Using solid-state density functional theory and terahertz spectroscopy to spectroscopically distinguish the various hydrohalide salts of 5-(4-pyridyl)tetrazole

Vibrational spectra of pyrazinamide and isoniazid studied by terahertz spectroscopy and density functional theory

Pyrazinamide and isoniazid, as two first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs, are investigated by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). Both pyrazinamide and isoniazid have three absorption peaks, at 0.50, 0.71, 1.42 THz and 1.16, 1.46, 1.56 THz, respectively, which can be used as the basis for qualitative identification of these two drugs. In order to gain insight into the origin of the characteristic absorption peaks, density functional theory (DFT) based on single molecular, dimer, and crystalline structures of pyrazinamide and isoniazid are performed. The purpose of the calculation based on the single molecular structure is to understand the intramolecular interaction, while those based on the dimer and crystalline structures are to investigate the intermolecular interactions in PNZ and INZ. Comparing the theoretical results of the dimer and crystalline based structures reveals that the crystalline structure leads to vibrational spectra that are closer to the experimental values in terms of the number of absorption peaks and the positions of the absorption peaks. Vibrational mode assignments can be summarized as that the characteristic absorption peaks of pyrazinamide mainly come from intermolecular interaction, and the characteristic absorption peaks of isoniazid originate from both the intramolecular and intermolecular interactions. Our experimental and theoretical results indicate that the combination of THz-TDS with DFT is an effective approach for identification of molecules with pharmaceutical significance.

Study of 2,4-D Spectral Characteristics and Its Detection in Zizania Latifolia Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is a common plant growth regulator, which can remain in food and, with long-term consumption, threaten human health. Therefore, it is necessary to propose an effective detection method. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy technique (THz-TDS) has good advantages in the quantitative and qualitative analysis of most biomolecules due to its rich fingerprint characteristics. In this paper, density functional theory (DFT) was applied to geometry optimization and frequency vibration calculation of 2,4-D, and THz-TDS was used to quantitatively detect 2,4-D in Zizania latifolia. The results showed that there were three characteristic absorption peaks of 2,4-D at 1.36, 1.60, and 2.38 THz, respectively, and the theoretical spectra were in good consistency with experimental spectra, with slight discrepancies. Additionally, the absorption peak at 1.36 THz had the best absorption characteristics and was chosen as the main peak for 2,4-D quantitative analysis. It was demonstrated that the limits of detection (LOD) of 2,4-D in Zizania latifolia were found to be as low as 5%, the absorbance intensity at 1.36 THz showed a good linear relationship (R2 = 0.9854) with 2,4-D concentration from 5% to 30%, and the recovery was 93.29%–98.75%. Overall, this work enriched the fingerprint database of pesticide molecules on the basis of terahertz spectroscopy and could provide a technical support for the detection of 2,4-D in food by terahertz spectroscopy.

Density Functional Theory Analysis of Deltamethrin and Its Determination in Strawberry by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Deltamethrin is widely used in pest prevention and control such as red spiders, aphids, and grubs in strawberry. It is important to accurately monitor whether the deltamethrin residue in strawberry exceeds the standard. In this paper, density functional theory (DFT) was used to theoretically analyze the molecular structure of deltamethrin, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were used to enhance the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) detection signal. As a result, the theoretical Raman peaks of deltamethrin calculated by DFT were basically similar to the measured results, and the enhancing effects based on AuNPs was better than that of AgNPs. Moreover, 554, 736, 776, 964, 1000, 1166, 1206, 1593, 1613, and 1735 cm⁻¹ could be determined as deltamethrin characteristic peaks, among which only three Raman peaks (736, 1000, and 1166 cm⁻¹) could be used as the deltamethrin characteristic peaks in strawberry when the detection limit reached 0.1 mg/L. In addition, the 500⁻1800 cm⁻¹ SERS of deltamethrin were analyzed by the partial least squares (PLS) and backward interval partial least squares (BIPLS). The prediction accuracy of deltamethrin in strawberry (Rp2 = 0.93, RMSE_p = 4.66 mg/L, RPD = 3.59) was the highest when the original spectra were pretreated by multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) and then modeled by BIPLS. In conclusion, the deltamethrin in strawberry could be qualitatively analyzed and quantitatively determined by SERS based on AuNPs enhancement, which provides a new detection scheme for deltamethrin residue determination in strawberry.

Rapid Determination of Thiabendazole Pesticides in Rape by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Thiabendazole is widely used in sclerotium blight, downy mildew and black rot prevention and treatment in rape. Accurate monitoring of thiabendazole pesticides in plants will prevent potential adverse effects to the Environment and human health. Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is a highly sensitive fingerprint with the advantages of simple operation, convenient portability and high detection efficiency. In this paper, a rapid determination method of thiabendazole pesticides in rape was conducted combining SERS with chemometric methods. The original SERS were pretreated and the partial least squares (PLS) was applied to establish the prediction model between SERS and thiabendazole pesticides in rape. As a result, the SERS enhancing effect based on silver Nano-substrate was better than that of gold Nano-substrate, where the detection limit of thiabendazole pesticides in rape could reach 0.1 mg/L. Moreover, 782, 1007 and 1576 cm⁻¹ could be determined as thiabendazole pesticides Raman characteristic peaks in rape. The prediction effect of thiabendazole pesticides in rape was the best (Rp2 = 0.94, RMSEP = 3.17 mg/L) after the original spectra preprocessed with 1st-Derivative, and the linear relevance between thiabendazole pesticides concentration and Raman peak intensity at 782 cm⁻¹ was the highest (R² = 0.91). Furthermore, five rape samples with unknown thiabendazole pesticides concentration were used to verify the accuracy and reliability of this method. It was showed that prediction relative standard deviation was 0.70–9.85%, recovery rate was 94.71–118.92% and t value was −1.489. In conclusion, the thiabendazole pesticides in rape could be rapidly and accurately detected by SERS, which was beneficial to provide a rapid, accurate and reliable scheme for the detection of pesticides residues in agriculture products.

Modeling Polymorphic Molecular Crystals with Electronic Structure Theory

Interest in molecular crystals has grown thanks to their relevance to pharmaceuticals, organic semiconductor materials, foods, and many other applications. Electronic structure methods have become an increasingly important tool for modeling molecular crystals and polymorphism. This article reviews electronic structure techniques used to model molecular crystals, including periodic density functional theory, periodic second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory, fragment-based electronic structure methods, and diffusion Monte Carlo. It also discusses the use of these models for predicting a variety of crystal properties that are relevant to the study of polymorphism, including lattice energies, structures, crystal structure prediction, polymorphism, phase diagrams, vibrational spectroscopies, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Finally, tools for analyzing crystal structures and intermolecular interactions are briefly discussed.