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The performance of organic photovoltaic blend devices is critically dependent on the polymer:fullerene interface. These interfaces are expected to impact the structural and thermal properties of the polymer with regards to the conjugated backbone planarity and transition temperatures during annealing/cooling processes. Here, we report the impact of fullerene intercalation on structural and thermal properties of poly(2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophen-2-yOthieno[3,2-b]thiophene (PBTTT), a highly stable material known to exhibit liquid crystalline behavior. We undertake a detailed systematic study of the extent of intercalation in the PBTTT:fullerene blend, considering the use of four different fullerene derivatives and also varying the loading ratios. Resonant Raman spectroscopy allows morphology in situ during controlled heating and cooling. We find that small fullerene molecules readily intercalate into PBTTT crystallites, resulting in a planarization of the polymer backbone, but high fullerene loading ratios or larger fullerenes result in nonintercalated domains. During cooling from melt, nonintercalated blend films are found to return to their original morphology and reproduce all thermal transitions on cooling with minimal hysteresis. Intercalated blend films show significant hysteresis on cooling due to the crystallized fullerene attempting to reintercalate. The strongest hysteresis is for intercalated blend films with excess fullerene loading ratio, which form a distinct nanoribbon morphology and exhibit a reduced geminate recombination rate. These results reveal that careful consideration should be taken during device fabrication, as postdeposition thermal treatments significantly impact the charge generation and recombination dynamics.
Synthesis of Pyridylanthracenes and Their Reversible Reaction with Singlet Oxygen to Endoperoxides
(2017)
The ortho, meta, and para isomers of 9,10-dipyridylanthracene 1 have been synthesized and converted into their endoperoxides 1-O-2 upon oxidation with singlet oxygen. The kinetics of this reaction can be controlled by the substitution pattern and the solvent: in highly polar solvents, the meta isomer is the most reactive, whereas the ortho isomer is oxidized fastest in nonpolar solvents. Heating of the endoperoxides affords the parent anthracenes by release of singlet oxygen.
The reaction of oxygen-substituted naphthalenes with singlet oxygen (O-1(2)) has been investigated, and labile endoperoxides have been isolated and characterized at -78 degrees C for the first time. Low-temperature kinetics by UV spectroscopy revealed that alkoxy and silyloxy substituents remarkably increase the rate of photooxygenations compared to 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene, whereas acyloxy-substituted acenes are inert towards O-1(2). The reactivities nicely correlate with HOMO energies and free activation energies, which we determined by density functional theory calculations. The lability of the isolated endoperoxides is due to their very fast back reaction to the corresponding naphthalenes even at -20 degrees C under release of O-1(2), making them to superior sources of this reactive species under very mild conditions. Finally, a carbohydrate-substituted naphthalene has been synthesized, which reacts reversibly with O-1(2) and might be applied for enantioselective oxidations in future work.
Editorial
(2017)
A new type of self-organized materials based on cholesteric networks filled with photoactive side-chain copolymer is being developed. Supramolecular helical structure of cholesteric polymer network resulting in the selective reflection is used as a photonic scaffold. Photochromic azobenzene-containing nematic copolymer is embedded in cholesteric scaffold and utilized as a photoactive media for optical pattering. 1D and 2D transmission diffraction gratings are successfully recorded in composite films by holographic technique. For the first time the possibility to create selective reflection gratings in cholesteric material mimicking the natural optical properties of cholesteric mesophase is demonstrated. That enables the coexistence of two selective gratings, where one has an intrinsic cholesteric periodic helical structure and the other is a holographic grating generated in photochromic polymer. The full-polymer composites provide high light-induced optical anisotropy due to effective photo-orientation of side-chain fragments of the azobenzene-containing liquid crystalline polymer, and prevent the degradation of the helical superstructure maintaining all optical properties of cholesteric mesophase. The proposed class of optical materials could be easily applied to a broad range of polymeric materials with specific functionality. The versatility of the adjustment and material preprogramming combined with high optical performance makes these materials a highly promising candidate for modern optical and photonic applications.
In nature, proteins self-assemble into various structures with different dimensions. To construct these nanostructures in laboratories, normally proteins with different symmetries are selected. However, most of these approaches are engineering-intensive and highly dependent on the accuracy of the protein design. Herein, we report that a simple native protein LecA assembles into one-dimensional nanoribbons and nanowires, two-dimensional nanosheets, and three-dimensional layered structures controlled mainly by small-molecule assembly-inducing ligands RnG (n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) with varying numbers of ethylene oxide repeating units. To understand the formation mechanism of the different morphologies controlled by the small-molecule structure, molecular simulations were performed from microscopic and mesoscopic view, which presented a clear relationship between the molecular structure of the ligands and the assembled patterns. These results introduce an easy strategy to control the assembly structure and dimension, which could shed light on controlled protein assembly.
Magnetosome Organization in Magnetotactic Bacteria Unraveled by Ferromagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
(2017)
Magnetotactic bacteria form assemblies of magnetic nanoparticles called magnetosomes. These magnetosomes are typically arranged in chains, but other forms of assemblies such as clusters can be observed in some species and genetic mutants. As such, the bacteria have developed as a model for the understanding of how organization of particles can influence the magnetic properties. Here, we use ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure the magnetic anisotropies in different strains of Magnetosprillum gtyphiswaldense MSR-1, a bacterial species that is amendable to genetic mutations. We combine our experimental results with a model describing the spectra. The model includes chain imperfections and misalignments following a Fisher distribution function, in addition to the intrinsic magnetic properties of the magnetosomes. Therefore, by applying the model to analyze the ferromagnetic resonance data, the distribution of orientations in the bulk sample can be retrieved in addition to the average magnetosome arrangement. In this way, we quantitatively characterize the magnetosome arrangement in both wild-type cells and Delta mamJ mutants, which exhibit differing magnetosome organization.
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important food crops worldwide. Current potato varieties are highly susceptible to drought stress. In view of global climate change, selection of cultivars with improved drought tolerance and high yield potential is of paramount importance. Drought tolerance breeding of potato is currently based on direct selection according to yield and phenotypic traits and requires multiple trials under drought conditions. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) is cheaper, faster and reduces classification errors caused by noncontrolled environmental effects. We analysed 31 potato cultivars grown under optimal and reduced water supply in six independent field trials. Drought tolerance was determined as tuber starch yield. Leaf samples from young plants were screened for preselected transcript and nontargeted metabolite abundance using qRT-PCR and GC-MS profiling, respectively. Transcript marker candidates were selected from a published RNA-Seq data set. A Random Forest machine learning approach extracted metabolite and transcript markers for drought tolerance prediction with low error rates of 6% and 9%, respectively. Moreover, by combining transcript and metabolite markers, the prediction error was reduced to 4.3%. Feature selection from Random Forest models allowed model minimization, yielding a minimal combination of only 20 metabolite and transcript markers that were successfully tested for their reproducibility in 16 independent agronomic field trials. We demonstrate that a minimum combination of transcript and metabolite markers sampled at early cultivation stages predicts potato yield stability under drought largely independent of seasonal and regional agronomic conditions.
microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified as high-value drug targets. A widely applied strategy in miRNA inhibition is the use of antisense agents. However, it has been shown that oligonucleotides are poorly cell permeable because of their complex chemical structure and due to their negatively charged backbone. Consequently, the general application of oligonucleotides in therapy is limited. Since miRNAs’ functions are executed exclusively by the Argonaute 2 protein, we therefore describe a protocol for the design of a novel miRNA inhibitor class: antagonists of the miRNA-Argonaute 2 protein complex, so-called anti-miR-AGOs, that not only block the crucial binding site of the target miRNA but also bind to the protein’s active site. Due to their lower molecular weight and, thus, more drug-like chemical structure, the novel inhibitor class may show better pharmacokinetic properties than reported oligonucleotide inhibitors, enabling them for potential therapeutic use.
Porous silicon single layer (PSM), bilayer (PSB) and pillar (PSP) structures have been evaluated as nucleation centers for vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) crystals. Deposition of vanadium precursor over different substrates (drop casting technique), followed by annealing treatment under Ar-H-2 (5% H-2) atmosphere, induced crystallization of vanadium oxide. With respect to c-Si/SiO2 substrate, V2O5 nanorods with relatively large aspect ratio were formed over and within PSP structures. On the other hand, pores in PSM and PSB were found to be filled with relatively smaller crystals. Additionally, PSB provided a nucleation substrate capable to align the nanocrystals in a preferential orientation, while V2O5 crystals grown on PSP were found to be randomly aligned around the nanoporous pillar microstructure. Nanorods and nanocrystals were identified as V2O5 by temperature-controlled XRD measurements and evidence of their crystalline nature was observed via transmission electron microscopy. A careful analysis of electronic microscopy images allows the identification of the facets composing the ends of the crystals and its corresponding surface free energy has been evaluated employing the Wulff theorem. Such high surface area composite structures have potential applications as cathode material in Lithium-ion batteries.
In our search for new antiplasmodial agents, the CH2Cl2/CH3OH (1:1) extract of the roots of Tephrosia aequilata was investigated, and observed to cause 100% mortality of the chloroquine-sensitive (3D7) strain of Plasmodium falciparum at a 10 mg/mL concentration. From this extract three new chalconoids, E-2,6-dimethoxy-3,4-(2,2-dimethyl)pyranoretrochalcone (1, aequichalcone A), Z-2,6-dimethoxy-3,4-(2,2-dimethyl)pyranoretrochalcone (2, aequichalcone B), 4-ethoxy-3-hydroxypraecansone B (3, aequichalcone C) and a new pterocarpene, 3,4:8,9-dimethylenedioxy-6a,11a-pterocarpene (4), along with seven known compounds were isolated. The purified compounds were characterized by NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometric analyses. Compound 1 slowly converts into 2 in solution, and thus the latter may have been enriched, or formed, during the extraction and separation process. The isomeric compounds 1 and 2 were both observed in the crude extract. Some of the isolated constituents showed good to moderate antiplasmodial activity against the chloroquine-sensitive (3D7) strain of Plasmodium falciparum.
Nanocarriers
(2017)
Quantum chemical approach to atomic manipulation of chlorobenzene on the Si(111)-7 x 7 surface
(2017)
We present a cluster model to describe the localization of hot charge carriers on the Si(111)-7 x 7 surface, which leads to (nonlocal) desorption of chlorobenzene molecules in scanning tunneling microscope (STM) manipulation experiments. The localized charge carriers are modeled by a small cluster. By means of quantum chemical calculations, this cluster model explains many experimental findings from STM manipulation. We show that the negative charge is mainly localized in the surface, while the positive one also resides on the molecule. Both resonances boost desorption: In the negative resonance the adatom is elevated; in the positive one the chemisorption bond between the silicon surface adatom and chlorobenzene is broken. We find normal modes promoting desorption matching experimental low-temperature activation energies for electron-and hole-induced desorption.
Molecules often fragment after photoionization in the gas phase. Usually, this process can only be investigated spectroscopically as long as there exists electron correlation between the photofragments. Important parameters, like their kinetic energy after separation, cannot be investigated. We are reporting on a femtosecond time-resolved Auger electron spectroscopy study concerning the photofragmentation dynamics of thymine. We observe the appearance of clearly distinguishable signatures from thymines neutral photofragment isocyanic acid. Furthermore, we observe a time-dependent shift of its spectrum, which we can attribute to the influence of the charged fragment on the Auger electron. This allows us to map our time-dependent dataset onto the fragmentation coordinate. The time dependence of the shift supports efficient transformation of the excess energy gained from photoionization into kinetic energy of the fragments. Our method is broadly applicable to the investigation of photofragmentation processes.
Background: Malaria is an old life-threatening parasitic disease that is still affecting many people, mainly children living in sub-Saharan Africa. Availability of effective antimalarial drugs played a significant role in the treatment and control of malaria. However, recent information on the emergence of P. falciparum parasites resistant to one of the artemisinin-based combination therapies suggests the need for discovery of new drug molecules. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the antiplasmodial activity of extracts, fractions and isolated compound from medicinal plants traditionally used in the treatment of malaria in Tanzania. Methods: Dry powdered plant materials were extracted by cold macerations using different solvents. Norcaesalpin D was isolated by column chromatography from dichloromethane root extract of Caesalpinia bonducella and its structure was assigned based on the spectral data. Crude extracts, fractions and isolated compound were evaluated for antiplasmodial activity against chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum (3D7), chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum (Dd2, K1) and artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum (IPC 5202 Battambang, IPC 4912 Mondolkiri) strains using the parasite lactate dehydrogenase assay. Results: The results indicated that extracts of Erythrina schliebenii, Holarrhena pubescens, Dissotis melleri and C. bonducella exhibited antiplasmodial activity against Dd2 parasites. Ethanolic root extract of E. schliebenii had an IC50 of 1.87 mu g/mL while methanolic and ethanolic root extracts of H. pubescens exhibited an IC50 = 2.05 mu g/mL and IC50 = 2.43 mu g/mL, respectively. Fractions from H. pubescens and C. bonducella roots were found to be highly active against K1, Dd2 and artemisinin-resistant parasites. Norcaesalpin D from C. bonducella root extract was active with IC50 of 0.98, 1.85 and 2.13 mu g/mL against 3D7, Dd2 and IPC 4912-Mondolkiri parasites, respectively. Conclusions: Antiplasmodial activity of norcaesalpin D and extracts of E. schliebenii, H. pubescens, D. melleri and C. bonducella reported in this study requires further attention for the discovery of antimalarial lead compounds for future drug development.
Class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs) show extremely low enzymatic activity and no commonly accepted endogenous substrate is known today. Increasing evidence suggests that these enzymes exert their effect rather through molecular recognition of acetylated proteins and recruiting other proteins like HDAC3 to the desired target location. Accordingly, class IIa HDACs like bromodomains have been suggested to act as “Readers” of acetyl marks, whereas enzymatically active HDACs of class I or IIb are called “Erasers” to highlight their capability to remove acetyl groups from acetylated histones or other proteins. Small-molecule ligands of class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs) have gained tremendous attention during the last decade and have been suggested as pharmaceutical targets in several indication areas such as cancer, Huntington's disease and muscular atrophy. Up to now, only enzyme activity assays with artificial chemically activated trifluoroacetylated substrates are in use for the identification and characterization of new active compounds against class IIa HDACs. Here, we describe the first binding assay for this class of HDAC enzymes that involves a simple mix-and-measure procedure and an extraordinarily robust fluorescence lifetime readout based on [1,3]dioxolo[4,5-f]benzodioxole-based ligand probes. The principle of the assay is generic and can also be transferred to class I HDAC8.
Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) simulations based on the conventional configuration interaction singles (CIS) lead to excitation energies, which are systematically blue shifted. Using a (restricted) open shell core hole reference instead of the Hartree Fock (HF) ground state orbitals improves (Decleva et al., Chem. Phys., 1992, 168, 51) excitation energies and the shape of the spectra significantly. In this work, we systematically vary the underlying SCF approaches, that is, based on HF or density functional theory, to identify best suited reference orbitals using a series of small test molecules. We compare the energies of the K edges and NEXAFS spectra to experimental data. The main improvement compared to conventional CIS, that is, using HF ground state orbitals, is due to the electrostatic influence of the core hole. Different SCF approaches, density functionals, or the use of fractional occupations lead only to comparably small changes. Furthermore, to account for bigger systems, we adapt the core-valence separation for our approach. We demonstrate that the good quality of the spectrum is not influenced by this approximation when used together with the non-separated ground state wave function. Simultaneously, the computational demands are reduced remarkably. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Halloysites as tubular alumosilicates are introduced as inexpensive natural nanoparticles to form and stabilize oil-water emulsions. This stabilized emulsion is shown to enable efficient interfacial catalytic reactions. Yield, selectivity, and product separation can be tremendously enhanced, e.g., for the hydroformylation reaction of dodecene to tridecanal. In perspective, this type of formulation may be used for oil spill dispersions. The key elements of the described formulations are clay nanotubes (halloysites) which are highly anisometric, can be filled by helper molecules, and are abundantly available in thousands of tons, making this technology scalable for industrial applications.
In order to modulate the emission of BODIPY fluorophores, they were connected to a diarylethene (DAE) photoswitch via phenylene-ethynylene linkers of different lengths and orientations. The latter allowed for modulation of the electronic coupling in the prepared four BODIPY-DAE dyads, which were compared also to appropriate BODIPY and DAE model compounds by steady state as well as time-resolved spectroscopies. In their open isomers, all dyads show comparable luminescence behavior indicative of an unperturbed BODIPY fluorophore. In strong contrast, in the closed isomers the BODIPY emission is efficiently quenched but the deactivation mechanism depends on the nature of the linker. The most promising dyad was rendered water-soluble by means of micellar encapsulation and aqueous suspensions were investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy. Our results (i) illustrate that the electronic communication between the BODIPY and DAE units can indeed be fine-tuned by the nature of the linker to achieve fluorescence modulation while maintaining photoswitchability and (ii) highlight potential applications to image and control biological processes with high spatio-temporal resolution.
Enzymes of the xanthine oxidase family are among the best characterized mononuclear molybdenum enzymes. Open questions about their mechanism of transfer of an oxygen atom to the substrate remain. The enzymes share a molybdenum cofactor (Moco) with the metal ion binding a molybdopterin (MPT) molecule via its dithiolene function and terminal sulfur and oxygen groups. For xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) from the bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus, we used X-ray absorption spectroscopy to determine the Mo site structure, its changes in a pH range of 5-10, and the influence of amino acids (Glu730 and Gln179) close to Moco in wild-type (WT), Q179A, and E730A variants, complemented by enzyme kinetics and quantum chemical studies. Oxidized WT and Q179A revealed a similar Mo (VI) ion with each one MPT, Mo=O, Mo-O-, and Mo=S ligand, and a weak Mo-O(E730) bond at alkaline pH. Protonation of an oxo to a hydroxo (OH) ligand (pK similar to 6.8) causes inhibition of XDH at acidic pH, whereas deprotonated xanthine (pK similar to 8.8) is an inhibitor at alkaline pH. A similar acidic pK for the WT and Q179A. variants, as well as the metrical parameters of the Mo site and density functional theory calculations, suggested protonation at the equatorial oxo group. The sulfido was replaced with an oxo ligand in the inactive E730A variant, further showing another oxo and one Mo OH ligand at Mo, which are independent of pH. Our findings suggest a reaction mechanism for XDH in which an initial oxo rather than a hydroxo group and the sulfido ligand are essential for xanthine oxidation.
Complexation with dissolved humic matter can be crucial in controlling the mobility of toxic or radioactive contaminant metals. For speciation and transport modelling, a dynamic equilibrium process is commonly assumed, where association and dissociation run permanently. This is, however, questionable in view of reported observations of a growing resistance to dissociation over time. In this study, the isotope exchange principle was employed to gain direct insight into the dynamics of the complexation equilibrium, including kinetic inertisation phenomena. Terbium(III), an analogue of trivalent actinides, was used as a representative of higher-valent metals. Isotherms of binding to (flocculated) humic acid, determined by means of Tb-160 as a radiotracer, were found to be identical regardless of whether the radioisotope was introduced together with the bulk of stable Tb-159 or subsequently after pre-equilibration for up to 3 months. Consequently, there is a permanent exchange of free and humic-bound Tb since all available binding sites are occupied in the plateau region of the isotherm. The existence of a dynamic equilibrium was thus evidenced. There was no indication of an inertisation under these experimental conditions. If the small amount of Tb-160 was introduced prior to saturation with Tb-159, the expected partial desorption of Tb-160 occurred at much lower rates than observed for the equilibration process in the reverse procedure. In addition, the rates decreased with time of pre-equilibration. Inertisation phenomena are thus confined to the stronger sites of humic molecules (occupied at low metal concentrations). Analysing the time-dependent course of isotope exchange according to first-order kinetics indicated that up to 3 years are needed to attain equilibrium. Since, however, metal-humic interaction remains reversible, exchange of metals between humic carriers and mineral surfaces cannot be neglected on the long time scale to be considered in predictive transport models.
In many laser based ionization techniques with a subsequent drift time separation, the laser pulse generating the ions is considered as the start time to. Therefore, an accurate temporal definition of this event is crucial for the resolution of the experiments. In this contribution, the laser induced plume dynamics of liquids evaporating into atmospheric pressure are visualized for two distinctively different laser pulse widths, Delta t = 6 nanoseconds and Delta tau = 280 microseconds. For ns-pulses the expansion of the generated vapour against atmospheric pressure is found to lead to turbulences inside the gas phase. This results in spatial and temporal broadening of the nascent clouds. A more equilibrated expansion, without artificial smearing of the temporal resolution can, in contrast, be observed to follow mu s-pulse excitation. This leads to the counterintuitive finding that longer laser pulses results in an increased temporal vapour formation definition. To examine if this fume expansion also eventually results in a better definition of ion formation, the nascent vapour plumes were expanded into a linear drift tube ion mobility spectrometer (IMS). This time resolved detection of ion formation corroborates the temporal broadening caused by collisional impeding of the supersonic expansion at atmospheric pressure and the overall better defined ion formation by evaporation with long laser pulses. A direct comparison of the observed results strongly suggests the coexistence of two individual ion formation mechanisms that can be specifically addressed by the use of appropriate laser sources.
Polyplexes between a double-stranded Salmon DNA and hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) as well as a maltosylated PEI-Mal were incorporated into a gelatin/chitosan hydrogel scaffold. Calorimetric experiments of the polyplexes show a decrease of the melting temperature in presence of PEI and a peak splitting in presence of PEI-Mal, which can be interpreted to a partial compaction of the DNA strands in presence of PEI-Mal. When the polyplexes are incorporated into a gelatin/chitosan scaffold in the swollen state, the DNA melting peaks at 90 and 93 degrees C, respectively, indicate in both cases the release of the DNA at the surface of the hydrogel scaffold in a more compact form. Specific interactions between the PEI-Mal shell and gelatin are responsible for the tuning of the release properties in presence of the maltose units in the hyperbranched PEI.
The capability of electrospray ionization (ESI)-ion mobility (IM) spectrometry for reaction monitoring is assessed both as a stand-alone real-time technique and in combination with HPLC. A three-step chemical reaction, consisting of a Williamson ether synthesis followed by a hydrogenation and an N-alkylation step, is chosen for demonstration. Intermediates and products are determined with a drift time to mass-per-charge correlation. Addition of an HPLC column to the setup increases the separation power and allows the determination of further species. Monitoring of the intensities of the various species over the reaction time allows the detection of the end of reaction, determination of the rate-limiting step, observation of the system response in discontinuous processes, and optimization of the mass ratios of the starting materials. However, charge competition in ESI influences the quantitative detection of substances in the reaction mixture. Therefore, two different methods are investigated, which allow the quantification and investigation of reaction kinetics. The first method is based on the pre-separation of the compounds on an HPLC column and their subsequent individual detection in the ESI-IM spectrometer. The second method involves an extended calibration procedure, which considers charge competition effects and facilitates nearly real-time quantification.
Contactless pressure monitoring based on Forster resonance energy transfer between donor/acceptor pairs immobilized within elastomers is demonstrated. The donor/acceptor energy transfer is employed by dispersing terbium(III) tris[(2-hydroxybenzoyl)-2-aminoethyl] amine complex (LLC, donor) and CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QD655, acceptor) in styrene-ethylene/buthylene-styrene (SEBS) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). The continuous monitoring of QD luminescence showed a reversible intensity change as the pressure signal is alternated between two stable states indicating a pressure sensitivity of 6350 cps kPa(-1). Time-resolved measurements show the pressure impact on the FRET signal due to an increase of decay time (270 ms up to 420 ms) for the donor signal and parallel drop of decay time (170 mu s to 155 mu s) for the acceptor signal as the net pressure applied. The LLC/QD655 sensors enable a contactless readout as well as space resolved monitoring to enable miniaturization towards smaller integrated stretchable opto-electronics. Elastic FRET sensors can potentially lead to developing profitable analysis systems capable to outdo conventional wired electronic systems (inductive, capacitive, ultrasonic and photoelectric sensors) especially for point-of-care diagnostics, biological monitoring required for wearable electronics.
Non-Born–Oppenheimer quantum dynamics of H+ 2 excited by shaped one-cycle laser pulses linearly polarised along the molecular axis have been studied by the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation within a three-dimensional model, including the internuclear separation, R, and the electron coordinates z and ρ. Laser carrier frequencies corresponding to the wavelengths λ l = 25 nm through λ l = 400 nm were used and the amplitudes of the pulses were chosen such that the energy of H+ 2 was close to its dissociation threshold at the end of any laser pulse applied. It is shown that there exists a characteristic oscillation frequency ωosc ≃ 0.2265 au (corresponding to the period of τosc ≃ 0.671 fs and the wavelength of λosc ≃ 201 nm) that manifests itself as a ‘carrier’ frequency of temporally shaped oscillations of the time-dependent expectation values ⟨z ⟩ and ⟨∂V/∂z ⟩ that emerge at the ends of the laser pulses and exist on a timescale of at least 50 fs. Time-dependent expectation values ⟨ρ⟩ and ⟨∂V /∂ρ⟩ of the optically passive degree of freedom, ρ, demonstrate post-laser-field oscillations at two basic frequencies ωρ 1 ≈ ωosc and ωρ 2 ≈ 2ωosc. Power spectra associated with the electronic motion show higher- and lower-order harmonics with respect to the driving field.
Effects of thermal fluctuations on the electronic excitation energies and intermonomeric Coulomb couplings are investigated for a perylene-tetracarboxylic-diimidecrystal. To this end, time dependent density functional theory based tight binding (TD-DFTB) in the linear response formulation is used in combination with electronic ground state classical molecular dynamics. As a result, a parametrized Frenkel exciton Hamiltonian is obtained, with the effect of exciton-vibrational coupling being described by spectral densities. Employing dynamically defined normal modes, these spectral densities are analyzed in great detail, thus providing insight into the effect of specific intramolecular motions on excitation energies and Coulomb couplings. This distinguishes the present method from approaches using fixed transition densities. The efficiency by which intramolecular contributions to the spectral density can be calculated is a clear advantage of this method as compared with standard TD-DFT. Published by AIP Publishing.
Conformational transition of peptide-functionalized cryogels enabling shape-memory capability
(2017)
Background: In Kenya, several species of the genus Maytenus are used in traditional medicine to treat many diseases including malaria. In this study, phytochemical constituents and extracts of Maytenus undata, M. putterlickioides, M. senegalensis and M. heterophylla were evaluated to determine compound/s responsible for antimalarial activity.
Objective: To isolate antiplasmodial compounds from these plant species which could be used as marker compounds in the standardization of their extracts as a phytomedicine for malaria.
Methods: Constituents were isolated through activity-guided fractionation of the MeOH/CHCl3 (1:1) extracts and in vitro inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum. Cytotoxicity was evaluated using Vero cells and the compounds were elucidated on the basis of NMR spectroscopy.
Results: Fractionation of the extracts resulted in the isolation of ten known compounds. Compound 1 showed promising antiplasmodial activity with IC50, 3.63 and 3.95 ng/ml against chloroquine sensitive (D6) and resistant (W2) P. falciparum, respectively and moderate cytotoxicity (CC50, 37.5 ng/ml) against Vero E6 cells. The other compounds showed weak antiplasmodial (IC50 > 1.93 mu g/ml) and cytotoxic (CC50 > 39.52 mu g/ml) activities against P. falciparum and Vero E6 cells, respectively.
Conclusion: (20 alpha)-3-hydroxy-2-oxo-24-nor-friedela-1(10),3,5,7-tetraen-carboxylic acid-(29)-methyl-ester (pristimerin) (1) was the most active marker and lead compound that warrants further investigation as a template for the development of new antimalarial drugs. Pristimerin is reported for the first time in M. putterlickioides. 3-Hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid (oleanolic acid) (5), stigmast-5-en-3-ol (beta-sitosterol) (6), 3-oxo-28-friedelanoic acid (7), olean-12-en-3-ol (beta-amyrin) (8), lup-20(29)-en-3-ol (lupeol) (9) and lup-20(29)-en-3-one (lupenone) (10) are reported for the first time in M. undata.
Die Verwendung von QR-Codes in Begleitseminaren zur Vorlesung „Organische Chemie“ für Studierende mit Chemie im Nebenfach wird vorgestellt. Die Hausaufgaben zu den Seminaren wurden mit einem QR-Code versehen. Dieser führt zu weiterführenden Hilfen. Der Einsatz der QR-Codes sowie die Neukonzeption der Seminare wurden evaluiert.
