A voltammetry biosensor based on self-assembled layers of a heteroleptic tris(phthalocyaninato) europium triple-decker complex and tyrosinase for catechol detection

A highly efficient enzyme-based sensor was made from a heteroleptic tris(phthalocyaninato) europium triple-decker complex Eu₂(Pc)[Pc(OPh)₈]₂, for the first time. The ITO working electrode was modified by a mixture of hybrid multi-layers consisting of Eu₂(Pc)[Pc(OPh)₈]₂, stearic acid (SA) and tyrosinase (Tyr) (Eu₂(Pc)[Pc(OPh)₈]₂/SA/Tyr-ITO) using the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. The microstructure and morphology of the resulting LB films can be characterized by their π-A isotherms, UV-vis absorption spectra, X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. The experimental results revealed that the triple-decker molecules of Eu₂(Pc)[Pc(OPh)₈]₂ take a H-type molecular stacking mode in both pure and mixed LB film, and the microstructures of films were effectively improved by mixing SA within the triple-decker Eu₂(Pc)[Pc(OPh)₈]₂ molecules. The excellent electrocatalytic effect of the Eu₂(Pc)[Pc(OPh)₈]₂/SA/Tyr LB films, leads to a good linear increase from 5.26 × 10^-7 to 2.1 × 10^-4 M for catechol. It also leads to an excellent sensitivity of 2.19 μA/μM, and a detection limits of 6.29 × 10^-8 M (S/N = 3) of catehol at the oxidation peak, achieving best catechol sensing performance among the phthalocyanine-based biosensing mediators. The reduction peak also showed a good linear increase from 5.26 × 10^-7 to 1.60 × 10^-4 M for catechol with a sensitivity of 0.615 μA/μM, and a detection limit of 1.69 × 10^-7 M (S/N = 3). Moreover, the Eu₂(Pc)[Pc(OPh)₈]₂/SA/Tyr-ITO electrode are easy to reproduce, stable and resistant to interference when it comes to detection for catehol, and this indicates great potential of industrial application of tris(phthalocyaninato) rare earth complexes in ultrasensitive and specific biosensors.

Low-cost, thin-film, mass-manufacturable carbon electrodes for detection of the neurotransmitter dopamine

A flexible, thin-film carbon electrode is reported for detection of the key neurotransmitter dopamine using standard electroanalytical techniques of cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry and square wave voltammetry. The thin-film electrode has been explored as a possible low-cost solution to detect low concentrations of dopamine and its performance has been compared with a commercially available screen printed carbon electrode. It was found that the thin-film electrode is more sensitive than the screen printed electrode, and can faithfully detect dopamine between 50 pM and 1 mM concentrations. The electrode provides a limit of detection of ~50 pM, displays good selectivity between dopamine and ascorbic acid, and is able to show a level of differentiation between the two compounds in terms of peak currents as well as oxidative potentials at physiologically relevant concentrations. This is in contrast to the screen printed electrode which is unable to discriminate between dopamine and ascorbic acid at the same concentrations. The key advantages of the presented electrode system are its low-cost, flexible substrate, and the ability to achieve very low levels of dopamine detection without requiring any electrode surface modification steps, a key factor in reducing fabrication costs and overall device complexity.

Excellent ambipolar gas sensing response of Eu[Pc(OC4H9)8]2/acidified multiwalled carbon nanotubes hybrid at room temperature

A new hybrid material has been developed by mixing a sandwich-type double-decker, Eu[Pc(OC4H9)8]2 = 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octabutoxyphthalocyaninate] with acidified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (aMWCNTs) through non-covalent interactions. The UV-vis spectrum, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope have been employed to reveal the [Formula: see text]-aggregate mode and optimized morphology of Eu[Pc(OC4H9)8]2 molecules in the Eu[Pc(OC4H9)8]2/aMWCNTs hybrid material. The gas-sensing devices based on this hybrid material are fabricated by a simple solvent-processing quasi-Langmuir–Shäfer (QLS) progress. The [Formula: see text]-type and [Formula: see text]-type response is shown by the Eu[Pc(OC4H9)8]2/aMWCNTs hybrid film at room temperature. The detection limit of the hybrid for ammonia and nitrogen dioxide gas is 0.5 ppm and 0.3 ppm, respectively.

