Polyvinyl alcohol and sodium alginate hydrogel coating with different crosslinking procedures on a PSf support for fabricating high-flux NF membranes.

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel-coated nanofiltration (NF) membranes with high-flux and permselectivity were prepared. The coating of PVA and SA hydrogel selective layer on a porous polysulfone (PSf)/non-woven fabric ultrafiltration substrate membrane was conducted through different three procedures including pre-crosslinking, in-situ crosslinking, and immersing crosslinking and the use of glutaraldehyde as a crosslinking agent. The properties and performances of all types of the prepared membranes were evaluated through ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, AFM, SEM, zeta potential, contact angle, and cross-flow permeation tests. The immersing technique resulted in the formation of TFC membranes with higher hydrophilicity, smoother surface layer, higher negative charge, higher permeation flux, higher salt rejection and better anti-fouling performance. Also, the higher negative surface charge of the immersing coated TFC membranes due to dissociation of hydrophilic functional groups of the PVA and SA hydrogel selective layer resulted in higher As(III) rejection. SA coated NF membrane through immersing method exhibited a higher pure water permeability of 11.2 L m-2 h-1 bar-1, NaCl, MgSO4, and Na2SO4 rejection of 38.2%, 55.1%, and 70.4%, respectively with As(III) rejection of 60.6%. All types of the PVA and SA hydrogel-coated PSf membranes possessed improved fouling resistance to BSA aqueous solution, superior anti-fouling performance was obtained with SA hydrogel coating through immersing method. Such optimum membranes indicated high stability in the long-term experiments. This study showed that the coating of the SA hydrogel layer on a PSf support through immersing method could be a promising candidate for fabricating high-flux NF membranes.

Spectroscopic investigation of Bovine Liver Catalase interactions with a novel phen-imidazole derivative of platinum.

Successful clinical experience of using cisplatin and its derivatives in cancer therapy has encouraged scientists to synthesize new metal complexes with the aim of interacting with special targets such as proteins In this regard, biological effects of [Pt(FIP)(Phen)](NO3)2 compound which contains a novel phen-imidazole ligand, FIP, was investigated on bovine liver catalase (BLC) structure and function. Various spectroscopic methods such as UV-visible, fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) were applied at two temperatures 25 and 37°C for kinetics and structural studies. As a consequence, the enzymatic activity decreased slightly with increasing the platinum compound's concentration up to 30 µM and then remained constant at near 80% after this concentration. On the other hand, the fluorescence quenching measurements revealed that despite slight changes in activity, catalase experiences notable alterations in three-dimensional environment around the chromophores of the enzyme structure with increasing platinum complex concentration. Moreover, quenching data showed that BLC has two binding sites for Pt complex and hydrogen bonding interactions play a major role in the binding process. Furthermore, CD spectroscopy data showed that Pt(II) complex induces significant decrease in α-helix content of the secondary structure of BLC, but notable increase in random coil proportion accompanying a slight decrease in ß-sheet content. All in all, hydrogen bonding interactions which are mainly involved in the binding process of the novel phen-imidazole compound to BLC significantly alter the protein structure but slightly change its function. This might be a promising outcome for chemotherapists and medicinal chemists to investigate in vivo properties of this novel metal complex with significant binding tendency to a macromolecule in the low concentrations without decreasing its intrinsic function.

The effect of deep eutectic solvents on catalytic function and structure of bovine liver catalase.

Aqueous solutions of reline and glyceline, the most common deep eutectic solvents, were used as a medium for Catalase reaction. By some spectroscopic methods such as UV-vis, fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) function and structure of Catalase were investigated in aqueous solutions of reline and glyceline. These studies showed that the binding affinity of the substrate to the enzyme increased in the presence of 100mM glyceline solution, which contrasts with reline solution that probably relates to instructive changes in secondary structure of protein. Meanwhile, enzyme remained nearly 70% and 80% active in this concentration of glyceline and reline solutions respectively. In the high concentration of DES solutions, enzyme became mainly inactive but surprisingly stayed in nearly 40% active in choline chloride solution, which is the common ion species in reline and glyceline solvents. It is proposed that the chaotropic nature of choline cation might stop the reducing trend of activity in concentrated choline chloride solutions but this instructive effect is lost in aqueous deep eutectic solvents. In this regard, the presence of various concentrations of deep eutectic solvents in the aqueous media of human cells would be an activity adjuster for this important enzyme in its different operation conditions.

Preferential solvation and behavior of solvatochromic indicators in mixtures of an ionic liquid with some molecular solvents.

Structural and intermolecular interactions of solvatochromic probes 4-nitroaniline, 4-nitroanisole, and Reichardt's dye were investigated in the binary mixtures of 2-hydroxy ethylammonium formate as an ionic liquid with N,N-dimethyl formamide, dimethyl amine, and dimethyl sulfoxide. Solvatochromic parameters (ETN, normalized polarity parameter; pi*, dipolarity/polarizability; beta, hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity; alpha, hydrogen -bond donor acidity) were determined in ionic liquid mixtures at 25 degrees C using UV-vis spectroscopy. ETN parameters obtained from absorbance of Reichardt's dye within various mixtures of ionic liquid were observed to be higher than predicted values from ideal additive behavior. Synergistic solvation behavior for some mixtures was observed. The combined nearly ideal binary solvent/Redlich-Kister (CNIBS/R-K) equation was used for various parameters correlation to predict solvatochromic parameters. Preferential solvation model was applied for the first time in the ionic liquid mixtures to study solvent mixtures effects on solvation of indicators, and from these information solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions were interpreted. Preferential solvation (specific solute-solvent interactions) or the solvent-solvent interaction is the reason for deviation from ideal behavior of probes.

Solvatochromic parameters for binary mixtures of 1-(1-butyl)-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate with some protic molecular solvents.

The solvatochromic parameters (ET(N), normalized polarity parameter; pi*, dipolarity/polarizability; beta, hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity; alpha, hydrogen-bond donor acidity) were determined for binary solvent mixtures of 1-(1-butyl)-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([bmim]BF4) with water, methanol, and ethanol at 25 degrees C over the whole range of mole fractions. In nonaqueous solutions, the value of the mixture increases with mole the fraction of [bmim]BF4 and then decreases gradually to the value of pure [bmim]BF4. Positive deviation from ideal behavior was observed for the solvent parameters ET(N), pi*, and alpha, whereas the deviation of the beta parameter is negative. The applicability of the combined nearly ideal binary solvent/Redlich-Kister equation for the correlation of various solvatochromic parameters with solvent composition was proved too for the first time. This equation provides a simple computational model to correlate and/or predict various solvatochromic parameters for many binary solvent systems. The correlation between the calculated and the experimental values of various parameters was in accordance with this model. Solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions have been applied for interpretation of the results.

Fluorometric variable-temperature kinetics investigations of the transesterification reaction of procaine with aliphatic alcohols.

PURPOSE: Variable-Temperature Kinetics has been used to obtain the rate constants of the reaction at various temperatures during one kinetic run. METHODS: Pseudo-first-order rate constants for the transesterification of procaine with aliphatic alcohols ethanol, n-propanol and tert-butanol were obtained by the fluorescence spectroscopy using the variable-temperature kinetics (VTK) method. RESULTS: The activation parameters of the reactions were calculated (24-28 kcal x mol(-1)). The half-life of the procaine decreases in the ethanol solution compared with the other alcoholic solutions in the presence of sodium ethoxide. CONCLUSIONS: The investigation time of the reactions is reduced to one-tenth of the one used for usual kinetic methods.