The magnetic properties of intact and freeze-dried blood cells of the tunicate Ascidia nigra and of model vanadium(III) and (IV) compounds as polycrystalline solids and in aqueous solution have been measured up to 50 kOe with a SQUID susceptometer. Corrections for the samples' diamagnetism were extracted from the temperature dependence of the data without any further assumptions. For vanadium(I...

The discovery of high levels of vanadium-containing compounds in ascidian blood cells goes back to 1911. Ascidians, which are also known as tunicates or sea squirts, belong to a subphylum of the Chordata, between the vertebrates and invertebrates. This discovery attracted the attention of an interdisciplinary group of chemists, physiologists, and biochemists, in part because of interest in the ...

The biological properties of vanadium complexes have become an object of interest due to their therapeutic potential in several diseases. However, the mechanisms of action of vanadium salts are still poorly understood. Vanadium complexes are cofactors for several enzymes and also exhibit insulin-mimetic properties. Thus, they are involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism, including in pa...

The pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death and characterized by one of the lowest five-year survival rate. The current therapeutic options are demonstrating minimal effectiveness, therefore studies on new potential anticancer compounds, with non-significant side effects are highly desirable. Recently, it was demonstrated that vanadium compounds, in particular orga...

Vanadium compounds exert preventive effects against chemical carcinogenesis on animals, by modifying, mainly, various xenobiotic enzymes, inhibiting, thus, carcinogen-derived active metabolites. Studies on various cell lines reveal that vanadium exerts its antitumor effects through inhibition of cellular tyrosine phosphatases and/or activation of tyrosine phosphorylases. Both effects activate s...

Modification of silica-supported vanadium oxide (VS) photocatalysts with alkali metal ions enhanced the photocatalytic activity of the vanadium(V) mononuclear complex for oxidative decomposition of gaseous organic compounds into carbon dioxide. Action spectrum analysis revealed that the onset wavelength for cesium-ion-modified VS was 420 nm, which was ca. 20 nm longer than that with a titania p...

Vanadium haloperoxidases catalyse the oxidation of halides leading to halogenation of substrates or, in the absence of suitable substrates, to oxidation of hydrogen peroxide into singlet oxygen and water. Furthermore, V-haloperoxidases are capable to give enantioselective sulfoxidation under the appropriate conditions. The most interesting model compounds that have been synthesised and studied ...

A series of vanadium-substituted Dawson-structure POM-type ionic liquids, [TEAPS]7P2W17VO62 and [TEAPS]9P2W15V3O62, bearing sulfo-group grafted ammonium (TEAPS) cations and Dawson-type polyoxoanions have been formed which are reversible-thermal-response type gels. These gel-type compounds exhibit a phase transition from a quasi-solid gel phase to an isotropic sol phase. What's more, this series...

The synthesis and solution and solid-state structural characterization of a family of amine bis(phenolate) [ONNO]-vanadium complexes is reviewed. These compounds have oxi dation states ranging from vanadium(II) to vanadium(V), and were evaluated as olefin polymerization catalysts. In association with EtAlCl2 cocatalyst, we studied the homo polymerization of ethylene, propene, and 1-hexene, as w...