Study of the heavy atom-induced room temperature phosphorescence properties of melatonin and its analytical application

Melatonin photoreactivity: phosphorescence formation and quenching processes

Studies of melatonin photoreactivity in water solutions: An effect of an external heavy atom I− on UV/Vis absorption, fluorescence and phosphorescence spectra is explored. The data allowed determination of relevant energetics for the system.The heavy atom effect (HAE) of I− on melatonin is clearly found to induce an intersystem crossing from the lowest energy singlet state to the lowest energy triplet state (T1) by a state mixing. Lifetime for the first excited triplet states of melatonin in association with I− and quenching rates for halomethanes (CH2X2, CHX3, CY4, X = Cl, Br, Y = Cl) are determined from Time-Correlated Single-Photon Counting decay curves for the phosphorescence. Dramatic alterations in quenching rate constants with quenchers as CH2X2 < CHX3 < CX4 and Cl < Br are attributed to energy transfer from an I−…Me*(T1) complex to low-lying electronic states of the halomethanes followed by dissociation to form R and X fragments. Relevance of the melatonin photoreactivity to photosensitizer properties in organic media is discussed.

Graphical abstract

Melatonin charge transfer complex with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone: Molecular structure, DFT studies, thermal analyses, evaluation of biological activity and utility for determination of melatonin in pure and dosage forms

A simple, accurate and fast spectrophotometric method for the quantitative determination of melatonin (ML) drug in its pure and pharmaceutical forms was developed based on the formation of its charge transfer complex with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) as an electron acceptor. The different conditions for this method were optimized accurately. The Lambert-Beer's law was found to be valid over the concentration range of 4-100μgmL^-1 ML. The solid form of the CT complex was structurally characterized by means of different spectral methods. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were carried out. The different quantum chemical parameters of the CT complex were calculated. Thermal properties of the CT complex and its kinetic thermodynamic parameters were studied, as well as its antimicrobial and antifungal activities were investigated. Molecular docking studies were performed to predict the binding modes of the CT complex components towards E. coli bacterial RNA and the receptor of breast cancer mutant oxidoreductase.

Development and validation of a reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatography method for the determination of magnesium ascorbyl phosphate and melatonin in cosmetic creams

A reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the determination of magnesium ascorbyl phosphate and melatonin in cosmetic creams. The determination was performed on a BDS C 18 analytical column (250 x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm particle size); the mobile phase consisted of 0.020 M tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and 0.025 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 6.8) mixed with acetonitrile in a ratio (77:23, v/v) and pumped at a flow rate 1.00 ml min(-1). The UV detector was operated at 260 nm. The retention times of the magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, melatonin and chlorthalidone that was used as internal standard, were 6.55, 9.18 and 11.07 min, respectively. Calibration graphs are linear (r better than 0.9990, n=6), in concentration range 1.00-10.00 microg ml(-1) for magnesium ascorbyl phosphate and 0.63-6.25 microg ml(-1) for melatonin. The intra- and inter-day R.S.D. values were less than 6.0%, while the relative percentage error E(r) was less than 3.5% (n=5). The quantitation limits were 0.69 and 0.47 microg ml(-1), for magnesium ascorbyl phosphate and melatonin, respectively. The method was applied to the analysis of a cosmetic cream and proved to be suitable for rapid and reliable quality control.