Spectrophotometric study of interaction of 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone with diaza-18-crown-6 and diaza-15-crown-5 in acetonitrile and chloroform solutions

Interactions of diaza-18-crown-6 and diaza-15-crown-5, as electron donors, with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ), as an electron acceptor, have been investigated spectrophotometrically in acetonitrile and chloroform solutions. The results indicated immediate formation of an electron donor-electron acceptor complex DA: [reaction in text] which is followed by two relatively slow consecutive reactions: [reaction in text]. The pseudo-first-order rate constants for the formation of the ionic intermediate and the final product have been evaluated at various temperatures by computer fitting of the absorbance time data to appropriate equations. The formation constants of the resulting DA complexes have also been determined. The influences of both the azacrown's structure and the solvent properties on the formation of DA complexes and the rates of subsequent reactions are discussed.     

Conductance study of ammonium complexes with several crown ethers and cryptands in nitrobenzene,acetonitrile and dimethylformamide solutions

The formation of ammonium complexes with several crown ethers and cryptands in nitrobenzene, acetonitrile and dimethylformamide solutions was investigated by conductometry at 25°C. Stability constants of the resulting 1:1 complexes sere determined from the molar conductance-mole ratio data and found to vary in the order DC18C6>18C6>DB30C10>DB21C7>DB24C8>DB18C6>15C5>B15C5>12C4, in the case of crown complexes, and in the order C222>C221>C211>C22>C21 for the ammonium cryptates. The stabilities of the complexes varied inversely with the Gutmann donicity of the solvents. Influences of the number of members in the macrocycle, nature of the substituents in the polyether ring, cavity size and dimensionality, conformations of the free and complexed ligands and number of N⁺–H bonds available for hydrogen bonding are discussed.     

Conductance study of the thermodynamics of ammonium ion complexes with several crown ethers in acetonitrile solution

A conductance study concerning the interaction between ammonium ion and several crown ethers in acetonitrile solution has been carried out at different temperatures. The stability constants of the resulting 11 complexes at various temperatures were determined from the molar conductance-mole ratio data and found to vary in the order DC18C6>18C6>DB30C10>DB21C7>DB24C8>DB18C6>15C5>B15C5. The enthalpy and entropy of complexation were determined from the temperature dependence of the formation constants. The influence on the thermodynamic data of different parameters such as cavity size and dimensionality of crown ethers, nature of substituents in the polyether ring, conformations of the free and complexed ligands, solvent-ligand interaction and number of N–H bonds available for hydrogen bonding are discussed.     

Zein film as a novel natural biopolymer membrane in electrochemical detections

Permselective modifier films are very important in preparing highly sensitive electrochemical sensors. In this work, for the first time, the behavior of gold and glassy carbon electrodes coated with biocompatible zein film as a permselective membrane for the electrochemical detection of various compounds has been investigated. For this purpose, several electroactive cationic (methylene blue, brilliant green, and thionine) and anionic (potassium ferricyanide, alizarin red S, and riboflavin-5’-phosphate) compounds have been used as model. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that zein membranes prepared from casting solution containing 1% zein in ethanol/water have porous structures with high nanometric roughness. The capacitance values of electrical double layers of electrodes modified with zein film were very high for hydrophilic ions in comparison with hydrophobic ions. Point of zero charge pH (pH_pzc) of zein membrane was 4.8. The results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as well as pH_pzc study indicated that zein permselective membrane acts as ion exchanger film for selected cationic compounds with fast electrochemical kinetics responses in aqueous solution (pH=7). This behavior was confirmed by circulating solutions containing model compounds from homemade continuous cell equipped with polyamide membranes modified with zein film.

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Design and characterization of [(Et)3 N-H]FeCl4 as a nanomagnetic ionic liquid catalyst for the synthesis of xanthene derivatives under solvent-free conditions

The triethylamine-based nanomagnetic ionic liquid, [(Et)₃ N-H]FeCl₄, was synthesized, and its structural and chemical characteristics were detected. The thermogravimetric analysis indicated its high thermal stability with a decomposition temperature higher than 300 °C. Additionally, [(Et)₃ N-H]FeCl₄ was used to efficiently catalyze the synthesis of xanthene derivatives under solvent-free conditions at 120 °C. [(Et)₃ N-H]FeCl₄ was recycled and reused at least five times.

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A computational study of the electronic structure and the chemical activity of curcumin and some novel curcuminoids by density functional theory

Structural modification of curcumin represents a strategy to improve its stability, water solubility, pharmaceutical properties and bioactivity. In this context, numerous structural analogues of curcumin, including curcuminoids, have been developed. In this paper, the precise density functional theory computations were used for investigating the electronic and geometrical structure of curcumin and some of its derivatives. The chemical activity of the considered molecules was investigated with the help of the global softness and hardness concepts. Among the studied molecules, bisdemethoxycurcumin had the most chemical activity and hexahydrocurcumin had the most stable structure. Among two isomers of the curcumin, the enol isomer was found to be active.