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A feasible approach to construct multilayer films of sulfonated polyanilines – PMSA1 and PABMSA1 – containing different ratios of aniline, 2-methoxyaniline-5-sulfonic acid (MAS) and 3-aminobenzoic acid (AB), with the entrapped redox enzyme pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (PQQ-GDH) on Au and ITO electrode surfaces, is described. The formation of layers has been followed and confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which demonstrates that the multilayer assembly can be achieved in a progressive and uniform manner. The gold and ITO electrodes subsequently modified with PMSA1:PQQ-GDH and PABMSA1 films are studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and UV-Vis spectroscopy which show a significant direct bioelectrocatalytical response to the oxidation of the substrate glucose without any additional mediator. This response correlates linearly with the number of deposited layers. Furthermore, the constructed polymer/enzyme multilayer system exhibits a rather good long-term stability, since the catalytic current response is maintained for more than 60% of the initial value even after two weeks of storage. This verifies that a productive interaction of the enzyme embedded in the film of substituted polyaniline can be used as a basis for the construction of bioelectronic units, which are useful as indicators for processes liberating glucose and allowing optical and electrochemical transduction.
A feasible approach to construct multilayer films of sulfonated polyanilines - PMSA1 and PABMSA1 containing different ratios of aniline, 2-methoxyaniline-5-sulfonic acid (MAS) and 3-aminobenzoic acid (AB), with the entrapped redox enzyme pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (PQQ-GDH) on Au and ITO electrode surfaces, is described. The formation of layers has been followed and confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which demonstrates that the multilayer assembly can be achieved in a progressive and uniform manner. The gold and ITO electrodes subsequently modified with PMSA1:PQQ-GDH and PABMSA1 films are studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and UV-Vis spectroscopy which show a significant direct bioelectrocatalytical response to the oxidation of the substrate glucose without any additional mediator. This response correlates linearly with the number of deposited layers. Furthermore, the constructed polymer/enzyme multilayer system exhibits a rather good long-term stability, since the catalytic current response is maintained for more than 60% of the initial value even after two weeks of storage. This verifies that a productive interaction of the enzyme embedded in the film of substituted polyaniline can be used as a basis for the construction of bioelectronic units, which are useful as indicators for processes liberating glucose and allowing optical and electrochemical transduction.
Potentiality of nanosized materials has been largely proved but a closer look shows that a significant percentage of this research is related to oxides and metals, while the number drastically drops for metallic ceramics, namely transition metal nitrides and metal carbides. The lack of related publications do not reflect their potential but rather the difficulties related to their synthesis as dense and defect-free structures, fundamental prerequisites for advanced mechanical applications.
The present habilitation work aims to close the gap between preparation and processing, indicating novel synthetic pathways for a simpler and sustainable synthesis of transition metal nitride (MN) and carbide (MC) based nanostructures and easier processing thereafter. In spite of simplicity and reliability, the designed synthetic processes allow the production of functional materials, with the demanded size and morphology.
The goal was achieved exploiting classical and less-classical precursors, ranging from common metal salts and molecules (e.g. urea, gelatin, agar, etc), to more exotic materials, such as leafs, filter paper and even wood. It was found that the choice of precursors and reaction conditions makes it possible to control chemical composition (going for instance from metal oxides to metal oxy-nitrides to metal nitrides, or from metal nitrides to metal carbides, up to quaternary systems), size (from 5 to 50 nm) and morphology (going from mere spherical nanoparticles to rod-like shapes, fibers, layers, meso-porous and hierarchical structures, etc). The nature of the mixed precursors also allows the preparation of metal nitrides/carbides based nanocomposites, thus leading to multifunctional materials (e.g. MN/MC@C, MN/MC@PILs, etc) but also allowing dispersion in liquid media. Control over composition, size and morphology is obtained with simple adjustment of the main route, but also coupling it with processes such as electrospin, aerosol spray, bio-templating, etc. Last but not least, the nature of the precursor materials also allows easy processing, including printing, coating, casting, film and thin layers preparation, etc).
The designed routes are, concept-wise, similar and they all start by building up a secondary metal ion-N/C precursor network, which converts, upon heat treatment, into an intermediate “glass”. This glass stabilizes the nascent nanoparticles during their nucleation and impairs their uncontrolled growth during the heat treatment (scheme 1). This way, one of the main problems related to the synthesis of MN/MC, i.e. the need of very high temperature, could also be overcome (from up to 2000°C, for classical synthesis, down to 700°C in the present cases). The designed synthetic pathways are also conceived to allow usage of non-toxic compounds and to minimize (or even avoid) post-synthesis purification, still bringing to phase pure and well-defined (crystalline) nanoparticles.
This research aids to simplify the preparation of MN/MC, making these systems now readily available in suitable amounts both for fundamental and applied science. The prepared systems have been tested (in some cases for the first time) in many different fields, e.g. battery (MnN0.43@C shown a capacity stabilized at a value of 230 mAh/g, with coulombic efficiencies close to 100%), as alternative magnetic materials (Fe3C nanoparticles were prepared with different size and therefore different magnetic behavior, superparamagnetic or ferromagnetic, showing a saturation magnetization value up to 130 emu/g, i.e. similar to the value expected for the bulk material), as filters and for the degradation of organic dyes (outmatching the performance of carbon), as catalysts (both as active phase but also as active support, leading to high turnover rate and, more interesting, to tunable selectivity). Furthermore, with this route, it was possible to prepare for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, well-defined and crystalline MnN0.43, Fe3C and Zn1.7GeN1.8O nanoparticles via bottom-up approaches.
Once the synthesis of these materials can be made straightforward, any further modification, combination, manipulation, is in principle possible and new systems can be purposely conceived (e.g. hybrids, nanocomposites, ferrofluids, etc).
The CH2Cl2/MeOH (1:1) extract of Zanthoxylum holstzianum stem bark showed good antiplasmodial activity (IC50 2.5 +/- 0.3 and 2.6 +/- 0.3 mu g/mL against the W2 and D6 strains of Plasmodium falciparum, respectively). From the extract five benzophenanthridine alkaloids [8-acetonyldihydrochelerythrine (1), nitidine (2), dihydrochelerythine (3), norchelerythrine (5), arnottianamide (8)]; a 2-quinolone alkaloid [N-methylflindersine (4)]; a lignan [4,4 '-dihydroxy-3,3 '-dimethoxylignan-9,9 '-diyl diacetate (7)] and a dimer of a benzophenanthridine and 2-quinoline [holstzianoquinoline (6)] were isolated. The CH2Cl2/MeOH (1:1) extract of the root bark afforded 1, 3-6, 8, chelerythridimerine (9) and 9-demethyloxychelerythrine (10). Holstzianoquinoline (6) is new, and is the second dimer linked by a C-C bond of a benzophenanthridine and a 2-quinoline reported thus far. The compounds were identified based on spectroscopic evidence. Amongst five compounds (1-5) tested against two strains of P. falciparum, nitidine (IC50 0.11 +/- 0.01 mu g/mL against W2 and D6 strains) and norchelerythrine (IC50 value of 0.15 +/- 0.01 mu g/mL against D6 strain) were the most active.
A new class of fluorescent dyes based on 1,3-benzodioxole and [1,3]-dioxolo[4.5-f]benzodioxole
(2011)
We report on synthesis and photophysical properties of a new class of fluorescent dyes. They are characterized by large Stokes-shifts, long fluorescence lifetimes in organic solvents and a pronounced dependency of the fluorescence lifetime on the solvent polarity. Also worthy of note is the high bleaching stability. To provide access to biochemical and medical applications a series of derivatives were prepared, which exhibit specific reactivity towards different biologically relevant functional groups (carboxylic acids, amines, maleimides, N-hydroxysuccinimide esters). Furthermore, two alkynes were prepared, which could be used in 'Click' chemistry.
In C-13 NMR spectroscopy, there are many empirical methods for fast and exact computation of C-13 chemical shifts; comparable procedures for Si-29 NMR chemical shifts are not existing or are older than 20 years. On basis of the largest database of Si-29 chemical shifts available, along this paper a relatively simple procedure for the similarly exact calculation of the Si-29 chemical shifts of disilanes (average margin of error ca. 3.7 ppm) is given. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
In the present study, we describe synthesis and photochemical behaviour of the coumarinylmethyl phenyl ethers 1 and 6-10. Irradiation of the compounds in polar solvents leads to o-, p- and m-hydroxybenzyl substituted coumarins as main products. A side reaction is the photosolvolysis of the ethers that gives the (coumarin-4-yl)methyl alcohol and the corresponding phenol. Detailed studies of the quantum yields and product distributions upon irradiation of 6 as a function of the solvents are indicative of a dominant role of an ionic pathway in photochemical conversions. The found photochemical rearrangement is a useful tool for the preparation of hydroxylated 4-benzylcoumarins. A series of such compounds have been synthesised.
Low-energy electrons (LEEs) play an important role in DNA radiation damage. Here we present a method to quantify LEE induced strand breakage in well-defined oligonucleotide single strands in terms of absolute cross sections. An LEE irradiation setup covering electron energies <500 eV is constructed and optimized to irradiate DNA origami triangles carrying well-defined oligonucleotide target strands. Measurements are presented for 10.0 and 5.5 eV for different oligonucleotide targets. The determination of absolute strand break cross sections is performed by atomic force microscopy analysis. An accurate fluence determination ensures small margins of error of the determined absolute single strand break cross sections sigma SSB. In this way, the influence of sequence modification with the radiosensitive 5-Fluorouracil (U-5F) is studied using an absolute and relative data analysis. We demonstrate an increase in the strand break yields of U-5F containing oligonucleotides by a factor of 1.5 to 1.6 compared with non-modified oligonucleotide sequences when irradiated with 10 eV electrons.
