External electric field effect on electronic properties and charge transfer in CoI2/NiI2 spinterface

Electronic structure and spin-related properties of CoI₂/NiI₂ heterostructure were studied by means of density functional theory. It was shown that the electronic structure at the Fermi level can be characterized by a band gap. The effect of the external electric field on charge transfer and electronic properties of the CoI₂/NiI₂ interface was investigated, and it was found that band gap width depends on the strength of the applied electric field, switching its nature from semiconducting to a half-metallic one. An easy control of the electronic properties and promising spin-polarized nature of the CoI₂/NiI₂ spinterface allows the heterostructure to be used in spin-related applications.     

Comparing the Impact of NIR,Visible and UV Light on ROS Upregulation via Photoacceptors of Mitochondrial Complexes in Normal,Immune and Cancer Cells

The effect of UV/visible/NIR light (380/450/530/650/808/1064 nm) on ROS generation, mitochondrial activity and viability is experimentally compared in human neuroblastoma cancer cells. The absorption of photons by mitochondrial photoacceptors in Complexes I, III and IV is in detail investigated by sequential blocking with selective pharmaceutical blockers. Complex I absorbs UV/blue light by heme P450, resulting in a very high rate (14 times) of ROS generation leading to cell death. Complex III absorbs green light, by cytochromes b, c1 and c, and possesses less ability for ROS production (seven times), so that only irradiation lower than 10 mW cm⁻² causes an increase in cell viability. Complex IV is well-known as the primary photoacceptor for red/NIR light. Light of 650/808 nm at 10–100 mW cm⁻² generates a physiological ROS level about 20% of a basal concentration, which enhance mitochondrial activity and cell survival, while 1064 nm light does not show any distinguished effects. Further, ROS generation induced by low-intensity red/NIR light is compared in neurons, immune and cancer cells. Red light seems to more rapidly stimulate ROS production, mitochondrial activity and cell survival than 808 nm. At the same time, different cell lines demonstrate slightly various rates of ROS generation, peculiar to their cellular physiology.     

Order-Unity 13C Nuclear Polarization of [1-13C]Pyruvate in Seconds and the Interplay of Water and SABRE Enhancement

Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange in SHield Enabled Alignment Transfer (SABRE-SHEATH) is investigated to achieve rapid hyperpolarization of ¹³C₁ spins of [1-¹³C]pyruvate, using parahydrogen as the source of nuclear spin order. Pyruvate exchange with an iridium polarization transfer complex can be modulated via a sensitive interplay between temperature and co-ligation of DMSO and H₂O. Order-unity ¹³C (>50 %) polarization of catalyst-bound [1-¹³C]pyruvate is achieved in less than 30 s by restricting the chemical exchange of [1-¹³C]pyruvate at lower temperatures. On the catalyst bound pyruvate, 39 % polarization is measured using a 1.4 T NMR spectrometer, and extrapolated to >50 % at the end of build-up in situ. The highest measured polarization of a 30-mM pyruvate sample, including free and bound pyruvate is 13 % when using 20 mM DMSO and 0.5 M water in CD₃OD. Efficient ¹³C polarization is also enabled by favorable relaxation dynamics in sub-microtesla magnetic fields, as indicated by fast polarization buildup rates compared to the T₁ spin-relaxation rates (e. g., ∼0.2 s⁻¹ versus ∼0.1 s⁻¹, respectively, for a 6 mM catalyst-[1-¹³C]pyruvate sample). Finally, the catalyst-bound hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]pyruvate can be released rapidly by cycling the temperature and/or by optimizing the amount of water, paving the way to future biomedical applications of hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]pyruvate produced via comparatively fast and simple SABRE-SHEATH-based approaches.     

A Molecular Photosensitizer in a Porous Block Copolymer Matrix-Implications for the Design of Photocatalytically Active Membranes

Recently, porous photocatalytically active block copolymer membranes were introduced, based on heterogenized molecular catalysts. Here, we report the integration of the photosensitizer, i. e., the light absorbing unit in an intermolecular photocatalytic system into block copolymer membranes in a covalent manner. We study the resulting structure and evaluate the orientational mobility of the photosensitizer as integral part of the photocatalytic system in such membranes. To this end we utilize transient absorption anisotropy, highlighting the temporal reorientation of the transition dipole moment probed in a femtosecond pump-probe experiment. Our findings indicate that the photosensitizer is rigidly bound to the polymer membrane and shows a large heterogeneity of absolute anisotropy values as a function of location probed within the matrix. This reflects the sample inhomogeneity arising from different protonation states of the photosensitizer and different intermolecular interactions of the photosensitizers within the block copolymer membrane scaffold.     

New carbacylamidophosphates (CAPh) and CAPh-containing coordination compounds: structural peculiarities

Structural Chemistry - The new carbacylamidophosphate derivative HL1 (1) with general formula Cl3CC(O)N(H)P(O)(CH2C5H4N)2 named...     

The interaction of iron and metal‐free meso‐tetra (4‐sulfonatophenyl) porphines with CVD graphene: a comparative Raman spectroscopy study

In this work, a non‐covalent interaction of iron and metal‐free meso‐tetra (4‐sulfonatophenyl) porphines (FeTPPS and TPPS, respectively) with high‐quality single‐layer graphene is studied by Raman spectroscopy. Such a kind of graphene functionalization is promising for a development of novel optoelectronic devices and sensors. Our results show that the central metal atom of porphyrin macrocycle, iron particularly, plays an important role in the integrity of FeTPPS on graphene surface; however, the predicted Raman enhancement is not significant. The interaction of metal‐free TPPS with graphene leads to the deprotonation of TPPS molecules and higher Raman enhancement values. Moreover, initially deprotonated TPPS solutions after the adsorption onto the graphene surface demonstrate the appearance of new Raman bands and significantly enhanced Raman signals. We propose that a strong interaction between deprotonated TPPS and graphene is realized through pyrrole and desulfonated phenyl rings of closely located planar TPPS molecules on the graphene surface. The results show that both the protonation of porphyrin macrocycle and the existence of central metal atom are crucial for a formation of nanocomposites with defined electronic properties. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Convenient Access to Fluorescent Probes by Chemoselective Acylation of Hydrazinopeptides: Application to the Synthesis of the First Far‐Red Ligand for Apelin Receptor Imaging

Herein, we develop a convenient method to facilitate the solution‐phase fluorescent labelling of peptides based on the chemoselective acylation of α‐hydrazinopeptides. This approach combines the advantages of using commercially available amine‐reactive dyes and very mild conditions, which are fully compatible with the chemical sensitivity of the dyes. The usefulness of this approach was demonstrated by the labelling of apelin‐13 peptide. Various fluorescent probes were readily synthesized, enabling the rapid optimization of their affinities for the apelin receptor. Thus, the first far‐red fluorescent ligand with sub‐nanomolar affinity for the apelin receptor was characterized and shown to track the receptor efficiently in living cells by fluorescence confocal microscopy.