Crystal Structure of Decakis(μ-chloro)-tetrakis(1,2,4-triphenylcyclopentadienyl)-hexakis(tetrahydrofuran)-di-potassium-tetra-neodymium(III) Tetrahydrofuran Trisolvate

Journal of Chemical Crystallography - The crystal structure of decakis(μ-chloro)-tetrakis(1,2,4-triphenylcyclopentadienyl)-hexakis(tetrahydrofuran)-di-potassium-tetra-neodymium(III)...     

Raman Scattering Enhancement Based on High-Pressure High-Temperature Diamonds†

Journal of Russian Laser Research - We discuss the use of high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) diamonds for the determination of trace amounts of various Raman active substances. The amount of the...     

Seeing the Unseen: Experimental Observation of Magnetic Anapole State Inside a High-Index Dielectric Particle

The existence of non-radiating electromagnetic sources attracts much attention in photonic community and gives rise to extensive discussions of various applications in lasing, medical imaging, sensing, and nonlinear optics. In this article, the existence of magnetic anapole states (or magnetic-type non-radiating sources) characterized by a suppressed magnetic dipole radiation in a dielectric cylindrical particle is theoretically predicted and experimentally demonstrated. The specific features of the magnetic anapole state under ideal conditions are identified, followed by a demonstration of how their existence can be detected in practical structures. The concept is valid in various frequency bands from visible range for nanoparticles to microwave range for millimeter size objects. The experimental study is performed in microwave frequency range which allows not only to measure the far-field (scattered field) characteristics, but also to probe the peculiar field profile directly inside the dielectric particle. The experimental results agree well with the analytical ones and pave the way to detect and identify nontrivial different-type anapole states.     

Multifunctional Sulfur-Hyperdoped Silicon Nanoparticles with Engineered Mid-Infrared Sulfur-Impurity and Free-Carrier Absorption

Si nanoparticles (NPs), which are innovative promising light-harvesting components of thin-film solar cells and key-enabling biocompatible theranostic elements of infrared-laser and radiofrequency hyperthermia-based therapies of cancer cells in tumors and metastases, are significantly advanced in their near/mid-infrared band-to-band and free-carrier absorption via donor sulfur-hyperdoping during high-throughput facile femtosecond-laser ablative production in liquid carbon disulfide. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman microscopy reveal their mixed nanocrystalline/amorphous structure, enabling the extraordinary sulfur content of a few atomic percents and very minor surface oxidation/carbonization characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A 200-nm thick layer of the nanoparticles exhibits near−mid-infrared absorbance, comparable to that of the initial 380-micron thick n-doped Si wafer (phosphor-dopant concentration ≈10¹⁵ cm⁻³), with the corresponding extinction coefficient for the hyperdoped NPs being 4–7 orders higher over the broadband spectral range of 1–25 micrometers. Such ultimate, but potentially tunable mid-IR structured, multi-band absorption of various sulfur-impurity clusters and smooth free-carrier absorption are break through advances in mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser and radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia-based therapies, as envisioned in the RF-heating tests, and in fabrication of higher-efficiency thin-film and bulk photovoltaic devices with ultra-broad (UV−mid-IR) spectral response.     

Cytotoxic dimeric half-sandwich Ru(II), Os(II) and Ir(III) complexes containing the 4,4′-biphenyl-based bridging ligands

A series of dinuclear half-sandwich Ru(II), Os(II) and Ir(III) complexes [Ru₂(μ-Lⁿ)(η⁶-pcym)₂Cl₂](PF₆)₂ ( 1 , 4 ), [Os₂(μ-Lⁿ)(η⁶-pcym)₂Cl₂](PF₆)₂ ( 2 , 5 ) and [Ir₂(μ-Lⁿ)(η⁵-Cp*)₂Cl₂](PF₆)₂ ( 3 , 6 ), based on 4,4′-biphenyl-based bridging Schiff base ligands N,N′-(biphenyl-4,4′-diyldimethylidyne)bis-2-(pyridin-2-yl)methanamine (L¹; for 1 – 3 ) and N,N′-(biphenyl-4,4′-diyldimethylidyne)bis-2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethanamine (L²; for 4 – 6 ) is reported; pcym = 1-methyl-4-(propan-2-yl)benzene, Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl. The complexes were characterized by relevant analytical techniques (i.e. elemental analysis, FT-IR, NMR, ESI-MS), and their in vitro cytotoxicity was assessed at six cancerous and two non-cancerous (healthy) human cell lines. Overall, complexes 4 – 6 , containing the L² bridging ligand, revealed higher cytotoxicity as compared with 1 – 3 and, thus, they were studied in greater detail. The best-performing complex 6 exceeded at least twice the in vitro cytotoxicity of cisplatin and showed high selectivity towards the cancer cells over the normal ones, including the primary culture of human hepatocytes. In contrast to cisplatin, complexes 4 – 6 did not induce the cell cycle modification of the treated A2780 human ovarian carcinoma cells (studied by flow cytometry and Western blot analysis). High levels of superoxide anion were induced by complexes 4 – 6 at the A2780 cells. The levels of activated forms of Caspase-3 and Caspase-8 at the A2780 cells treated by Ru(II) complex 4 were comparable with cisplatin, while complexes 5 and 6 had only a minor effect on activation of these caspases.     

Diazoacetonitrile (N2CHCN): A Long Forgotten but Valuable Reagent for Organic Synthesis

Diazoacetonitrile (N₂CHCN) is a small reactive diazoalkane. It has been synthesized for the first time already in 1898 by Theodor Curtius, however, did not gain much recognition in organic synthesis until recently. Only in 2015, after introduction of in situ and flow protocols for the safe generation of diazoacetonitrile, it started gaining popularity. In this minireview, the synthetic properties and applications of this valuable reagent are discussed.     

Classification of wine distillates using multivariate statistical methods based on their direct GC-MS analysis

This work describes a novel methodology for the recognition of brandies based on direct injection of a raw sample followed by GC-MS analysis. Direct injection was chosen for its simplicity and the fact that the composition of the samples analysed remains unchanged compared to original brandy. The repeatability of the analytical procedure was evaluated by a comparison of the peak areas for randomly selected compounds obtained from 10 parallel measurements. A novel chemometric procedure was investigated in order to separate the samples studied on the basis of their geographical origin, processing technology or maturation time. In this procedure, a principal component analysis was applied to full chromatograms to select the time interval that shows the significant differences between the samples studied. It was shown that the chromatogram recorded at 36–39 min bore the maximal differences, hence it could be used to classify the brandy samples. The chromatographic peaks found within this time interval were identified and their peak areas determined. These compounds could be used as specific markers for determining geographical origin or processing technology.