We present a rigorous method to set up a system-bath Hamiltonian for the coupling of adsorbate vibrations (the system) to surface phonons (the bath). The Hamiltonian is straightforward to derive and exact up to second order in the environment coordinates, thus capable of treating one- and two-phonon contributions to vibration-phonon coupling. The construction of the Hamiltonian uses orthogonal coordinates for system and bath modes, is based on an embedded cluster approach, and generalizes previous Hamiltonians of a similar type, but avoids several (additional) approximations. While the parametrization of the full Hamiltonian is in principle feasible by a first principles quantum mechanical treatment, here we adopt in the spirit of a QM/MM model a combination of density functional theory (“QM”, for the system) and a semiempirical forcefield (“MM”, for the bath). We apply the Hamiltonian to a fully H-covered Si(100)-(2 × 1) surface, using Fermi’s Golden Rule to obtain vibrational relaxation rates of various H–Si bending modes of this system. As in earlier work it is found that the relaxation is dominated by two-phonon contributions because of an energy gap between the Si–H bending modes and the Si phonon bands. We obtain vibrational lifetimes (of the first excited state) on the order of 2 ps at K. The lifetimes depend only little on the type of bending mode (symmetric vs. antisymmetric, parallel vs. perpendicular to the Si2H2 dimers). They decrease by a factor of about two when heating the surface to 300 K. We also study isotope effects by replacing adsorbed H atoms by deuterium, D. The Si–D bending modes are shifted into the Si phonon band of the solid, opening up one-phonon decay channels and reducing the lifetimes to few hundred fs.
Silver nanoparticles (SNPs) are among the most commercialized nanoparticles worldwide. Often SNP are used because of their antibacterial properties. Besides that they possess unique optic and catalytic features, making them highly interesting for the creation of novel and advanced functional materials. Despite its widespread use only little data exist in terms of possible adverse effects of SNP on human health. Conventional synthesis routes usually yield products of varying quality and property. It thus may become puzzling to compare biological data from different studies due to the great variety in sizes, coatings or shapes of the particles applied. Here, we applied a novel synthesis approach to obtain SNP of well-defined colloidal and structural properties. Being stabilized by a covalently linked small peptide, these particles are nicely homogenous, with narrow size distribution, and form monodisperse suspensions in aqueous solutions. We applied these peptide-coated SNP in two different sizes of 20 or 40 nm (Ag20Pep and Ag40Pep) and analyzed responses of THP-1-derived human macrophages while being exposed against these particles. Gold nanoparticles of similar size and coating (Au20Pep) were used for comparison. The cytotoxicity of particles was assessed by WST-1 and LDH assays, and the uptake into the cells was confirmed via transmission electron microscopy. In summary, our data demonstrate that this novel type of SNP is well suited to serve as model system for nanoparticles to be tested in toxicological studies in vitro.
This thesis provides a novel view on the early stage of crystallization utilizing calcium carbonate as a model system. Calcium carbonate is of great economical, scientific and ecological importance, because it is a major part of water hardness, the most abundant Biomineral and forms huge amounts of geological sediments thus binding large amounts of carbon dioxide. The primary experiments base on the evolution of supersaturation via slow addition of dilute calcium chloride solution into dilute carbonate buffer. The time-dependent measurement of the Ca2+ potential and concurrent pH = constant titration facilitate the calculation of the amount of calcium and carbonate ions bound in pre-nucleation stage clusters, which have never been detected experimentally so far, and in the new phase after nucleation, respectively. Analytical Ultracentrifugation independently proves the existence of pre-nucleation stage clusters, and shows that the clusters forming at pH = 9.00 have a proximately time-averaged size of altogether 70 calcium and carbonate ions. Both experiments show that pre-nucleation stage cluster formation can be described by means of equilibrium thermodynamics. Effectively, the cluster formation equilibrium is physico-chemically characterized by means of a multiple-binding equilibrium of calcium ions to a ‘lattice’ of carbonate ions. The evaluation gives GIBBS standard energy for the formation of calcium/carbonate ion pairs in clusters, which exhibits a maximal value of approximately 17.2 kJ mol^-1 at pH = 9.75 and relates to a minimal binding strength in clusters at this pH-value. Nucleated calcium carbonate particles are amorphous at first and subsequently become crystalline. At high binding strength in clusters, only calcite (the thermodynamically stable polymorph) is finally obtained, while with decreasing binding strength in clusters, vaterite (the thermodynamically least stable polymorph) and presumably aragonite (the thermodynamically intermediate stable polymorph) are obtained additionally. Concurrently, two different solubility products of nucleated amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) are detected at low binding strength and high binding strength in clusters (ACC I 3.1EE-8 M^2, ACC II 3.8EE-8 M^2), respectively, indicating the precipitation of at least two different ACC species, while the clusters provide the precursor species of ACC. It is proximate that ACC I may relate to calcitic ACC –i.e. ACC exhibiting short range order similar to the long range order of calcite and that ACC II may relate to vateritic ACC, which will subsequently transform into the particular crystalline polymorph as discussed in the literature, respectively. Detailed analysis of nucleated particles forming at minimal binding strength in clusters (pH = 9.75) by means of SEM, TEM, WAXS and light microscopy shows that predominantly vaterite with traces of calcite forms. The crystalline particles of early stages are composed of nano-crystallites of approximately 5 to 10 nm size, respectively, which are aligned in high mutual order as in mesocrystals. The analyses of precipitation at pH = 9.75 in presence of additives –polyacrylic acid (pAA) as a model compound for scale inhibitors and peptides exhibiting calcium carbonate binding affinity as model compounds for crystal modifiers- shows that ACC I and ACC II are precipitated in parallel: pAA stabilizes ACC II particles against crystallization leading to their dissolution for the benefit of crystals that form from ACC I and exclusively calcite is finally obtained. Concurrently, the peptide additives analogously inhibit the formation of calcite and exclusively vaterite is finally obtained in case of one of the peptide additives. These findings show that classical nucleation theory is hardly applicable for the nucleation of calcium carbonate. The metastable system is stabilized remarkably due to cluster formation, while clusters forming by means of equilibrium thermodynamics are the nucleation relevant species and not ions. Most likely, the concept of cluster formation is a common phenomenon occurring during the precipitation of hardly soluble compounds as qualitatively shown for calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate. This finding is important for the fundamental understanding of crystallization and nucleation-inhibition and modification by additives with impact on materials of huge scientific and industrial importance as well as for better understanding of the mass transport in crystallization. It can provide a novel basis for simulation and modelling approaches. New mechanisms of scale formation in Bio- and Geomineralization and also in scale inhibition on the basis of the newly reported reaction channel need to be considered.
The reaction between propargyl ethers of hydroxybenzaldehydes and the ylide ethyl (triphenylphosphoranylidene)acetate was carried out under microwave irradiation to regioselectively afford angular pyranocoumarins. The chromene and coumarin heterocyclic scaffolds were simultaneously formed in the same synthetic step without changing the reaction conditions. The natural products seselin, braylin, and dipetalolactone were among the products synthesized by this method.
A polymer analogous reaction for the formation of imidazolium and NHC based porous polymer networks
(2013)
A polymer analogous reaction was carried out to generate a porous polymeric network with N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) in the polymer backbone. Using a stepwise approach, first a polyimine network is formed by polymerization of the tetrafunctional amine tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)methane. This polyimine network is converted in the second step into polyimidazolium chloride and finally to a polyNHC network. Furthermore a porous Cu(II)-coordinated polyNHC network can be generated. Supercritical drying generates polymer networks with high permanent surface areas and porosities which can be applied for different catalytic reactions. The catalytic properties were demonstrated for example in the activation of CO2 or in the deoxygenation of sulfoxides to the corresponding sulfides.
A polymer analogous reaction for the formation of imidazolium and NHC based porous polymer networks
(2013)
A polymer analogous reaction was carried out to generate a porous polymeric network with N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) in the polymer backbone. Using a stepwise approach, first a polyimine network is formed by polymerization of the tetrafunctional amine tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)methane. This polyimine network is converted in the second step into polyimidazolium chloride and finally to a polyNHC network. Furthermore a porous Cu(II)-coordinated polyNHC network can be generated. Supercritical drying generates polymer networks with high permanent surface areas and porosities which can be applied for different catalytic reactions. The catalytic properties were demonstrated for example in the activation of CO2 or in the deoxygenation of sulfoxides to the corresponding sulfides.
A polymer analogous reaction for the formation of imidazolium and NHC based porous polymer networks
(2013)
A polymer analogous reaction was carried out to generate a porous polymeric network with N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) in the polymer backbone. Using a stepwise approach, first a polyimine network is formed by polymerization of the tetrafunctional amine tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)methane. This polyimine network is converted in the second step into polyimidazolium chloride and finally to a polyNHC network. Furthermore a porous Cu(II)-coordinated polyNHC network can be generated. Supercritical drying generates polymer networks with high permanent surface areas and porosities which can be applied for different catalytic reactions. The catalytic properties were demonstrated for example in the activation of CO2 or in the deoxygenation of sulfoxides to the corresponding sulfides.
An efficient, reliable and low-cost procedure to determine the silicon content in plant material is presented which allows to monitor the agricultural aspects like growth and yield. The presented procedure consists of a hydrochloric acid pre-treatment and a subsequent thermal oxidation. The method is compared to other processes like dissolution in hydrofluoric acid combined with ICP OES, energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF) or aqua regia treatment.
The adsorption of protonated L-cysteine onto Au(111) surface was studied via molecular dynamics method. The detailed examination of trajectories reveals that a couple of picoseconds need to be strongly adsorbed at the gold surface via L-cysteine's sulfur and oxygen atoms. The average distances of L-cysteine's adsorbed sulfur and oxygen from gold plane are-2.7 angstrom and-3.2 angstrom, correspondingly. We found that the adsorption of L-cysteine takes place preferentially at bridge site with possibility of-82%. Discussing the conformation features of protonated L-cysteine, we consider that the most stable conformation of protonated L-cysteine is "reverse boat" position, where sulfur and oxygen pointed down to the gold surface, while the amino group is far from the gold surface.
