Heterogeneous Fenton-like surface properties of oxygenated graphitic carbon nitride.

The photo-Fenton activity of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been widely studied, nevertheless, its Fenton-like catalytic behavior in the dark has not yet been demonstrated. In the present work, it is shown that oxygenated g-C3N4 obtained at different temperatures (500-600 °C) can degrade indigo carmine with hydrogen peroxide in the dark by a reaction similar to a conventional Fenton's reaction. Based on an extensive characterization of g-C3N4, we conclude that Fenton-like activity is directly related to the oxygenated functional groups on g-C3N4 structure, mainly by -OH functional groups. Oxygenated functional groups (e.g., hydroquinone-like groups) can reduce the H2O2 and generate oxidizing hydroxyl radicals, just like in the Fenton reaction performed by metals. In addition to new information on g-C3N4 surface reactivity revealed by this study, the metal-free oxygenated g-C3N4 catalyst may be an alternative to traditional metal catalysts used in Fenton-like reactions for advanced oxidation.

Synthesis, magnetostructural correlation, and catalytic promiscuity of unsymmetric dinuclear copper(II) complexes: models for catechol oxidases and hydrolases.

Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization, through elemental analysis, electronic spectroscopy, electrochemistry, potentiometric titration, electron paramagnetic resonance, and magnetochemistry, of two dinuclear copper(II) complexes, using the unsymmetrical ligands N',N',N-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)-N-(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylbenzyl)-1,3-propanediamin-2-ol (L1) and N',N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-N,N-(2-hydroxybenzyl)(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylbenzyl)-1,3-propanediamin-2-ol (L2). The structures of the complexes [Cu(2)(L1)(µ-OAc)](ClO(4))(2)·(CH(3))(2)CHOH (1) and [Cu(2)(L2)(µ-OAc)](ClO(4))·H(2)O·(CH(3))(2)CHOH (2) were determined by X-ray crystallography. The complex [Cu(2)(L3)(µ-OAc)](2+) [3; L3 = N-(2-hydroxybenzyl)-N',N',N-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)-1,3-propanediamin-2-ol] was included in this study for comparison purposes only (Neves et al. Inorg. Chim. Acta2005, 358, 1807-1822). Magnetic data show that the Cu(II) centers in 1 and 2 are antiferromagnetically coupled and that the difference in the exchange coupling J found for these complexes (J = -4.3 cm(-1) for 1 and J = -40.0 cm(-1) for 2) is a function of the Cu-O-Cu bridging angle. In addition, 1 and 2 were tested as catalysts in the oxidation of the model substrate 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol and can be considered as functional models for catechol oxidase. Because these complexes possess labile sites in their structures and in solution they have a potential nucleophile constituted by a terminal Cu(II)-bound hydroxo group, their activity toward hydrolysis of the model substrate 2,4-bis(dinitrophenyl)phosphate and DNA was also investigated. Double electrophilic activation of the phosphodiester by monodentate coordination to the Cu(II) center that contains the phenol group with tert-butyl substituents and hydrogen bonding of the protonated phenol with the phosphate O atom are proposed to increase the hydrolase activity (K(ass.) and k(cat.)) of 1 and 2 in comparison with that found for complex 3. In fact, complexes 1 and 2 show both oxidoreductase and hydrolase/nuclease activities and can thus be regarded as man-made models for studying catalytic promiscuity.

DNA photonuclease activity of four new copper(II) complexes under UV and red light: theoretical/experimental correlations with active species generation.

In this study, four new mononuclear copper(ii) complexes, [Cu(L(1))(dpq)]ClO(4) (), [Cu(L(1))(phen)]ClO(4) (), [Cu(L(2))(dpq)]ClO(4) (), [Cu(L(1))(OAc)] (), and the known complex [Cu(dpq)(2)(H(2)O)]ClO(4) (), were synthesized and characterized by various methods (dpq = dipyrido[3,2-d:2',3'-h]quinoxaline, L(1) = (3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)(2-pyridylmethyl)imine, L(2) = (2-hydroxybenzyl)(2-pyridylmethyl)imine). The structure of [Cu(L(1))(dpq)]ClO(4) () was determined by X-ray crystallography and reveals that the Cu(II) center is coordinated by dpq and by the N(2)O donor ligand L(1) in a distorted square pyramidal arrangement. The interaction of with calf thymus DNA was measured and the binding constant K(b) was obtained for the complexes, with values strongly dependent on the intercalating and/or binding properties of the ligands present in the structure of each complex. Also, the nuclease and photonuclease activity in terms of plasmid DNA cleavage with addition of reactants was monitored, in order to verify the mechanism through which the complexes cleave DNA. The complexes displayed good activity under both UV (365 nm) and red light (635 nm) irradiation, with the Type II mechanism prevailing in the case of the former and Type I mechanism for the latter. Finally, two new correlations between the experimental and theoretical parameters are discussed and some hypotheses regarding the active species generation are proposed.

