Test identifies toxic platinum and palladium without time-consuming sample pretreatment (11/16/2008)
The painstaking process of detecting toxic species of platinum and palladium mixed in with the form of platinum essential to certain pharmaceuticals could be reduced to one simple step, University of Pittsburgh researchers report in the Nov. 14 online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).
A fluorogenic solution developed in the laboratory of Kazunori Koide (Ko-ee-deh), a chemistry professor in Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences, glows bright green when it comes in contact with the poisonous forms of palladium and platinum known as Pd(II) and Pt(IV), respectively. These two elements are typically broken down into the platinum species Pt(0), which is used in medications to suppress various reactive oxygen species responsible for inflammation and other maladies. But residual amounts of Pd(II) and, particularly, the more toxic Pt(IV) can remain and pose a health risk.
To root out Pd(II) and Pt(IV) requires the removal of other metals and impurities before testing. Koide's method provides a fast, easy, and inexpensive alternative, he said. Moreover, current analysis cannot detect Pt(IV) in Pt(0) samples at levels below 2,000 parts per million, Koide said. His technique can indicate Pt(IV) content as low as 2 parts per million.
"Our method does not require any pretreatment," Koide said. "Just add the solution to the sample. Our technique detects even minute traces of toxic palladium and platinum in hours instead of days. It could reduce pharmaceutical development time by weeks and help in making a safer product."
Koide began this project after a major pharmaceutical company contacted him about research he published in JACS in 2007 regarding a fluorogenic indicator for detecting palladium/platinum deposits in soil samples. It relied on a colorless fluorescein-based solution that-when exposed to blue light-glows green when it comes in contact with palladium, which coexists with platinum in nature. The Pd(II)/Pt(IV) detector involves the same fluorogenic solution used in a different way.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Pittsburgh
Post Comments:
| 
Subscribe
First step toward electronic DNA sequencing: Translocation through graphene nanopores
Now that's what I call a rat
For pandas, there is a mountain high enough, there is a valley low enough
Nanowick at heart of new system to cool 'power electronics'
Super glaciers leave their mark on the Gondwanan supercontinent
Potentially hazardous asteroid might collide with the Earth in 2182
Once bitten, twice shy -- a temperature switch triggers aversive memory
Gut movements in caterpillars inspire soft-body robot design
What plant genes tell us about crop domestication
A warmer future for watersports
Gene discovery may lead to new varieties of soybean plants
Baby swimmers have better balance
Plastic chips monitor body functions
A lab rat - created in the lab
Marked for Life: Tattoo Matching Software to Identify Suspects
Researchers harness viruses to split water
Student uses skin as input for mobile devices
Scientists discover quantum fingerprints of chaos
Toward a new generation of superplastics
Replacing hydrogen in fluorescent dyes improves detection ability, stability and shelf life
By 'putting a ring on it,' microparticles can be captured
Chemists grow crystals with a twist - and untwist
Moving polymers through pores
Students take their professor's advice and start bioenergy company