A one-pot solid-state synthesis of MgO nanoparticles and their catalytic, biological, and electrochemical sensor activities: hexaaquamagnesium(ii) bis(6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyridine-3-carboxylate) as a tool

Abstract

A new divalent Mg complex, hexaaquamagnesium(II) bis(6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyridine-3-carboxylate) ([Mg(H₂O)₆](C₆H₄NO₃)₂) (1), was synthesized by reacting Mg(NO₃)₂·6H₂O with 6-hydroxypyridine-3-carboxylic acid (6-hpca) in the presence of aminoguanidine bicarbonate. Here, 1 was studied by elemental, infrared (IR), ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), thermal, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) analyses. We discovered that 1 crystallized in the triclinic P space group, whereas the Mg(II) ion exhibited six coordinated water molecules with octahedral geometry. Interestingly, 1 was used as a solid-state precursor for synthesizing Mg oxide (MgO) nanoparticles (NPs). Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), UV-vis, powder-XRD, TEM, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analyses were performed on the prepared MgO NPs. The results showed that the as-prepared MgO NPs were small (14 nm) and homogeneous. The antibacterial activity and antioxidant scavenging assays of 6-hpca, 1, and the MgO NPs against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) revealed that the MgO NPs had good biological properties. Furthermore, a sensitive electrochemical sensor was developed for improved glucose detection by modifying a glassy carbon electrode with the as-prepared MgO NPs. The MgO NPs demonstrated effective catalytic properties for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol. The proposed approach is simple, environmentally friendly, and user-friendly.