Total syntheses of five naturally occurring polyacetylenes from three different plants are described. These natural products have in common an E,Z-configured conjugated diene linked to a di-or triyne chain. As the key method to stereoselectively establish the E,Z-diene part, an ester-tethered ring-closing metathesis/base-induced eliminative ring opening sequence was used. The results presented herein do not only showcase the utility of this tethered RCM variant but have also prompted us to suggest that the originally assigned absolute configurations of chiral polyacetylenes from Atractylodes macrocephala should be revised or at least reconsidered.
ortho-Aryl phenols, synthesized via protecting group free Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of ortho-halophenols and arene boronic acids, undergo a cyclization to dibenzofurans via oxidative C-H activation. The reaction proceeds under microwave irradiation in short reaction times using catalytic amounts of Pd(OAc)(2) without additional ligands.
The motivation of this work was to investigate the self-assembly of a block copolymer species that attended little attraction before, double hydrophilic block copolymers (DHBCs). DHBCs consist of two linear hydrophilic polymer blocks. The self-assembly of DHBCs towards suprastructures such as particles and vesicles is determined via a strong difference in hydrophilicity between the corresponding blocks leading to a microphase separation due to immiscibility. The benefits of DHBCs and the corresponding particles and vesicles, such as biocompatibility, high permeability towards water and hydrophilic compounds as well as the large amount of possible functionalizations that can be addressed to the block copolymers make the application of DHBC based structures a viable choice in biomedicine. In order to assess a route towards self-assembled structures from DHBCs that display the potential to act as cargos for future applications, several block copolymers containing two hydrophilic polymer blocks were synthesized. Poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PEO-b-PVP) and Poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone-co-N-vinylimidazole) (PEO-b-P(VP-co-VIm) block copolymers were synthesized via reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) techniques starting from a PEO-macro chain transfer agent. The block copolymers displayed a concentration dependent self-assembly behavior in water which was determined via dynamic light scattering (DLS). It was possible to observe spherical particles via laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) and cryogenic scanning electron microscopy (cryo SEM) at highly concentrated solutions of PEO-b-PVP. Furthermore, a crosslinking strategy with (PEO-b-P(VP-co-VIm) was developed applying a diiodo derived crosslinker diethylene glycol bis(2-iodoethyl) ether to form quaternary amines at the VIm units. The formed crosslinked structures proved stability upon dilution and transfer into organic solvents. Moreover, self-assembly and crosslinking in DMF proved to be more advantageous and the crosslinked structures could be successfully transferred to aqueous solution. The afforded spherical submicron particles could be visualized via LSCM, cryo SEM and Cryo TEM.
Double hydrophilic pullulan-b-poly(acrylamide) block copolymers were synthesized via copper catalyzed alkyne azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) starting from suitable pullulan alkyne and azide functionalized poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA) and poly(N-ethylacrylamide) (PEA) homopolymers. The conjugation reaction was confirmed via SEC and 1H-NMR measurements. The self-assembly of the block copolymers was monitored with DLS and static light scattering (SLS) measurements indicating the presence of hollow spherical structures. Cryo SEM measurements could confirm the presence of vesicular structures for Pull-b-PEA block copolymers. Solutions of Pull-b-PDMA displayed particles in cryo SEM. Moreover, an end group functionalization of Pull-b-PDMA with Rhodamine B allowed assessing the structure via LSCM and hollow spherical structures were observed indicating the presence of vesicles, too.
An exemplified pathway towards a DHBC based drug delivery vehicle was demonstrated with the block copolymer Pull-b-PVP. The block copolymer was synthesized via RAFT/MADIX techniques starting from a pullulan chain transfer agent. Pull-b-PVP displayed a concentration dependent self-assembly in water with an efficiency superior to the PEO-b-PVP system, which could be observed via DLS. Cryo SEM and LSCM microscopy displayed the presence of spherical structures. In order to apply a reversible crosslinking strategy on the synthesized block copolymer, the pullulan block was selectively oxidized to dialdehydes with NaIO4. The oxidation of the block copolymer was confirmed via SEC and 1H-NMR measurements. The self-assembled and oxidized structures were subsequently crosslinked with cystamine dihiydrochloride, a pH and redox responsive crosslinker resulting in crosslinked vesicles which were observed via cryo SEM. The vesicular structures of crosslinked Pull-b-PVP could be disassembled by acid treatment or the application of the redox agent tris(2-carboxyethyl)-phosphin-hydrochloride. The successful disassembly was monitored with DLS measurements.
To conclude, self-assembled structures from DHBCs such as particles and vesicles display a strong potential to generate an impact on biomedicine and nanotechnologies. The variety of DHBC compositions and functionalities are very promising features for future applications.
In Zeiten eines sich schnell ändernden und vielseitigen Energiemarktes müssen Kohlenstoffmaterialien für verschiedene Anforderungen einsetzbar sein. Dies erfordert flexibel synthetisierbare Kohlenstoffmaterialien bevorzugt aus günstigen und nachhaltigen Kohlenstoffquellen. Es ist allerdings nicht leicht Vorläuferverbindungen auszumachen, welche sich einerseits für verschiedene Herstellungsverfahren eignen und deren Kohlenstoffprodukte andererseits in spezifischen Eigenschaften, wie der Struktur, des Stickstoffanteils, der Oberfläche und der Porengrößen, eingestellt werden können. In diesem Zusammenhang können natürliche Polyphenole, etwa überschüssige Tannine aus der Weinproduktion, eine neue Welt zu hoch funktionalen und vielseitig einstellbaren Kohlenstoffmaterialien mit hohen Ausbeuten öffnen.
Das Hauptziel dieser vorliegenden Thesis war es neue funktionale, einstellbare und skalierbare nanostrukturierte Kohlenstoffmaterialien aus Tanninen (insbesondere Tanninsäure) für unterschiedliche elektrochemische Zwecke zu synthetisieren und zu charakterisieren. Ermöglicht wurde dies durch unterschiedliche synthetische Herangehensweisen, wie etwa der polymeren Strukturdirektion, dem ionothermalen Templatieren und der weichen Templatierung. An Stelle des weitläufig gebräuchlichen, aber kanzerogenen Vernetzungsagens Formaldehyd wurden bei den vorgestellten Synthesen Harnstoff und Thioharnstoff gewählt, um zugleich die synthetisierten Kohlenmaterialien variabel dotieren zu können.
Daher wurden im ersten Teil der Arbeit die Wechselwirkungen, Reaktionen und thermischen Verhaltensweisen von Tanninsäure und Mixturen von Tanninsäure und Harnstoff bzw. Thioharnstoff untersucht, um daraus wichtige Erkenntnisse für die verschiedenen Kohlenstoffsynthesen zu gewinnen.
Durch die Verwendung eines polymeren Strukturierungsagenz Pluronic P123 konnten in einer ersten Kohlenstoffsynthese nachhaltige und dotierbare Kohlenstoffpartikel mit Durchmessern im Nanometerbereich aus Tanninsäure und Harnstoff hergestellt werden. Es konnte dabei gezeigt werden, dass durch die Modifikation der verschiedenen Syntheseparameter die Kohlenstoffnanopartikel gemäß ihres gemittelten Partikeldurchmessers, ihrer BET-Oberfläche, ihrer Komposition, ihrer Leitfähigkeit und ihrer chemischen Stabilität einstellbar sind. Dies eröffnete die Möglichkeit diese Kohlenstoffpartikel als alternatives und nachhaltiges Rußmaterial einzusetzen.
Weiterhin war es durch die ionothermale Templatierung möglich poröse, dotierte und kontrollierbare Kohlenstoffpartikel mit hohen spezifischen Oberflächen aus den gewählten Präkursorverbindungen zu synthetisieren, die sich für den Einsatz in Superkondensatoren eignen.
Auf diesen Erkenntnissen aufbauend konnten mittels der Rotationsbeschichtung poröse binderfreie und strukturierte Kohlenstofffilme synthetisiert werden, die eine spinodale Struktur aufwiesen. Anhand der Modifikation der Stammlösungskonzentration, der Rotationsgeschwindigkeit und der verwendeten Substrate konnten die Filmdicke (100-1000 nm), die Morphologie und Gesamtoberfläche gezielt beeinflusst werden. Die erweiterte elektrochemische Analyse zeigte außerdem ein sehr gut zugängliches Porensystem der porösen Kohlenstofffilme.
Allumfassend konnten demnach verschiedene Synthesewege für Kohlenstoffmaterialien aus Tanninen aufgezeigt werden, die verschiedenartig strukturiert und kontrolliert werden können und sich für diverse Anwendungsgebiete eignen.
Functional nanoporous carbon-based materials derived from oxocarbon-metal coordination complexes
(2017)
Nanoporous carbon based materials are of particular interest for both science and industry due to their exceptional properties such as a large surface area, high pore volume, high electroconductivity as well as high chemical and thermal stability. Benefiting from these advantageous properties, nanoporous carbons proved to be useful in various energy and environment related applications including energy storage and conversion, catalysis, gas sorption and separation technologies. The synthesis of nanoporous carbons classically involves thermal carbonization of the carbon precursors (e.g. phenolic resins, polyacrylonitrile, poly(vinyl alcohol) etc.) followed by an activation step and/or it makes use of classical hard or soft templates to obtain well-defined porous structures. However, these synthesis strategies are complicated and costly; and make use of hazardous chemicals, hindering their application for large-scale production. Furthermore, control over the carbon materials properties is challenging owing to the relatively unpredictable processes at the high carbonization temperatures.
In the present thesis, nanoporous carbon based materials are prepared by the direct heat treatment of crystalline precursor materials with pre-defined properties. This synthesis strategy does not require any additional carbon sources or classical hard- or soft templates. The highly stable and porous crystalline precursors are based on coordination compounds of the squarate and croconate ions with various divalent metal ions including Zn2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, and Co2+, respectively. Here, the structural properties of the crystals can be controlled by the choice of appropriate synthesis conditions such as the crystal aging temperature, the ligand/metal molar ratio, the metal ion, and the organic ligand system. In this context, the coordination of the squarate ions to Zn2+ yields porous 3D cube crystalline particles. The morphology of the cubes can be tuned from densely packed cubes with a smooth surface to cubes with intriguing micrometer-sized openings and voids which evolve on the centers of the low index faces as the crystal aging temperature is raised. By varying the molar ratio, the particle shape can be changed from truncated cubes to perfect cubes with right-angled edges.
These crystalline precursors can be easily transformed into the respective carbon based materials by heat treatment at elevated temperatures in a nitrogen atmosphere followed by a facile washing step. The resulting carbons are obtained in good yields and possess a hierarchical pore structure with well-organized and interconnected micro-, meso- and macropores. Moreover, high surface areas and large pore volumes of up to 1957 m2 g-1 and 2.31 cm3 g-1 are achieved, respectively, whereby the macroscopic structure of the precursors is preserved throughout the whole synthesis procedure.
Owing to these advantageous properties, the resulting carbon based materials represent promising supercapacitor electrode materials for energy storage applications. This is exemplarily demonstrated by employing the 3D hierarchical porous carbon cubes derived from squarate-zinc coordination compounds as electrode material showing a specific capacitance of 133 F g-1 in H2SO4 at a scan rate of 5 mV s-1 and retaining 67% of this specific capacitance when the scan rate is increased to 200 mV s-1.
In a further application, the porous carbon cubes derived from squarate-zinc coordination compounds are used as high surface area support material and decorated with nickel nanoparticles via an incipient wetness impregnation. The resulting composite material combines a high surface area, a hierarchical pore structure with high functionality and well-accessible pores. Moreover, owing to their regular micro-cube shape, they allow for a good packing of a fixed-bed flow reactor along with high column efficiency and a minimized pressure drop throughout the packed reactor. Therefore, the composite is employed as heterogeneous catalyst in the selective hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-dimethylfuran showing good catalytic performance and overcoming the conventional problem of column blocking.
Thinking about the rational design of 3D carbon geometries, the functions and properties of the resulting carbon-based materials can be further expanded by the rational introduction of heteroatoms (e.g. N, B, S, P, etc.) into the carbon structures in order to alter properties such as wettability, surface polarity as well as the electrochemical landscape. In this context, the use of crystalline materials based on oxocarbon-metal ion complexes can open a platform of highly functional materials for all processes that involve surface processes.
Development of a reliable and environmentally friendly synthesis for fluorescence carbon nanodots
(2017)
Carbon nanodots (CNDs) have generated considerable attention due to their promising properties, e.g. high water solubility, chemical inertness, resistance to photobleaching, high biocompatibility and ease of functionalization. These properties render them ideal for a wide range of functions, e.g. electrochemical applications, waste water treatment, (photo)catalysis, bio-imaging and bio-technology, as well as chemical sensing, and optoelectronic devices like LEDs. In particular, the ability to prepare CNDs from a wide range of accessible organic materials makes them a potential alternative for conventional organic dyes and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) in various applications. However, current synthesis methods are typically expensive and depend on complex and time-consuming processes or severe synthesis conditions and toxic chemicals. One way to reduce overall preparation costs is the use of biological waste as starting material. Hence, natural carbon sources such as pomelo peal, egg white and egg yolk, orange juice, and even eggshells, to name a few; have been used for the preparation of CNDs. While the use of waste is desirable, especially to avoid competition with essential food production, most starting-materials lack the essential purity and structural homogeneity to obtain homogeneous carbon dots. Furthermore, most synthesis approaches reported to date require extensive purification steps and have resulted in carbon dots with heterogeneous photoluminescent properties and indefinite composition. For this reason, among others, the relationship between CND structure (e.g. size, edge shape, functional groups and overall composition) and photophysical properties is yet not fully understood. This is particularly true for carbon dots displaying selective luminescence (one of their most intriguing properties), i.e. their PL emission wavelength can be tuned by varying the excitation wavelength.
In this work, a new reliable, economic, and environmentally-friendly one-step synthesis is established to obtain CNDs with well-defined and reproducible photoluminescence (PL) properties via the microwave-assisted hydrothermal treatment of starch, carboxylic acids and Tris-EDTA (TE) buffer as carbon- and nitrogen source, respectively. The presented microwave-assisted hydrothermal precursor carbonization (MW-hPC) is characterized by its cost-efficiency, simplicity, short reaction times, low environmental footprint, and high yields of approx. 80% (w/w). Furthermore, only a single synthesis step is necessary to obtain homogeneous water-soluble CNDs with no need for further purification.
Depending on starting materials and reaction conditions different types of CNDs have been prepared. The as-prepared CNDs exhibit reproducible, highly homogeneous and favourable PL properties with narrow emission bands (approx. 70nm FWHM), are non-blinking, and are ready to use without need for further purification, modification or surface passivation agents. Furthermore, the CNDs are comparatively small (approx. 2.0nm to 2.4nm) with narrow size distributions; are stable over a long period of time (at least one year), either in solution or as a dried solid; and maintain their PL properties when re-dispersed in solution. Depending on CND type, the PL quantum yield (PLQY) can be adjusted from as low as 1% to as high as 90%; one of the highest reported PLQY values (for CNDs) so far.
