A new phenothiazine-based selective visual and fluorescent sensor for cyanide.

A new donor-π-acceptor derived from phenothiazine, namely 2-(2-((10-hexyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)methylene)-3-oxo-2,3-dihydroinden-1-ylidene) malononitrile (PTZON) was synthesized and fully characterized, and its potential as a fluorescent sensor for cyanide anion was investigated. The PTZON showed a visible absorption band at 564 nm corresponds to an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and an emission band at 589 nm in CH3CN/H2O. The results of cyanide anion titration revealed ratiometric changes in both absorption and fluorescence spectra as a result of the nucleophilic addition of cyanide anion via Michael addition. The optical studies, FT-IR spectra, NMR, high-resolution mass, and DFT calculations confirmed the sensing mechanism. The selectivity of PTZON as a cyanide anion fluorescent sensor was proved in mixed solvent solutions, and the sensitivity was as low as 0.011 µM, which is far lower than the value allowed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water (1.9 µM). Also, the detection limit of PTZON was assessed to be 3.39 µM by the spectrophotometric method. The binding stoichiometry between PTZON and cyanide anion was found to be 1:1 as evidenced by mass spectra. TLC silica-coated plates test strips demonstrated the fluorescent detection of cyanide anion.

Synthesis of hemicyanine-based chitosan ligands in dye-affinity chromatography for the purification of chewing stick peroxidase.

A novel built-in approach for the in situ formed hemicyanine dyes in the chitosan matrix is presented. Chitosan was reacted with salicylaldehyde to afford the corresponding Schiff base in good yield. This derivative was then converted to two heterocyclic quaternary ammonium salts, namely chitosan benzothiazolium and chitosan picolinium salts, which upon reaction with p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde by Knoevenagel condensation, the corresponding built-in hemicyanine dyes were obtained. Characterization was made by NMR, FTIR, SEM, and UV-visible. The two dyed samples (benzothiazolium and picolinium) were used for the purification of chewing stick peroxidase by affinity chromatography method. 1.0 M ammonium sulfate was used as eluent to check whether the purification of enzyme proceeds by hydrophobic interactions and the result indicated that the purification proceeds by rather ionic interactions, and therefore 1 M NaCl was used instead. The overall result indicates that benzothiazolum column showed better affinity with a high specific activity of the separated enzymes compared with those obtained with the picolinium column. This novel dye ligand built-in approach onto a biopolymeric substrate is promising and would pave the way for more future work ahead in the field of the purification of proteins and other biological macromolecules.

Nucleophilic addition of reactive dyes on amidoximated acrylic fabrics.

Seven reactive dyes judiciously selected based on chemical structures and fixation mechanisms were applied at 2% of of shade on amidoximated acrylic fabrics. Amidoximated acrylic fabric has been obtained by a viable amidoximation process. The dyeability of these fabrics was evaluated with respect to the dye exhaustion, fixation, and colour strength under different conditions of temperature and dyeing time. Nucleophilic addition type reactive dyes show higher colour data compared to nucleophilic substitution ones. FTIR studies further implicate the binding of reactive dyes on these fabrics. A tentative mechanism is proposed to rationalize the high fixation yield obtained using nucleophilic addition type reactive dyes. Also, the levelling and fastness properties were evaluated for all dyes used. Excellent to good fastness and levelling properties were obtained for all samples irrespective of the dye used. The result of investigation offers a new method for a viable reactive dyeing of amidoximated acrylic fabrics.