Zinc(<scp>ii</scp>) triazole <i>meso</i>-arylsubstituted porphyrins for UV-visible chloride and bromide detection. Adsorption and catalytic degradation of malachite green dye

Abstract

Three new triazole <i>meso</i>-arylporphyrins (4a-c) were synthesized by the copper(i)-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) "click" reaction in high yield. The corresponding zinc(ii) coordination compounds (5a-c) have also been prepared. All 4a-c and 5a-c porphyrin species were fully characterized by elemental analysis, electrospray ionization and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, UV-visible, fluorescence and cyclic voltammetry. The zinc(ii) 5a-c complexes have been tested as detectors for Cl^- and Br^- anions. UV-visible titrations reveal that these host systems exhibit strong anion binding affinities. The efficiency of the adsorption of the malachite green dye (MG) dye on the 4a-c free base porphyrins and the corresponding zinc(ii) complexes 5a-c was investigated by a kinetic study using these synthetic porphyrin derivatives as adsorbents. The use of our triazole Zn(ii) complexes in the catalytic degradation of the MG dye is the first example where a metalloporphyrin is involved in the MG dye decolorization reaction. The degradation reactions were carried out using an ecological oxidant (H₂O₂), where the efficiency of the decolorization has been characterized by UV-visible spectroscopic analysis. Several factors affecting the degradation phenomenon have been studied. The energetic parameters concerning the degradation process have also been determined.