Cu/ZrO2 catalysts obtained by impregnation of ZrO2 and complexation with citric acid were studied for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. The catalyst structure, texture, and active copper surface were determined using XRD, BET, and reactive adsorption of N2O, respectively. The XPS and Auger spectroscopies were used to determine the surface structure and copper electronic state. FT-IR pyridine adsorption was studied to determine acidity of the catalysts. The results of quantum-chemical calculations concerning the formation of oxygen vacancies in monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO2 have been also presented. It was found that selection of the appropriate conditions of the catalyst preparation influences the degree of copper dispersion, its electronic state, and contents of the zirconia polymorphic phases (tetragonal and monoclinic). The presence of oxygen vacancies stabilizes both the thermodynamically unstable t-ZrO2 phase and Cu1+ cations, which are present in the vicinity of oxygen vacancies. Complexes formed preferentially on tetragonal ZrO2 built from Cu cations and oxygen vacancies are the acid centers active in methanol synthesis reaction; therefore the catalytic activity toward methanol increases with increasing t-ZrO2 content. The implications of the obtained results for the mechanism of the catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 are discussed.

Nitrite binds reversibly to the ferriheme proteins metmyoglobin and methemoglobin in aqueous buffer solution at a physiological pH of 7.4. The spectral changes recorded for the formation of metMb(NO2-) differ significantly from those observed for the nitrosylation of metMb, which can be accounted for in terms of the different reaction products. Nitric oxide binding to metMb produces a nitrosyl product with Fe(II)-NO+ character, whereas the reaction with nitrite produces an Fe(III)-NO2- complex. The kinetics of the binding and release of nitrite by metMb and metHb were investigated by stopped-flow techniques at ambient and high pressure. The kinetic traces recorded for the reaction of nitrite with metMb exhibit excellent single-exponential fits, whereas nitrite binding to metHb is characterized by double-exponential kinetics which were assigned to the reactions of the alpha- and beta-chains of metHb with NO2-. The rate constants for the binding of nitrite to metMb and metHb were found to be much smaller than those reported for the binding of NO, such that nitrite impurities will not affect the latter reaction. The activation parameters (deltaH++,deltaS(ne),deltaV++) obtained from the temperature and pressure dependence of the reactions support the operation of a dissociative mechanism for the binding and release of nitrite, similar to that found for the binding and release of NO in metMb.

The structure-reactivity relationships in metalation reactions of porphyrinoids have been studied using experimental and theoretical methods. A series of eight porphyrinoic ligands, derivatives of chlorophylls, was prepared in which both the peripheral groups and the degrees of saturation of the macrocycle were systematically varied. To reveal the solvent and structural factors which control the interactions of these macroligands with metal centers, their interactions with reactive Zn(2+) and inert Pt(2+) ions were investigated using absorption spectroscopy. In parallel, quantum chemical calculations (density functional theory, DFT) were performed for the same set of molecules to examine the influence of structural and electronic factors on the energy of the frontier orbitals, the nucleophilicity/electronegativity of the macrocycle, its hardness, and conformation. These static descriptors of chemical reactivity, relevant to metalation reactions, were verified against the results obtained in the experimental model. The experimentally obtained kinetic data clearly show that the solvent has a crucial role in the activation of the incoming metal center. In terms of chelator structure, the largest effects concern the size of the delocalized pi-electron system and the presence of side groups. Both the DFT calculations and experimental results show the strong influence of the macrocycle rigidity and of the peripheral groups on the chelating ability of porphyrinoids. In particular, the peripheral functionalization of the macrocyclic system seems to drastically reduce its reactivity toward metal ions. The effect of peripheral groups is two-fold: (i) a lower electron density on the core nitrogens, and (ii) increased rigidity of the macrocycle. The outcomes of the theoretical and experimental analyses are discussed also in terms of their relevance to the mechanism of biological metal insertion in the biosynthesis of heme and chlorophyll.

Two ruthenium(II) complexes Ru1 and Ru2 bearing as a one ligand 2,2'-bipyridine substituted by a semicarbazone 2-formylopyridine moiety (bpySC: 5-(4-{4'-methyl-[2,2'-bipyridine]-4-yl}but-1-yn-1-yl)pyridine-2-carbaldehyde semicarbazone) and as the others 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) and 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dip), respectively, as auxiliary ligands have been prepared. Their biological activity has been studied on murine colon carcinoma (CT26) and human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cell lines. The anti-proliferative activity was dependent on the presence of bpy or dip in the complex, with one order of magnitude higher cytotoxicity for Ru2 (dip ligands). Ru1 (bpy ligands) exhibited a distinct increase in cytotoxicity going from 24 to 72h of incubation with cells as was not observed for Ru2. Even though both studied compounds were powerful apoptosis inducing agents, the mechanism of their action was entirely different. Ru1-incubated A549 cells showed a notable increase in cells number in the S-phase of the cell cycle, with concomitant decrease in the G2/M phase, while Ru2 promoted a cell accumulation in the G0/G1 phase. In contrast, Ru1 induced marginal oxidative stress in A549 cell lines even upon increasing the incubation time. Even though Ru1 preferably accumulated in lysosomes it triggered the apoptotic cellular death via an intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. Ru1-incubated A549 cells showed swelling and enlarging of the mitochondria. It was not observed in case of Ru2 for which mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum were found as primarily localization site. Despite this the apoptosis induced by Ru2 was caspase-independent. All these findings point to a pronounced role of auxiliary ligands in tuning the mode of biological activity.

Promising antimetastatic compounds having high cytotoxicity against cancer cells combined with strong influence on their adhesion properties as well as inhibition of their metalloproteinases.