We present a quantum-mechanical tier model for vibrational relaxation of low-lying excited states of an adsorbate vibrational mode (system), coupled to surface phonons (bath), at zero temperature. The tier model, widely used in studies of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in polyatomics, is adapted here to adsorbate-surface systems with the help of an embedded cluster approach, using orthogonal coordinates for the system and bath modes, and a phononic expansion of their interaction. The key idea of the model is to organize the system-bath zeroth-order vibrational space into a hierarchical structure of vibrational tiers and keep therein only vibrational states that are sequentially generated from the system-bath initial vibrational state. Each tier is generated from the previous one by means of a successor operator, derived from the system-bath interaction Hamiltonian. This sequential procedure leads to a drastic reduction of the dimension of the system-bath vibrational space. We notably show that for harmonic vibrational motion of the system and linear system-bath couplings in the system coordinate, the dimension of the tier-model vibrational basis scales as similar to N-lxv. Here, N is the number of bath modes, l is the highest-order of the phononic expansion, and l is the size of the system vibrational basis. This polynomial scaling is computationally far superior to the exponential scaling of the original zeroth-order vibrational basis, similar to M-N, with M being the number of basis functions per bath mode. In addition, since each tier is coupled only to its adjacent neighbors, the matrix representation of the system-bath Hamiltonian in this new vibrational basis has a symmetric block-tridiagonal form, with each block being very sparse. This favors the combination of the tier-model with iterative Krylov techniques, such as the Lanczos algorithm, to solve the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for the full Hamiltonian. To illustrate the method, we study vibrational relaxation of a D-Si bending mode, coupled via two-and (mainly) one-phonon interactions to a fully D-covered Si(100)-(2 x 1) surface, using a recent first-principles system-bath Hamiltonian. The results of the tier model are compared with those obtained by the Lindblad formalism of the reduced density matrix. We find that the tier model provides much more information and insight into mechanisms of vibration-phonon couplings at surfaces, and gives more reliable estimates of the adsorbate vibrational lifetimes. Moreover, the tier model might also serve as a benchmark for other approximate quantum-dynamics methods, such as multiconfiguration wavefunction approaches. Published under license by AIP Publishing.
This work presents two molecular fluorescent probes 1 and 2 for the selective determination of physiologically relevant K+ levels in water based on a highly K+/Na+ selective building block, the o-(2-methoxyethoxy)phenylaza-18-crown-6 lariat ether unit. Fluorescent probe 1 showed a high K+-induced fluorescence enhancement (FE) by a factor of 7.7 of the anthracenic emission and a dissociation constant (K-d) value of 38mm in water. Further, for 2+K+, we observed a dual emission behavior at 405 and 505nm. K+ increases the fluorescence intensity of 2 at 405nm by a factor of approximately 4.6 and K+ decreases the fluorescence intensity at 505nm by a factor of about 4.8. Fluorescent probe 2+K+ exhibited a K-d value of approximately 8mm in Na+-free solutions and in combined K+/Na+ solution a similar K-d value of about 9mm was found, reflecting the high K+/Na+ selectivity of 2 in water. Therefore, 2 is a promising fluorescent tool to measure ratiometrically and selectively physiologically relevant K+ levels.
An efficient route from myo- to neo-inositol is described. The key steps of the sequence are oxidation of the hydroxy group at C-5 to the corresponding ketone, followed by a highly (dr = 7.8:1) stereoselective reduction. The route includes nine steps with an overall yield of 51% and is therefore superior to all hitherto reported methods for the preparation of neo-inositol.
Due to the enhanced electromagnetic field at the tips of metal nanoparticles, the spiked structure of gold nanostars (AuNSs) is promising for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Therefore, the challenge is the synthesis of well designed particles with sharp tips. The influence of different surfactants, i.e., dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and benzylhexadecyldimethylammonium chloride (BDAC), as well as the combination of surfactant mixtures on the formation of nanostars in the presence of Ag⁺ ions and ascorbic acid was investigated. By varying the amount of BDAC in mixed micelles the core/spike-shell morphology of the resulting AuNSs can be tuned from small cores to large ones with sharp and large spikes. The concomitant red-shift in the absorption toward the NIR region without losing the SERS enhancement enables their use for biological applications and for time-resolved spectroscopic studies of chemical reactions, which require a permanent supply with a fresh and homogeneous solution. HRTEM micrographs and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) experiments allow us to verify the mechanism of nanostar formation according to the silver underpotential deposition on the spike surface in combination with micelle adsorption.
Due to the enhanced electromagnetic field at the tips of metal nanoparticles, the spiked structure of gold nanostars (AuNSs) is promising for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Therefore, the challenge is the synthesis of well designed particles with sharp tips. The influence of different surfactants, i.e., dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and benzylhexadecyldimethylammonium chloride (BDAC), as well as the combination of surfactant mixtures on the formation of nanostars in the presence of Ag⁺ ions and ascorbic acid was investigated. By varying the amount of BDAC in mixed micelles the core/spike-shell morphology of the resulting AuNSs can be tuned from small cores to large ones with sharp and large spikes. The concomitant red-shift in the absorption toward the NIR region without losing the SERS enhancement enables their use for biological applications and for time-resolved spectroscopic studies of chemical reactions, which require a permanent supply with a fresh and homogeneous solution. HRTEM micrographs and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) experiments allow us to verify the mechanism of nanostar formation according to the silver underpotential deposition on the spike surface in combination with micelle adsorption.
We present a new global ground state potential energy surface (PES) for carbon monoxide at a coverage of 1/4, on a rigid Ru(0001) surface [Ru(0001)(2x2):CO]. All six adsorbate degrees of freedom are considered. For constructing the PES, we make use of more than 90 000 points calculated with periodic density functional theory using the RPBE exchange-correlation functional and an empirical van der Waals correction. These points are used for interpolation, utilizing a symmetry-adapted corrugation reducing procedure (CRP). Three different interpolation schemes with increasing accuracy have been realized, giving rise to three flavours of the CRP PES. The CRP PES yields in agreement with the DFT reference and experiments, the atop position of CO to be the most stable adsorption geometry, for the most accurate interpolation with an adsorption energy of 1.69 eV. The CRP PES shows that diffusion parallel to the surface is hindered by a barrier of 430 meV, and that dissociation is facilitated but still activated. As a first "real" application and further test of the new potential, the six-dimensional vibrational Schrodinger equation is solved variationally to arrive at fully coupled, anharmonic frequencies and vibrational wavefunctions for the vibrating, adsorbed CO molecule. Good agreement with experiment is found also here. Being analytical, the new PES opens an efficient way towards multidimensional dynamics. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
Several copper(II) methanoato complexes, namely mononuclear [Cu(O2CH)(2)(2-mpy)(2)] (1) (2-mpy = 2- methylpyridine), binuclear [Cu-2(mu-O2CH)(4)(2-mpy)(2)] (2), and the polynuclear {[Cu(mu-O2CH)(2)(2-mpy)(2)] [Cu-2(mu- O2CH)(4)]}(n) (3) and {Na-2[Cu(mu-O2CH)(2)(O2CH)(2)][Cu-2(mu-O2CH)(4)]}(n) (4), have been synthesized. The mononuclear complex I is formed by two asymmetric chelate methanoate anions and two 2-methylpyridine molecules, giving a highly distorted 'elongated octahedral' coordination sphere. Complex I decomposes outside the mother-liquid, transforming into a regular isolated binuclear paddle-wheel complex 2 with four intra-binuclear bridging methanoates and two axial 2-mpy ligands. The polynuclear complex 3 is formed of alternate mononuclear and binuclear building blocks resembling the central cores of I and 2, but with significant differences, especially for the methanoates of the mononuclear units. The oxygen atom of the mononuclear unit in the octahedral axial position in 3 is simultaneously coordinated to the axial position of the binuclear paddle-wheel central core, thus enabling a chain type of structure. A chain of alternate mononuclear and binuclear building blocks, as in the neutral compound 3. are found as well in the ionic polymeric compound 4, though two types of bridges are found in 4, while there is only one type in 3. Namely, the axial position of the octahedral mononuclear unit in 4 is occupied by the methanoate oxygen atom that is already a part of the binuclear paddle-wheel unit, while one equatorial methanoate from the mononuclear unit serves as a triatomic bridge to the axial position of the binuclear building block. A very strong antiferromagnetic interaction is found for all the complexes with the paddle-wheel building blocks [Cu-2(mu-O2CH)(4)] 2-4 (-2J = 444-482 cm(-1)), attributed to the methanoate intra-binuclear bridges. On the other hand, this strong antiferromagnetism, found already at room temperature, reduces the intensity of the EPR S = 1 spin signals reported for the isolated paddle-wheel complex 2. For the polymeric 3, only the spin S = 1/2 signals are found in the EPR spectra, and they are assigned to the mononuclear building blocks. No signals with a clear origin are however seen in the room temperature EPR spectrum of the polymeric analogue 4, only the S = 1/2 signals in the low temperature spectra. This feature is suggested to be due to a specific influence between the adjacent S = 1 (binuclear) and S = 1/2 (mononuclear) species via their bridges.
All stereoisomers of the natural product centrolobine are selectively synthesized, by starting from a common precursor. Key steps are an enantioselective allylation with enantiomerically pure allylsilanes, a tandem ring-closing metathesis-isomerization reaction, and a Heck reaction by using an arene diazonium salt. By choosing appropriate conditions for the final deprotection step, either the cis-configured centrolobines or their epimers are selectively obtained.