An essential part of this work was the utilization of a microwave synthesis reactor, allowing various batch sizes and precise control over reaction temperature and -time, pressure, and heating- and cooling rate, while also being safe to operate at elevated reaction conditions (e.g. 230 ±C and 30 bar). The hereby-achieved high sample throughput allowed, for the first time, the thorough investigation of a wide range of synthesis parameters, providing valuable insight into the CND formation. The influence of carbon- and nitrogen source, precursor concentration and -combination, reaction time and -temperature, batch size, and post-synthesis purification steps were carefully investigated regarding their influence on the optical properties of as-synthesized CNDs. In addition, the change in photophysical properties resulting from the conversion of CND solution into solid and back into the solution was investigated. Remarkably, upon freeze-drying the initial brown CND-solution turns into a non-fluorescent white/slightly yellow to brown solid which recovers PL in aqueous solution. Selected CND samples were also subject to EDX, FTIR, NMR, PL lifetime (TCSPC), particle size (TEM), TGA and XRD analysis. Besides structural characterization, the pH- and excitation dependent PL characteristics (i.e. selective luminescence) were examined; giving inside into the origin of photophysical properties and excitation dependent behaviour of CNDs. The obtained results support the notion that for CNDs the nature of the surface states determines the PL properties and that excitation dependent behaviour is caused by the “Giant Red-Edge Excitation Shift” (GREES).
Nanolenses are linear chains of differently-sized metal nanoparticles, which can theoretically provide extremely high field enhancements. The complex structure renders their synthesis challenging and has hampered closer analyses so far. Here, the technique of DNA origami was used to self-assemble DNA-coated 10 nm, 20 nm, and 60 nm gold or silver nanoparticles into gold or silver nanolenses. Three different geometrical arrangements of gold nanolenses were assembled, and for each of the three, sets of single gold nanolenses were investigated in detail by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dark-field scattering and Raman spectroscopy. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) capabilities of the single nanolenses were assessed by labelling the 10 nm gold nanoparticle selectively with dye molecules. The experimental data was complemented by finite-difference time-domain simulations. For those gold nanolenses which showed the strongest field enhancement, SERS signals from the two different internal gaps were compared by selectively placing probe dyes on the 20 nm or 60 nm gold particles. The highest enhancement was found for the gap between the 20 nm and 10 nm nanoparticle, which is indicative of a cascaded field enhancement. The protein streptavidin was labelled with alkyne groups and served as a biological model analyte, bound between the 20 nm and 10 nm particle of silver nanolenses. Thereby, a SERS signal from a single streptavidin could be detected. Background peaks observed in SERS measurements on single silver nanolenses could be attributed to amorphous carbon. It was shown that the amorphous carbon is generated in situ.
The valorization of carbohydrates is one of the most promising fields in green chemistry, as it enables to produce bulk chemicals and fuels out of renewable and abundant resources, instead of further exploiting fossil feedstocks. The focus in this thesis is the conversion of fructose, using dehydration and hydrodeoxygenation reactions. The main goal is to find an easy continuous process, including the solubility of the sugar in a green solvent, the conversion over a solid acid as well as over a metal@tungsten carbide catalyst.
At the beginning of this thesis, solid acid catalysts are synthesized by using carbohydrate material like glucose and starch at high temperatures (up to 600 °C). Additionally a third carbon is synthesized, using an activation method based on Ca(OH)2. After carbonization and further sulfonation, using fuming sulfuric acid, the three resulting catalysts are characterized together with sulfonated carbon black and Amberlyst 15 as references. In order to test all solid acid catalysts in reaction, a 250 mm x 4.6 mm stainless steel column is used as a fixed-bed continuous reactor. The temperature (110 °C to 250 °C) and residence time (2 to 30 minutes) is varied, and a direct relationship between contact time and selectivity is determined. The reaction mechanism, as well as the product distribution is showing a dehydration step of fructose towards 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). These furan-ring molecules are considered as “sleeping giants”, due to the possibility of using them as fuel, but also for upgrading them to chemicals like terephthalic acid or p-xylene. Consecutive reactions are producing levulinic acid, as well as condensation products with ethanol and formic acid. The activated carbon is additionally showing a 2 % yield of 2,5-Dimethylfuran (DMF) production, pointing towards the extraordinary properties of this catalyst. Without a metal catalyst present, what is normally necessary for hydrogenation reactions, a transferhydrogenation (with formic acid) is observed. The active catalyst was therefore carbon itself, what activated the hydrogen on its surface. This phenomenon was just very rarely observed so far. Expensive noble metals are the material of choice, when it comes to hydrogenation reactions nowadays and cheaper alternatives are necessary.
By postulating a similar electronic structure of tungsten carbide (WC) to platinum by Lewy and Boudart, research is focusing on the replacement of Pt. The production of nano-sized tungsten carbide particles (7.5 ± 2.5 nm, 70 m2 g-1) is enabled by the so called “urea glass route” and its catalytic performances are compared to commercial material. It is shown, that the activity is strongly dependent on the size of the particles as well as the surface area. Nano-sized tungsten carbide is showing activity for hydrogenation reactions under mild conditions (maximum 150 °C, 30 bar). This material therefore opens up new possibilities for replacing the rare and expensive platinum with tungsten carbide based catalysts.
Additionally different metal nanoparticles of palladium, copper and nickel are deposited on top of WC to further promote its reactivity. The nickel nanoparticles are strongly connected to WC and showed the best activity as well as selectivity for upgrading HMF with hydrodeoxygenation. The Ni@WC is not leaching and is showing very good hydrodeoxygenation properties with DMF yields up to 90 percent. Copper@WC is not showing good activity and palladium@WC enables undesired consecutive reactions, hydrogenating the furan ring system.
In order to enable the upgrade of fructose to DMF directly in a continuous system, the current H CUBE Pro TM hydrogenation system is customized with a second reaction column. A 250 mm x 4.6 mm stainless steel reactor column is connected ahead of the hydrogen insertion, enabling the dehydration of fructose to HMF derivatives, before pumping these products into the second column for hydrogenation. The overall residence time in the two column reactor system is 14 minutes. The overall results are an almost full conversion with a yield of 38.5 % DMF and 47 % yield of EL. The main disadvantage is the formation of higher mass products, so called humins, which start depositing on top of the catalysts, blocking their active sites.
In general it can be stated, that a two column system goes along with a higher investment as well as more maintenance costs, compared to a one column catalytic approach. To develop a catalyst, which is on the one hand able to dehydrate as well as hydrodeoxygenate the reactants, is aimed for at the last part of the thesis. The activated carbon however shows already activity for hydrodeoxygenation without any metal present and offers itself therefore as an alternative to overcome the temperature instability of Amberlyst 15 (max. 120 °C) for a combined DMF production directly from fructose. The activity for the upgrade to DMF is increased from 2 % to 12 % DMF yield in one mixed continuous column.
In order to scale up the entire one column approach, an 800 mm x 28.5 mm inner diameter column was planned and manufactured. The system is scaled up and assembled, whereas this flow reactor system is able to be run with 50 mL min-1 maximum flow rate, to stand a pressure of maximum 100 bar and be heated to around 500 °C. The tubing and connections, as well as the used devices are planned according to be safe and easy in use. The scaled-up approach offers a reaction column 120 times bigger (510 ml) then the first extension of the commercial system. This further extension offers the possibility of ranging between 1 and 1000 mL min-1, making it possible to use the approach in pilot plant applications.
Nowadays, the need to protect the environment becomes more urgent than ever. In the field of chemistry, this translates to practices such as waste prevention, use of renewable feedstocks, and catalysis; concepts based on the principles of green chemistry. Polymers are an important product in the chemical industry and are also in the focus of these changes. In this thesis, more sustainable approaches to make two classes of polymers, polypeptoids and polyesters, are described.
Polypeptoids or poly(alkyl-N-glycines) are isomers of polypeptides and are biocompatible, as well as degradable under biologically relevant conditions. In addition to that, they can have interesting properties such as lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior. They are usually synthesized by the ring opening polymerization (ROP) of N-carboxy anhydrides (NCAs), which are produced with the use of toxic compounds (e.g. phosgene) and which are highly sensitive to humidity. In order to avoid the direct synthesis and isolation of the NCAs, N-phenoxycarbonyl-protected N-substituted glycines are prepared, which can yield the NCAs in situ. The conditions for the NCA synthesis and its direct polymerization are investigated and optimized for the simplest N-substituted glycine, sarcosine. The use of a tertiary amine in less than stoichiometric amounts compared to the N-phenoxycarbonyl--sarcosine seems to accelerate drastically the NCA formation and does not affect the efficiency of the polymerization. In fact, well defined polysarcosines that comply to the monomer to initiator ratio can be produced by this method. This approach was also applied to other N-substituted glycines.
Dihydroxyacetone is a sustainable diol produced from glycerol, and has already been used for the synthesis of polycarbonates. Here, it was used as a comonomer for the synthesis of polyesters. However, the polymerization of dihydroxyacetone presented difficulties, probably due to the insolubility of the macromolecular chains. To circumvent the problem, the dimethyl acetal protected dihydroxyacetone was polymerized with terephthaloyl chloride to yield a soluble polymer. When the carbonyl was recovered after deprotection, the product was insoluble in all solvents, showing that the carbonyl in the main chain hinders the dissolution of the polymers. The solubility issue can be avoided, when a 1:1 mixture of dihydroxyacetone/ ethylene glycol is used to yield a soluble copolyester.
Among modern functional materials, the class of nitrogen-containing carbons combines non-toxicity and sustainability with outstanding properties. The versatility of this materials class is based on the opportunity to tune electronic and catalytic properties via the nitrogen content and –motifs: This ranges from the electronically conducting N-doped carbon, where few carbon atoms in the graphitic lattice are substituted by nitrogen, to the organic semiconductor graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), with a structure based on tri-s-triazine units.
In general, composites can reveal outstanding catalytic properties due to synergistic behavior, e.g. the formation of electronic heterojunctions. In this thesis, the formation of an “all-carbon” heterojunction was targeted, i.e. differences in the electronic properties of the single components were achieved by the introduction of different nitrogen motives into the carbon lattice. Such composites are promising as metal-free catalysts for the photocatalytic water splitting. Here, hydrogen can be generated from water by light irradiation with the use of a photocatalyst. As first part of the heterojunction, the organic semiconductor g-C₃N₄ was employed, because of its suitable band structure for photocatalytic water splitting, high stability and non-toxicity. The second part was chosen as C₂N, a recently discovered semiconductor. Compared to g-C₃N₄, the less nitrogen containing C₂N has a smaller band gap and a higher absorption coefficient in the visible light range, which is expected to increase the optical absorption in the composite eventually leading to an enhanced charge carrier separation due to the formation of an electronic heterojunction.
The aim of preparing an “all-carbon” composite included the research on appropriate precursors for the respective components g-C₃N₄ and C₂N, as well as strategies for appropriate structuring. This was targeted by applying precursors which can form supramolecular pre-organized structures. This allows for more control over morphology and atom patterns during the carbonization process.
In the first part of this thesis, it was demonstrated how the photocatalytic activity of g-C₃N₄ can be increased by the targeted introduction of defects or surface terminations. This was achieved by using caffeine as a “growth stopping” additive during the formation of the hydrogen-bonded supramolecular precursor complexes. The increased photocatalytic activity of the obtained materials was demonstrated with dye degradation experiments.
The second part of this thesis was focused on the synthesis of the second component C₂N. Here, a deep eutectic mixture from hexaketocyclohexane and urea was structured using the biopolymer chitosan. This scaffolding resulted in mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon monoliths and beads. CO₂- and dye-adsorption experiments with the obtained monolith material revealed a high isosteric heat of CO₂-adsorption and showed the accessibility of the monolithic pore system to larger dye molecules. Furthermore, a novel precursor system for C₂N was explored, based on organic crystals from squaric acid and urea. The respective C₂N carbon with an unusual sheet-like morphology could be synthesized by carbonization of the crystals at 550 °C. With this precursor system, also microporous C₂N carbon with a BET surface area of 865 m²/g was obtained by “salt-templating” with ZnCl₂.
Finally, the preparation of a g-C₃N₄/C₂N “all carbon” composite heterojunction was attempted by the self-assembly of g-C₃N₄ and C₂N nanosheets and tested for photocatalytic water splitting. Indeed, the composites revealed high rates of hydrogen evolution when compared to bulk g-C₃N₄. However, the increased catalytic activity was mainly attributed to the high surface area of the nanocomposites rather than to the composition. With regard to alternative composite synthesis ways, first experiments indicated N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidon to be suitable for higher concentrated dispersion of C₂N nanosheets. Eventually, the results obtained in this thesis provide precious synthetic contributions towards the preparation and processing of carbon/nitrogen compounds for energy applications.
Materials based on biodegradable polyesters, such as poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) or poly(butylene terephthalate-co-poly(alkylene glycol) terephthalate) (PBTAT), have potential application as pro-regenerative scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Herein, the preparation of films composed of PBT or PBTAT and an engineered spider silk protein, (eADF4(C16)), that displays multiple carboxylic acid moieties capable of binding calcium ions and facilitating their biomineralization with calcium carbonate or calcium phosphate is reported. Human mesenchymal stem cells cultured on films mineralized with calcium phosphate show enhanced levels of alkaline phosphatase activity suggesting that such composites have potential use for bone tissue engineering.
Lignin valorization
(2017)
The topic of this project is the use of lignin as alternative source of aromatic building blocks and oligomers to fossil feedstocks. Lignin is known as the most abundant aromatic polymer in nature and is isolated from the lignocellulosic component of plants by different possible extraction treatments. Both the biomass source and the extraction method affect the structure of the isolated lignin, therefore influencing its further application. Lignin was extracted from beech wood by two different hydrothermal alkaline treatments, which use NaOH and Ba(OH)2 as base and by an acid-catalyzed organosolv process. Moreover, lignin was isolated from bamboo, beech wood and coconut by soda treatment of the biomasses. A comparison of the structural features of such isolated lignins was performed through the use of a wide range of analytical methods. Alkaline lignins resulted in a better candidate as carbon precursor and macromonomers for the synthesis of polymer than organosolv lignin. In fact, alkaline lignins showed higher residual mass after carbonization and higher content of the reactive hydroxy functionalities. In contrast, the lignin source turned out to slightly affect the lignin hydroxyl content.
