Influence of the nacnac Ligand in Iron(I)‐Mediated P4 Transformations

A study of P₄ transformations at low‐valent iron is presented using β‐diketiminato (L) Fe^I complexes [LFe(tol)] (tol=toluene; L=L¹ ( 1 a ), L² ( 1 b ), L³ ( 1 c )) with different combinations of aromatic and backbone substituents at the ligand. The products [(LFe)₄(μ₄‐η²:η²:η²:η²‐P₈)] (L=L¹ ( 2 a ), L² ( 2 b )) containing a P₈ core were obtained by the reaction of 1 a,b with P₄ in toluene at room temperature. Using a slightly more sterically encumbered ligand in 1 c results in the formation of [(L³Fe)₂(μ‐η⁴:η⁴‐P₄)] ( 2 c ), possessing a cyclo‐P₄ moiety. Compounds 2 a – c were comprehensively characterized and their electronic structures investigated by SQUID magnetization and ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy as well as by DFT methods.     

Photocatalysis as an Effective Tool for Upcycling Polymers into Value-Added Molecules

Shaping a sustainable future is closely tied to the development of advanced plastic recycling technologies. As global recycling rates remain low, the lion's share of post-consumer plastics is either incinerated or disposed of in landfills. This unbalanced plastic waste management not only poses severe environmental risks, but also entails an irrevocable loss of chemical resources that are embedded in synthetic polymers. To give plastic waste a new life, a series of photocatalytic methods has recently been reported that convert polymers directly into value-added organic molecules. These approaches operate at ambient temperature, show high reactivity/selectivity, and provide alternative reaction pathways as compared to thermal depolymerizations. This Minireview highlights the scientific breakthroughs in upcycling polymers through state-of-the-art photocatalysis under environmentally benign conditions.     

How Methylammonium Iodide Reactant Size Affects Morphology and Defect Properties of Mechanochemically Synthesized MAPbI3 Powder

Here, we investigate in detail the impact of the size of the methylammonium iodide (MAI) reactants in the mechanochemical powder synthesis of the halide perovskite methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃). Morphology and structural characterizations by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction reveal that with increasing MAI reactant size, the particle size of the perovskite powder increases, while its defect density decreases, as suggested by nuclear quadrupole resonance spectroscopy and photoluminescence investigations. The reason for this behavior seems to be associated to the sensitive influence of the MAI size on the time durations of MAPbI₃ synthesis and delayed MAPbI₃ crushing stage during ball milling. Thus, our results emphasize the high importance the reactant properties have on the mechanochemical synthesis of halide perovskites and will contribute to enhance the reproducibility and control of the fabrication of halide perovskites in powder form.     

Darobactins Exhibiting Superior Antibiotic Activity by Cryo-EM Structure Guided Biosynthetic Engineering**

Over recent decades, the pipeline of antibiotics acting against Gram-negative bacteria is running dry, as most discovered candidate antibiotics suffer from insufficient potency, pharmacokinetic properties, or toxicity. The darobactins, a promising new small peptide class of drug candidates, bind to novel antibiotic target BamA, an outer membrane protein. Previously, we reported that biosynthetic engineering in a heterologous host generated novel darobactins with enhanced antibacterial activity. Here we utilize an optimized purification method and present cryo-EM structures of the Bam complex with darobactin 9 (D9), which served as a blueprint for the biotechnological generation of twenty new darobactins including halogenated analogs. The newly engineered darobactin 22 binds more tightly to BamA and outperforms the favorable activity profile of D9 against clinically relevant pathogens such as carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii up to 32-fold, without observing toxic effects.     

Attaining control by design over the hydrolytic stability of Fe-TAML oxidation catalysts

The iron(III) complexes of tetra amidato macrocyclic ligands (TAMLs) ([Fe{1-X1-2-X2C6H2-4,5-(NCOCMe2NCO)2CR2}(OH2)]- , 1: X1 = X2 = H, R2 = Me2 (a), R2 = (CH2)2 (b); X1 = X2 = Cl, R2 = F2 (c), etc.), which the proton is known to demetalate at pH < 3, are also subject to catalyzed demetalation by Br?nsted acid buffer components at pH 4-9 such as H2PO4-, HSO3-, and CH3CO2H, HO2CCH2CO2-. Buffers based on pyridine (py) and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (TRIS) are catalytically inactive. Where reactions proceed, the products are demetalated TAMLs and iron species of variable composition. Pseudo-first-order rate constants for the demetalation (kobs) are linear functions of the acid concentrations, and the effective second-order rate constants k1,eff have a hyperbolic dependence on [H+] (k1,eff = a1[H+]/(b1+[H+]). The rate of demetalation of 1a in H2PO4-/HPO42- buffer is appreciable, but the kobs values for 1b and 1c are immeasurably low, showing that the rates are strongly affected by the CR2 or "tail" fragments, which are known to potently affect the TAML basicity. The reactivities of 1 depend insignificantly on the aromatic ring or "head" group of 1. The proposed mechanism involves precoordination of the acidic buffer species followed by hydrolysis. The demetalating abilities of buffer species depend on their structures and acidities. Thus, although pyridine-2-carboxylic (picolinic) acid catalyzes the demetalation, its 3- and 4-isomers (nicotinic and isonicotininc acids) are inactive. The difference is rationalized to result from the ability that only coordinated picolinic acid has to deliver a proton to an amidato nitrogen in an intramolecular manner. The reaction order in picolinic acid equals one for 1a and two for 1b. For 1b, "inactive" pyridine and nicotinic acid speed up the demetalation in the presence of picolinic acid, suggesting that the second order arises from the axial binding of two pyridine molecules, one of which must be picolinic acid. The binding of pyridine- and imidazole-type ligands was confirmed by UV/vis equilibrium measurements and X-ray crystallography. The implications of these mechanistic findings for designing superior Fe-TAML oxidation catalysts and catalyst formulations are discussed using the results of DFT calculations.     

