New Composites LnBDC@AC and CB[6]@AC: From Design toward Selective Adsorption of Methylene Blue or Methyl Orange.

New porous composites LnBDC@AC (AC = Activated carbon, Ln = Eu and Gd and BDC = 1,4-benzenedicaboxylate) and CB[6]@AC (CB[6] = Cucurbit[6]uril) were obtained using hydrothermal route. The LnBDC and CB[B] are located inside the pore of the carbon materials as was observed in SEM-EDS, XRPD and FT-IR analysis. Porosimetry analysis showed values typically between AC and LnBDC material, with pore size and surface area, respectively, 29,56 Å and 353.98 m2g-1 for LnBDC@AC and 35,53 Å and 353.98 m2g-1 for CB[6]@AC. Both materials showed good absorptive capacity of metil orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) with selectivity as a function of pH. For acid pH, both materials present selectivity by MB and alkaline pH for MO, with notable performance for CB[6]@AC. Additionally, europium luminescence was used as structural probe to investigate the coordination environment of Eu3+ ions in the EuBDC@AC composite after adsorption experiment.

In vitro evaluation of combined hyperthermia and photodynamic effects using magnetoliposomes loaded with cucurbituril zinc phthalocyanine complex on melanoma.

The aims of this study were two fold; to develop magnetoliposomes (MLs) loaded with zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) complexed with cucurbituril (CB) (CB:ZnPc-MLs) and to evaluate their in vitro photodynamic (PD) and/or hyperthermia (HT) effects while using melanoma cells (B16-F10) as model. The liposomal formulations were characterized by both average diameter and zeta potential. The vesicle average size ranged from 150 to 200 nm and the polydispersity index (PdI) from 0.093 to 0.230. The zeta potential was significantly positive with values between 48 and 57 mV. The cell viability (CV) after PD and HT treatments was assessed by colorimetric MTT method. Melanoma cells were initially treated with the liposome formulation without light and magnetic field application, revealing cell viability not different from the control cells (p>0.05). Photodynamic and hyperthermia assays were also applied separately, demonstrating that PD is more effective than HT in reducing the CV of the neoplastic cells. Combined application of both PD and HT treatments was even more effective in reducing the CV of B16-F10 cells. At the highest light dose (2 J/cm(2)) and under magnetic field activation the CV was about half than PD applied alone. Therefore, the use of the photosensitizer-loaded magnetoliposome for combined photodynamic therapy (PDT) and magnetohyperthermia (MHT) application can be considered as a potential tool to treat malignant melanoma.

Solvent influence on the photophysical properties of 4-methoxy-N-methyl-1,8-naphthalimide.

4-Methoxy-N-methyl-1,8-naphthalimide (1) exhibits considerable solvatochromism and its UV-vis spectral properties have been studied in several polar/non-polar and protic/aprotic solvents, as well as in ethanol-water mixtures. The results reveal a strong influence of the solvent's polarity and its hydrogen-bond donor (HBD) capability on the photophysical properties of 1. For binary ethanol/water mixtures, preferential solvation models describe the band shifts in the probe's visible absorption spectrum well, but they fail to describe the corresponding shifts of the emission maxima. Pseudolinear approximations between solvent composition and molecule's transition energies, E(T), can be used to study the composition of ethanol-water mixtures, simplifying the mathematical treatment for eventual analytical applications.