One of the most common lignin modifications is its deconstruction to obtain aromatic molecules, which can be used as starting materials for the synthesis of fine chemicals. Lignin deconstruction leads to a complex mixture of aromatic molecules. A gas chromatographic analytical method was developed to characterize the mixture of products obtained by lignin deconstruction via heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenolysis. The analytical protocol allowed the quantification of three main groups of molecules by means of calibration curves, internal standard and a preliminary silylation step of the sample. The analytical method was used to study the influence of the hydrogenolysis catalyst, temperature and system (flow and batch reactor) on the yield and selectivity of the aromatic compounds.
Lignin extracted from beech wood by a hydrothermal process using Ba(OH)2 as base, was functionalized by aromatic nitration in order to add nitrogen functionalities. The final goal was the synthesis of a nitrogen doped carbon. Nitrated lignin was reduced to the amino form in order to compare the influence of different nitrogen functionalities on the porosity of the final carbon. The carbons were obtained by ionothermal treatment of the precursors in the presence of the eutectic salt mixture KCl/ZnCl2 Such synthesized carbons showed micro-, macro- and mesoporosity and were tested for their electrocatalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction. Mesoporous carbon derived from nitro lignin displayed the highest electrocatalytic activity.
Lignins isolated from coconut, beech wood and bamboo were used as macromonomers for the synthesis of biobased polyesters. A condensation reaction was performed between lignin and a hyper branched poly(ester-amine), previously obtained by condensation of triethanolamine and adipic acid. The influence of the lignin source and content on the thermochemical and mechanical properties of the final material was investigated. The prepolymer showed adhesive properties towards aluminum and its shear strength was therefore measured. The gluing properties of such synthesized glues turned out to be independent from the lignin source but affected by the amount of lignin in the final material.
This work shows that, although still at a laboratory scale, the valorization of lignin can overcome the critical issues of lignin´s structure variability and complexity.
Halogenated nucleobases are used as radiosensitizers in cancer radiation therapy, enhancing the reactivity of DNA to secondary low-energy electrons (LEEs). LEEs induce DNA strand breaks at specific energies (resonances) by dissociative electron attachment (DEA). Although halogenated nucleobases show intense DEA resonances at various electron energies in the gas phase, it is inherently difficult to investigate the influence of halogenated nucleobases on the actual DNA strand breakage over the broad range of electron energies at which DEA can take place (<12 eV). By using DNA origami nanostructures, we determined the energy dependence of the strand break cross-section for oligonucleotides modified with 8-bromoadenine ((8Br)A). These results were evaluated against DEA measurements with isolated (8Br)A in the gas phase. Contrary to expectations, the major contribution to strand breaks is from resonances at around 7 eV while resonances at very low energy (<2 eV) have little influence on strand breaks.
The mechanism of the primary ammonium/tertiary amine-mediated ring-opening polymerization of gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydride (BLG-NCA) was investigated. Kinetic analyses revealed that the normal amine mechanism (NAM) together with a dormant-active chain end equilibrium were responsible for the controlled nature of this polymerization pathway, but that the polymerization also proceeded via the activated monomer mechanism (AMM). Mixtures of primary amines (1 equiv) and tertiary amines (0-1.5 equiv) were therefore tested to confirm the co-existence of the NAM and AMM and determine the limits for a controlled polymerization. For tertiary amine molar fractions smaller than 0.8 equiv, the reaction times were greatly reduced (compared to primary amine-initiated polymerization) without compromising the control of the reaction. Hence, the polymerization of NCA can proceed in a controlled manner even when the AMM contributes to the overall chain growth mechanism. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Porous polyelectrolyte membranes stable in a highly ionic environment are obtained by covalent crosslinking of an imidazolium-based poly(ionic liquid). The crosslinking reaction involves the UV light-induced thiol-ene (click) chemistry, and the phase separation, occurring during the crosslinking step, generates a fully interconnected porous structure in the membrane. The porosity is on the order of the micrometer scale and the membrane shows a gradient of pore size across the membrane cross-section. The membrane can separate polystyrene latex particles of different size and undergoes actuation in contact with acetone due to the asymmetric porous structure.
The nucleophilic thiol-ene (thia-Michael) reaction between molecular rods bearing terminal thiols and bis-maleimides was investigated. The molecular rods have oligospiroketal (OSK) and oligospirothioketal (OSTK) backbones. Contrary to the expectations, cyclic oligomers were always obtained instead of linear rigid-rod polymers. Replacing the OS(T)K rods with a flexible chain yielded polymeric products, suggesting that the OS(T) K structure is responsible for the formation of cyclic products. The reason for the preferred formation of cyclic products is due to the presence of folded conformations, which have already been described for articulated rods.
8-Bromoadenine ((8Br)A) is a potential DNA radiosensitizer for cancer radiation therapy due to its efficient interaction with low-energy electrons (LEEs). LEEs are a short-living species generated during the radiation damage of DNA by high-energy radiation as it is applied in cancer radiation therapy. Electron attachment to (8Br)A in the gas phase results in a stable parent anion below 3 eV electron energy in addition to fragmentation products formed by resonant exocyclic bond cleavages. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the (8Br)A(-) anion reveal an exotic bond between the bromine and the C8 atom with a bond length of 2.6 angstrom, where the majority of the charge is located on bromine and the spin is mainly located on the C8 atom. The detailed understanding of such long-lived anionic states of nucleobase analogues supports the rational development of new therapeutic agents, in which the enhancement of dissociative electron transfer to the DNA backbone is critical to induce DNA strand breaks in cancerous tissue.
Photothermal therapy is a novel approach to destroy cancer cells by an increase of temperature due to laser illumination of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) that are incorporated into the cells. Here, we study the decomposition of DNA nucleobases via irradiation of gold nanoparticles with ns-laser pulses. The kinetics of the adsorption and decomposition process is described by a theoretical model based on the Langmuir assumptions and correlated with experimentally determined reaction rates revealing a strong influence of the nucleobase specific adsorption. Beside the four nucleobases, their brominated analogs, which are potential radiosensitizers in cancer therapy, are also investigated and show a significant modification of the decomposition rates. The fastest decomposition rates are observed for adenine, 8-bromoadenine, 8-bromoguanine and 5-bromocytosine. These results are in good agreement with the relative adsorption rates that are determined from the aggregation kinetics of the GNPs taking the effect of an inhomogeneous surface into account. For adenine and its brominated analog, the decomposition products are further analyzed by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) indicating a strong fragmentation of the molecules into their smallest subunits.
General Synthetic Route toward Highly Dispersed Metal Clusters Enabled by Poly(ionic liquid)s
(2017)
The ability to synthesize a broad spectrum of metal clusters (MCs) with their size controllable on a subnanometer scale presents an enticing prospect for exploring nanosize-dependent properties. Here we report an innovative design of a capping agent from a polytriazolium poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) in a vesicular form in solution that allows for crafting a variety of MCs including transition metals, noble metals, and their bimetallic alloy with precisely controlled sizes (similar to 1 nm) and record-high catalytic performance. The ultrastrong stabilization power is a result of an unusual synergy between the conventional binding sites in the heterocyclic cations in PIL and an in situ generated polycarbene structure induced simultaneously to the reduction reaction.
The aqueous solution behavior of thermoresponsive-hydrophilic block copolypeptoids, i.e., poly(N-(n-propyl)glycine) (x) -block-poly(N-methylglycine) (y) (x = 70; y = 23, 42, 76), in the temperature range of 20-45 A degrees C is studied. Turbidimetric analyses of the 0.1 wt% aqueous solutions reveal two cloud points at T (cp)similar to 30 and 45 A degrees C and a clearing point in between at T (cl)similar to 42 A degrees C. Temperature-dependent dynamic light scattering (DLS) suggest that right above the first collapse temperature, single polymer molecules assemble into large structures which upon further heating, i.e., at the clearing point temperature, disassemble into micelle-like structures. Upon further heating, the aggregates start to grow again in size, as recognized by the second cloud point, through a crystallization process.
In virtue of the rising demand for metal-free polymeric materials, organocatalytic polymerization has emerged and blossomed unprecedentedly in the past 15 years into an appealing research area and a powerful arsenal for polymer synthesis. In addition to the inherent merits as being metal-free, small molecule organocatalysts have also provided opportunities to develop alternative and, in many cases, more expedient synthetic approaches toward macromolecular architectures, that play a crucial role in shaping the properties of the obtained polymers. A majority of preliminary studies exploring for new catalysts, catalytic mechanisms and optimized polymerization conditions are extended to application of the catalytic systems on rational design and controlled synthesis of various macromolecular architectures. Such endeavors are described in this review, categorized by the architectural elements including chain structure (types, sequence and composition of monomeric units constituting the polymer chains), topological structure (the fashion different polymer chains are covalently attached to each other within the macromolecule) and functionality (position and amount of functional groups that endow the entire macromolecule with specific chemical, physico-chemical or biological properties). (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Nanolenses are self-similar chains of metal nanoparticles, which can theoretically provide extremely high field enhancements. Yet, the complex structure renders their synthesis challenging and has hampered closer analyses so far. Here, DNA origami is used to self-assemble 10, 20, and 60 nm gold nanoparticles as plasmonic gold nanolenses (AuNLs) in solution and in billions of copies. Three different geometrical arrangements are assembled, and for each of the three designs, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) capabilities of single AuNLs are assessed. For the design which shows the best properties, SERS signals from the two different internal gaps are compared by selectively placing probe dyes. The highest Raman enhancement is found for the gap between the small and medium nanoparticle, which is indicative of a cascaded field enhancement.
The excitation of localized surface plasmons in noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) results in different nanoscale effects such as electric field enhancement, the generation of hot electrons and a temperature increase close to the NP surface. These effects are typically exploited in diverse fields such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), NP catalysis and photothermal therapy (PTT). Halogenated nucleobases are applied as radiosensitizers in conventional radiation cancer therapy due to their high reactivity towards secondary electrons. Here, we use SERS to study the transformation of 8-bromoadenine ((8Br)A) into adenine on the surface of Au and AgNPs upon irradiation with a low-power continuous wave laser at 532, 633 and 785 nm, respectively. The dissociation of (8Br)A is ascribed to a hot-electron transfer reaction and the underlying kinetics are carefully explored. The reaction proceeds within seconds or even milliseconds. Similar dissociation reactions might also occur with other electrophilic molecules, which must be considered in the interpretation of respective SERS spectra. Furthermore, we suggest that hot-electron transfer induced dissociation of radiosensitizers such as (8Br)A can be applied in the future in PTT to enhance the damage of tumor tissue upon irradiation.
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.
Artificial light harvesting complexes find applications in artificial photosynthesis, photovoltaics and light harvesting chemical sensors. They are used to enhance the absorption of light of a reaction center which is often represented by a single acceptor. Here, we present different light harvesting systems on DNA origami structures and analyze systematically the light harvesting efficiency. By changing the number and arrangement of different fluorophores (FAM as donor, Cy3 as transmitter and Cy5 as acceptor molecules) the light harvesting efficiency is optimized to create a broadband absorption and to improve the antenna effect 1 (including two energy transfer steps) from 0.02 to 1.58, and the antenna effect 2 (including a single energy transfer step) from 0.04 to 8.7, i.e. the fluorescence emission of the acceptor is significantly higher when the light-harvesting antenna is excited at lower wavelength compared to direct excitation of the acceptor. The channeling of photo energy to the acceptor proceeds by Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) and we carefully analyze also the FRET efficiency of the different light harvesting systems. Accordingly, the antenna effect can be tuned by modifying the stoichiometry of donor, transmitter and acceptor dyes, whereas the FRET efficiency is mainly governed by the spectroscopic properties of dyes and their distances.
Macrocycles based on L-cystine were synthesized by ring-closing metathesis (RCM) and subsequently polymerized by entropy-driven ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ED-ROMP). Monomer conversion reached similar to 80% in equilibrium and the produced poly (ester-amine-disulfide-alkene)s exhibited apparent molar masses (M-w(app)) of up to 80 kDa and dispersities (D) of similar to 2. The polymers can be further functionalized with acid anhydrides and degraded by reductive cleavage of the main-chain disulfide.
Degradable multiblock copolymers prepared from equal weight amounts of poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-diol (PCL-diol) and poly[oligo(3S-iso-butylmorpholine-2,5-dione)]-diol (PIBMD-diol), named PCL-PIBMD, provide a phase-segregated morphology. It exhibits a low melting temperature from PCL domains (T-m,T-PCL) of 382 degrees C and a high T-m,T-PIBMD of 170 +/- 2 degrees C with a glass transition temperature (T-g,T-PIBMD) at 42 +/- 2 degrees C from PIBMD domains. In this study, we explored the influence of applying different thermal treatments on the resulting morphologies of solution-cast and spin-coated PCL-PIBMD thin films, which showed different initial surface morphologies. Differential scanning calorimetry results and atomic force microscopy images after different thermal treatments indicated that PCL and PIBMD domains showed similar crystallization behaviors in 270 +/- 30 mu m thick solution-cast films as well as in 30 +/- 2 and 8 +/- 1nm thick spin-coated PCL-PIBMD films. Existing PIBMD crystalline domains highly restricted the generation of PCL crystalline domains during cooling when the sample was annealed at 180 degrees C. By annealing the sample above 120 degrees C, the PIBMD domains crystallized sufficiently and covered the free surface, which restricted the crystallization of PCL domains during cooling. The PCL domains can crystallize by hindering the crystallization of PIBMD domains via the fast vitrification of PIBMD domains when the sample was cooled/quenched in liquid nitrogen after annealing at 180 degrees C. These findings contribute to a better fundamental understanding of the crystallization mechanism of multi-block copolymers containing two crystallizable domains whereby the T-g of the higher melting domain type is in the same temperature range as the T-m of the lower melting domain type. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In this study, a multiblock copolymer containing oligo(3-methyl-morpholine-2, 5-dione) (oMMD) and oligo(3-sec-butyl-morpholine-2, 5-dione) (oBMD) building blocks obtained by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of the corresponding monomers, was synthesized in a polyaddition reaction using an aliphatic diisocyanate. The multiblock copolymer (pBMD-MMD) provided a molecular weight of 40, 000 g·mol−1, determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Incorporation of both oligodepsipeptide segments in multiblock copolymers was confirmed by 1H NMR and Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time Of Flight Mass Spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis. pBMD-MMD showed two separated glass transition temperatures (61 °C and 74 °C) indicating a microphase separation. Furthermore, a broad glass transition was observed by DMTA, which can be attributed to strong physical interaction i.e. by H-bonds formed between amide, ester, and urethane groups of the investigated copolymers. The obtained multiblock copolymer is supposed to own the capability to exhibit strong physical interactions.
