Thiourea Functionalised Receptor for Selective Detection of Mercury Ions and its Application in Serum Sample.

A thiourea functionalised fluorescent probe 1-phenyl-3-(pyridin-4-yl)thiourea was synthesized and utilised as a fluorescent turn-on chemosensor for the selective recognition of Hg2+ ion over competitive metal ions including Na+, Mn2+, Li+, Cr2+, Ni2+, Ca2+, Cd2+, Mg2+, K+, Co2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Al3+ and Fe2+ ions based on the inter-molecular charge transfer (ICT). Intriguingly, the receptor demonstrated unique sensing capabilities for Hg2+ in DMSO: H2O (10:90, v/v). The addition of Hg2+ ions to the sensor resulted in a blue shift in the absorption intensity and also enhancement in fluorescence intensity at 435 nm. Fluorescence emission intensity increased linearly with Hg2+ concentration ranging from 0 to 80 µL. The detection limit and binding constant were determined as 0.134 × 10-6 M and 1.733 × 107 M-1, respectively. The sensing behavior of Hg2+ was further examined using DLS, SEM and FTIR. The probe could detect Hg2+ ions across a wide pH range. Furthermore, the receptor L demonstrated good sensing performance for Hg2+ in bovine serum albumin and actual water samples.

Detecting Moisture in Building Materials and Commercial Food adducts by 2-Hydroxy-naphthaldehyde Derived Chromo-Fluorogenic Chemosensor.

A great deal of effort has been put into developing a novel and cost-effective molecular probe for selective and sensitive recognition of trace amounts of water in organic solvents due to their tremendous advantages in industrial, pharmaceutical, and laboratory-scale chemistry. Herein, a cost-effective chemosensor L has been designed and studied for the detection of trace amounts of water. The addition of water to the DMSO solution of L exhibited an enhancement of fluorescence emission at 460 nm along with a color change from green to colorless. The spectral and color changes occurred due to the self-aggregation of L. The interaction between water and L was performed by dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and finally complemented by quantum mechanical calculation. The detection limit was found to be 0.0093 wt% in DMSO. The L also exhibits a fast visual response and is effectively applied to detect trace amounts of moisture in various food materials (salt, sugar, wheat and honey) and building materials (cement, fly ash, limestone and sand).

The role of the shape resonance state in low energy electron induced single strand break in 2'-deoxycytidine-5'-monophosphate.

Low energy electron (LEE) induced single strand break (SSB) has been studied for 2'-deoxycytidine-5'-monophosphate (5'-dCMPH) molecules in the gas phase by means of ab initio electronic structure methods and local complex potential based time-dependent wavepacket quantum mechanical calculations. We have found that the LEE attachment to this cytidine nucleotide results in the formation of a transient metastable anion. The results obtained here show that the electron attachment takes place at the cytosine nucleobase center and within 18-20 fs, the LEE transfers to the σ* orbital of the sugar-phosphate 5' C-O bond. The characteristic electron attachment cross section spectrum is found at ∼1 eV, which is in good agreement with the available experimental observations. Quantum mechanical tunneling of the 5' C-O bound vibrational energy levels may contribute to SSB only above 1.5 eV energy regimes.

Low-Energy Electron Interaction with the Phosphate Group in DNA Molecule and the Characteristics of Single-Strand Break Pathways.

We modeled the low-energy electron attachment to the sugar-phosphate-sugar (SPS) molecule for investigating the single-strand break (3' C-O and 5' C-O) at the DNA backbone. In particular, we predicted the electron capture at the phosphate center. We found that 0.6 eV electron can attach to the phosphate group, and the lifetime (∼40-55 fs) of the resulting temporary negative ion state is more than what we found for the lifetime of the metastable species (∼18-20 fs) formed at the cytosine base center. We treated the two competing dissociation channels in SPS molecule, that is, both the 3' C-O and 5' C-O lesions, separately. The activation energy barrier calculated for 5' C-O bond rupture is found to be less than that for 3' C-O bond dissociation. The overall low-energy electron transfer process is found to be mediated through a "shape resonance state" formed at the phosphate center.

Low energy electron induced cytosine base release in 2'-deoxycytidine-3'-monophosphate via glycosidic bond cleavage: a time-dependent wavepacket study.

Low energy electron (LEE) induced cytosine base release in a selected pyrimidine nucleotide, viz., 2'-deoxycytidine-3'-monophosphate is investigated using ab initio electronic structure methods and time dependent quantum mechanical calculations. It has been noted that the cytosine base scission is comparatively difficult process than the 3' C-O bond cleavage from the lowest π* shape resonance in energy region <1 eV. This is mainly due to the high activation energy barrier associated with the electron transfer from the π* orbital of the base to the σ* orbital of the glycosidic N-C bond. In addition, the metastable state formed after impinging LEE (0-1 eV) has very short lifetime (10 fs) which may decay in either of the two competing auto-detachment or dissociation process simultaneously. On the other hand, the selected N-C mode may cleave to form the cytosine base anion at higher energy regions (>2 eV) via tunneling of the glycosidic bond. Resonance states generated within this energy regime will exist for a duration of ~35-55 fs. Comparison of salient features of the two dissociation events, i.e., 3' C-O single strand break and glycosidic N-C bond cleavage in 3'-dCMPH molecule are also provided.

Effect of quantum tunneling on single strand breaks in a modeled gas phase cytidine nucleotide induced by low energy electron: a theoretical approach.

Effect of quantum mechanical tunneling on single strand breaks induced by low energy electron (LEE) has been investigated in a modeled gas phase system, 2'-deoxycytidine-3'-monophosphate (3'-dCMPH). The potential energy curves for the sugar-phosphate C-O (3' C-O) bond cleavage have been generated using second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory at the 6-31+G(d) accuracy level. Results from the electronic structure theory calculations in conjunction with our time dependent calculations for the 3' C-O bond rupture in 3'-dCMPH using local complex potential based time dependent wave packet approach show significant quantum tunneling of the 3' C-O bond from the bound vibrational states above 1 eV of the anionic potential energy curve. A comparison of the fragmentation profile with that of our earlier gas phase investigations based on Hartree-Fock and density functional theory--Becke, 3-parameter, Lee-Yang-Parr methods with 6-31+G(d) basis set is also provided. Further, inspection of the singly occupied molecular orbitals generated at different 3' C-O bond lengths clearly indicates the electron transfer from the low lying base-π(∗) shape resonance state to the phosphate P = O π(∗) orbital of the DNA backbone during the strand breaks. The decisive step during LEE induced strand breaks follows via "charge induced dissociation" (CID) for the metastable anion formed below 1 eV, whereas quantum mechanical tunnel-ing is out-weighted the CID mechanism for the LEE above 1 eV.