{
  "abstract": "In the present study, two azo ligands (L1 and L2) were synthesized and subsequently reacted with Ni(ii), Cu(ii), Co(ii), and Zn(ii) metal ions to afford a series of eight corresponding azo metal complexes (C1-C8). The successful synthesis and structural features of the azo ligands and their metal complexes were confirmed through comprehensive spectroscopic characterization using UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized metal complexes C1-C8 was investigated using diclofenac sodium (DCF) as a target pollutant. Among different compositions, C8 showed exceptional performance attributed to the synergy of extended π-conjugation and the favorable redox cycle of Cu²⁺/Cu¹⁺. The photocatalytic process was optimized through response surface methodology (RSM) employing central composite design (CCD). Herein, the influence of different reaction parameters on DCF degradation and their interactive effects was examined. Maximum degradation efficiency of 90.2% was recorded for C8 at a catalyst loading of 20 mg using 11 mg L⁻¹ of DCF under mildly acidic conditions (pH = 5.1) for an irradiation time of 79 min. Furthermore, C8 displayed reasonable reusability up to four repeated runs with only a slight drop of 1.8% in photocatalytic activity, suggesting the viable photocatalytic potential of such materials in wastewater treatment.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Islamic University of Madinah Madinah 42351 Saudi Arabia.",
    "Department of Chemistry, University of Gujrat Gujrat-50700 Pakistan ehsan.ullah@uog.edu.pk.",
    "School of Chemistry, University of the Punjab Quaid-e-Azam Campus Lahore 54590 Pakistan imran.hons@pu.edu.pk.",
    "Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen Technologies and Carbon Management, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran 31261 Saudi Arabia.",
    "Department of Chemistry, Govt. College Women University Sialkot-51300 Pakistan.",
    "Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge Cambridge UK.",
    "Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University P.O. Box 2457 Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Musa A Said"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Ehsan Ullah Mughal",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9463-9398"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Nafeesa Naeem",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6647-9697"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Muhammad Imran"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Ayesha Javaid"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Amina Sadiq"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Ishtiaq Ahmed"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Amber Walayat"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Mohamed Hefnawy"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a1cefgwh37np5.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1039/d6ra08272f",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13711124",
  "id": "a1cefgwh37np5",
  "issns": [
    "2046-2069"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948051",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Chemistry"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2730|Metal complexes synthesis and properties"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223999864",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13711124?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13711124",
  "pmid": "42948051",
  "published": "2026-10-27",
  "publisher": "Royal Society of Chemistry",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a1cefgwh37np5.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:33Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42948051",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948051"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:57Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13711124",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ra08272f"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2730|Metal complexes synthesis and properties",
      "subfield": "oncology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Synthesis of azo metal complexes for efficient photocatalytic diclofenac degradation: experimental studies and statistical optimization.",
  "title_text": "Synthesis of azo metal complexes for efficient photocatalytic diclofenac degradation: experimental studies and statistical optimization.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:21:57Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a1cefgwh37np5",
  "venue": "RSC advances",
  "versions": []
}