Tetrapropylammonium Chloride Research Articles

Effect of Tetrapropylammonium Chloride Quaternary Ammonium Salt on Characterization, Cytotoxicity, and Antibacterial Properties of PLA/PEG Electrospun Mat.

In this study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-tetrapropylammonium chloride (TCL)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) nonwoven networks were produced using PLA, PEG with different concentrations (3, 5, 7, and 9 wt%), and TCL. PEG is included as a plasticizer in PLA polymer, which has high biocompatibility but a brittle structure. The importance of this study is to investigate the effect of TCL salt on the characterization of PLA-PEG nanofibers. For this research, the cytotoxicity test system responsible for the fibroblast cell line (L929) was evaluated with the liquid absorption capacity (LAC) and drying time tests for its use in wound dressings. The addition of TCL salt reduced bead formation in PLA-PEG nanofibers and increased the homogeneity of fiber dispersion. The smoothest and most homogeneous nonwoven networks were obtained as PLA-5TCL-PEG. It was also reported that this nonwoven network exhibited liquid absorption behavior with a maximum increase of 150% compared to the PLA-PEG nonwoven network and had the highest Young's modulus value of 12.97 MPa. In addition to these tests, evaluations were made with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), drying time test, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and mechanical tests. In addition, high cell viability was observed in L292 mouse fibroblast cells at the end of the 24th hour, again with the effect of TCL salt. In addition, antibacterial activity was tested against gram-negative E. coli and gram-positive S. aureus bacteria, and it was observed that there was no antibacterial activity. Since PLA-TCL-PEG nonwoven webs have a maximum cell viability of 133.27%, they are recommended as a potential dermal wound dressing.

Theoretical exploration and experimental investigation of acidic deep eutectic solvents as green solvents to separate carbazole from model crude anthracene oil

Carbazole is a highly value-added compound derived from crude anthracene. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been extensively used as promising green solvents for the separation of target compounds from mixture. In this work, 135 acidic DESs, formed by combining 9 quaternary ammonium salts with 15 common acids, were screened based on the conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) model. The four top-ranked DESs, including tetraethylammonium chloride (TEAC)/2 acetic acid (AA), TEAC/2 propionic acid (PA), tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPAC)/2AA, and TPAC/2PA were identified as suitable extractants for carbazole separation based on their performance index (PI). Among them, TEAC/2AA had the best separation performance for carbazole due to its highest PI value (1448.19). Liquid–liquid extraction experiments were performed, and the results were in good accordance with those predicted by COSMO-RS calculations. Therefore, TEAC/2AA was determined as the most promising DES for the carbazole separation. The extraction conditions of TEAC/2AA were optimized. The extraction efficiency (EE) and selectivity (SE) of carbazole were 97.67 % and 66.64 %, respectively, under the optimal extraction conditions (25 ℃, 5 min of extraction time, DES-oil mass ratio of 1:5, initial carbazole concentration of 5000 ppm). Additionally, the deionized water was employed to regenerate the DES and recovery of carbazole. The recycling performance of promising DES was also investigated. Finally, quantum chemical calculations and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis were conducted to explore the separation mechanism. The results indicated that the separation of carbazole by DESs were predominantly dominated by hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interaction. This work provided a valuable reference for the selection and design of DES extractants to separate other high value-added components from mixture.

Efficient Low-Pressure CO2 capture via ZIF-8 modified by deep eutectic solvents

To enhance CO2 sorption efficiency under low-pressure conditions and effectively compete with N2 sorption in flue gas, modifications are implemented aimed at improving the adsorption capacity and selectivity of ZIF-8, renowned for their robust stability. Deep eutectic solvent (DES) comprising tetraethylammonium chloride (TEAC), tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPAC), and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as hydrogen-bond acceptors, along with ethanolamine (MEA) as the hydrogen-bond donor, were meticulously prepared for this purpose. ZIF-8 underwent modification through DES loading, resulting in the distinctive emergence of a “core-membrane” structure. Characterization revealed that the DES effectively adhered to the surface of ZIF-8 in a membrane-like structure, without altering the chemical structure or pore size of ZIF-8. The most significant enhancement in sorption capacity was observed with TPAC&MEA modification. Considering the presence of N2 partial pressure in the flue gas, at 0.05 and 1 bar, the CO2 adsorption capacities reached 1.92 and 3.03 mmol g−1, respectively, increasing 71.11 and 4.00 times compared to pristine ZIF-8. The ZIF-8 exhibited a CO2/N2 separation coefficient of 72.77, which increased to a maximum of 997.50 after DES modification. Additionally, the modified material demonstrated exceptional cyclic and thermal stability during testing. This study significantly elevates the CO2 adsorption capacity and selectivity of solid materials within the low-pressure range, providing pivotal support for CO2 capture and decarbonization efforts.