Die Elektrosprayionisation (ESI) ist eine der weitverbreitetsten Ionisationstechniken für flüssige Pro-ben in der Massen- und Ionenmobilitäts(IM)-Spektrometrie. Aufgrund ihrer schonenden Ionisierung wird ESI vorwiegend für empfindliche, komplexe Moleküle in der Biologie und Medizin eingesetzt. Überdies ist sie allerdings für ein sehr breites Spektrum an Substanzklassen anwendbar. Die IM-Spektrometrie wurde ursprünglich zur Detektion gasförmiger Proben entwickelt, die hauptsächlich durch radioaktive Quellen ionisiert werden. Sie ist die einzige analytische Methode, bei der Isomere in Echtzeit getrennt und über ihre charakteristische IM direkt identifiziert werden können. ESI wurde in den 90ger Jahren durch die Hill Gruppe in die IM-Spektrometrie eingeführt. Die Kombination wird bisher jedoch nur von wenigen Gruppen verwendet und hat deshalb noch ein hohes Entwick-lungspotential. Ein vielversprechendes Anwendungsfeld ist der Einsatz in der Hochleistungs-flüssigkeitschromatographie (HPLC) zur mehrdimensionalen Trennung. Heutzutage ist die HPLC die Standardmethode zur Trennung komplexer Proben in der Routineanalytik. HPLC-Trennungsgänge sind jedoch häufig langwierig und der Einsatz verschiedener Laufmittel, hoher Flussraten, von Puffern, sowie Laufmittelgradienten stellt hohe Anforderungen an die Detektoren. Die ESI-IM-Spektrometrie wurde in einigen Studien bereits als HPLC-Detektor eingesetzt, war dort bisher jedoch auf Flussratensplitting oder geringe Flussraten des Laufmittels beschränkt.
In dieser kumulativen Doktorarbeit konnte daher erstmals ein ESI IM-Spektrometer als HPLC-Detektor für den Flussratenbereich von 200-1500 μl/min entwickelt werden. Anhand von fünf Publi-kationen wurden (1) über eine umfassende Charakterisierung die Eignung des Spektrometers als HPLC-Detektor festgestellt, (2) ausgewählte komplexe Trenngänge präsentiert und (3) die Anwen-dung zum Reaktionsmonitoring und (4, 5) mögliche Weiterentwicklungen gezeigt.
Erfolgreich konnten mit dem selbst-entwickelten ESI IM-Spektrometer typische HPLC-Bedingungen wie Wassergehalte im Laufmittel von bis zu 90%, Pufferkonzentrationen von bis zu 10 mM, sowie Nachweisgrenzen von bis zu 50 nM erreicht werden. Weiterhin wurde anhand der komplexen Trennungsgänge (24 Pestizide/18 Aminosäuren) gezeigt, dass die HPLC und die IM-Spektrometrie eine hohe Orthogonalität besitzen. Eine effektive Peakkapazität von 240 wurde so realisiert. Auf der HPLC-Säule koeluierende Substanzen konnten über die Driftzeit getrennt und über ihre IM identifi-ziert werden, sodass die Gesamttrennzeiten erheblich minimiert werden konnten. Die Anwend-barkeit des ESI IM-Spektrometers zur Überwachung chemischer Synthesen wurde anhand einer dreistufigen Reaktion demonstriert. Es konnten die wichtigsten Edukte, Zwischenprodukte und Produkte aller Stufen identifiziert werden. Eine quantitative Auswertung war sowohl über eine kurze HPLC-Vortrennung als auch durch die Entwicklung eines eigenen Kalibrierverfahrens, welches die Ladungskonkurrenz bei ESI berücksichtigt, ohne HPLC möglich. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit werden zwei Weiterentwicklungen des Spektrometers präsentiert. Eine Möglichkeit ist die Reduzierung des Drucks in den intermediären Bereich (300 - 1000 mbar) mit dem Ziel der Verringerung der benötigten Spannungen. Mithilfe von Streulichtbildern und Strom-Spannungs-Kurven wurden für geringe Drücke eine verminderte Freisetzung der Analyt-Ionen aus den Tropfen festgestellt. Die Verluste konnten jedoch über höhere elektrische Feldstärken ausgeglichen werden, sodass gleiche Nachweisgrenzen bei 500 mbar und bei 1 bar erreicht wurden. Die zweite Weiterentwicklung ist ein neuartiges Ionentors mit Pulsschaltung, welches eine Verdopplung der Auflösung auf bis zu R > 100 bei gleicher Sensitivität ermöglichte. Eine denkbare Anwendung im Bereich der Peptidanalytik wurde mit beachtlichen Auflösungen der Peptide von R = 90 gezeigt.
There is a tremendous demand for highly Na+-selective fluoroionophores to monitor the top analyte Na+ in life science. Here, we report a systematic route to develop highly Na+/K+ selective fluorescent probes. Thus, we synthesized a set of fluoroionophores 1, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9 (see Scheme 1) to investigate the Na+/K+ selectivity and Na(+-)complex stability in CH3CN and H2O. These Na+-probes bear different 15-crown-5 moieties to bind Na+ stronger than K+. In the set of the diethylaminocoumarin-substituted fluoroionophores 1-5, the following trend of fluorescence quenching 1 > 3 > 2 > 4 > 5 in CH3CN was observed. Therefore, the flexibility of the aza-15-crown-5 moieties in 1-4 determines the conjugation of the nitrogen lone pair with the aromatic ring. As a consequence, 1 showed in CH3CN the highest Na+-induced fluorescence enhancement (FE) by a factor of 46.5 and a weaker K+ induced FE of 3.7. The Na+-complex stability of 1-4 in CH3CN is enhanced in the following order of 2 > 4 > 3 > 1, assuming that the O-atom of the methoxy group in the ortho-position, as shown in 2, strengthened the Na+-complex formation. Furthermore, we found for the N( o-methoxyphenyl) aza-15-crown-5 substituted fluoroionophores 2, 8 and 9 in H2O, an enhanced Na+-complex stability in the following order 8 > 2 > 9 and an increased Na+/K+ selectivity in the reverse order 9 > 2 > 8. Notably, the Na+-induced FE of 8 (FEF = 10.9), 2 (FEF = 5.0) and 9 (FEF = 2.0) showed a similar trend associated with a decreased K+-induced FE [8 (FEF = 2.7) > 2 (FEF = 1.5) > 9 (FEF = 1.1)]. Here, the Na+-complex stability and Na+/K+ selectivity is also influenced by the fluorophore moiety. Thus, fluorescent probe 8 (K-d = 48 mm) allows high-contrast, sensitive, and selective Na+ measurements over extracellular K+ levels. A higher Na+/K+ selectivity showed fluorescent probe 9, but also a higher Kd value of 223 mm. Therefore, 9 is a suitable tool to measure Na+ concentrations up to 300 mm at a fluorescence emission of 614 nm.
The new K+-selective fluorescent probes 1 and 2 were obtained by Cu-I-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions of an alkyne-substituted [1,3]dioxolo[4,5-f][1,3]benzodioxole (DBD) ester fluorophore with azido-functionalized N-phenylaza-18-crown-6 ether and N-(o-isopropoxy) phenylaza-18-crown-6 ether, respectively. Probes 1 and 2 allow the detection of K+ in the presence of Na+ in water by fluorescence enhancement (2.2 for 1 at 2000mm K+ and 2.5 for 2 at 160mm K+). Fluorescence lifetime measurements in the absence and presence of K+ revealed bi-exponential decay kinetics with similar lifetimes, however with different proportions changing the averaged fluorescence decay times ((f(av))). For 1 a decrease of (f(av)) from 12.4 to 9.3ns and for 2 an increase from 17.8 to 21.8ns was observed. Variation of the substituent in ortho position of the aniline unit of the N-phenylaza-18-crown-6 host permits the modulation of the K-d value for a certain K+ concentration. For example, substitution of H in 1 by the isopropoxy group (2) decreased the K-d value from >300mm to 10mm. 2 was chosen for studying the efflux of K+ from human red blood cells (RBC). Upon addition of the Ca2+ ionophor ionomycin to a RBC suspension in a buffer containing Ca2+, the fluorescence of 2 slightly rose within 10min, however, after 120min a significant increase was observed.
Microwave heating (MW)-assisted synthesis has been widely applied as an alternative method for the chemical synthesis of organic and inorganic materials. In this work, we report MW-assisted synthesis of three isostructural 3D frameworks with a flexible linker arm of the chelating linker 2-substituted imidazolate- 4-amide-5-imidate, named IFP-7-MW (M = Zn, R = OMe), IFP-8-MW (M = Co; R = OMe) and IFP-10-MW (M = Co; R = OEt) (IFP = Imidazolate Framework Potsdam). These chelating ligands were generated in situ by partial hydrolysis of 2-substituted 4,5-dicyanoimidazoles under MW-and also conventional electrical heating (CE)-assisted conditions in DMF. The structure of these materials was determined by IR spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and the identity of the materials synthesized under CE-conditions was established. Materials obtained from MW-heating show many fold enhancement of CO2 and H-2 uptake capacities, compared to the analogous CE-heating method based materials. To understand the inner pore-sizes of IFP structures and variations of gas sorptions, we performed positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS), which shows that MW-assisted materials have smaller pore sizes than materials synthesized under CE-conditions. The "kinetically controlled" MW-synthesized material has an inherent ability to trap extra linkers, thereby reducing the pore sizes of CE-materials to ultra/micropores. These ultramicropores are responsible for high gas sorption.
Two-Level Shape Changes of Polymeric Microcuboids Prepared from Crystallizable Copolymer Networks
(2017)
Polymeric microdevices bearing features like nonspherical shapes or spatially segregated surface properties are of increasing importance in biological and medical analysis, drug delivery, and bioimaging or microfluidic systems as well as in micromechanics, sensors, information storage, or data carrier devices. Here, a method to fabricate programmable microcuboids with shape-memory capability and the quantification of their recovery at different levels is reported. The method uses the soft lithographic technique to create microcuboids with well-defined sizes and surface properties. Microcuboids having an edge length of 25 mu m and a height of 10 mu m were prepared from cross-linked poly[ethylene-co-(vinyl acetate)] (cPEVA) with different vinyl acetate contents and were programmed by compression with various deformation degrees at elevated temperatures. The microlevel shape-recovery of the cuboidal geometry during heating was monitored by optical microscopy (OM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studying the related changes in the projected area (PA) or height, while the nanolevel changes of the nanosurface roughness were investigated by in situ AFM. The shape-memory effect at the microlevel was quantified by the recovery ratio of cuboids (R-r,R-micro), while at the. nanolevel, the recovery ratio of the nanoroughness (R-r,R-nano) was measured. The values of R-r,R-micro,,micro could be tailored in a range from 42 +/- 1% to 102 +/- 1% and Rr,nano from 89 +/- 6% to 136 +/- 21% depending on the applied compression ratio and the amount of vinyl acetate content in the cPEVA microcuboids.
Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden zum einen erste Oligospiro(thio)ketal (OS(T)K)-basierte Modellsysteme (molekulare Sonden) für abstandsabhängige Messungen mittels Förster-Resonanz-Energietransfer (FRET) und zum anderen Sensorfluorophore, basierend auf einem DBD-Fluorophor und BAPTA, zur Messung der intrazellulären Calcium-Konzentration dargestellt.
Für die Synthese von molekularen Sonden für abstandsabhängige Messungen wurden verschiedenste einfach- und doppelt-markierte OS(T)K-Stäbe entwickelt und spektroskopisch untersucht. Die OS(T)K-Stäbe, sogenannte molekulare Stäbe, dienten als starre Abstandshalter zwischen den Fluorophoren. Als Fluorophore wurden Derivate von 6,7-Dihydroxy-4-methylcoumarin (Donor) und Acyl-DBD (Akzeptor) verwendet, die zusammen ein FRET-Paar bilden. Die Fluorophore wurden so funktionalisiert, dass sie sowohl unbeweglich bzw. „starr“, als auch beweglich bzw. „flexibel“ an den OS(T)K-Stab gebunden werden konnten. Für die Synthese der OS(T)K-Stäbe wurden ebenfalls eine Reihe an unterschiedlich langen und kurzen Stabbausteinen synthetisiert. Auf diese Weise wurden eine Vielzahl an verschiedensten einfach- und doppelt-markierten OS(T)K-Stäben dargestellt, deren Fluorophore sowohl „starr“ als auch „flexibel“ gebunden sind. Die dargestellten Stäbe wurden in verschiedensten Lösungsmitteln spektroskopisch untersucht, um anschließend das Verhalten in Vesikel, die eine biomimetische Umgebung darstellen, zu beurteilen. Es wurde festgestellt, dass sich die Stäbe erfolgreich in die Vesikelmembran einlagerten und hohe FRET-Effizienzen aufweisen.
Des Weiteren wurde ein FRET-Paar dargestellt, das sich durch 2-Photonenabsorpion im NIR-Bereich anregen lässt. Es wurde in den lebenden Zellen mittels Fluoreszenzlebenszeitmikroskopie (FLIM) untersucht.
Zur Untersuchung von intrazellulärem Calcium wurden zwei verschiedene DBD-Fluorophore über einen kurzen Linker mit dem Calcium-Chelator BAPTA verknüpft. Die dargestellten Fluorophore wurden sowohl in vitro als auch in vivo auf ihre Calcium-Sensitivität überprüft. Mittels FLIM wurden in lebenden Zellen die Fluoreszenzlebenszeitverteilungen der Fluorophore nach Calcium-Konzentrationsänderungen detektiert.
The field of nanophotonics focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter on the nanometer scale. The elements of nanoscale photonic devices can transfer excitation energy non-radiatively from an excited donor molecule to an acceptor molecule by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). The efficiency of this energy transfer is highly dependent on the donor-acceptor distance. Hence, in these nanoscale photonic devices it is of high importance to have a good control over the spatial assembly of used fluorophores. Based on molecular self-assembly processes, various nanostructures can be produced. Here, DNA nanotechnology and especially the DNA origami technique are auspicious self-assembling methods. By using DNA origami nanostructures different fluorophores can be introduced with a high local control to create a variety of nanoscale photonic objects. The applications of such nanostructures range from photonic wires and logic gates for molecular computing to artificial light harvesting systems for artificial photosynthesis.