The theoretically possible stable conformers of free mn-15S2O3 maleonitrile-dithiacrown ether molecule were searched by means of a conformational study which consists of molecular dynamics and energy minimization calculations performed with MM2 force field and successive geometry optimization + frequency calculations performed first at B3LYP/3- 21G and then at B3LYP/6-31G(d) levels of theory. The obtained calculation results have clearly indicated that the free molecule in electronic ground state is very flexible and accordingly has many possible stable conformers of different conformational properties at room temperature; among them, the one having a macrocyclic ring structure in which all of the ether units oriented toward the center of the ring was determined the energetically most preferable conformer. In addition, the equilibrium geometrical parameters, vibrational normal modes and associated IR spectral data of the determined most stable three conformers of the molecule were calculated at B3LYP/6-31+G(d) and B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) levels of theory. A successful assignment of the fundamental bands observed in the recorded experimental solid phase and solution phase IR spectra of the molecule was achieved in the light of the theoretical data obtained from these DFT calculations. To fit the calculated harmonic wavenumbers to the experimental ones, two different scaling procedures, referred to as "Scaled Quantum Mechanical Force Field (SQM FF) methodology" and "Scaling wavenumbers with empirical dual scale factors", were proceeded independently.
We introduce a thermofield-based formulation of the multilayer multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method to study finite temperature effects on non-adiabatic quantum dynamics from a non-stochastic, wave function perspective. Our approach is based on the formal equivalence of bosonic many-body theory at zero temperature with a doubled number of degrees of freedom and the thermal quasi-particle representation of bosonic thermofield dynamics (TFD). This equivalence allows for a transfer of bosonic many-body MCTDH as introduced by Wang and Thoss to the finite temperature framework of thermal quasi-particle TFD. As an application, we study temperature effects on the ultrafast internal conversion dynamics in pyrazine. We show that finite temperature effects can be efficiently accounted for in the construction of multilayer expansions of thermofield states in the framework presented herein. Furthermore, we find our results to agree well with existing studies on the pyrazine model based on the pMCTDH method.
L-selectin is a protein with potential importance for numerous diseases and clinical disorders. In this paper, we present a new aptamer-based luminescent assay developed to detect L-selectin. The sensing system working principle is based on Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) from a donor terbium complex (TbC) to an acceptor cyanine dye (Cy5). In the present approach, the biotinylated aptamer is combined with Cy5-labelled streptavidin (Cy5-Strep) to yield an aptamer-based acceptor construct (Apta-Cy5-Strep), while L-selectin is conjugated using luminescent TbC. Upon aptamer binding to the TbC-labelled L-selectin (L-selectin-TbC), permanent donor-acceptor proximity is established which allows for radiationless energy transfer to occur. However, when unlabelled L-selectin is added, it competes with the L-selectin-TbC and the FRET signal decreases as the L-selectin concentration increases. FRET from the TbC to Cy5 was observed with time-gated time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. A significant change in the corrected luminescence signal was observed in the dynamic range of 10 -500 ng/mL L-selectin, the concentration range relevant for accelerated cognitive decline of Alzheimer's disease, with a limit of detection (LOD) equal to 10 ng/mL. The aptasensor-based assay is homogeneous and can be realized within one hour. Therefore, this method has the potential to become an alternative to tedious heterogeneous analytical methods, e.g. based on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Transparent, ion-conducting, luminescent, and flexible ionogels based on the room temperature ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl) imide [Bmim][N(Tf)(2)], a PtEu2 chromophore, and poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) have been prepared. The thermal stability of the PMMA significantly increases with IL incorporation. In particular, the onset weight loss observed at ca. 229 degrees C for pure PMMA increases to 305 degrees C with IL addition. The ionogel has a high ionic conductivity of 10(-3) S cm(-1) at 373 K and exhibits a strong emission in the red with a long average luminescence decay time of tau = 890 mu s. The resulting material is a new type of soft hybrid material featuring useful thermal, optical, and ion transport properties.
A water soluble fluorescent polymer as a dual colour sensor for temperature and a specific protein
(2013)
We present two thermoresponsive water soluble copolymers prepared via free radical statistical copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and of oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates (OEGMAs), respectively, with a solvatochromic 7-(diethylamino)-3-carboxy-coumarin (DEAC)-functionalized monomer. In aqueous solutions, the NIPAm-based copolymer exhibits characteristic changes in its fluorescence profile in response to a change in solution temperature as well as to the presence of a specific protein, namely an anti-DEAC antibody. This polymer emits only weakly at low temperatures, but exhibits a marked fluorescence enhancement accompanied by a change in its emission colour when heated above its cloud point. Such drastic changes in the fluorescence and absorbance spectra are observed also upon injection of the anti-DEAC antibody, attributed to the specific binding of the antibody to DEAC moieties. Importantly, protein binding occurs exclusively when the polymer is in the well hydrated state below the cloud point, enabling a temperature control on the molecular recognition event. On the other hand, heating of the polymer-antibody complexes releases a fraction of the bound antibody. In the presence of the DEAC-functionalized monomer in this mixture, the released antibody competitively binds to the monomer and the antibody-free chains of the polymer undergo a more effective collapse and inter-aggregation. In contrast, the emission properties of the OEGMA-based analogous copolymer are rather insensitive to the thermally induced phase transition or to antibody binding. These opposite behaviours underline the need for a carefully tailored molecular design of responsive polymers aimed at specific applications, such as biosensing.
A water soluble fluorescent polymer as a dual colour sensor for temperature and a specific protein
(2013)
We present two thermoresponsive water soluble copolymers prepared via free radical statistical copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and of oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates (OEGMAs), respectively, with a solvatochromic 7-(diethylamino)-3-carboxy-coumarin (DEAC)- functionalized monomer. In aqueous solutions, the NIPAm-based copolymer exhibits characteristic changes in its fluorescence profile in response to a change in solution temperature as well as to the presence of a specific protein, namely an anti-DEAC antibody. This polymer emits only weakly at low temperatures, but exhibits a marked fluorescence enhancement accompanied by a change in its emission colour when heated above its cloud point. Such drastic changes in the fluorescence and absorbance spectra are observed also upon injection of the anti-DEAC antibody, attributed to the specific binding of the antibody to DEAC moieties. Importantly, protein binding occurs exclusively when the polymer is in the well hydrated state below the cloud point, enabling a temperature control on the molecular recognition event. On the other hand, heating of the polymer–antibody complexes releases a fraction of the bound antibody. In the presence of the DEAC-functionalized monomer in this mixture, the released antibody competitively binds to the monomer and the antibody-free chains of the polymer undergo a more effective collapse and inter-aggregation. In contrast, the emission properties of the OEGMA-based analogous copolymer are rather insensitive to the thermally induced phase transition or to antibody binding. These opposite behaviours underline the need for a carefully tailored molecular design of responsive polymers aimed at specific applications, such as biosensing.
A weak-mode representation of floppy molecules. III : theoretical assignment of spectroscopic states
(1994)
A weak-mode representation of floppy molecules. IV. Spectroscopic states of model HCN and CNH
(1997)
Phytochemical investigation of the dichloromethane/methanol (1:1) extract of the roots of Bulbine frutescens led to the isolation of a new xanthone, 8-hydroxy-6-methylxanthone-1-carboxylic acid (1) and a new phenylanthraquinone, 6',8-O-dimethylknipholone (2) along with six known compounds. The structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR and MS spectral data analyses. The structure of compound 1 was confirmed through X-ray crystallography which was then used as a reference to propose the revision of the structures of six seco-anthraquinones into xanthones. The isolated compounds were evaluated for cytotoxicity against human cervix carcinoma KB-3-1 cells with the phenylanthraquinone knipholone being the most active (IC50 = 0.43 mu M). Two semi-synthetic knipholone derivatives, knipholone Mannich base and knipholone-1,3-oxazine, were prepared and tested for cytotoxic activity; both showed moderate activities (IC50 value of 1.89 and 2.50 mu M, respectively). (C) 2014 Phytochemical Society of Europe. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Noninvasive near-infrared (NIR) light responsive therapy is a promising cancer treatment modality; however, some inherent drawbacks of conventional phototherapy heavily restrict its application in clinic. Rather than producing heat or reactive oxygen species in conventional NIR treatment, here a multifunctional yolk-shell nanoplatform is proposed that is able to generate microbubbles to destruct cancer cells upon NIR laser irradiation. Besides, the therapeutic effect is highly improved through the coalition of small interfering RNA (siRNA), which is codelivered by the nanoplatform. In vitro experiments demonstrate that siRNA significantly inhibits expression of protective proteins and reduces the tolerance of cancer cells to bubble-induced environmental damage. In this way, higher cytotoxicity is achieved by utilizing the yolk-shell nanoparticles than treated with the same nanoparticles missing siRNA under NIR laser irradiation. After surface modification with polyethylene glycol and transferrin, the yolk-shell nanoparticles can target tumors selectively, as demonstrated from the photoacoustic and ultrasonic imaging in vivo. The yolk-shell nanoplatform shows outstanding tumor regression with minimal side effects under NIR laser irradiation. Therefore, the multifunctional nanoparticles that combining bubble-induced mechanical effect with RNA interference are expected to be an effective NIR light responsive oncotherapy.
The ring current effects of aromatic moieties and the anisotropic effects of the C=O and C-X (X = C, N, S) bonds and of the NH=C(NH2)-NH- moiety in the side chains of amino acid residues of proteins were ab initio calculated based on nuclear independent chemical shieldings as employed by P.v.R. Schleyer. Hereby, quantitative information about the spatial extension, sign and scope of the corresponding ring current/anisotropic effects was obtained and they were visualized as iso-chemical-shielding-surfaces. Examining this quantitative information compared with experimental NMR chemical shifts, the role of the corresponding amino acid residues in binding substrates in the binding site of enzymes was studied. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Ab initio calculations for XPS chemical shifts of poly(vinyl-trifluoroacetate) using trimer models
(2011)
X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) of the polymer poly(vinyl-trifluoroacetate) show C(1s) binding energy shifts which are unusual because they are influenced by atoms which are several bonds away from the probed atom. In this work, the influence of the trifluoroacetate substituent on the 1s ionization potential of the carbon atoms of the polyethylene chain is investigated theoretically using mono-substituted, diad and triad models of trimers representing the polymer. Carbon 1s ionization energies are calculated by the Hartree-Fock theory employing Koopmans' theorem. The influence of the configuration and conformation of the functional groups as well as the degree of substitution are found to be important determinants of XPS spectra. It is further found that the 1s binding energy correlates in a linear fashion, with the total electrostatic potential at the position of the probe atom, and depends not only on nearest neighbor effects. This may have implications for the interpretation of high-resolution XP spectra.