Thermodynamic properties of TPAC-EG deep eutectic solvents: A study based on the IGC method with molecular simulations

The study of thermodynamic properties and intermolecular interactions in deep eutectic solvents (DES) is an important innovative step in the development of DES. This research focuses on the synthesis of DES using a 1:2 M ratio of tetrapropylammonium chloride and ethylene glycol. Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) techniques are used to investigate DES of thermodynamics in the temperature range of 303.15–333.15 K. Additionally, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) are used to explore intermolecular interactions in DES at both molecular and atomic levels. The research findings yield crucial insights, including the successful determination of infinite dilution activity coefficients, Flory-Huggin’s interaction parameters, solubility parameters, and Abraham solvation parameters of DES through IGC techniques. A careful study of the temperature-dependent trends in these parameters is provided. Analyses of structural properties, including radial distribution functions, hydrogen bond counts, and thermal fluctuation indices, reveal that, at experiments temperatures, the amount and nature of intermolecular hydrogen bonds in binary mixtures are the main factors influencing the thermodynamic properties of DES. Finally, based on DFT calculations, a quantitative assessment of the molecular interaction mechanisms of DES at the atomic level confirms the predominant role of hydrogen bonding in DES formation, with multicenter hydrogen bonds characterized by stronger hydrogen bond strengths emerging as the primary type.

Understanding the CO2 capture potential of tetrapropylammonium-based multifunctional deep eutectic solvent via molecular simulation

A multiscale theoretical study on the suitability of the bifunctional hydrophobic Deep Eutectic Solvent based on tetrapropylammonium chloride and acetic acid with ethanolamine is reported. Density Functional Theory quantum calculations along with classical Molecular Dynamics simulations provide a nanoscopic characterization of the properties of the studied sorbent in terms of intermolecular forces and liquid phase structuring and the characterization of the mechanism of CO2 absorption considering gas – liquid phase interfaces for neat CO2 and a realistic flue gas mixture. Results in this paper characterize the evolution of CO2 into liquid phases as well as the changes produced in the fluid upon gas capture through hydrogen bonding, void occupation and molecular clustering. The possible effect of having two different types of functionalities in the sorbent, amine and hydroxyl groups, which may lead to possible chemical and/or physical sorption is analyzed, considering their possible competing in CO2 capture. The reported study provides the first characterization of multifunctional Deep Eutectic Solvents for carbon capture from complex realistic gas mixtures.

Porous Core-membrane Microstructured Nanomaterial Composed of Deep Eutectic Solvents and MOF-808 for CO2 Capture.

A series of porous core-membrane microstructured nanomaterials, constructed of a deep eutectic solvent (DES) membrane and porous MOF-808 core via liquid surface tensions and electrostatic interactions, are introduced for carbon dioxide capture with the sorption mechanism coupling diffusion, physisorption, and chemisorption. MOF-808 as the porous core considerably improves the diffusion interactions for DES membranes, hence significantly enhancing the sorption performance of DESs. Although the DES consisted by monoethanolamine and tetrapropylammonium chloride (MEA-TPAC-7) has the highest sorption capacity among all DESs, it is only 4.39 mmol g-1 at 2.4 bar and further attenuates by fastidious diffusion interactions when increasing viscosity or dose. The sorption capacities of DES@MOF-120 are 5.18 mmol g-1 at 3.0 bar and 4.78 mmol g-1 at 2.4 bar without apparent sorption hysteresis in pressure swing sorption, which are substantially improved contrasted to MEA-TPAC-7. The sorption isotherms are reconstructed via Sips models considering surface heterogeneity with regression correlation coefficients over 0.9454 to forecast maximum sorption capacity over 6.33 mmol g-1 .

Superstructure-dependent stability of DNA origami nanostructures in the presence of chaotropic denaturants.

