Semiconductor nanocrystals with multifunctional polymer ligands

In this letter, we describe the preparation of a versatile polymer ligand, which can be attached to CdSe/ZnS semiconductor nanocrystals via a phase transfer reaction. The ligand is based on a chain of reactive esters, which can, in principle, be substituted by any compound containing amino-functionalities. The polymer/nanocrystal complexes are characterized in terms of structure and photostability.     

The role of ion-molecule pairs in solvolysis reactions. Nucleophilic addition of water to a tertiary allylic carbocation.

The acid-catalyzed solvolysis of 2-methoxy-2-phenyl-3-butene (1-OMe) in 9.09 vol % acetonitrile in water provides 2-hydroxy-2-phenyl-3-butene (1-OH) as the predominant product under kinetic control along with the rearranged alcohol 1-hydroxy-3-phenyl-2-butene (2-OH) and a small amount of the rearranged ether 2-OMe. The more stable isomer 2-OH is the predominant product after long reaction time, K(eq) = [2-OH](eq)/[1-OH](eq) = 16. The ether 2-OMe reacts to give 2-OH and a trace of 1-OH. Solvolysis of 1-OMe in (18)O-labeled water/acetonitrile shows complete incorporation of (18)O in the product 1-OH, confirming that the reaction involves cleavage of the carbon-oxygen bond to the allylic carbon. A completely solvent-equilibrated allylic carbocation is not formed since the solvolysis of the corresponding chloride 1-chloro-3-phenyl-2-butene (2-Cl) yields a larger fraction of 1-OH. This may be attributed to a shielding effect from the chloride leaving group. Quantum chemical calculations of the geometry and charge distribution show that the cation should rather be described as a vinyl-substituted benzyl cation than as an allyl cation, which is in accord with its higher reactivity at the tertiary carbon.     

7-Substituted 8-vinyl-1,3-dimethyl-3,7-dihydro-1H-purine-2,6-diones and their broncholytic activity

Summary Alkylation of 8-vinyl-1,3-dimethyl-3,7-dihydro-1H-purine-2,6-dione (1) with alkyl halides inDMF in the presence of potassium carbonate, or alternatively, alkylation of its sodium salt (2) with alkyl iodide or hydroxyalkyl iodide afforded the 7-alkyl- or 7-(-hydroxyalkyl)-8-vinyl-1,3-dimethyl-3,7-dihydro-1H-purine-2,6-diones3. 2-Substituted oxiranes reacted with1 catalyzed by2 or Triton B to yield 7-(2-hydroxyalkyl)-8-vinyl-1,3-dimethyl-3,7-dihydro-1H-purine-2,6-diones4. Compounds3 and4 were tested for broncholytic activity. The most effective derivatives were3c and4b.

---

7-Substituierte 8-Vinyl-1,3-dimethyl-3,7-dihydro-1H-purin-2,6-dione und ihre broncholytische Wirkung

Zusammenfassung Alkylierung von 8-Vinyl-1,3-dimethyl-3,7-dihydro-1H-purin-2,6-dion (1) mit Halogenalkanen in Gegenwart von Kaliumkarbonat inDMF oder Alkylierung seines Natrium-Salzes (2) mit Iodalkanen beziehungsweise Iodalkanolen führte zu den 7-Alkyl- bzw. 7-(-Hydroxyalkyl)-8-vinyl-1,3-dimethyl-3,7-dihydro-1H-purin-2,6-dionen3. 2-Substituierte Oxirane reagierten mit Verbindung1 unter Katalyse durch2 oder Triton B zu den entsprechenden 7-(2-Hydroxyalkyl)-derivaten4. Die Substanzen3 und4 wurden auf ihre broncholytische Wirkung geprüft. Die höchste Aktivität wurde bei den Derivaten3c und4b festgestellt.

     

High-precision calculation of Hartree-Fock energy of crystals

When using quantum chemistry techniques to calculate the energetics of bulk crystals, there is a need to calculate the Hartree-Fock (HF) energy of the crystal at the basis-set limit. We describe a strategy for achieving this, which exploits the fact that the HF energy of crystals can now be calculated using pseudopotentials and plane-wave basis sets, an approach that permits basis-set convergence to arbitrary precision. The errors due to the use of pseudopotentials are then computed from the difference of all-electron and pseudopotential total energies of atomic clusters, extrapolated to the bulk-crystal limit. The strategy is tested for the case of the LiH crystal, and it is shown that the HF cohesive energy can be converged with respect to all technical parameters to a precision approaching 0.1 mE(h) per atom. This cohesive energy and the resulting HF value of the equilibrium lattice parameter are compared with literature values obtained using Gaussian basis sets.     

Multivalent Peptide–Nanoparticle Conjugates for Influenza-Virus Inhibition

To inhibit binding of the influenza A virus to the host cell glycocalyx, we generate multivalent peptide–polymer nanoparticles binding with nanomolar affinity to the virus via its spike protein hemagglutinin. The chosen dendritic polyglycerol scaffolds are highly biocompatible and well suited for a multivalent presentation. We could demonstrate in vitro that by increasing the size of the polymer scaffold and adjusting the peptide density, viral infection is drastically reduced. Such a peptide–polymer conjugate qualified also in an in vivo infection scenario. With this study we introduce the first non-carbohydrate-based, covalently linked, multivalent virus inhibitor in the nano- to picomolar range by ensuring low peptide-ligand density on a larger dendritic scaffold.     

Metal-only Lewis Pairs of Rhodium with s,p and d-Block Metals

Metal-only Lewis pairs (MOLPs) in which the two metal fragments are solely connected by a dative M→M bond represent privileged architectures to acquire fundamental understanding of bimetallic bonding. This has important implications in many catalytic processes or supramolecular systems that rely on synergistic effects between two metals. However, a systematic experimental/computational approach on a well-defined class of compounds is lacking. Here we report a family of MOLPs constructed around the Rh^I precursor [(η⁵-C₅Me₅)Rh(PMe₃)₂] ( 1 ) with a series of s, p and d-block metals, mostly from the main group elements, and investigate their bonding by computational means. Among the new MOLPs, we have structurally characterized those formed by dative bonding between 1 and MgMeBr, AlMe₃, GeCl₂, SnCl₂, ZnMe₂ and Zn(C₆F₅)_2, as well as spectroscopically identified the ones resulting from coordination to MBAr_F (M=Na, Li; BAr_F⁻=[B(C₆H₂-3,5-(CF₃)₂)₄]⁻) and CuCl. Some of these compounds represent unique examples of bimetallic structures, such as the first unambiguous cases of Rh→Mg dative bonding or base-free rhodium bound germylene and stannylene species. Multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, including ¹⁰³Rh NMR, is used to probe the formation of Rh→M bonds. A comprehensive theoretical analysis of those provides clear trends. As anticipated, greater bond covalency is found for the more electronegative acids, whereas ionic character dominates for the least electronegative nuclei, though some degree of electron sharing is identified in all cases.     

A simple observation on simple zeros

A lower bound on the number of simple and distinct zeros of elements in a function field defined by linear recurrence sequences is computed.