The C-13 chemical shifts of 20 rigid bicyclic compounds have been calculated with ab initio HF and MP2 methods. The calculations showed very good reproducibility of the experimental values. The molecular orbital interactions in the rigid, nearly planar delta-syn-axial fragments in the isomeric groups of norbornane derivatives 1.x-4.x were studied in detail and were employed to explain the deshielding delta-syn-axial effect in C-13 NMR spectroscopy. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Equilibria between the Z (tau(1) = 0 degrees) and E (tau(1) = 180 degrees) conformers of p-substituted phenyl acetates 4 and trifluoroacetates 5 (X = OMe, Me, H, Cl, CN, NO2) were studied by ab initio calculations at the HF/6-31G* and MP2/6-31G* levels of theory. The preference for the Z conformer, Delta E(HF), was calculated to be 5.36 kcal mol(-1) and 7.50 kcal mot(-1) for phenyl acetate and phenyl trifluoroacetate (i.e., with X = H), respectively. The increasing electron-withdrawing ability of the phenyl substituent X increases the preference of the Z conformer. An excellent correlation with a negative slope was observed for both series between Delta E of the E-Z equilibrium and the Hammett sigma constant. By using an appropriate isodesmic reaction, it was shown that electron-withdrawing substituents decrease the stability of both conformers, but the effect is higher with the E conformer. Electron-withdrawing phenyl substituents decrease the delocalization of the lone pair of the ether oxygen to the C=O antibonding orbital (n(O) -> pi*(C=O)) in both the E and Z forms and in both series studied; this effect is higher in the E conformer than in the Z conformer. The n(O) -> pi*(C=O) electron donation has a minimum value with tau(1) = 90 degrees and a maximum value with tau(1) = 90 degrees (the Z conformer), the value with tau(1) = 180 degrees (the E conformer) being between these two values, obviously due to steric hindrance. The effects of the phenyl substituents on the reactivity of the esters studied are discussed in terms of molecular orbital interactions. ED/EW substituents adjust the availability of the pi*(C=O) antibonding orbital to interact with the lone pair orbital of the attacking nucleophile and therefore affect the reactivity: EW substituents increase and ED substituents decrease it. Excellent correlations were observed between the rate coefficients of nucleophilic acyl substitutions and pi*(C=O) occupancies of the ester series 4 and
Ab-initio investigation of the vibrational structure of absorption and emission spectra of FCO
(1994)
Ab-initio study and semiempirical calculations of keto-enol tautomerism of triazolopyrimidines
(1995)
Ab-initio study of the potential energy surfaces of doublet valence and Rydberg states of FCO
(1994)
In this paper, we propose a consistent mechanism of protein microcapsule formation upon ultrasound treatment. Aqueous suspensions of bovine serum albumin (BSA) microcapsules filled with toluene are prepared by use of high-intensity ultrasound following a reported method. Stabilization of the oil-in-water emulsion by the adsorption of the protein molecules at the interface of the emulsion droplets is accompanied by the creation of the cross-linked capsule shell due to formation of intermolecular disulfide bonds caused by highly reactive species like superoxide radicals generated sonochemically. The evidence for this mechanism, which until now remained elusive and was not proven properly, is presented based on experimental data from SDS-PAGE, Raman spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering.
The size and morphology control of precipitated solid particles is a major economic issue for numerous industries. For instance, it is interesting for the nuclear industry, concerning the recovery of radioactive species from used nuclear fuel.
The precipitates features, which are a key parameter from the post-precipitate processing, depend on the process local mixing conditions. So far, the relationship between precipitation features and hydrodynamic conditions have not been investigated.
In this study, a new experimental configuration consisting of coalescing drops is set to investigate the link between reactive crystallization and hydrodynamics. Two configurations of aqueous drops are examined. The first one corresponds to high contact angle drops (>90°) in oil, as a model system for flowing drops, the second one correspond to sessile drops in air with low contact angle (<25°). In both cases, one reactive is dissolved in each drop, namely oxalic acid and cerium nitrate. When both drops get into contact, they may coalesce; the dissolved species mix and react to produce insoluble cerium oxalate. The precipitates features and effect on hydrodynamics are investigated depending on the solvent. In the case of sessile drops in air, the surface tension difference between the drops generates a gradient which induces a Marangoni flow from the low surface tension drop over the high surface tension drop. By setting the surface tension difference between the two drops and thus the Marangoni flow, the hydrodynamics conditions during the drop coalescence could be modified. Diols/water mixtures are used as solvent, in order to fix the surface tension difference between the liquids of both drops regardless from the reactant concentration. More precisely, the used diols, 1,2-propanediol and 1,3-propanediol, are isomer with identical density and close viscosity. By keeping the water volume fraction constant and playing with the 1,2-propanediol and 1,3-propanediol volume fractions of the solvents, the mixtures surface tensions differ up to 10 mN/m for identical/constant reactant concentration, density and viscosity. 3 precipitation behaviors were identified for the coalescence of water/diols/recatants drops depending on the oxalic excess. The corresponding precipitates patterns are visualized by optical microscopy and the precipitates are characterized by confocal microscopy SEM, XRD and SAXS measurements. In the intermediate oxalic excess regime, formation of periodic patterns can be observed. These patterns consist in alternating cerium oxalate precipitates with distinct morphologies, namely needles and “microflowers”. Such periodic fringes can be explained by a feedback mechanism between convection, reaction and the diffusion.
Gegenstand der Dissertation ist die größen- und eigenschaftsoptimierte Synthese und Charakterisierung von anorganischen Nanopartikeln in einer geeigneten Polyelektrolytmodifizierten Mikroemulsion. Das Hauptziel bildet dabei die Auswahl einer geeigneten Mikroemulsion, zur Synthese von kleinen, stabilen, reproduzierbaren Nanopartikeln mit besonderen Eigenschaften. Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde in zwei Haupteile gegliedert. Der erste Teil befasst sich mit der Einmischung von unterschiedlichen Polykationen (lineares Poly (diallyldimethylammoniumchlorid) (PDADMAC) und verzweigtes Poly (ethylenimin) (PEI)) in verschiedene, auf unterschiedlichen Tensiden (CTAB - kationisch, SDS - anionisch, SB - zwitterionisch) basierenden, Mikroemulsionssysteme. Dabei zeigt sich, dass das Einmischen der Polykationen in die Wassertröpfchen der Wasser-in-Öl (W/O) Mikroemulsion prinzipiell möglich ist. Der Einfluss der verschiedenen Polykationen auf das Phasenverhalten der W/O Mikroemulsion ist jedoch sehr unterschiedlich. In Gegenwart des kationischen Tensids führen die repulsiven Wechselwirkungen mit den Polykationen zu einer Destabilisierung des Systems, während die ausgeprägten Wechselwirkungen mit dem anionischen Tensid in einer deutlichen Stabilisierung des Systems resultieren. Für das zwitterionische Tensid führen die moderaten Wechselwirkungen mit den Polykationen zu einer partiellen Stabilisierung. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem Einsatz der unterschiedlichen, Polyelektrolyt- modifizierten Mikroemulsionen als Templatphase für die Herstellung verschiedener, anorganischer Nanopartikel. Die CTAB-basierte Mikroemulsion erweist sich dabei als ungeeignet für die Herstellung von CdS Nanopartikeln, da zum einen nur eine geringe Toleranz gegenüber den Reaktanden vorhanden ist (Destabilisierungseffekt) und zum anderen das Partikelwachstum durch den Polyelektrolyt-Tensid-Film nicht ausreichend begrenzt wird. Zudem zeigt sich, dass eine Abtrennung der Partikel aus der Mikroemulsion nicht möglich ist. Die SDS-basierten Mikroemulsionen, erweisen sich als geeignete Templatphase zur Synthese kleiner anorganischer Nanopartikel (3 – 20 nm). Sowohl CdS Quantum Dots, als auch Gold Nanopartikel konnten erfolgreich in der Mikroemulsion synthetisiert werden, wobei das verzweigte PEI einen interessanten Templat-Effekt in der Mikroemulsion hervorruft. Als deutlicher Nachteil der SDS-basierten Mikroemulsionen offenbaren sich die starken Wechselwirkungen zwischen dem Tensid und den Polyelektrolyten während der Aufarbeitung der Nanopartikel aus der Mikroemulsion. Dabei erweist sich die Polyelektrolyt-Tensid-Komplexbildung als hinderlich für die Redispergierung der CdS Quantum Dots in Wasser, so dass Partikelaggregation einsetzt. Die SB-basierten Mikroemulsionen erweisen sich als günstige Templatphase für die Bildung von größen- und eigenschaftenoptimierten Nanopartikeln (< 4 nm), wobei insbesondere eine Modifizierung mit PEI als ideal betrachtet werden kann. In Gegenwart des verzweigten PEI gelang es erstmals ultrakleine, fluoreszierende Gold Cluster (< 2 nm) in einer SB-basierten Mikroemulsion als Templatphase herzustellen. Als besonderer Vorteil der SB-basierten Mikroemulsion zeigen sich die moderaten Wechselwirkungen zwischen dem zwitterionischen Tensid und den Polyelektrolyten, welche eine anschließende Abtrennung der Partikel aus der Mikroemulsion unter Erhalt der Größe und ihrer optischen Eigenschaften ermöglichen. In der redispergierten wässrigen Lösung gelang somit eine Auftrennung der PEI-modifizierten Partikel mit Hilfe der asymmetrischer Fluss Feldflussfraktionierung (aF FFF). Die gebildeten Nanopartikel zeigen interessante optische Eigenschaften und können zum Beispiel erfolgreich zur Modifizierung von Biosensoren eingesetzt werden.