Steady state charge conduction through solution processed liquid crystalline lanthanide bisphthalocyanine films

In-plane electrical characteristics of non-peripherally octyl(C[Formula: see text]H[Formula: see text]- and hexyl(C[Formula: see text]H[Formula: see text]-substituted liquid crystalline (LC) double decker lanthanide bisphthalocyanine (LnPc[Formula: see text] complexes with central metal ions lutetium (Lu), and gadolinium (Gd) have been measured in thin film formulations on interdigitated gold (Au) electrodes for the applied voltage ([Formula: see text] range of [Formula: see text]. The conduction mechanism is found to be Ohmic within the bias of [Formula: see text] while the bulk limited Poole–Frenkel mechanism is responsible for the higher bias. The compounds show individual characteristics depending on the central metal ions, substituent chain lengths and their mesophases. Values of 67.55 [Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text] and 42.31 [Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text] have been obtained for room temperature in-plane Ohmic conductivity of as-deposited octyl lutetium (C[Formula: see text]LuPc[Formula: see text] and hexyl gadolinium (C[Formula: see text]GdPc[Formula: see text] films, respectively while C[Formula: see text]GdPc[Formula: see text] films exhibit nearly two orders of magnitude smaller conductivity. On annealing at 80[Formula: see text]C, Ohmic conductivities of C[Formula: see text]LuPc[Formula: see text] and C[Formula: see text]GdPc[Formula: see text] are found to have increased but the conductivity of C[Formula: see text]GdPc[Formula: see text] decreased by more than one order of magnitude to 1.5 [Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text]. For physical interpretation of the charge transport behavior of these three molecules, their UV-vis optical absorption spectra in the solution and in as-deposited and annealed solid phases and atomic force microscopy study have been performed. It is believed that both orientation and positional reorganizations are responsible, depending upon the size of the central ion and side chain length.

Heterocomponent ternary supramolecular complexes of porphyrins: A review

Porphyrins are prominent host molecules which are widely used due to their structural characteristics and directional interaction sites. This review summarizes non-covalently bound ternary complexes of porphyrins, constructed from at least three non-identical species. Progress in supramolecular chemistry allows the creation of complex molecular machinery tools, such as rotors, motors and switches from relatively simple structures in a single self-assembly step. In the current review, we highlight the collection of sophisticated molecular ensembles including sandwich-type complexes, cages, capsules, tweezers, rotaxanes, and supramolecular architectures mediating oxygen-binding and oxidation reactions. These diverse structures have high potential to be applied in sensing, production of new smart materials as well as in medical science.

New peripherally substituted lutetium mono and bis phthalocyanines: Synthesis and comparative photophysical and photochemical properties

In this study, the synthesis and characterization of mono-(phthalocyaninato) lutetium(III) (1-Cl and 1-F) [Lu[Formula: see text](AcO)(Pc)] (Pc [Formula: see text] phthalocyaninato, AcO [Formula: see text] acetate) and bis-(phthalocyaninato) lutetium(III) (2-Cl and 2-Br) [Lu[Formula: see text]Pc[Formula: see text]] bearing halogenated (F, Cl and Br) phenoxy–phenoxy groups are described and verified by IR, [Formula: see text]H-NMR, UV-vis and mass spectrometry. Photochemical and photophysical properties of 1-F, 1-Cl 2-Cl and 2-Br in DMSO are also presented. A comparison between photophysical and photochemical parameters of mono and bis derivatives showed that mono phthalocyanines are better photosensitizers than bis phthalocyanines. Photophysical and photochemical properties of phthalocyanines are very useful for photodynamic therapy applications. Singlet oxygen quantum yields [Formula: see text] give an indication of the potential of the complexes as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy applications. The chloro, fluoro, bromo-phenoxy–phenoxy substituted mono-(phthalocyaninato) lutetium(III) complexes (1-Cl and 1-F) gave good singlet oxygen quantum yields (from 0.86 to 0.80) in DMSO. Thus, these complexes show potential as Type II photosensitizers for PDT of cancer.

Synthesis, characterization and electrochemical properties of isoflavone substituted zinc(II), cobalt(II), and metal-free phthalocyanines

In this study, novel tetrasubstituted metallo- and metal-free phthalocyanines containing 7-hydroxy-4′-methoxyisoflavonoxy moieties at peripheral and non-peripheral positions have been prepared by cyclotetramerization of corresponding phthalonitriles. The most obvious feature of these quaternized complexes is their extensive solubility and non-aggregated species (especially non-peripherally substituted) in organic solvents such as chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, dimethylformamide and dimethylsulfoxide, which makes them candidates for use in many applications in different fields. The new compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, UV-vis, 1H and [Formula: see text]C NMR and MS (Maldi-TOF MS). Voltammetric and in situ spectroelectrochemical measurements have been performed with the aim of characterizing the electron transfer properties of the compounds on Pt in dimethylsulfoxide/tetrabutylammonium perchlorate, compared to those of previously reported corresponding compounds with tetra 6-hydroxyflavonoxy substituents. The effect of aggregation on the redox character of these complexes was also discussed.

