Research Projects

Thiocyanate (sCN-) contaminated in waste streams of the gold mining and coal gasification industries exposed into water which generated a toxicity problem for aquatic organisms. The removal of sCN- toxicity is a major potential environmental impact. Various oxidation processes have been investigated as alternatives for the degradation of thiocyanate included hazard pathway by direct oxidation to produce other toxic materials. The detoxification of sCN- might be achieved using bio-inspired coordination chemistry. In this bioinorganic based project, the concept of sCN- degradation by several microbes in biology will be used to develop synthetic model complexes of Co, Ni and Cu metal ion as a functional model of biodegradation of sCN- by several enzymes like Thiocyanate Dehydrogenase, Thiocyanate Hydrolase, Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase and Mo-Fe containing Nitrogenase. This project will be executed by synthesis, characterization of metal complexes under new generation of newly designed N/s/O/P donor tri- and tetradentate ligand platforms followed by their reactivity studies with native substrate in relevance to the native enzymes. Finally mechanism of thiocyanate degradation will be explored.