Am Beispiel eines modellierten Deponiesickerwassers wird die Möglichkeit einer simultanen Reaktivextraktion von toxischen Schwermetallen aus einer unproblematischen Matrix vorgestellt. Als Extraktionsmittel werden vergleichend Alkylphosphorsäuren (kommerzielle D2EHPA, D2EHTPA), ß-Diketone, 4-Acylpyrazol-5-one und eine neuartige kommerzielle Alkylphosphonsäure eingesetzt. Die thermodynamischen Parameter der Extraktion lassen sich mit Hilfe der Funktionen %E = f( t, pH), lg D = f ( pH, cL) bestimmen. Einflüsse von Lösungsmitteln und konkurrierende Komplexbildner in der wäßrigen Phase auf das Verteilungsgleichgewicht werden diskutiert. Inhaltsstoffe der wäßrigen Phase (Cyanid, Tartrat, Ammoniak, Huminsäuren oder Chlorid) beeinflussen entsprechend ihrer Ligandstärke die Metallabtrennung. Für den Fall der Huminsäure wird eine Größenordnung von Weinsäure gefunden. Sulfationen erschweren zusätzlich die Extraktion von Calcium. Halogenierte und aromatische Verdünnungsmittel haben gegenüber unproblematischen Kohlenwasserstoffen keinen Vorteil. Mit Aminomethylphosphonsäure (Ironex, BASF) gelingt eine quantitative Eisen, Indium- und Galliumabtrennung bei einem pH-Wert kleiner 1.5 als ML2(HL) bzw. ML(HL)2. Kupfer und Zink werden im pH-Bereich von 4-6 quantitativ als 1:2- Komplex extrahiert. Insgesamt günstige Ergebnisse zeigen die ß-Diketone (auch LIX 54) und 4-Acylpyrazol-5-one. Hier ergibt sich die Möglichkeit toxische Schwermetalle selektiv abzutrennen und eine unproblematische Matrix zu gewinnen, da Calcium nur zu 6% und Magnesium zu 23% extrahiert werden.
NMR chemical shift predictions based on empirical methods are nowadays indispensable tools during resonance assignment and 3D structure calculation of proteins. However, owing to the very limited statistical data basis, such methods are still in their infancy in the field of nucleic acids, especially when non-canonical structures and nucleic acid complexes are considered. Here, we present an ab initio approach for predicting proton chemical shifts of arbitrary nucleic acid structures based on state-of-the-art fragment-based quantum chemical calculations. We tested our prediction method on a diverse set of nucleic acid structures including double-stranded DNA, hairpins, DNA/protein complexes and chemically-modified DNA. Overall, our quantum chemical calculations yield highly/very accurate predictions with mean absolute deviations of 0.3-0.6 ppm and correlation coefficients (r(2)) usually above 0.9. This will allow for identifying misassignments and validating 3D structures. Furthermore, our calculations reveal that chemical shifts of protons involved in hydrogen bonding are predicted significantly less accurately. This is in part caused by insufficient inclusion of solvation effects. However, it also points toward shortcomings of current force fields used for structure determination of nucleic acids. Our quantum chemical calculations could therefore provide input for force field optimization.
We investigate the torsion potentials in two prototypical pi-conjugated polymers, polyacetylene and polydiacetylene, as a function of chain length using different flavors of density functional theory. Our study provides a quantitative analysis of the delocalization error in standard semilocal and hybrid density functionals and demonstrates how it can influence structural and thermodynamic properties. The delocalization error is quantified by evaluating the many-electron self-interaction error (MESIE) for fractional electron numbers, which allows us to establish a direct connection between the MESIE and the error in the torsion barriers. The use of non-empirically tuned long-range corrected hybrid functionals results in a very significant reduction of the MESIE and leads to an improved description of torsion barrier heights. In addition, we demonstrate how our analysis allows the determination of the effective conjugation length in polyacetylene and polydiacetylene chains.
The performance of non-empirically tuned long-range corrected hybrid functionals for the prediction of vertical ionization potentials (IPs) and electron affinities (EAs) is assessed for a set of 24 organic acceptor molecules. Basis set extrapolated coupled cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples [CCSD(T)] calculations serve as a reference for this study. Compared to standard exchange-correlation functionals, tuned long-range corrected hybrid functionals produce highly reliable results for vertical IPs and EAs, yielding mean absolute errors on par with computationally more demanding GW calculations. In particular, it is demonstrated that long-range corrected hybrid functionals serve as ideal starting points for non-self-consistent GW calculations.
The performance of different GW methods is assessed for a set of 24 organic acceptors. Errors are evaluated with respect to coupled cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples [CCSD(T)] reference data for the vertical ionization potentials (IPs) and electron affinities (EAs), extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. Additional comparisons are made to experimental data, where available. We consider fully self-consistent GW (scGW), partial self-consistency in the Green’s function (scGW0), non-self-consistent G0W0 based on several mean-field starting points, and a “beyond GW” second-order screened exchange (SOSEX) correction to G0W0. We also describe the implementation of the self-consistent Coulomb hole with screened exchange method (COHSEX), which serves as one of the mean-field starting points. The best performers overall are G0W0+SOSEX and G0W0 based on an IP-tuned long-range corrected hybrid functional with the former being more accurate for EAs and the latter for IPs. Both provide a balanced treatment of localized vs delocalized states and valence spectra in good agreement with photoemission spectroscopy (PES) experiments.
Accurate Valence Ionization Energies from Kohn-Sham Eigenvalues with the Help of Potential Adjustors
(2017)
An accurate yet computationally very efficient and formally well justified approach to calculate molecular ionization potentials is presented and tested. The first as well as higher ionization potentials are obtained as the negatives of the Kohn-Sham eigenvalues of the neutral molecule after adjusting the eigenvalues by a recently [Gorling Phys. Rev. B 2015, 91, 245120] introduced potential adjustor for exchange-correlation potentials. Technically the method is very simple. Besides a Kohn-Sham calculation of the neutral molecule, only a second Kohn-Sham calculation of the cation is required. The eigenvalue spectrum of the neutral molecule is shifted such that the negative of the eigenvalue of the highest occupied molecular orbital equals the energy difference of the total electronic energies of the cation minus the neutral molecule. For the first ionization potential this simply amounts to a Delta SCF calculation. Then, the higher ionization potentials are obtained as the negatives of the correspondingly shifted Kohn-Sham eigenvalues. Importantly, this shift of the Kohn-Sham eigenvalue spectrum is not just ad hoc. In fact, it is formally necessary for the physically correct energetic adjustment of the eigenvalue spectrum as it results from ensemble density-functional theory. An analogous approach for electron affinities is equally well obtained and justified. To illustrate the practical benefits of the approach, we calculate the valence ionization energies of test sets of small- and medium-sized molecules and photoelectron spectra of medium-sized electron acceptor molecules using a typical semilocal (PBE) and two typical global hybrid functionals (B3LYP and PBE0). The potential adjusted B3LYP and PBE0 eigenvalues yield valence ionization potentials that are in very good agreement with experimental values, reaching an accuracy that is as good as the best G(0)W(0) methods, however, at much lower computational costs. The potential adjusted PBE eigenvalues result in somewhat less accurate ionization energies, which, however, are almost as accurate as those obtained from the most commonly used G(0)W(0) variants.
Unlike their ortho counterparts, meta- and para-acetamidoanilines can be converted into the corresponding acetamidoarenediazonium salts. These offer various opportunities for multiple Pd-catalyzed arene functionalization reactions, such as Matsuda-Heck-, Suzuki-Miyaura- or Fujiwara-Moritani couplings.
Activation of anthracene endoperoxides in leishmania and impairment of mitochondrial functions
(2018)
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by protozoal Leishmania. Because of resistance development against current drugs, new antileishmanial compounds are urgently needed. Endoperoxides (EPs) are successfully used in malaria therapy, and experimental evidence of their potential against leishmaniasis exists. Anthracene endoperoxides (AcEPs) have so far been only technically used and not explored for their leishmanicidal potential. This study verified the in vitro efficiency and mechanism of AcEPs against both Leishmania promastigotes and axenic amastigotes (L. tarentolae and L. donovani) as well as their toxicity in J774 macrophages. Additionally, the kinetics and radical products of AcEPs’ reaction with iron, the formation of radicals by AcEPs in Leishmania, as well as the resulting impairment of parasite mitochondrial functions were studied. Using electron paramagnetic resonance combined with spin trapping, photometry, and fluorescence-based oximetry, AcEPs were demonstrated to (i) show antileishmanial activity in vitro at IC50 values in a low micromolar range, (ii) exhibit host cell toxicity in J774 macrophages, (iii) react rapidly with iron (II) resulting in the formation of oxygen- and carbon-centered radicals, (iv) produce carbon-centered radicals which could secondarily trigger superoxide radical formation in Leishmania, and (v) impair mitochondrial functions in Leishmania during parasite killing. Overall, the data of different AcEPs demonstrate that their structures besides the peroxo bridge strongly influence their activity and mechanism of their antileishmanial action.
