Global warming causes a range of negative impacts on plants especially due to rapid changes in temperatures, alterations of rainfall patterns, floods or drought conditions, and outbreaks of pests and diseases. These, in turn, affect crop production reducing the quality and quantity of agricultural produce. Climatic extremes and high population growth significantly increase the world’s food demand. Therefore, fulfilling the goal of attaining food security for the present and future generations is of prime importance. Biotechnology enables creating dramatic alterations on crops to withstand stress which is difficult to attain using conventional breeding approaches. It is a viable tool used to improve agricultural production. The development of biotechnological approaches such as genetic engineering, genome editing, RNA-mediated gene silencing armored with next-generation sequencing, and genome mapping have paved the way for precise and faster genetic modifications of plants. Such intensive efforts are currently underway creating desirable crop cultivars to meet the food demand and to support sustainable agricultural productivity for climate change adaptation.
The objective of the research described herein is to report the applicability of simple Schiff base complexes, [M(L)], where M = Ni(II), Cu(II); L = N,N 0 -ethylenebis(acetylacetoniminate), as sensing materials and indicators in qualitative, spectroscopic and volumetric determinations of acids and bases. In this regard, UV-Vis spectroscopic properties of [M(L)] in the presence of different acids (-0.25 \ pKa \ 5) were investigated, and acid-base titrations using these complexes as indicators were carried out. Alcoholic solutions of [Cu(L)] and [Ni(L)] are purple and orange-red, respectively, and both solutions become decolourized upon adding strong acids (pKa \ 2). During this process, the intensity of the original d-d band (k max * 550 nm) decreases, and new anion-dependent CT (k max [ 700 nm) and anion-independent CT (k max * 310 nm) bands, accompanied by three isobestic points, emerge. Addition of NaOH to the same solution, reproduces both the original colours and UV-Vis spectra, implying that the acid-base chemistry of [M(L)] is reversible. No such colour change occurs upon adding weak acids (pKa [ 4), hence [M(L)] can be used as sensing materials for distinguishing strong acids from weak acids. In strong acid-weak base titrations, [M(L)] complexes are better indicators than methyl orange, as they give very sharp and clearly visible colour changes at the end point. The present paper reports, for the first time, the applicability of N,N 0 -ethylenebis(acetylacetoneiminato) nickel (II) and copper (II) Schiff base complexes as acid-base indicators in strong acid-weak base titrations where the pH at the equivalence point is *4.
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