Synthesis and Application of Levofloxacin-Tin Complexes as New Photostabilizers for Polyvinyl Chloride

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a synthetic polymer with a wide range of applications with impact on our daily life. It can undergo photodegradation with toxic products that are hazardous to both human health and the environment. In addition, photodegradation shortens the useful lifetime of the material. Elongation of the effective lifespan of PVC is, therefore, a salient area of research. Recently, a lot of attention has been directed toward the design, preparation, and usage of new additives that are capable of reducing the photodecomposition of PVC. This work investigates the synthesis of new levofloxacin-tin complexes and their potential exploitation against the photodecomposition of PVC. Several levofloxacin-tin complexes have been synthesized, in high yields, by a simple procedure and characterized. The potential use of the additives as photostabilizers for PVC has been investigated through the determination of weight loss, molecular weight depression, formation of fragments containing carbonyl and alkene groups, and surface morphology of irradiated PVC films. The results show that the new additives are effective in reducing the photodegradation of PVC. The new levofloxacin-tin complexes act as absorbers of ultraviolet light and quenchers of highly reactive species such as free radicals produced during photodegradation. They are more effective photostabilizers compared with organotin complexes previously reported. The complexes containing aromatic substituents were more effective than those counterparts having aliphatic residues.

Automated summary

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a synthetic polymer widely used in our daily life, but its useful lifetime can be shortened due to photodegradation, which also produces toxic products. Therefore, finding additives to reduce the photodecomposition of PVC is important. In this study, new levofloxacin-tin complexes were synthesized and tested for their ability to reduce PVC photodegradation. The results showed that these new additives effectively reduced the photodegradation of PVC by absorbing ultraviolet light and quenching reactive species. They were more effective than previously reported organotin complexes.