Quantum mechanical/effective fragment potential (QM/EFP) study of phosphate monoester aminolysis in aqueous solution.

In this work, we investigated the P-O bond cleavage of dianionic p-nitrophenyl phosphate monoester (p-NPP), with attack of aqueous methylamine on phosphorus, by using the hybrid quantum mechanical/effective fragment potential (QM/EFP) approach. We explored the structures, energetic properties, reaction mechanism, and charge distribution along the entire reaction coordinate. Our B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p)/EFP results show that the cleavage of the P-O bond of p-NPP proceeds through a concerted mechanism with an activation energy of about 26 kcal/mol and an activation free energy at 39 degrees C of 23.6 kcal/mol, in good agreement with the experimental value of 27 kcal/mol. The reaction involves a trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) transition state with less initial bonding to the nucleophile than to the leaving group. The extent of the P-O(nitrophenolate) bond dissociation at the transition state, with methylamine as the nucleophile, is less than that with OH(-). The computed charge distribution along the reaction coordinate is consistent with a progressive charge transfer from the nitrogen atom of methylamine to the phosphate unit along the reaction coordinate. A new strategy to build the initial EFP cluster, by running a classical Monte Carlo simulation and analyzing the center-of-mass radial pair distribution function, was also used.

Theoretical investigation of the reaction mechanism for the phosphate diester hydrolysis using an asymmetric dinuclear metal complex as a biomimetic model of the purple acid phosphatase enzyme.

In this work we have applied quantum mechanical calculations, at the density functional theory level, to investigate the phosphate diester hydrolysis promoted by a cationic heterodinuclear Fe(III)...Zn(II) complex that mimics the structural and functional properties of the purple acid phosphatase (PAP) enzymes. The hydrolysis of the dimethyl phosphate diester was investigated in the gas phase and in solution by means of the continuum PCM model, using the B3LYP hybrid exchange-correlation functional. Our computed results showed that the hydrolysis of the dimethyl phosphate ester takes place in two steps. The first step corresponds to a slow P-O bond formation through nucleophilic attack of the coordinated (Fe(III))-OH group. The second step consists of a proton transfer process followed by the release of a methanol molecule. The first step is rate determining with activation free energy of 12.3 kcal mol(-1), which is about 3 times lower than the activation free energy for the uncatalyzed reaction. We also show that the heterodinuclear site plays an important role favoring an associative mechanism for the phosphate diester hydrolysis, favoring the formation of a high energy intermediate phosphorane, and orienting the phosphate group to the nucleophilic attack.

Ab Initio Highly Correlated Conformational Analysis of 1,2-Difluorethane and 1,2-Dichloroethane.

Temperature-dependent conformational population calculations for anti and gauche forms of 1,2-dichloroethane and 1,2-difluorethane were carried out at a highly correlated level of theory (MP4(SDTQ) and CCSD(T)) employing good quality basis sets (6-311++G(3df,3pd) and aug-cc-pVQZ) for the determination of gas relative conformational energies, making use of the statistical thermodynamics formalism for the evaluation of the thermal energy correction at the MP2/6-311++G(3df,3pd) and MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ levels. In addition to the standard calculation of thermodynamic partition functions, a treatment of the lowest-frequency vibrational mode as hindered rotation and anharmonic correction to vibrational frequencies was also included. We found a good agreement between ab initio calculated conformational population values and experimental gas-phase electron diffraction data for the 1,2-dicloroethane. However, for the 1,2-difluorethane species, a reasonable agreement with the experimental anti/gauche population ratio obtained from the analysis of gas-phase far-infrared (50-370 cm(-1)) and low-frequency Raman (70-300 cm(-1)) spectra was not obtained. The results reported here indicate that, for 1,2-difluorethane, and probably other substituted alkanes where the gauche effect is of relevance, a more appropriated treatment of the low-frequency modes must be pursued in order to reproduce experimental conformational population data.