The structural stability of DNA origami nanostructures in various chemical environments is an important factor in numerous applications, ranging from biomedicine and biophysics to analytical chemistry and materials synthesis. In this work, the stability of six different 2D and 3D DNA origami nanostructures is assessed in the presence of three different chaotropic salts, i.e., guanidinium sulfate (Gdm2SO4), guanidinium chloride (GdmCl), and tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPACl), which are widely employed denaturants. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to quantify nanostructural integrity, Gdm2SO4 is found to be the weakest and TPACl the strongest DNA origami denaturant, respectively. Despite different mechanisms of actions of the selected salts, DNA origami stability in each environment is observed to depend on DNA origami superstructure. This is especially pronounced for 3D DNA origami nanostructures, where mechanically more flexible designs show higher stability in both GdmCl and TPACl than more rigid ones. This is particularly remarkable as this general dependence has previously been observed under Mg2+-free conditions and may provide the possibility to optimize DNA origami design toward maximum stability in diverse chemical environments. Finally, it is demonstrated that melting temperature measurements may overestimate the stability of certain DNA origami nanostructures in certain chemical environments, so that such investigations should always be complemented by microscopic assessments of nanostructure integrity.

Theoretical and experimental exploration for efficient separation of carbazole from anthracene oil with quaternary ammonium salts via forming deep eutectic solvents

Carbazole is an important organic chemical raw material with high added value, mainly derived from crude anthracene. In this research, three quaternary ammonium salts (QASs), containing triethylmethylammonium chloride (TEMAC), tetraethylammonium chloride (TEAC) and tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPAC), were innovatively used to separate carbazole from model anthracene oil by forming deep eutectic solvents (DESs). The results indicated that TEAC showed the highest separation ability among three QASs. Afterwards, the influences of mass ratio of TEAC to model anthracene oil (MO), stirring time, extraction temperature and initial concentration on the separation effect of carbazole were investigated. Under the optimized conditions (25℃, 25 min, mass ratio 1:5), the extraction efficiency (EE), distribution coefficient (DI) and selectivity (SE) of carbazole could reach up to 91.25 %, 24.26 and 66.09 %, respectively. The purity and yield of carbazole product separated from model anthracene oil were 91.02 % and 76.89 %, respectively. Moreover, carbazole with purity of 90.42 % could be separated from real crude anthracene with TEAC under the above optimized conditions. In addition, environment friendly water was used to regenerate the TEAC. After recycled for five times, the extraction ability of TEAC for carbazole did not change obviously. Finally, the hydrogen bond (NH…Cl) and van der Waals interaction (CH…π) existed between QASs and carbazole were revealed by FT-IR analysis and quantum calculations. The green and novel method presented in this work has implications for the separation of other high value-added products from coal tar.

Negatively charged phospholipids stimulate factor XI activation by thrombin

IntroductionCoagulation factor XI (FXI) is the zymogen of the serine-protease FXIa, which contributes to thrombin formation by activating factor IX. FXI can be activated by factor XIIa or thrombin, but thrombin-catalysed FXI activation is highly inefficient, unless stimulated by polyanions such as dextran sulphate (DXS) or polyphosphate (PolyP). AimTo investigate whether negatively charged phospholipids can also enhance thrombin-catalysed FXI activation and to determine the dependence of this reaction on phospholipid concentration and composition, thrombin exosites and ionic strength. MethodsFXI was incubated with thrombin in the absence and presence of DXS, PolyP or phospholipid vesicles, and FXIa generation was followed using a chromogenic substrate. The role of thrombin exosites was probed using specific aptamers. The ionic strength was varied using either sodium chloride (NaCl) or tetrapropylammonium chloride. ResultsSimilar to DXS and PolyP, phospholipid vesicles with a high percentage of phosphatidic acid or phosphatidylserine enhanced thrombin-catalysed FXI activation by 1–2 orders of magnitude. Moreover, thrombin and FXI bound to negatively charged phospholipids in direct binding assays. Both thrombin exosites contributed to the ability of thrombin to bind to phospholipids and activate FXI, with a predominance of exosite II. Decreasing the ionic strength greatly stimulated FXI activation by thrombin, both in the absence and presence of phospholipids. However, at equal ionic strength, the reaction was more efficient with NaCl than with tetrapropylammonium chloride, suggesting a specific stimulatory effect of Na+. ConclusionsNegatively charged phospholipids, just as DXS and PolyP, stimulate FXI activation by thrombin via a ‘template mechanism’.