In the present cumulative doctoral thesis, different FRET systems on DNA origami structures have been designed and thoroughly analyzed. Firstly, the formation of guanine (G) quadruplex structures from G rich DNA sequences has been studied based on a two-color FRET system (Fluorescein (FAM)/Cyanine3 (Cy3)). Here, the influences of different cations (Na+ and K+), of the DNA origami structure and of the DNA sequence on the G-quadruplex formation have been analyzed. In this study, an ion-selective K+ sensing scheme based on the G-quadruplex formation on DNA origami structures has been developed. Subsequently, the reversibility of the G-quadruplex formation on DNA origami structures has been evaluated. This has been done for the simple two-color FRET system which has then been advanced to a switchable photonic wire by introducing additional fluorophores (FAM/Cy3/Cyanine5 (Cy5)/IRDye®700). In the last part, the emission intensity of the acceptor molecule (Cy5) in a three-color FRET cascade has been tuned by arranging multiple donor (FAM) and transmitter (Cy3) molecules around the central acceptor molecule. In such artificial light harvesting systems, the excitation energy is absorbed by several donor and transmitter molecules followed by an energy transfer to the acceptor leading to a brighter Cy5 emission. Furthermore, the range of possible excitation wavelengths is extended by using several different fluorophores (FAM/Cy3/Cy5). In this part of the thesis, the light harvesting efficiency (antenna effect) and the FRET efficiency of different donor/transmitter/acceptor assemblies have been analyzed and the artificial light harvesting complex has been optimized in this respect.
Complete sticking at low incidence energies and broad angular scattering distributions at higher energies are often observed in molecular beam experiments on gas-surface systems which feature a deep chemisorption well and lack early reaction barriers. Although CO binds strongly on Ru(0001), scattering is characterized by rather narrow angular distributions and sticking is incomplete even at low incidence energies. We perform molecular dynamics simulations, accounting for phononic (and electronic) energy loss channels, on a potential energy surface based on first-principles electronic structure calculations that reproduce the molecular beam experiments. We demonstrate that the mentioned unusual behavior is a consequence of a very strong rotational anisotropy in the molecule-surface interaction potential. Beyond the interpretation of scattering phenomena, we also discuss implications of our results for the recently proposed role of a precursor state for the desorption and scattering of CO from ruthenium.
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.
Serological diagnosis and prognosis of severe acute pancreatitis by analysis of serum glycoprotein 2
(2017)
To better understand emerging adults’ perceptions of family interactions and value transmission to the next generation, we examined Hmong American emerging adults’ reflections on their parents’ parenting. Participants discussed what parenting practices they would do differently and others they hoped to emulate with their future adolescent children. Thirty Hmong American emerging adults (18-25 years; M = 21.2 years; 50% female) participated in interviews that focused retrospectively on the parent–adolescent relationship. Results revealed that emerging adults wanted to parent differently in three ways: less pressure about education, fewer restrictions, and more open communication. Emerging adults imagined being a similar
parent in four ways: promoting education, promoting life values, giving
guidance, and offering love and support. The findings highlight parenting practices that Hmong American emerging adults plan on transmitting (and not transmitting) to their own children, offering a glimpse into the type of parents the emerging adults may become.
Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Synthese und Charakterisierung von anisotropen Goldnanopartikeln in einer geeigneten Polyelektrolyt-modifizierten Templatphase. Der Mittelpunkt bildet dabei die Auswahl einer geeigneten Templatphase, zur Synthese von einheitlichen und reproduzierbaren anisotropen Goldnanopartikeln mit den daraus resultierenden besonderen Eigenschaften. Bei der Synthese der anisotropen Goldnanopartikeln lag der Fokus in der Verwendung von Vesikeln als Templatphase, wobei hier der Einfluss unterschiedlicher strukturbildender Polymere (stark alternierende Maleamid-Copolymere PalH, PalPh, PalPhCarb und PalPhBisCarb mit verschiedener Konformation) und Tenside (SDS, AOT – anionische Tenside) bei verschiedenen Synthese- und Abtrennungsbedingungen untersucht werden sollte.
Im ersten Teil der Arbeit konnte gezeigt werden, dass PalPhBisCarb bei einem pH-Wert von 9 die Bedingungen eines Röhrenbildners für eine morphologische Transformation von einer vesikulären Phase in eine röhrenförmige Netzwerkstruktur erfüllt und somit als Templatphase zur formgesteuerten Bildung von Nanopartikeln genutzt werden kann.
Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurde dargelegt, dass die Templatphase PalPhBisCarb (pH-Wert von 9, Konzentration von 0,01 wt.%) mit AOT als Tensid und PL90G als Phospholipid (im Verhältnis 1:1) die effektivste Wahl einer Templatphase für die Bildung von anisotropen Strukturen in einem einstufigen Prozess darstellt. Bei einer konstanten Synthesetemperatur von 45 °C wurden die besten Ergebnisse bei einer Goldchloridkonzentration von 2 mM, einem Gold-Templat-Verhältnis von 3:1 und einer Synthesezeit von 30 Minuten erzielt. Ausbeute an anisotropen Strukturen lag bei 52 % (Anteil an dreieckigen Nanoplättchen von 19 %). Durch Erhöhung der Synthesetemperatur konnte die Ausbeute auf 56 % (29 %) erhöht werden.
Im dritten Teil konnte durch zeitabhängige Untersuchungen gezeigt werden, dass bei Vorhandensein von PalPhBisCarb die Bildung der energetisch nicht bevorzugten Plättchen-Strukturen bei Raumtemperatur initiiert wird und bei 45 °C ein Optimum annimmt.
Kintetische Untersuchungen haben gezeigt, dass die Bildung dreieckiger Nanoplättchen bei schrittweiser Zugabe der Goldchlorid-Präkursorlösung zur PalPhBisCarb enthaltenden Templatphase durch die Dosierrate der vesikulären Templatphase gesteuert werden kann. In umgekehrter Weise findet bei Zugabe der Templatphase zur Goldchlorid-Präkursorlösung bei 45 °C ein ähnlicher, kinetisch gesteuerter Prozess der Bildung von Nanodreiecken statt mit einer maximalen Ausbeute dreieckigen Nanoplättchen von 29 %.
Im letzten Kapitel erfolgten erste Versuche zur Abtrennung dreieckiger Nanoplättchen von den übrigen Geometrien der gemischten Nanopartikellösung mittels tensidinduzierter Verarmungsfällung. Bei Verwendung von AOT mit einer Konzentration von 0,015 M wurde eine Ausbeute an Nanoplättchen von 99 %, wovon 72 % dreieckiger Geometrien hatten, erreicht.
In the present work side-chain polystyrenes were synthesized and characterized, in order to be applied in multilayer OLEDs fabricated by solution process techniques. Manufacture of optoelectronic devices by solution process techniques is meant to decrease significantly fabrication cost and allow large scale production of such devices.
This dissertation focusses in three series, enveloped in two material classes. The two classes differ to each other in the type of charge transport exhibited, either ambipolar transport or electron transport. All materials were applied in all-organic solution processed green Ir-based devices.
In the first part, a series of ambipolar host materials were developed to transport both charge types, holes and electrons, and be applied especially as matrix for green Ir-based emitters. It was possible to increase devices efficacy by modulating the predominant charge transport type. This was achieved by modification of molecules electron transport part with more electron-deficient heterocycles or by extending the delocalization of the LUMO. Efficiencies up to 28.9 cd/A were observed for all-organic solution-process three layer devices.
In the second part, suitability of triarylboranes and tetraphenylsilanes as electron transport materials was studied. High triplet energies were obtained, up to 2.95 eV, by rational combination of both molecular structures. Although the combination of both elements had a low effect in materials electron transport properties, high efficiencies around 24 cd/A were obtained for the series in all-organic solution-processed two layer devices.
In the last part, benzene and pyridine were chosen as the series electron-transport motif. By controlling the relative pyridine content (RPC) solubility into methanol was induced for polystyrenes with bulky side-chains. Materials with RPC ≥ 0.5 could be deposited orthogonally from solution without harming underlying layers. From the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such materials are applied in this architecture showing moderate efficiencies around 10 cd/A in all-organic solution processed OLEDs.
Overall, the outcome of these studies will actively contribute to the current research on materials for all-solution processed OLEDs.
In this work, a sensor system based on thermoresponsive materials is developed by utilizing a modular approach. By synthesizing three different key monomers containing either a carboxyl, alkene or alkyne end group connected with a spacer to the methacrylic polymerizable unit, a flexible copolymerization strategy has been set up with oligo ethylene glycol methacrylates. This allows to tune the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the polymers in aqueous media. The molar masses are variable thanks to the excurse taken in polymerization in ionic liquids thus stretching molar masses from 25 to over 1000 kDa. The systems that were shown shown to be effective in aqueous solution could be immobilized on surfaces by copolymerizing photo crosslinkable units. The immobilized systems were formulated to give different layer thicknesses, swelling ratios and mesh sizes depending on the demand of the coupling reaction.
The coupling of detector units or model molecules is approached via reactions of the click chemistry pool, and the reactions are evaluated on their efficiency under those aspects, too. These coupling reactions are followed by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPR) to judge efficiency. With these tools at hand, Salmonella saccharides could be selectively detected by SPR. Influenza viruses were detected in solution by turbidimetry in solution as well as by a copolymerized solvatochromic dye to track binding via the changes of the polymers’ fluorescence by said binding event. This effect could also be achieved by utilizing the thermoresponsive behavior. Another demonstrator consists of the detection system bound to a quartz surface, thus allowing the virus detection on a solid carrier.
The experiments show the great potential of combining the concepts of thermoresponsive materials and click chemistry to develop technically simple sensors for large biomolecules and viruses.
Herstellung anisotroper Kolloide mittels templatgesteuerter Assemblierung und Kontaktdruckverfahren
(2017)
Diese Arbeit befasste sich mit neuen Konzepten zur Darstellung anisotroper Partikelsysteme durch Anordnung von funktionalisierten Partikeln unter Zuhilfenahme etablierter Methoden wie der templatgestützten Assemblierung von Partikeln und dem Mikrokontaktdruck.
Das erste Teilprojekt beschäftigte sich mit der kontrollierten Herstellung von Faltenstrukturen im Mikro- bis Nanometerbereich. Die Faltenstrukturen entstehen durch die Relaxation eines Systems bestehend aus zwei übereinander liegender Schichten unterschiedlicher Elastizität. In diesem Fall wurden Falten auf einem elastischen PDMS-Substrat durch Generierung einer Oxidschicht auf der Substratoberfläche mittels Plasmabehandlung erzeugt. Die Dicke der Oxidschicht, die über verschiedene Parameter wie Behandlungszeit, Prozessleistung, Partialdruck des plasmaaktiven Gases, Vernetzungsgrad, Deformation sowie Substratdicke einstellbar war, bestimmte Wellenlänge und Amplitude der Falten.
Das zweite Teilprojekt hatte die Darstellung komplexer, kolloidaler Strukturen auf Basis supramolekularer Wechselwirkungen zum Ziel. Dazu sollte vor allem die templatgestützte Assemblierung von Partikeln sowohl an fest-flüssig als auch flüssig-flüssig Grenzflächen genutzt werden. Für Erstere sollten die in Teilprojekt 1 hergestellten Faltenstrukturen als Templat, für Letztere Pickering-Emulsionen zur Anwendung kommen. Im ersten Fall wurden verschiedene, modifizierte Silicapartikel und Magnetitnanopartikel, deren Größe und Oberflächenfunktionalität (Cyclodextrin-, Azobenzol- und Arylazopyrazolgruppen) variierte, in Faltenstrukturen angeordnet. Die Anordnung hing dabei nicht nur vom gewählten Verfahren, sondern auch von Faktoren wie der Partikelkonzentration, der Oberflächenladung oder dem Größenverhältnis der Partikel zur Faltengeometrie ab.
Die Kombination von Cyclodextrin (CD)- und Arylazopyrazol-modifizierten Partikeln ermöglichte, auf Basis einer Wirt-Gast-Wechselwirkung zwischen den Partikeltypen und einer templatgesteuerten Anordnung, die Bildung komplexer und strukturierter Formen in der Größenordnung mehrerer Mikrometer. Dieses System kann einerseits als Grundlage für die Herstellung verschiedener Janus-Partikel herangezogen werden, andererseits stellt die gerichtete Vernetzung zweier Partikelsysteme zu größeren Aggregaten den Grundstein für neuartige, funktionale Materialien dar. Neben der Anordnung an fest-flüssig Grenzflächen konnte außerdem nachgewiesen werden, dass Azobenzol-funktionalisierte Silicapartikel in der Lage sind, Pickering-Emulsionen über mehrere Monate zu stabilisieren. Die Stabilität und Größe der Emulsionsphase kann über Parameter, wie das Volumenverhältnis und die Konzentration, gesteuert werden. CD-funktionalisierte Silicapartikel besaßen dagegen keine Grenzflächenaktivität, während es CD-basierten Polymeren wiederum möglich war, durch die Ausbildung von Einschlusskomplexen mit den hydrophoben Molekülen der Ölphase stabile Emulsionen zu bilden. Dagegen zeigte die Kombination zwei verschiedener Partikelsysteme keinen oder einen destabilisierenden Effekt bezüglich der Ausbildung von Emulsionen.
Im letzten Teilprojekt wurde die Herstellung multivalenter Silicapartikel mittels Mikrokontaktdruck untersucht. Die Faltenstrukturen wurden dabei als Stempel verwendet, wodurch es möglich war, die Patch-Geometrie über die Wellenlänge der Faltenstrukturen zu steuern. Als Tinte diente das positiv geladene Polyelektrolyt Polyethylenimin (PEI), welches über elektrostatische Wechselwirkungen auf unmodifizierten Silicapartikeln haftet. Im Gegensatz zum Drucken mit flachen Stempeln fiel dabei zunächst auf, dass sich die Tinte bei den Faltenstrukturen nicht gleichmäßig über die gesamte Substratfläche verteilt, sondern hauptsächlich in den Faltentälern vorlag. Dadurch handelte es sich bei dem Druckprozess letztlich nicht mehr um ein klassisches Mikrokontaktdruckverfahren, sondern um ein Tiefdruckverfahren. Über das Tiefdruckverfahren war es dann aber möglich, sowohl eine als auch beide Partikelhemisphären gleichzeitig und mit verschiedenen Funktionalitäten zu modifizieren und somit multivalente Silicapartikel zu generieren. In Abhängigkeit der Wellenlänge der Falten konnten auf einer Partikelhemisphäre zwei bis acht Patches abgebildet werden. Für die Patch-Geometrie, sprich Größe und Form der Patches, spielten zudem die Konzentration der Tinte auf dem Stempel, das Lösungsmittel zum Ablösen der Partikel nach dem Drucken sowie die Stempelhärte eine wichtige Rolle. Da die Stempelhärte aufgrund der variierenden Dicke der Oxidschicht bei verschiedenen Wellenlängen nicht kontant ist, wurden für den Druckprozess meist Abgüsse der Faltensubstrate verwendet. Auf diese Weise war auch die Vergleichbarkeit bei variierender Wellenlänge gewährleistet. Neben dem erfolgreichen Nachweis der Modifikation mittels Tiefdruckverfahren konnte auch gezeigt werden, dass über die Komplexierung mit PEI negativ geladene Nanopartikel auf die Partikeloberfläche aufgebracht werden können.
