2±0.3 to 11.3±0.2 ng g⁻¹ As, from 3.1±0.2 to 11.6±0.4 ng g⁻¹ Sb, from 10.7±0.5 to 25.5±0.4 ng g⁻¹ Se, from 0.9±0.2 to 9.4±0.6 ng g⁻¹ Te and from 11.5±0.1 to 27.7±0.4 ng g⁻¹ Bi.     

Rodlike bimetallic ruthenium and osmium complexes bridged by phenylene spacers. Synthesis, electrochemistry, and photophysics

In the search for light-addressable nanosized compounds we have synthesized 10 dinuclear homometallic trisbipyridyl complexes of linear structure with the general formula [M(bpy)3-BL-M(bpy)3]4+ [M = Ru(II) or Os(II); BL = polyphenylenes (2, 3, 4, or 5 units) or indenofluorene; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine]. By using a "chemistry on the complex" approach, different sizes of rodlike systems have been obtained with a length of 19.8 and 32.5 A for the shortest and longest complex, respectively. For one of the ruthenium precursors, [Rubpy-ph2-Si(CH3)3][PF6]2, single crystals were obtained by recrystallization from methanol. Their photophysical and electrochemical properties are reported. All the compounds are luminescent both at room and low temperature with long excited-state lifetimes due to an extended delocalization. Nanosecond transient absorption showed that the lowest excited state involves the chelating unit attached to the bridging ligand. Electrochemical data indicated that the first reduction is at a slightly more positive potential than for the reference complexes [M(bpy)3]2+ (M = Ru, Os). This result confirms that the best acceptor is the bipyridine moiety connected to the conjugated spacers. The role of the tilt angle between the phenylene units, in the two series of complexes, for the ground and excited states is discussed.     

Ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer within a self-assembled donor-acceptor system

A photoactive supramolecular assembly that is based on the hydrogen-bonded system H1.G2, consisting of a methyl viologen-functionalized barbiturate host (H1) (1-(N-(3,5-bis[[(6-tert-butylacetylamino-2-pyridyl)amino]carbonyl])-phenylacetamide)-1'-methyl-4,4'-bipyridium) and a [Re(Br)(CO)3(barbi-bpy)] (barbi-bpy = 5-[4-(4'-methyl)-2,2'-bipyridyl]methyl-2,4,6-(1H,3H,5H)-pyrimidinetrione) complex as the guest (G2) is described. The host molecule contains a well-known electron accepting group (methyl viologen), whereas the guest system can act as an efficient electron donor in the excited state. Upon self-assembly, the resulting adduct (H1.G2) represents an interesting noncovalently linked donor-acceptor system. The H1.G2 complex has been characterized in acetonitrile-d3 using 1H NMR and diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY). The photophysical properties of the components and of the assembly have been studied in dichloromethane, in which the assembly has a high binding constant (Kass > or = 2 x 10(5) M(-1)), using time-resolved fluorescence and transient absorption spectroscopy. A detailed investigation of the hydrogen-bonded complex H1.G2 revealed that, upon excitation of the rhenium compound G2, an ultrafast electron-transfer process occurs from the metal-based component to the acceptor unit. The kinetics of the forward and back electron-transfer processes have been determined.