Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometric and visible spectrophotometric studies of copper(I) and copper(II) complexes with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol.

Complexes of copper(II) with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP) formed in aqueous methanol in a wide range of pH (from acidic to alkaline) as well as copper(I)-5-Br-PADAP species formed in methanolic solutions were investigated by spectrophotometry and mass spectrometry. Pseudomolecular and fragment ions created in the atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source confirmed the molecular masses of the complexes existing in the solvents and their structures. The structure of the Cu(II) complex with 5-Br-PADAP formed in acidic medium was proposed as CuR(R - H) (where R is the undissociated molecule of the reagent). The binding sites of the two bound reagent molecules were different: in one of them the oxygen atom of the dissociated phenolic group and the nitrogen atom from the azo (-N=N-) group took part in complex formation, whereas in the other only nitrogen atoms from the pyridyl ring and azo group were involved. The complex was stable and could not be reduced to Cu(I) species by use of standard reducing agents (ascorbic acid, hydroxylamine). In alkaline solutions the complex tended to polymerize and precipitated in media containing less than 80% of methanol. The copper(I)-5-Br-PADAP complex was extremely unstable and could be obtained (as a mixture with Cu(II) species) in media free of water or oxygen. For this complex, CuR(2) was proposed as the most probable structure. According to this proposal copper(I) reacted exclusively with nitrogen-containing binding sites and the undissociated phenolic group was not engaged in complex formation. In this system Cu(I)/Cu(II) electron transfer is very rapid, accelerated by a polar environment, e.g. in the presence of water molecules or dissolved oxygen.

Reversed-phase liquid chromatographic determination of uranium based on its ternary complex with fluoride and 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol. New chromatographic probe for the detection of fluoride on C18 stationary phase surface.

Optimum conditions for the reversed-phase liquid chromatographic separation of uranium as U(VI)-F(-)-(5-Br-PADAP) [5-Br-PADAP is 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol] ternary complex on the end-capped C18 column were evaluated. The developed sensitive, selective and versatile method allows to determine uranium in the wide concentration range 0.2-120.0 mug ml(-1) (detection limit, DL, is 0.15 mug ml(-1) for 20 mul loop). Solvent mixture, acetonitrile+water (65+35, v/v) containing fluoride in concentration 3x10(-3) mol l(-1) (pH 5.5) was used as eluent. Double action of fluoride present in eluent - as stabilising agent of the ternary system and modifier of the stationary phase was evaluated. In order to prove appearance of the modifying effect of fluoride on the stationary phase the new chromatographic probe - system Zr(IV)-(5-Br-PADAP)/Zr(IV)-F(-)-(5-Br-PADAP) was introduced as a tool for the detection of F(-) presence on the surface.

Acoustic effects in chromatography.

An acoustic field effectively affects chromatographic retention in some separation modes and, thus can be a novel factor controlling retention. After being transmitted into the column, ultrasound energy is mostly converted into heat as a result of absorption by stationary and mobile phases. Thus, ultrasound brings about temperature increases. However, actual temperature increases measured by thermosensors are smaller than those calculated from chromatographic retention changes. In addition, larger ultrasound effects are observed in chromatographic modes involving ionic interactions. These results possibly imply that ultrasound directly influences ionic interactions involved in retention mechanisms.

Sensitive reversed-phase liquid chromatographic determination of fluoride based on its ternary systems with zirconium(IV) or hafnium(IV) and 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol.

Optimum conditions for the direct reversed-phase LC determination of fluoride based on the ternary M-(F-)-(5-Br-PADAP) complexes [M = ZrIV or HfIV and 5-Br-PADAP = 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol] were evaluated. Chromatographic separation was performed with C18 end-capped column with an eluent consisting of acetonitrile-water (85 + 15 v/v) mixture of pH 4.0 +/- 0.3 (flow rate 1 ml min-1), and the eluate was monitored spectrophotometrically at lambda max = 585 nm. The calibration curves were linear over a wide range of fluoride concentrations: from 1 to 110 and 150 ng ml-1 for the ZrIV-(F-)-(5-Br-PADAP) and HfIV-(F-)-(5-Br-PADAP) systems, respectively (using a 20 microliters loop). Under such conditions the detection limits were 0.8 and 0.7 ng ml-1, respectively, and the quantification limit is 1.0 ng ml-1 for both methods. When a 100 microliters loop was used, the limits of both detection and quantification in the method based on the zirconium system were 0.2 ng ml-1. Using the proposed method, fluoride was determined directly in tap water, saliva and an anti-cancer agent for prostatic cancer (Leuprolid).