Facile and rapid fractionation of bamboo wood with a p-toluenesulfonic acid-based three-constituent deep eutectic solvent

Here, we report a strategy with the application of p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH) based three-constituent deep eutectic solvent (3c-DES) for the efficient fractionation of bamboo wood towards its main components. Three kinds of deep eutectic solvents (DESs), including choline chloride (ChCl)/ ethylene glycol (EG)/p-TsOH, tetrabutylammonium chloride (N4Cl)/EG/p-TsOH and tetrapropylammonium chloride (N3Cl) /EG/ p-TsOH, were facilely prepared and assessed for the pretreatment of bamboo wood. ChCl-EG-p-TsOH (molar ratio of 1:0.5:1) was found to be the most effective, evidenced by more than 93.36% xylan and 90.32% lignin removals with most of the cellulose (86.73%) retained in the pretreated bamboo in a short time of 10 min at 100 °C and a 10 wt. % solid loading, which significantly improved delignification by more than 85% compared with that of using ChCl-EG (molar ratio of 1:2) as a two-constituent at the same conditions. The 3c-DES pretreatment resulted in the desirable deconstruction of the recalcitrant of cell walls in woody biomass, evidenced by the higher glucose yield of 90.2% by the enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulose-rich substrate, which was nearly four-fold higher than that of the untreated bamboo. The extracted lignin showed high purity (95%) with a moderate and homogeneous molecular weight, showing promising potential applications in the downstream production of biochemicals and biomaterials. Furthermore, the 3c-DES exhibited excellent recoverability by evaluating the fractionation efficiency and enzymatic hydrolysis performance with the recycled DES. The results from this study demonstrated that p-TsOH-based 3c-DES showed practical significance for the fast and effective fractionation of woody biomass for high-quality components.

Origin of chronoamperometric responses associated with impacts of single electrolyte droplets at a polarized liquid/liquid interface

Chronoamperometric measurements at a constant potential are used to study the single impacts of the water-in-DCE emulsion droplets containing an electrolyte (tetrapropylammonium chloride, TPrACl) at a polarized water(W)/1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) interface. The impacts give rise to the spike-like current transients, which are characterized by the initial current step (time constant less than 2 ms) followed by a slower exponential current decay with a time constant in tens of milliseconds. It is shown that the theoretical treatment of the current spikes can be based on a modification of the bulk electrolysis model including (1) the droplet collision at the W/DCE interface, (2) a partial coalescence (fusion) of the droplet with the impacted interface, (3) a reorganization of the electric double layer leading to the propagation of the interfacial potential difference from the impacted interface to the surface of the droplet, and (4) stripping (bulk electrolysis) of TPrA+ from the droplet to the DCE phase accompanied by the chloride depletion into the bulk water phase. On assuming that the stripping of TPrA+ is the rate-determining step of the impact event, the theoretical relationships for the current transient are derived, which are confirmed by the experimental data. An analysis of the current transients yields the charge corresponding to the ionic content of the droplets, which is used to evaluate the droplet diameter. Droplet size distribution with the droplet diameter of around 8 μm is verified by an analysis of the microscopic images of the W-in-DCE emulsion, and in part also by the dynamic laser scattering measurements. It is shown that the frequency of the droplet collisions with the W/DCE interface (1–10 Hz) is controlled by migration of the negatively charged droplets towards the interface.

The Role of Charge Transfer in the Formation of Type I Deep Eutectic Solvent-Analogous Ionic Liquid Mixtures.

It was recently shown that tetramethylammonium chloride presented negative deviations to ideality when mixed with tetraethylammonium chloride or tetrapropylammonium chloride, leading to a strong decrease of the melting points of these salt mixtures, in a behavior akin to that observed in the formation of deep eutectic solvents. To better rationalize this unexpected melting point depression between two structurally similar compounds devoid of dominant hydrogen bonding capability, new solid–liquid equilibria data for tetramethylammonium-based systems were measured and analyzed in this work. Molecular dynamics was used to show that the strong negative deviations from ideality presented by these systems arise from a synergetic share of the chloride ions. A transfer of chloride ions seems to occur from the bigger cation in the mixture (which possesses a more disperse charge) to the smaller cation (tetramethylammonium), resembling the formation of metal–chloride complexes in type I deep eutectic solvents. This rearrangement of the charged species leads to an energetic stabilization of both components in the mixture, inducing the negative deviations to the ideality observed. The conclusions presented herein emphasize the often-neglected contribution of charge delocalization in deep eutectic solvents formation and its applicability toward the design of new ionic liquid mixtures.

Electrochemical intercalation of MoO3-MoS2 composite electrodes: Charge storage mechanism of non-hydrated cations

MoS2 and MoO3 have attracted attention due to their interesting properties in energy storage applications, however, the operative charge storage mechanism, whether based on surface ion adsorption and intercalation, is not yet fully understood. In this work, the intercalation of non-hydrated cations into free-standing MoO3-MoS2 electrodes, prepared as composites with graphene, was studied. The oxide material is formed during the solution phase exfoliation process. It is found that tetramethylammonium chloride (TMACl) provides twice the capacitance of tetraethylammonium chloride (TEACl) and tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPACl) solutions. This is attributed to the interlayer spacing of MoS2 (0.615 nm) and MoO3 (0.690 nm), which are greater than the crystallographic diameter of TMA+ (0.558 nm). In contrast, the crystallographic diameter of TEA+ (0.674 nm) and TPA+ (0.758 nm), being larger than the interlayer spacing of MoS2, leads to storage of charge only on the surface of the materials through ion adsorption. Moreover, we have found that use of the TPA+ ion leads to the partial re-exfoliation of the as-prepared materials, which can enhance the capacitance retention during cycling. These results improve the understanding of charge storage mechanism of layered 2D materials.

Anomalous surface behavior of hydrated guanidinium ions due to ion pairing.

Surface affinity of aqueous guanidinium chloride (GdmCl) is compared to that of aqueous tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPACl) upon addition of sodium chloride (NaCl) or disodium sulfate (Na2SO4). The experimental results have been acquired using the surface sensitive technique X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on a liquid jet. Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to produce radial distribution functions and surface density plots. The surface affinities of both TPA+ and Gdm+ increase upon adding NaCl to the solution. With the addition of Na2SO4, the surface affinity of TPA+ increases, while that of Gdm+ decreases. From the results of MD simulations it is seen that Gdm+ and SO42- ions form pairs. This finding can be used to explain the decreased surface affinity of Gdm+ when co-dissolved with SO42- ions. Since SO42- ions avoid the surface due to the double charge and strong water interaction, the Gdm+-SO42- ion pair resides deeper in the solutions' bulk than the Gdm+ ions. Since TPA+ does not form ion pairs with SO42-, the TPA+ ions are instead enriched at the surface.

Density functional theory calculations of the molecular structure and the vibrational spectra of bis-tetrapropyl-ammonium hexachloro-dizincate

The molecular structure and vibrational spectra of bis-tetrapropyl-ammonium hexachloro–dizincate in the ground state have been investigated by density functional method (DFT) using the B3LYP method with the LanL2DZ and LanL2MB basis set. Infrared and Raman spectroscopes of the [N(C3H7)4]2Zn2Cl6 compound have been measured at room temperature in the frequencies range (3500–400 cm−1) and (3500–100 cm−1), respectively. The optimized geometric shows that the calculated values obtained by B3LYP/LanL2DZ basis are in much better agreement with the experimental data than those obtained by B3LYP/LanL2MB. Actually the theoretical vibrational spectra (B3LYP/LanL2DZ) of the title compound have been interpreted by means of potential energy distribution (PED) which is in good agreement with the experimental data. The comparison of the infrared spectrum of the tetrapropyl-ammonium chloride ligand with those of the bis-tetrapropyl-ammonium hexachloro-dizincate compound confirms an increase of the wavenumber in the [N(C3H7)4]2Zn2Cl6 compound. This can be explained by an increase of the electrostatic interactions of the [N(C3H7)4]Cl ligand.

Thin and long silver nanowires self-assembled in ionic liquids as a soft template: electrical and optical properties.

Thin and long silver nanowires were successfully synthesized using the polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-assisted polyol method in the presence of ionic liquids, tetrapropylammonium chloride and tetrapropylammonium bromide, which served as soft template salts. The first step involved the formation of Ag nanoparticles with a diameter of 40 to 50 nm through the reduction of silver nitrate. At the growing stage, the Ag nanoparticles were converted into thin and long one-dimensional wires, with uniform diameters of 30 ± 3 nm and lengths of up to 50 μm. These Ag nanowires showed an electrical conductivity of 0.3 × 105 S/cm, while the sheet resistance of a two-dimensional percolating Ag nanowire network exhibited a value of 20 Ω/sq with an optical transmittance of 93% and a low haze value.