Facile decoration of functionalized single-wall carbon nanotubes with phthalocyanines via "click chemistry"

We describe the functionalization of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with 4-(2-trimethylsilyl)ethynylaniline and the subsequent attachment of a zinc-phthalocyanine (ZnPc) derivative using the reliable Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The motivation of this study was the preparation of a nanotube-based platform which allows the facile fabrication of more complex functional nanometer-scale structures, such as a SWNT-ZnPc hybrid. The nanotube derivatives described here were fully characterized by a combination of analytical techniques such as Raman, absorption and emission spectroscopy, atomic force and scanning electron microscopy (AFM and SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The SWNT-ZnPc nanoconjugate was also investigated with a series of steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy experiments, and a photoinduced communication between the two photoactive components (i.e., SWNT and ZnPc) was identified. Such beneficial features lead to monochromatic internal photoconversion efficiencies of 17.3% when the SWNT-ZnPc hybrid material was tested as photoactive material in an ITO photoanode.     

Poly(norbornene)s as matrix materials for platinum tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin based optical oxygen sensors

A set of poly(norbornenes) was prepared using ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and used as matrix material for the preparation of optical oxygen sensor layers based on platinum tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin (PtTFPP) as the sensitive dye. Different polymers were prepared and investigated in order to retrieve information on the influence of the anchor group and the side chain attached to the polymer backbone on their performance as matrix material for the dye. Bulky side groups increased the oxygen permeability through ROM polymer layers, especially when the bulky group was directly attached via an anchor group to the polymer backbone without any aliphatic spacer in between. Sensor layers made of poly(endo,exo[2.2.1]bicyclo-5-heptene-2,3-dicarboxyclic acid di-tert-butylester) and PtTFPP exhibited the highest τ₀/τ ratio and responded strongly to small amounts of oxygen.     

Antioxidant nanoreactor based on superoxide dismutase encapsulated in superoxide-permeable vesicles

We designed and tested an antioxidant nanoreactor based on encapsulation of Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase in amphiphilic copolymer nanovesicles, the membranes of which are oxygen permeable. The nanovesicles, made of poly(2-methyloxazoline)-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-poly(2-methyloxazoline), successfully encapsulated the protein during their self-assembling process, as proved by confocal laser-scanning microscopy and fluorescence-correlation spectroscopy. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and circular dichroism analyses showed that no structural changes appeared in the protein molecules once inside the inner space of the nanovesicles. The function of this antioxidant nanoreactor was tested by pulse radiolysis, which demonstrated that superoxide dismutase remains active inside the nanovesicles and detoxifies the superoxide radical in situ. The membrane of our triblock copolymer nanovesicles plays a double role, both to shield the sensitive protein and to selectively let superoxide and dioxygen penetrate to its inner space. This simple and robust hybrid system provides a selective shielding of sensitive enzymes from proteolytic attack and therefore a new direction for developing drug delivery applications.     

Fragment-based de novo ligand design by multiobjective evolutionary optimization

GANDI (Genetic Algorithm-based de Novo Design of Inhibitors) is a computational tool for automatic fragment-based design of molecules within a protein binding site of known structure. A genetic algorithm and a tabu search act in concert to join predocked fragments with a user-supplied list of fragments. A novel feature of GANDI is the simultaneous optimization of force field energy and a term enforcing 2D-similarity to known inhibitor(s) or 3D-overlap to known binding mode(s). Scaffold hopping can be promoted by tuning the relative weights of these terms. The performance of GANDI is tested on cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) using a library of about 14 000 fragments and the binding mode of a known oxindole inhibitor to bias the design. Top ranking GANDI molecules are involved in one to three hydrogen bonds with the backbone polar groups in the hinge region of CDK2, an interaction pattern observed in potent kinase inhibitors. Notably, a GANDI molecule with very favorable predicted binding affinity shares a 2-N-phenyl-1,3-thiazole-2,4-diamine moiety with a known nanomolar inhibitor of CDK2. Importantly, molecules with a favorable GANDI score are synthetic accessible. In fact, eight of the 1809 molecules designed by GANDI for CDK2 are found in the ZINC database of commercially available compounds which also contains about 600 compounds with identical scaffolds as those in the top ranking GANDI molecules.