Passive and active polarization elements were created by surface and bulk photo-alignment of LCs, reactive LCs, photo-sensitive LCP and photo-curable monomer/LC composites. The use of different photo-sensitive liquid crystalline materials for the development of highly anisotropic elements with high spatial resolution and stability or, alternatively, fast switch ability will be discussed. Photo-active and voltage tunable polarization and diffraction elements are presented. For active micro-optic application a photo-addressed patterned retarder was created. Electrically switchable diffraction gratings were generated by interference exposure of photo-curable LC composites at room temperature characterized by droplet free morphology. These polarization sensitive diffraction elements are characterized be excellent optical properties and low switching times.
Polyester-based shape-memory polymer actuators are multifunctional materials providing reversible macroscopic shape shifts as well as hydrolytic degradability. Here, the function-function interdependencies (between shape shifts and degradation behaviour) will determine actuation performance and its life time. In this work, glycolide units were incorporated in poly(epsilon-caprolactone) based actuator materials in order to achieve an accelerated hydrolytic degradation and to explore the function-function relationship. Three different oligo[(epsilon-caprolactone)-co-glycolide] copolymers (OCGs) with similar molecular weights (10.5 +/- 0.5 kg center dot mol(-1)) including a glycolide content of 8, 16, and 26 mol% (ratio 1:1:1 wt%) terminated with methacrylated moieties were crosslinked. The obtained actuators provided a broad melting transition in the range from 27 to 44 degrees C. The hydrolytic degradation of programmed OCG actuators (200% of elongation) resulted in a reduction of sample mass to 51 wt% within 21 days at pH = 7.4 and 40 degrees C. Degradation results in a decrease of T-m associated to the actuating units and increasing T-m associated to the skeleton forming units. The actuation capability decreased almost linear as function of time. After 11 days of hydrolytic degradation the shape-memory functionality was lost. Accordingly, a fast degradation behaviour as required, e.g., for actuator materials intended as implant material can be realized.
Acyclic diene metathesis a versatile tool for the construction of defined polymer architectures
(2011)
Two decades have passed since the metathesis polymerisation of alpha,omega-dienes was successfully demonstrated by the group of Wagener and the term acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerisation was coined. Since then, the advances of metathesis chemistry have allowed to expand the scope of this versatile polymerisation reaction that nowadays finds applications in different fields, such as polymer, material, or medicinal chemistry. This critical review provides an insight into the historical aspects of ADMET and a detailed overview of the work done to date applying this versatile polymerisation reaction (221 references).
High oleic sunflower oil, a renewable raw material consisting of triglycerides with internal C=C-double bonds, was polymerized via acyclic triene metathesis (ATMET) to highly branched and functionalized polyesters. If the Hoveyda- Grubbs second generation catalyst was used and methyl acrylate was introduced as a chain stopper, the molecular weight of the obtained polymers could be tuned by varying the ratio of the triglyceride and methyl acrylate. Using the first generation Grubbs catalyst for the polymerization of high oleic sunflower oil, no cross-linking was observed, even without the use of a chain stopper. The resulting branched materials were characterized by GPC, H-1 and C-13 NMR, and ESI-MS.
Radical reactions have found many applications in carbohydrate chemistry, especially in the construction of carbon–carbon bonds. The formation of carbon–heteroatom bonds has been less intensively studied. This mini-review will summarize the efforts to add heteroatom radicals to unsaturated carbohydrates like endo-glycals. Starting from early examples, developed more than 50 years ago, the importance of such reactions for carbohydrate chemistry and recent applications will be discussed. After a short introduction, the mini-review is divided in sub-chapters according to the heteroatoms halogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. The mechanisms of radical generation by chemical or photochemical processes and the subsequent reactions of the radicals at the 1-position will be discussed. This mini-review cannot cover all aspects of heteroatom-centered radicals in carbohydrate chemistry, but should provide an overview of the various strategies and future perspectives
Radical reactions have found many applications in carbohydrate chemistry, especially in the construction of carbon–carbon bonds. The formation of carbon–heteroatom bonds has been less intensively studied. This mini-review will summarize the efforts to add heteroatom radicals to unsaturated carbohydrates like endo-glycals. Starting from early examples, developed more than 50 years ago, the importance of such reactions for carbohydrate chemistry and recent applications will be discussed. After a short introduction, the mini-review is divided in sub-chapters according to the heteroatoms halogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. The mechanisms of radical generation by chemical or photochemical processes and the subsequent reactions of the radicals at the 1-position will be discussed. This mini-review cannot cover all aspects of heteroatom-centered radicals in carbohydrate chemistry, but should provide an overview of the various strategies and future perspectives
On the basis of the clinical studies in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) presenting an increased percentage of activated platelets, we hypothesized that hemocompatibility testing utilizing platelets from healthy individuals may result in an underestimation of the materials' thrombogenicity. Therefore, we investigated the interaction of polymer-based biomaterials with platelets from CAD patients in comparison to platelets from apparently healthy individuals. In vitro static thrombogenicity tests revealed that adherent platelet densities and total platelet covered areas were significantly increased for the low (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) and medium (Collagen) thrombogenic surfaces in the CAD group compared to the healthy subjects group. The area per single platelet—indicating the spreading and activation of the platelets—was markedly increased on PDMS treated with PRP from CAD subjects. This could not be observed for collagen or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). For the latter material, platelet adhesion and surface coverage did not differ between the two groups. Irrespective of the substrate, the variability of these parameters was increased for CAD patients compared to healthy subjects. This indicates a higher reactivity of platelets from CAD patients compared to the healthy individuals. Our results revealed, for the first time, that utilizing platelets from apparently healthy donors bears the risk of underestimating the thrombogenicity of polymer-based biomaterials.
In this work, the adsorption and splitting of the water molecule by light and/or an external potential is investigated in the frame of (photo-) electrochemical cells using a rutile ruthenium dioxide anode. With the help of periodic density functional calculations, the adsorbed structures of H(2)O and some radicals involved in the splitting process (O, OH, OOH) are obtained and compared with the available experimental results. On the basis of these electronic-structure calculations, we use a method to calculate the stability of the reaction intermediates and conclude on the thermodynamical possibility of the water splitting reaction at the surface. We demonstrate that a moderate overpotential of 0.64 V is required for the reaction to take place at the RuO(2)(110) surface.
Graphitic carbon nitride, g-C₃N₄, is a promising organic photo-catalyst for a variety of redox reactions. In order to improve its efficiency in a systematic manner, however, a fundamental understanding of the microscopic interaction between catalyst, reactants and products is crucial. Here we present a systematic study of water adsorption on g-C₃N₄ by means of density functional theory and the density functional based tight-binding method as a prerequisite for understanding photocatalytic water splitting. We then analyze this prototypical redox reaction on the basis of a thermodynamic model providing an estimate of the overpotential for both water oxidation and H⁺ reduction. While the latter is found to occur readily upon irradiation with visible light, we derive a prohibitive overpotential of 1.56 eV for the water oxidation half reaction, comparing well with the experimental finding that in contrast to H₂ production O₂ evolution is only possible in the presence of oxidation cocatalysts.
Graphitic carbon nitride, g-C₃N₄, is a promising organic photo-catalyst for a variety of redox reactions. In order to improve its efficiency in a systematic manner, however, a fundamental understanding of the microscopic interaction between catalyst, reactants and products is crucial. Here we present a systematic study of water adsorption on g-C₃N₄ by means of density functional theory and the density functional based tight-binding method as a prerequisite for understanding photocatalytic water splitting. We then analyze this prototypical redox reaction on the basis of a thermodynamic model providing an estimate of the overpotential for both water oxidation and H⁺ reduction. While the latter is found to occur readily upon irradiation with visible light, we derive a prohibitive overpotential of 1.56 eV for the water oxidation half reaction, comparing well with the experimental finding that in contrast to H₂ production O₂ evolution is only possible in the presence of oxidation cocatalysts.
Graphitic carbon nitride, g-C3N4, is a promising organic photo-catalyst for a variety of redox reactions. In order to improve its efficiency in a systematic manner, however, a fundamental understanding of the microscopic interaction between catalyst, reactants and products is crucial. Here we present a systematic study of water adsorption on g-C3N4 by means of density functional theory and the density functional based tight-binding method as a prerequisite for understanding photocatalytic water splitting. We then analyze this prototypical redox reaction on the basis of a thermodynamic model providing an estimate of the overpotential for both water oxidation and H+ reduction. While the latter is found to occur readily upon irradiation with visible light, we derive a prohibitive overpotential of 1.56 eV for the water oxidation half reaction, comparing well with the experimental finding that in contrast to H-2 production O-2 evolution is only possible in the presence of oxidation cocatalysts.
Hydrophobins are highly surface active proteins which self-assemble at hydrophilic-hydrophobic interfaces into amphipathic membranes. We investigate hydrophobin self-assembly at oil/water interfaces to deepen the understanding of protein behavior in order to improve our biomimetic synthesis. Therefore, we carried out pendant drop measurements of hydrophobin stabilized oil/water systems determining the time-dependent IFT and the dilatational rheology with additional adaptation to the Serrien protein model. We show that the class I hydrophobin H*Protein B adsorbs at an oil/water interface where it forms a densely-packed interfacial protein layer, which dissipates energy during droplet oscillation. Furthermore, the interfacial protein layer exhibits shear thinning behavior. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Uremia is a phenomenon caused by retention of uremic toxins in the plasma due to functional impairment of kidneys in the elimination of urinary waste products. Uremia is presently treated by dialysis techniques like hemofiltration, dialysis or hemodiafiltration. However, these techniques in use are more favorable towards removing hydrophilic than hydrophobic uremic toxins. Hydrophobic uremic toxins, such as hydroxy hipuric acid (OH-HPA), phenylacetic acid (PAA), indoxyl sulfate (IDS) and p-cresylsulfate (pCRS), contribute substantially to the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, objective of the present study is to test adsorption capacity of highly porous microparticles prepared from poly(ether imide) (PEI) as an alternative technique for the removal of uremic toxins. Two types of nanoporous, spherically shaped microparticles were prepared from PEI by a spraying/coagulation process. PEI particles were packed into a preparative HPLC column to which a mixture of the four types of uremic toxins was injected and eluted with ethanol. Eluted toxins were quantified by analytical HPLC. PEI particles were able to adsorb all four toxins, with the highest affinity for PAA and pCR. IDS and OH-HPA showed a partially non-reversible binding. In summary, PEI particles are interesting candidates to be explored for future application in CKD.
