Iron Complexation by Ferrozine, Bipyridine and Phenanthroline and Implication for its Quantification in Biological Systems (2021)

Several ligands specific for the chelation of ferrous ions, such as ferrozine, bipyridine and phenanthroline, are readily available and commonly used in analytical chemistry and in many iron-protein studies. Among these iron ligands, ferrozine is more frequently used because of its higher water solubility and molar absorptivity. Here, we use UV-vis spectrophotometry to detect and quantify the concentration of ferrous ions in aqueous solutions, owing to the unique absorption spectra, specific molar absorptivity, and characteristic colors of these Fe2+-chelator complexes.  Contrary to literature reports, our results show that molar absorptivity values of these complexes were underestimated by as much as 15%. Our study has important implications for the quantification of iron in biological systems and reveals optimal experimental conditions that must be employed for the accurate measurements of ferrous ions in aqueous solutions. 

• Student(s): Cassidy Welsh, Ruth Reichard, Gideon Smith, Aliaksandra Reutovich, Ayush Srivastava
• Project Mentor(s): Fadi Bou-Abdallah
• L&RF 2021 Presentation-Team Chemistry
• L&RF 2021 Video Presentation