The phasor method of treating fluorescence lifetime data provides a facile and convenient approach to characterize lifetime heterogeneity and to detect the presence of excited state reactions such as solvent relaxation and Förster resonance energy transfer. The method uses a plot of M sin(Φ) versus M cos(Φ), where M is the modulation ratio and Φ is the phase angle taken from frequency domain fluorometry. A principal advantage of the phasor method is that it provides a model-less approach to time-resolved data amenable to visual inspection. Although the phasor approach has been recently applied to fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, it has not been used extensively for cuvette studies. In the current study, we explore the applications of the method to in vitro samples. The phasors of binary and ternary mixtures of fluorescent dyes demonstrate the utility of the method for investigating complex mixtures. Data from excited state reactions, such as dipolar relaxation in membrane and protein systems and also energy transfer from the tryptophan residue to the chromophore in enhanced green fluorescent protein, are also presented.

• MeSH
• Apoproteins chemistry   MeSH
• Time Factors MeSH
• Fluorescent Dyes chemistry   MeSH
• Spectrometry, Fluorescence methods   MeSH
• Myoglobin chemistry   MeSH
• Naphthalenesulfonates chemistry   MeSH
• Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer MeSH
• Solvents chemistry   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH

Lanthanide(III) complexes of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7-triacetic acid (H(3)DO3A) are suggested as sensors for sensitive luminescence-based determination of a carbonate anion. Thermodynamic study of association of [Eu(H(2)O)(2)(DO3A)] with bidentate anionic ligands using luminescence spectroscopy reveals an affinity order CO(3)(2-) > oxalate(2-) > picolinate(-) > phthalate(2-) ≈ citrate(3-); presumably as a consequence of an increasing chelate ring size. The ternary [Eu(DO3A)(picolinate)](-) and [Tb(DO3A)(picolinate)](-) complexes show improved photophysical properties due to the antenna effect of the picolinate anion. High quenching effect of carbonate anion and, to a lesser extent also oxalate, enables construction of a linear calibration plot utilizing optimized experimental conditions (e.g. c(LnL) = 0.1 mM, c(picolinate) = 2-5 mM, pH = 7.4, λ(exc) = 286 nm, etc.) for carbonate determination in solution. Both sensors show a comparable sensitivity and the detection limit of about 0.4 mM. In order to improve the photophysical properties of Ln(III) sensor by shift of excitation wavelength about 40 nm to VIS range, the isoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid (IQCA) as antenna ligand was employed instead of picolinic acid. The analysis of commercial samples of European mineral waters was carried out and they were compared to the results obtained by capillary isotachophoresis to confirm there is no inherent (systematic) error to the present analysis. The Ln(III) sensor with IQCA is recommended since it has a better robustness than that with picolinate. The present analytical method is simple and rapid, and it is useful for sensitive determination of bicarbonate/carbonate concentration in water samples under aerobic conditions.

• MeSH
• Chemistry Techniques, Analytical instrumentation   MeSH
• Europium chemistry   MeSH
• Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring chemistry   MeSH
• Ligands MeSH
• Luminescent Measurements MeSH
• Macrocyclic Compounds chemistry   MeSH
• Organometallic Compounds chemistry   MeSH
• Terbium chemistry   MeSH
• Thermodynamics MeSH
• Carbonates analysis   chemistry   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

The paper describes transesterification of oil by methanol with use of cosolvents such as ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran, hexane, acetone and diethyl ether at catalyst homogeneous (potassium hydroxide) and heterogeneous (mixed oxides). The cosolvents dissolve oil and methanol to form a single (homogeneous) phase, which increases the reaction rate. Therefore, the biodiesel production will be environmentally friendly because less energy is consumed, which increases sustainability. The whole binodal curve of ternary plots of oil, methanol and cosolvent was determined to find the molar ratio, in which the reaction mixture forms a single phase. The ethyl acetate and tetrahydrofuran have relatively small heterogeneous region, because of the similarity of their electric dipole moment with methanol. After transesterification, the detailed analysis of ester and also glycerol phase was carried out. For homogeneous catalyst, the highest esters content in the ester phase was achieved with tetrahydrofuran. For heterogeneous catalyst, the ester content was lower with cosolvent than without cosolvent, probably due to dilution of reaction components by cosolvent or bonding of cosolvent to the active sites of the catalyst.

• MeSH
• Biofuels * MeSH
• Esterification MeSH
• Esters * MeSH
• Catalysis MeSH
• Methanol MeSH
• Plant Oils MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH