A new method has been developed for the determination of chlorine in biological reference materials using highresolution continuum source graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS GF MAS) of the strontium mono-chloride (SrCl) molecule and direct solid sample analysis. The use of the SrCl molecule for high-temperature MAS was not described up to now in the literature. Preliminary time-dependent density functional theory calculations of the SrCl structure were carried out in order to obtain reasonable estimates of the absorption spectrum of the target molecule. The calculations, which were carried out at BHandHLyp/def2-QZVP level of theory, proved a very accurate and inexpensive way to get information about the spectrum of the SrCl molecule, which enabled us to perform the Cl determination with good sensitivity and specificity. The molecular absorption of the SrCl molecule has been measured using the wavelength at 635.862 nm, and zirconium and palladium have been evaluated as the chemical modifiers in order to increase the sensitivity of the gaseous SrCl molecule generated in the graphite furnace. The pyrolysis and vaporization temperatures were 600°C and 2300°C, respectively. Accuracy and precision of the method have been evaluated using biological certified reference materials of both animal and plant origins, showing good agreement with the informed and certified values. Limit of detection and characteristic mass were 1.0 and 2.2 ng, respectively. The results found using HR-CS GF MAS were in agreement (95% confidence level) compared to those obtained by electrothermal vaporization-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

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Systems that are connected through multiple hydrogen bonds are the cornerstone of molecular recognition processes in biology, and they are increasingly being employed in supramolecular chemistry, specifically in molecular self-assembly processes. For this reason, the effects of different substituents (NO2, CN, F, Cl, Br, OCH3 and NH2) on the electronic structure, and consequently on the magnitude of hydrogen bonds in triple AAA-DDD arrays (A=acceptor, D=donor) were evaluated in the light of topological [electron localization function (ELF) and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM)], energetic [Su-Li energy-decomposition analysis (EDA) and natural bond orbital analysis (NBO)], and geometrical analysis. The results based on local H-bond descriptors (geometries, QTAIM, ELF, and NBO) indicate that substitutions with electron-withdrawing groups on the AAA module tend to strengthen, whereas electron-donating substituents tend to weaken the covalent character of the AAA-DDD intermolecular H-bonds, and also indicate that the magnitude of the effect is dependent on the position of substitution. In contrast, Su-Li EDA results show an opposite behavior when compared to local H-bond descriptors, indicating that electron-donating substituents tend to increase the magnitude of H-bonds in AAA-DDD arrays, and thus suggesting that the use of local H-bond descriptors describes the nature of H bonds only partially, not providing enough insight about the strength of such H bonds.

The interaction of the dye YD2 with a cluster of (anatase-phase) TiO2 (which is utilized in dye-sensitized solar cells, DSSCs) and electron injection by the dye into the cluster were studied by performing density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP, PBE, and TPSS levels of theory, including dispersion effects. We studied and quantified the interaction of the metallomacrocycle with the TiO2 cluster and the electronic spectrum of the complex. TDDFT calculations using the B3LYP functional were found to be the most suitable for describing the observed absorption energy bands of YD2 and YD2-TiO2. Our calculations show that the diarylamino groups act as electron donors in the photon-induced injection that occurs in DSSCs. The free-energy changes that take place during electron injection support the good performance of YD2 on TiO2 clusters.