A cluster approach extended to the ONIOM methodology has been applied using several density functionals and Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) to simulate the adsorption of selected nitrogen-containing compounds [NCCs, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazole-5-one (NTO)] on the hydroxyated (100) surface of a-quartz. The structural properties were calculated using the M06-2X functional and 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The M06-2X-D3, PBE-D3, and MP2 methods were used to calculate the adsorption energies. Results have been compared with the data from other studies of adsorption of compounds of similar nature on silica. Effect of deformation of the silica surface and adsorbates on the binding energy values was also studied. The atoms in molecules (AIM) analysis was employed to characterize the adsorbate-adsorbent binding and to calculate the bond energies. The silica surface shows different sorption affinity toward the chemicals considered depending on their electronic structure. All target NCCs are physisorbed on the modeled silica surface. Adsorption occurs due to the formation of multiple hydrogen bonds between the functional groups of NCCs and surface silanol groups. Parallel orientation of NCCs interacting with the silica surface was found to be favorable when compared with perpendicularly oriented NCCs. NTO was found to be the most strongly adsorbed on the silica surface among all of the considered compounds. Dispersion correction was shown to play an important role in the DFT calculations of the adsorption energies of silica-NCC systems.
Adsorptive Eigenschaften von Bodensubstraten in Abhängigkeit vom anthropogenen Überprägungsgrad
(1996)
Advances in characteristics improvement of polymeric membranes/separators for zinc-air batteries
(2022)
Zinc-air batteries (ZABs) are gaining popularity for a wide range of applications due to their high energy density, excellent safety, and environmental friendliness. A membrane/separator is a critical component of ZABs, with substantial implications for battery performance and stability, particularly in the case of a battery in solid state format, which has captured increased attention in recent years. In this review, recent advances as well as insight into the architecture of polymeric membrane/separators for ZABs including porous polymer separators (PPSs), gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs), solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) and anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are discussed. The paper puts forward strategies to enhance stability, ionic conductivity, ionic selectivity, electrolyte storage capacity and mechanical properties for each type of polymeric membrane. In addition, the remaining major obstacles as well as the most potential avenues for future research are examined in detail.
Advances in chitin science
(1996)
The synthesis and single crystal X-ray structures of eight AgI, HgII, and PtII complexes with the thiacrown ethers maleonitrile-tetrathia-12-crown-4 (mn12S4), maleonitrile-tetrathia-13-crown-4 (mn13S4), and maleonitrile- pentathia-15-crown-5 (mn15S5) (1) are reported. The ligand mn15S5 was synthesized for the first time and characterized by X-ray diffraction. With silver(I) perchlorate and silver(I) tetrafluoroborate it forms the chiral complexes [Ag(mn15S5)]ClO4·CH3NO2 (2) and [Ag(mn15S5)]BF4·CH3NO2·0.25H2O (3) with half-sandwich moieties. AgI is located in a distorted tetrahedral coordination environment, involving three sulfur atoms of the crown cycle and a fourth one of the adjacent half-sandwich moiety, forming a helical structure. The reaction of Hg(ClO4)2 with mn13S4 yielded the dinuclear complex [Hg2(mn13S4)3](ClO4)4 (4) containing two half-sandwich moieties with a third ligand molecule as a bridging unit. Mercury(II) chloride and mercury(II) iodide react with mn12S4 and mn13S4 to form complexes of the general composition [HgX2(L)] (X = Cl, I; L = mn12S4, mn13S4): [HgCl2(mn12S4)] (5), [HgI2(mn12S4)] (6), [HgCl2(mn13S4)] (7) or [HgX2(L)2] (X = I; L = mn13S4): [HgI2(mn13S4)2] (8). Only one or two sulfur atoms of the ligand are involved in the complexation, and chain or ribbon structures are formed. In these compounds the HgX2 units (X = Cl, I) are preserved, coordinated by sulfur atoms of bridging mn12S4 or mn13S4 ligands. In all complexes of this type, the metal atoms are not coordinated inside the cavity, but in an exocyclic mode, because the diameter of the macrocycle is too small. Additionally, the PtCl2 complex of mn12S4 was investigated, where PtII is coordinated in an exocyclic mode forming the complex [PtCl2(mn12S4)] (9). Two of the four sulfur atoms of the macrocycle are bonded to the metal giving together with both chlorine atoms a square-planar coordination geometry. Together with a long-range interaction with a further sulfur atom of the macrocycle a square-pyramidal coordination environment is formed.
A 2-fold thermoresponsive diblock copolymer PSPP430-b-PNIPAM(200) consisting of a zwitterionic polysulfobetaine (PSPP) block and a nonionic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) block is prepared by successive RAFT polymerizations. In aqueous solution, the corresponding homopolymers PSPP and PNIPAM feature both upper and lower critical solution temperature (UCST and LCST) behavior, respectively. The diblock copolymer exhibits thermally induced "schizophrenic" aggregation behavior in aqueous solutions. Moreover, the ion sensitivity of the, cloud point of the zwitterionic PSPP block to both the ionic strength and the nature of the salt offers the possibility to create switchable systems which respond sensitively to changes of the temperature and of the electrolyte type and concentration. The diblock copolymer solutions in D2O are investigated by means of turbidimetry and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) with respect to the phase behavior and the self-assembled structures in dependence on temperature and electrolyte content. Marked, differences of the aggregation below the UCST-type and above the LCST-type transition are observed. The addition of a small amount of NaBr (0.004 M) does not affect the overall behavior, and only the UCST-type transition and aggregate structures are slightly altered, reflecting the well-known ion sensitivity of the zwitterionic PSPP block.
The micelle aggregation numbers (N-agg) of several series of cationic oligomeric surfactants were determined by time-resolved fluorescence quenching (TRFQ) experiments, using advantageously 9,10-dimethylanthracene as fluorophore. The study comprises six dimeric ("gemini"), three trimeric, and two tetrameric surfactants, which are quaternary ammonium chlorides, with medium length spacer groups (C-3-C-6) separating the individual surfactant fragments. Two standard cationic surfactants served as references. The number of hydrophobic chains making up a micellar core is relatively low for the oligomeric surfactants, the spacer length playing an important role. For the dimers, the number decreases from 32 to 21 with increasing spacer length. These numbers decrease further with increasing degree of oligomerization down to values of about 15. As for many conventional ionic surfactants, the micelles of all oligomers studied grow only slightly with the concentration, and they remain in the regime of small micelles up to concentrations of at least 3 wt %.
The functionalization of polyelectrolyte multilayers often implies the use of bulky functional fragments, attached to a standard polyelectrolyte matrix. Despite of the high density of non-charged, often hydrophobic substituents, regular film growth by sequential adsorption proceeds easily when an appropriate polyelectrolyte counter ion is chosen. However, the functional fragments may cluster or aggregate. This complication is particularly evident when using chromophores and fluorophores as bulky pendant groups. Attention has to be paid to this phenomenon for the design of functional polyelectrolyte films, as aggregation may modify crucially the properties. The use of charged spacer groups does not necessarily suppress the aggregation of functional side groups. Still, clustering and aggregation depend on the detailed system employed, and are not obligatory. In the case of cationic poly(acrylamide)s labeled with naphthalene and pyrene fluorophores, for instance, the polymers form intramolecular hydrophobic associates in solution, as indicated by strong excimer formation. But the polymers can undergo a conformational rearrangement upon adsorption so that they are decoiled in the adsorbed films. Analogous observations are made for polyanions bearing mesogenic biphenyls fragments. In contrast, polycations functionalized with the dye coumarin 343 show little aggregation in solution, but a marked aggregation in the ESA films
Phytochemical investigation of the CH2Cl2/MeOH (1:1) extract of the roots of Lannea rivae (Chiov) Sacleux (Anacardiaceae) led to the isolation of a new alkenyl cyclohexenone derivative: (4R,6S)-4,6-dihydroxy-6-((Z)-nonadec-14′-en-1-yl)cyclohex-2-en-1-one (1), and a new alkenyl cyclohexanol derivative: (2S*,4R*,5S*)-2,4,5-trihydroxy-2-((Z)-nonadec-14′-en-1-yl)cyclohexanone (2) along with four known compounds, namely epicatechin gallate, taraxerol, taraxerone and β-sitosterol; while the stem bark afforded two known compounds, daucosterol and lupeol. Similar investigation of the roots of Lannea schweinfurthii (Engl.) Engl. led to the isolation of four known compounds: 3-((E)-nonadec-16′-enyl)phenol, 1-((E)-heptadec-14′-enyl)cyclohex-4-ene-1,3-diol, catechin, and 1-((E)-pentadec-12′-enyl)cyclohex-4-ene-1,3-diol. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The absolute configuration of compound 1 was established by quantum chemical ECD calculations. In an antibacterial activity assay using the microbroth kinetic method, compound 1 showed moderate activity against Escherichia coli while compound 2 exhibited moderate activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Compound 1 also showed moderate activity against E. coli using the disc diffusion method. The roots extract of L. rivae was notably cytotoxic against both the DU-145 prostate cancer cell line and the Vero mammalian cell line (CC50 = 5.24 and 5.20 μg/mL, respectively). Compound 1 was also strongly cytotoxic against the DU-145 cell line (CC50 = 0.55 μg/mL) but showed no observable cytotoxicity (CC50 > 100 μg/mL) against the Vero cell line. The roots extract of L. rivae and L. schweinfurthii, epicatechin gallate as well as compound 1 exhibited inhibition of carageenan-induced inflammation.