The reaction of pharmacological active protic ionic liquid tris-(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium 4-chlorophenylsulfanylacetate H + N(CH 2 CH 2 OH) 3 ∙ ( - OOCCH 2 SC 6 H 4 Cl-4) (1) with zinc or nickel chloride in a ratio of 2:1 affords stable at room temperature powder-like adducts [H + N(CH 2 CH 2 OH) 3 ] 2 ∙ [M(OOCCH 2 SC 6 H 4 Cl-4) 2 Cl 2 ] 2- , M = Zn (2), Ni (3). By recrystallization from aqueous alcohol compound 2 unexpectedly gives Zn(OOCCH 2 SC 6 H 4 Cl-4) 2 ∙ 2H 2 O (4). Unlike 2, compound 3 gives crystals [N(CH 2 CH 2 OH) 3 ] 2 Ni 2+ · [ - OOCCH 2 SC 6 H 4 Cl-4] 2 (5), which have a structure of metallated ionic liquid. The structure of 5 has been proved by X-ray diffraction analysis. It is the first example of the conversion of a protic ionic liquid into potentially biological active metallated ionic liquid (1 → 3 → 5).
The title compound, erioflorin, C19H24O6 [systematic name: (1aR,3S,4Z,5aR,8aR,9R,10aR)-1a, 2,3,5a, 7,8,8a, 9,10,10a-decahydro-3-hydroxy-4,10a-dimethyl-8-methylidene-7-oxooxireno[5,6] cyclodeca[1,2-b]furan-9-yl methacrylate], is a tricyclic germacrane sesquiterpene lactone, which was isolated from Podanthus mitiqui (L.). The compound crystallizes in the space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), and its molecular structure consists of a methacrylic ester of a ten-membered ring sesquiterpenoid annelated with an epoxide and a butyrolactone. The structure is stabilized by one intramolecular C-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bond. An O-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bond and further C-H center dot center dot center dot O interactions can be observed in the packing.
The title compound, erioflorin, C19H24O6 [systematic name: (1aR,3S,4Z,5aR,8aR,9R,10aR)-1a, 2,3,5a, 7,8,8a, 9,10,10a-decahydro-3-hydroxy-4,10a-dimethyl-8-methylidene-7-oxooxireno[5,6] cyclodeca[1,2-b]furan-9-yl methacrylate], is a tricyclic germacrane sesquiterpene lactone, which was isolated from Podanthus mitiqui (L.). The compound crystallizes in the space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), and its molecular structure consists of a methacrylic ester of a ten-membered ring sesquiterpenoid annelated with an epoxide and a butyrolactone. The structure is stabilized by one intramolecular C-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bond. An O-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bond and further C-H center dot center dot center dot O interactions can be observed in the packing.
Planar bis(1,2-dithiooxalato)nickelate(II), [Ni(dto)]2− reacts in aqueous solutions with lanthanide ions (Ln3+) to form pentanuclear, hetero-bimetallic complexes of the general composition [{Ln(H2O)n}2{Ni(dto)2}3]·xH2O. (n = 4 or 5; x = 9–12). The complex [{Ho(H2O)5}2{Ni(dto)2}3]·10H2O, Ho2Ni3, was synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray structure analysis and powder diffraction. The Ho2Ni3 complex crystallizes as monoclinic crystals in the space group P21/c. The channels and cavities, appearing in the crystal packing of the complex molecules, are occupied by a varying amount of non-coordinated water molecules.
The title compound was prepared by the reaction of 1,4,10,13-tetraoxa-7,16-diazacyclo-octadecane with 4-chloro-2-methyl-phenoxyacetic acid in a ratio of 1:2. The structure has been proved by the data of elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, NMR ( 1 H, 13 C) technique and by X-ray diffraction analysis. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the azonium protons and oxygen atoms of the carboxylate groups were found. Immunoactive properties of the title compound have been screened. The compound has the ability to suppress spontaneous and Con A-stimulated cell proliferation in vitro and therefore can be considered as immunodepressant.
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.
The pressure dependence of sheath gas assisted electrospray ionization (ESI) was investigated based on two complementary experimental setups, namely an ESI-ion mobility (IM) spectrometer and an ESI capillary - Faraday plate setup housed in an optically accessible vacuum chamber. The ESI-IM spectrometer is capable of working in the pressure range between 300 and 1000 mbar. Another aim was the assessment of the analytical capabilities of a subambient pressure ESI-IM spectrometer. The pressure dependence of ESI was characterized by imaging the electrospray and recording current-voltage (I-U) curves. Qualitatively different behavior was observed in both setups. While the current rises continuously with the voltage in the capillary-plate setup, a sharp increase of the current was measured in the IM spectrometer above a pressure-dependent threshold voltage. The different character can be attributed to the detection of different species in both experiments. In the capillary-plate experiment, a multitude of charged species are detected while only desolvated ions attribute to the IM spectrometer signal. This finding demonstrates the utility of IM spectrometry for the characterization of ESI, since in contrast to the capillary-plate setup, the release of ions from the electrospray droplets can be observed. The I-U curves change significantly with pressure. An important result is the reduction of the maximum current with decreasing pressure. The connected loss of ionization efficiency can be compensated by a more efficient transfer of ions in the IM spectrometer at increased E/N. Thus, similar limits of detection could be obtained at 500 mbar and 1 bar.
Deprotonation of ligand-appended alkoxyl groups in mononuclear copper(II) complexes of N,O ligands L-1 and L-2, gave dinuclear complexes sharing symmetrical Cu2O2 cores. Molecular structures of these mono-and binuclear complexes have been characterized by XRD, and their electronic structures by UV/Vis, H-1 NMR, EPR and DFT; moreover, catalytic performance as models of catechol oxidase was studied. The binuclear complexes with anti-ferromagnetically coupled copper(II) centers are moderately active in quinone formation from 3,5-di-tert-butyl-catechol under the estab-lished conditions of oxygen saturation, but are strongly activated when additional dioxygen is administered during catalytic turnover. This unforeseen and unprecedented effect is attributed to increased maximum reaction rates v(max), whereas the substrate affinity KM remains unaffected. Oxygen administration is capable of (partially) removing limitations to turnover caused by product inhibition. Because product inhibition is generally accepted to be a major limitation of catechol oxidase models, we think that our observations will be applicable more widely.
The Marangoni contraction of sessile drops of a binary mixture of a volatile and a nonvolatile liquid has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The origin of the contraction is the locally inhomogeneous evaporation rate of sessile drops. This leads to surface tension gradients and thus to a Marangoni flow. Simulations show that the interplay of Marangoni flow, capillary flow, diffusive transport, and evaporative losses can establish a quasistationary drop profile with an apparent nonzero contact angle even if both liquid components individually wet the substrate completely. Experiments with different solvents, initial mass fractions, and gaseous environments reveal a previously unknown universal power-law relation between the apparent contact angle and the relative undersaturation of the ambient atmosphere: theta(app) similar to (RHeq - RH)(1/3). This experimentally observed power law is in quantitative agreement with simulation results. The exponent can also be inferred from a scaling analysis of the hydrodynamic-evaporative evolution equations of a binary mixture of liquids with different volatilities.
Polyplexes, composed of Salmon DNA and very small gold nanoparticles embedded into a dendritic glycopolymer architecture of sugar-modified poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI-Mal) with a molar mass of about 25,000 g/mol, were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential measurements, micro differential scanning calorimetry (mu-DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The PEI-Mal-entrapped gold nanoparticles of about 2 nm in diameter influence the polyplex formation of the hyperbranched PEI containing bulky maltose, and in consequence the DNA is more compactized in the inner part of spherical polyplex particles of about 150 nm in diameter. The resulting more compact core shell polyplex particles with embedded gold nanoparticles in the outer polymer shell will be used as components in forthcoming gene delivery experiments. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The Pd-catalyzed Heck-type coupling (Matsuda Heck reaction) of electron rich arene diazonium salts with electron deficient olefins has been exploited for the synthesis of phenylpropanoid natural products. Examples described herein are the naturally occurring benzofurans methyl wutaifuranate, wutaifuranol, wutaifuranal, their 7-methoxy derivatives, and the O-prenylated natural products boropinols A and C.
Polymeric biomaterials are of specific relevance in medical and pharmaceutical applications due to their wide range of tailorable properties and functionalities. The knowledge about interactions of biomaterials with their biological environment is of crucial importance for developing highly sophisticated medical devices. To achieve optimal in vivo performance, a description at the molecular level is required to gain better understanding about the surface of synthetic materials for tailoring their properties. This is still challenging and requires the comprehensive characterization of morphological structures, polymer chain arrangements and degradation behaviour. The review discusses selected aspects for evaluating polymeric biomaterial-environment interfaces by Langmuir monolayer methods as powerful techniques for studying interfacial properties, such as morphological and degradation processes. The combination of spectroscopic, microscopic and scattering methods with the Langmuir techniques adapted to polymers can substantially improve the understanding of their in vivo behaviour.
Driven mostly by the search for chemical syntheses under biocompatible conditions, so called "click" chemistry rapidly became a growing field of research. The resulting simple one-pot reactions are so far only scarcely accompanied by an adequate optimization via comparably straightforward and robust analysis techniques possessing short set-up times. Here, we report on a fast and reliable calibration-free online NMR monitoring approach for technical mixtures. It combines a versatile fluidic system, continuous-flow measurement of H-1 spectra with a time interval of 20 s per spectrum, and a robust, fully automated algorithm to interpret the obtained data. As a proof-of-concept, the thiol-ene coupling between N-boc cysteine methyl ester and ally] alcohol was conducted in a variety of non-deuterated solvents while its time-resolved behaviour was characterized with step tracer experiments. Overlapping signals in online spectra during thiol-ene coupling could be deconvoluted with a spectral model using indirect hard modeling and were subsequently converted to either molar ratios (using a calibration free approach) or absolute concentrations (using 1-point calibration). For various solvents the kinetic constant k for pseudo-first order reaction was estimated to be 3.9 h(-1) at 25 degrees C. The obtained results were compared with direct integration of non-overlapping signals and showed good agreement with the implemented mass balance. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The decomposition of anthracene endoperoxides has been investigated under various conditions. Thermolyses proceed via radical intermediates and afford anthracenes and rearrangement products, depending on the substitution pattern. Interestingly, not only the O-O but also the C-O bond can be cleaved homolytically. Under basic conditions fragmentations take place, affording anthraquinone, and reactive oxygen species. This mechanism explains the often observed decomposition of endoperoxides during work-up. Finally, an acid-catalyzed cleavage has been observed under release of hydrogen peroxide. The results should be interesting for the mechanistic understanding of peroxide decomposition and the endoperoxides might serve as mild sources of reactive oxygen species for future applications. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
High oxygen permeable [poly(TMSP)] nanofibers incorporating porphyrin macrocycle as luminescence indicators were prepared by electrospinning technique. The porphyrins involves were modified by i) introducing phenylacetylide substituents on the para position of the phenyl moieties and ii) varying the metal centers [Pt(II) or Pd(II)] of the meso-tetrakisphenylporphyrins. A set of nanofibers; (Pt-TPP)NF, (Pd-TPP)NF, (Pt-TPA)NF and (Pd-TPA)NF were obtained to study their structure-activity relationship toward oxygen. The lifetime-based technique was privileged to take advantage of their long-lived phosphorescent properties. A two-fold enhancement was observed for (Pt-TPA)NF and (Pd-TPA)NF compared to (Pt-TPP)NF and (Pd-TPP)NF demonstrating the positive effect of the phenylacetylide moieties on the lifetime. Also, Silver nanoparticles were included in nanofibers to investigate their influence on lifetime-based oxygen sensitivity, showing that the presence of AgNPs only affects (Pd-TPA)NF.
Carbohydrates carrying thiol groups at the C-2 position have been attached to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with stereocenters in close proximity to the surface for the first time. Their configurations can be clearly distinguished by the tendency of particle aggregation. AuNP surface plasmon resonance (SPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and IR spectroscopy indicate that the thiocarbohydrates replace citrate molecules at different rates, causing aggregation and eventually precipitation. A quantitative formulation of this aggregation process shows that reactivities can vary by several magnitudes. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics also demonstrate that the number of thiocarbohydrates varies by a factor of two. Molecular mechanics force field (MMFF) calculations reveal their relative orientations. Based on these models, the different binding behavior can be ascribed to attractive van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds. Such interactions occur either between the carbohydrate and AuNPs, by lateral intermolecular forces at the surface, or by interparticle attraction, in analogy to cell-surface carbohydrates of biological recognition systems. Aggregation of NPs therefore act as an indicator to differentiate between various carbohydrates with defined configurations.
2-Deoxy-D-ribose-5-phosphate aldolase (DERA) is a biocatalyst that is capable of converting acetaldehyde and a second aldehyde as acceptor into enantiomerically pure mono- and diyhydroxyaldehydes, which are important structural motifs in a number of pharmaceutically active compounds. However, substrate as well as product inhibition requires a more-sophisticated process design for the synthesis of these motifs. One way to do so is to the couple aldehyde conversion with transport processes, which, in turn, would require an immobilization of the enzyme within a thin film that can be deposited on a membrane support. Consequently, we developed a fabrication process for such films that is based on the formation of DERA-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) conjugates that are subsequently allowed to self-assemble at an air-water interface to yield the respective film. In this contribution, we discuss the conjugation conditions, investigate the interfacial properties of the conjugates, and, finally, demonstrate a successful film formation under the preservation of enzymatic activity.