Crown-ether-substituted asymmetric phthalocyanine derivatives/CdS self-assembled hybrid films with an unprecedented high response toward NO2

Two asymmetrical amphiphilic phthalocyanines simultaneously containing hydrophobic alkoxy and hydrophilic 15-crown-5-ether substituents at the phthalocyanine periphery H2{Pc(15C5)3[(OC8H[Formula: see text]]}(Pc-1) and H2{Pc(15C5)[(OC8H[Formula: see text]]}(Pc-2) and their symmetrical analogue H2[Pc(OC8H[Formula: see text]] (Pc-3) have been synthesized and characterized. The Pc-n/CdS ([Formula: see text] 1, 2 and 3, respectively) hybrid films are obtained successfully via a simple quasi-Langmuir–Shäfer (QLS) method using H2S-vapor annealing over the Pc-n/Cd[Formula: see text] self-assembled film formed at the interface of the air/CdCl2 aqueous solution. The film-structure and properties of both the hybrid Pc-n/CdS and pure Pc-n films are comparatively studied by a wide range of methods including UV-vis, polarized UV-vis, XRD, SEM and I–V measurements. Experimental results exhibit a slipped co-facial stacking mode in an “edge-on” conformation ([Formula: see text]-type aggregate) formed for the phthalocyanine molecules in both pure Pc-n films and the corresponding Pc-n/CdS hybrid films, with increasing intermolecular [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] interactions in the order of Pc-n <Pc-n/CdS and Pc-3/CdS <Pc-2/CdS <Pc-1/CdS, respectively. Accordingly, film-microstructures, crystallinity and conductivity are effectively improved by introducing CdS nanoparticles into the 15-crown-5-substituented phthalocyanines forming Pc-1/CdS and Pc-2/CdS hybrid films. These render excellent sensing performance towards NO2 in the 0.05–2.5 ppm range within a fast dynamic exposure period of 30 s. Strikingly, Pc-1/CdS hybrid film presents an unprecedented high sensitivity of 157.3%.ppm[Formula: see text] vs. very low NO2 concentration range of 0.05˜0.25 ppm, achieving one of the best room temperature sensing performances in terms of high sensitivity, rapid responsibility and low detection limit among self-assembled film-based NO2 sensors.

The electrochemical applications of rare earth-based nanomaterials

This review presents a general description of the synthesis and electrochemical properties of rare earth-based nanomaterials and their electrochemical applications.

A calix[4]arene-modified (Pc)Eu(Pc)Eu[T(C4A)PP]-based sensor for highly sensitive and specific host–guest electrochemical recognition

A nonenzymatic organic electrochemical sensor with ultrasensitive and specific host–guest recognition characteristics is developed based on a novel triple-decker (Pc)Eu(Pc)Eu[T(C4A)PP].

A small molecular boron-phenylpyrrin sensor for H+/Fe3+ and its application as a digital demultiplexer

A julolidine-based boron-phenylpyrrin small molecule has been designed and synthesized through a one-pot condensation-complexation procedure. Systematic optical studies show that this compound displays two distinct optical responses to the addition of HCl and Fe[Formula: see text] in succession: the addition of HCl induces an obvious red shift in its maximum absorption and fluorescence emission bands accompanied with the fluorescence quenching, whereas after synchronously adding H[Formula: see text] and Fe[Formula: see text], the maximum absorption and fluorescence emission wavelength were found to shift little but with an obvious decrease in the absorbance and fluorescence intensity, suggesting the dual-detecting nature of this compound to H[Formula: see text] and Fe[Formula: see text] under acid conditions. More interestingly, based on the HCl/Fe[Formula: see text]-mediated absorption and fluorescence signal features, JBPP can function as AND, NAND, INH and IMP logic gates which can be further developed into a 2:4 digital demultiplexer These will endow this small molecule compound with great potential for applications in molecular logic material, chemosensors and biological fields.