Benzodiazepines like nitrazepam are extensively used, both as prescribed medications and as illicit drug substitutes, and therefore detection is of prime importance. In this work, the electrochemical detection of nitrazepam using a graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) modified electrode was investigated. The nitrogen-rich carbon material i.e., g-C3N4 was easily synthesized by the thermal condensation method using melamine as a precursor. The platinum electrode was modified by synthesized material and its electrochemical activity was tested using a three-electrode set-up. The cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirmed the effective detection of nitrazepam. The detection at different concentrations was analyzed using CV and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The detection limit of 0.02 µM was found with the linear dynamic range of nitrazepam. A repeatability experiment was conducted to check the stability of the proposed electrode. This study confirms the potential use of g-C3N4 as an effective and stable electrode material for the detector in the field of pharmaceuticals and health care.

In this work we demonstrate one-pot glycidol synthesis, via trans-esterification between glycerol and dimethyl carbonate, by making use of commercially available sodium methoxide as a catalyst. An excellent glycerol conversion (99%) and remarkable glycidol yield (75%) was obtained using dimethyl carbonate/glycerol (molar ratio 2:1) in the presence of 3 wt% catalyst amount (with respect to glycerol weight) at 85 °C for a reaction time of 120 min. Sodium methoxide was recycled and reused twice with only a slight decrease in glycerol conversion. The water content of the glycerol reached 2.5 wt%; this did not reduce the glycerol conversion efficiency of the catalyst. A plausible mechanism for the trans-esterification involved in the preparation of glycidol was proposed.