Bis-tridentate IrIII Phosphors Bearing Two Fused Five-Six-Membered Metallacycles: A Strategy to Improved Photostability of Blue Emitters

Iridium complexes bearing chelating cyclometalates are popular choices as dopant emitters in the fabrication of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In this contribution, we report a series of blue-emitting, bis-tridentate Ir^III complexes bearing chelates with two fused five-six-membered metallacycles, which are in sharp contrast to the traditional designs of tridentate chelates that form the alternative, fused five-five metallacycles. Five Ir^III complexes, Px-21 – 23 , Cz-4 , and Cz-5 , have been synthesized that contain a coordinated dicarbene pincer chelate incorporating a methylene spacer and a dianionic chromophoric chelate possessing either a phenoxy or carbazolyl appendage to tune the coordination arrangement. All these tridentate chelates afford peripheral ligand–metal–ligand bite angles of 166–170°, which are larger than the typical bite angle of 153–155° observed for their five-five-coordinated tridentate counterparts, thereby leading to reduced geometrical distortion in the octahedral frameworks. Photophysical measurements and TD-DFT studies verified the inherent transition characteristics that give rise to high emission efficiency, and photodegradation experiments confirmed the improved stability in comparison with the benchmark fac-[Ir(ppy)₃] in degassed toluene at room temperature. Phosphorescent OLED devices were also fabricated, among which the carbazolyl-functionalized emitter Cz-5 exhibited the best performance among all the studied bis-tridentate phosphors, showing a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE_max) of 18.7 % and CIE_x,y coordinates of (0.145, 0.218), with a slightly reduced EQE of 13.7 % at 100 cd m⁻² due to efficiency roll-off.     

Path to achieving molecular dispersion in a dense reactive mixture

A uniform dispersion of reactants is necessary to achieve a complete reaction involving multicomponents. In this study, we have examined the role of plasticizer in the reaction of two seemingly unlikely reactants: a highly crystalline hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) and a strongly hydrogen bonded phenol formaldehyde resin. By combining information from NMR, infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, we were able to determine the role of specific intermolecular interactions necessary for the plasticizer to dissolve the highly crystalline HMTA and to plasticize the phenol formaldehyde resin in this crosslinking reaction. The presence of the plasticizer increased the segmental mobility, disrupted the hydrogen bonded matrix, and freed the hydroxyl units, which further increased the solubility of the HMTA. Both the endothermic and exothermic transitions are accounted for in the calorimetric data obtained. For the first time, it is possible to obtain the effective molar ratio of each component needed to complete the crosslinking reaction efficiently. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1519–1526     

Diagnosing the miR-141 prostate cancer biomarker using nucleic acid-functionalized CdSe/ZnS QDs and telomerase

The microRNA, miR-141, is a promising biomarker for prostate cancer. We implement here a two-step sensing platform for the sensitive detection of miR-141. The first step involves the use of semiconductor CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) modified by FRET quencher-functionalized nucleic acids, that include the recognition sequence for miR-141 and a telomerase primer sequence for the second step of the analytical platform. Subjecting the probe-modified QDs to miR-141, in the presence of duplex specific nuclease, DSN, leads to the formation of a miR-141/probe duplex and to its DSN-mediated cleavage, while regenerating the miR-141. The DSN-induced cleavage of the quencher units leads to the activation of the fluorescence of the QDs, thus allowing the optical detection of miR-141 with a sensitivity corresponding to 1.0 × 10^–12 M. The nucleic acid residues associated with the QDs after cleavage of the probe nucleic acids by DSN act as primers for telomerase. The subsequent telomerase/dNTPs-stimulated elongation of the primer units forms G-quadruplex telomer chains. Incorporation of hemin in the resulting G-quadruplex telomer chains yields horseradish peroxidase-mimicking DNAzyme units, that catalyze the generation of chemiluminescence in the presence of luminol/H₂O₂. The resulting chemiluminescence intensities provide a readout signal for miR-141, DL = 2.8 × 10^–13 M. The first step of the sensing platform is non-selective toward miR-141 and the resulting fluorescence may be considered only as an indicator for the existence of miR-141. The second step in the sensing protocol, involving telomerase, provides a selective chemiluminescence signal for the existence of miR-141. The two-step sensing platform is implemented for the analysis of miR-141 in serum samples from healthy individuals and prostate cancer carriers. Impressive discrimination between healthy individuals and prostate cancer carriers is demonstrated.     

Secondary Metabolites of Litchi chinensis

Chemistry of Natural Compounds -     

Structure determination and magnetic studies of triazole chelated Co(II) coordination polymers

Two cobalt(II) halide complexes with 1,2,4-triazole as a ligand were synthesized. Their structures were determined by extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and powder x-ray diffraction (XRD). Both complexes [Co(Htrz)Cl₂]_n ( 1 ) and {[Co(Htrz)₂(trz)]BF₄}_n ( 2 ) form one-dimensional polymeric chain and the distances of Co⋯Co are 3.3521(2) Å and 3.8629(2) Å, respectively. The Htrz and Cl⁻ are bridging ligands to connect two Co(II) ions in 1 , and the local environment of Co site is in a distorted octahedron with {CoN₂Cl₄} core. In complex 2 , two Htrz and one trz are bridging ligands to connect two Co(II) ions, and the local geometry of Co is in a pseudo octahedron with {CoN₆} core. The analysis of Co L_II,III-edge XAS indicates that the Co(II) of both complexes are at high spin state with t_2g⁵e_g² configuration and the crystal field strength (10Dq) is about 1.2 eV. The broken-symmetry DFT calculations indicate that antiferromagnetic coupling state of Co⋯Co is the most stable state in both complexes; and the coupling constants of 1 and 2 are −0.32 cm⁻¹ and −3.70 cm⁻¹, respectively. Based on the distances of Co⋯Co and coupling constants, such antiferromagnetic interaction is achieved through triazole ligands.     

Vibration-induced symmetry breaking in hybrid light-matter dimer states

We investigate the influence of vibronic coupling on a molecular dimer strongly coupled to a single cavity mode. In the framework of the Holstein-Tavis-Cummings model, the energy structure of the molecular dimer is analyzed by numerical exact diagonalization and perturbation theory. Under numerical exact diagonalization, we find that the degeneracy of lower polaritons vanishes in the presence of vibronic coupling. Under the second-order degenerate perturbation theory, the degeneracy breaking of lower polaritons can be associated with asymmetric indirect interactions mediated by the upper polaritons and the dark states. The consistency of the two approaches confirms the robustness of our simulations, indicating that the vibration-induced symmetry breaking should be experimentally observed.