Why Do Tetrapropylammonium Chloride and Sulphate Salts Destabilize the Native State of Globular Proteins?

It has recently been shown that aqueous solutions of tetrapropylammonium chloride and sulphate salts destabilize the folded conformation of Trp-peptides (Dempsey et al., 2011). This result is rationalized by the application of a statistical thermodynamic approach (Graziano, 2010). It is shown that the magnitude of the solvent-excluded volume effect, the main contribution for the native state stability, decreases in both aqueous 2 M TPACl solution and aqueous 1 M TPA2SO4 solution. This happens because TPA+ ions are so large in size and interact so weakly with water molecules, due to their very low charge density, to be able to counteract the electrostrictive effect of chloride and sulphate ions on the water structure, so that the density of their aqueous solutions is smaller or only slightly larger than that of water.

PtRu/carbon hybrid materials prepared by hydrothermal carbonization as electrocatalysts for methanol electrooxidation

PtRu/carbon hybrid materials were prepared by hydrothermal carbonization using starch as carbon source and reducing agent and H2PtCl6.6H2O and RuCl3.xH2O as metal sources of the carbonization process. The materials were prepared in the following conditions: without pH adjustment, in the absence and in the presence of tetrapropylammonium chloride, and adjusting the pH using potassium hydroxide or tetrapropylammonium hydroxide. The as-synthesized materials were further treated under argon atmosphere at 900 °C and characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, BET isotherm, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and cyclic voltammetry. The electrooxidation of methanol was studied by chronoamperometry. The addition of tetrapropylammonium ion promoted an increase in surface area and total pore volume while the alkaline medium favored smaller particle sizes. The material prepared using tetrapropylammonium hydroxide showed the best electroactivity for methanol electrooxidation compared to others obtained materials.

Aqueous natural organic matter removal by quaternary-ammonium-compound-modified iron-oxide-coated sand

In this study, modification of iron-oxide-coated sand (IOCS) with three quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) was tested as a means to improve the removal of aqueous natural organic matter (NOM) by IOCS. The assessment was conducted in batch, isotherm setup with changes in types and concentrations of QACs, modification pH, additions of H2O2 during modification, and adsorption pH. IOCS modification with long chain QACs, including hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA) and hexadecylbenzyldimethylammonium chloride (HDBDMA) significantly increased the adsorption of NOM, while coating IOCS with short chain QAC, tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPA) had no positive effect. The enhancement increased with increasing pH and increasing QAC concentration used during modification. Co-additions of long chain QACs with H2O2 during modification could further improve NOM adsorption. Modification of IOCS with 10.0 mM HDTMA at pH 9.9 with the 0.2% H2O2 addition doubled NOM adsorption capacity on IOCS at pH 9.1. The results presented here suggest that the modification of IOCS using long chain QACs can enhance NOM removal by IOCS during drinking water treatment.

Tetraalkylammonium derivatives as real-time PCR enhancers and stabilizers of the qPCR mixtures containing SYBR Green I

Tetraalkylammonium (TAA) derivatives have been reported to serve as stabilizers of asymmetrical cyanine dyes in aqueous solutions and to increase the yield and efficiency of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detected by end-point analysis. In this study, we compared the ability of various TAA derivatives (with alkyl chain ranging from 1 to 5 carbons) and some other compounds to serve as enhancers of real-time PCR based on fluorescence detection from intercalating dye SYBR Green I (SGI). Our data indicate that TAA chlorides and some other TAA derivatives serve as potent enhancers of SGI-monitored real-time PCR. Optimal results were obtained with 10–16 mM tetrapropylammonium chloride. The effect of TAA compounds was dependent on the nature of counter ions present and composition of the reaction mixtures used. Based on measurements of SGI-generated fluorescence signal in the presence of PCR-amplified DNA fragments, oligonucleotide primers and/or various additives, we propose that TAA-derivatives reduce the binding of SGI to oligonucleotide primers and thus enhance primer–template interactions during annealing phase. Furthermore, these compounds serve as stabilizers of SGI-containing PCR mixtures. The combined data indicate that TAA derivatives might be a new class of additives contributing to robustness of real-time PCR monitored by asymmetrical cyanine dye SGI.