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Infections in confined environments can spread by direct contact, contaminated surfaces, and airborne transmission. This is critical in prison facilities, where cleaning and sanitary conditions are inadequate. An alternative is the development of antimicrobial surfaces. A new antimicrobial coating was developed by incorporating copper microparticles into a standard commercial paint, aiming to reduce the concentration of bacteria on surfaces by granting antimicrobial properties to surfaces. The copper additive comprised Cu2Cl(OH)3 deposited on polyhedral zeolite. The efficacy of this coating was evaluated in detention cells in a police station, which are temporary prisons and inherently dirty environments. The experiment compared a cell painted with the copper additive coating and a control cell with the standard paint. Viable coliforms were measured on different surfaces and in the air for five months under normal usage. Bacterial load was reduced by ca. 68% by the copper-amended paint on cement surfaces. Surprisingly, airborne viable coliforms were reduced by ca. 87% in the detention cell treated with the copper coating. This research highlights the potential of antimicrobial coatings in controlling the spread of infections through contact with contaminated surfaces and emphasizes the significant reduction in airborne bacterial load. It is especially relevant for controlling infections where sanitization is limited but can be extended to other built environments, such as healthcare facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis and structural characterization of a new triangular Cu3–μ3OH pyrazolato complex of formula, [Cu3(μ3−OH)(pz)3(Hpz)3][BF4]2 (1−Cu3), Hpz = pyrazole, is presented. The triangular unit forms a quasi-isosceles triangle with Cu–Cu distances of 3.3739(9), 3.3571(9), and 3.370(1) Å. This complex is isostructural to the hexanuclear complex [Cu3(μ3−OH)(pz)3(Hpz)3](ClO4)2]2 (QOPJIP). A comparative structural analysis with other reported triangular Cu3–μ3OH pyrazolato complexes has been carried out, showing that, depending on the pyrazolato derivative, an auxiliary ligand or counter-anion can affect the nuclearity and/or the dimensionality of the system. The magnetic properties of 1−Cu3 are analyzed using experimental data and DFT calculation. A detailed analysis was performed on the magnetic properties, comparing experimental and theoretical data of other molecular triangular Cu3–μ3OH complexes, showing that the displacement of the μ3−OH− from the Cu3 plane, together with the type of organic ligands, influences the nature of the magnetic exchange interaction between the spin-carrier centers, since it affects the overlap of the magnetic orbitals involved in the exchange pathways. Finally, a detailed comparison of the magnetic properties of 1−Cu3 and QOPJIP was carried out, which allowed us to understand the differences in their magnetic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five pentanuclear heterometallic isostructural complexes, [Ni4Ln(L)2(LH)2(CH3CN)3Cl]·xH2O·yCH3OH {Ln = YIII (1), GdIII (2), TbIII (3), DyIII (4) and ErIII (5)} [for 1 and 2, x = 2, y = 1; for 3, x = 6, y = 2; for 4, x = 5, y = 1; for 5, x = 2, y = 2] were prepared by the reaction of (E)‐2‐(hydroxymethyl)‐6‐{[(2‐hydroxyphenyl)imino]methyl}‐4‐methylphenol (LH3) with LnCl3·6H2O and Ni(OAc)2·4H2O in the presence of tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBA‐OH) base. The structural characterization reveals that compounds 1–5 contain a spirocyclic pentanuclear core [Ni4Ln(µ3‐O)4(µ2‐O)4]3+ where two triangular motifs [Ni2Ln(µ3‐O)2(µ2‐O)2]3+ are fused together through a common vertex of the LnIII ion. The central LnIII ion forms an eight‐coordinated distorted triangular dodecahedron geometry, while the nickel(II) ions form a distorted octahedron geometry. Comprehensive dc magnetic studies reveal that antiferromagnetic exchange interaction exists between the NiII centres. The ac susceptibility measurement revels that dysprosium and erbium analogue shows field induced slow magnetic relaxation with an anisotropic barrier (Ueff) of 25.12 cm–1 and 22.13 cm–1 respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed-valence polyoxovanadates (POVs) constitute a family of polyoxometalates whose electronic properties are still unclear. Polyoxovanadoborates (POVBs), a subfamily of POVs, show different electronic and magnetic properties compared to those of POVs. Upon the interpretation of the electronic spectra of these compounds, only three bands in the 350–800 nm range were reported in the literature. This is the first theoretical study of the electronic spectra of the [V12B18O60] family, and we showed that these three bands are the contributions of different excitations, i.e., LMCT + IVCT, d–d + IVCT and d–d + IVCT. We showed experimentally that in the NIR region, up to 1800 nm, IVCT transitions appear, whose intensity is dependent on the mixed-valence ratio. We also showed that the condensation of borate groups resulted in the loss of the differentiation of the vanadyl stretching vibration that depends on the oxidation state, which is as expected for other types of polyoxovanadates. This feature was proposed as a probe to observe the delocalized to localized phase transition in POVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we report the structural and magnetic characterization of a new three-dimensional porous metal–organic framework (MOF) based on iron(iii) and the formate anion, [Fe(HCO2)3]n·nHCO2H (1), which was obtained by solvothermal synthesis. The tridimensional structure crystallizes in the trigonal space group R3̅c and is formed by highly regular octahedral Fe(OHCO)6 units. These units contain six equal Fe–O distances, with angles slightly different from 90° or 180°. The packing of 1 corresponds to a 3D covalent network defined by face sharing between the parallelepipeds, which are formed by the interactions of Fe(OHCO)6 units through formate ligands, thus generating a 41263 topology. This topology contains channels in the three spatial directions, in which it is possible to find guest molecules of formic acid. The thermogravimetric analysis shows that 1 remains stable till 180 °C; after this temperature the decomposition of 1 begins. From a magnetic point of view, the reported MOF presents an antiferromagnetic behaviour in the 296 to 20 K range. The fit of the experimental data between room temperature and 50 K, using the high temperature series model (HTS model), permits us to estimate a J value of −1.01 cm−1, which is in agreement with the reported values for analogous systems based on transition metal ions and formate ligands. Below this temperature, a weak ferromagnetism as a product of spin canting was observed due to the anti–anti coordination mode of the bridging ligand, which satisfies the requirement for Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya antisymmetric interactions between the FeIII ions. The isothermal magnetization obtained at 2 K shows that the magnetization increases linearly with the applied magnetic field, reaching a value of 0.49Nβ at the highest applied field of 50 kOe, indicating the antiferromagnetic character of the ground state. DFT calculations using a dinuclear fragment confirm the magnitude and nature of the magnetic phenomena of this extended system at high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new aromatic organo-imido polyoxometalates with an electron donor triazole group ([n-Bu4N]2[Mo6O18NC6H4N3C2H2]) (1) and a highly conjugated fluorene ([n-Bu4N]2[Mo6O18NC13H9]) (2) have been obtained. The electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of several organo-imido systems were studied. These properties were analysed by the theoretical study of the redox potentials and by means of the excitation analysis, in order to understand the effect on the substitution of the organo-imido fragment and the effect of the interaction to a metal centre. Our results show a bathochromic shift related to the charge transfer processes induced by the increase of the conjugated character of the organic fragment. The cathodic shift obtained from the electrochemical studies reflects that the electronic communication and conjugation between the organic and inorganic fragments is the main reason of this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]