Fluorescence of perylene- and naphthalene-containing polyimides: Evidence of molecular aggregation and chain coiling in chloroform solution

Fluorescence of several new polyimides in which neighboring imides are linked by a N-N bond was examined in chloroform solutions. For the naphthalene-containing polyimide 1 , analysis of the emission, excitation, and absorption spectra at different concentrations showed the existence of a ground-state intermolecular charge transfer (CT) complex due to chain association and aggregation. For the perylene-containing polyimides 3-6 , the fluorescence was characterized by a low energy band superimposed on the normal perylenediimide bands. This was interpreted as arising from a CT interaction between electron donor-acceptor pairs on the polymers backbone of the same chain, revealing certain degrees of chain coiling of these polymers in solution. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Excimer formation of fluoradene. Evidence for aggregation in alcohols

The absorption of fluorescence spectra of fluoradene in several solvents have been measured. In addition to the expected fluorescence band, a broad structureless band at 440 nm is observed in hexane which increases in intensity with increasing fluoradene concentration. In alcoholic solutions and in polycrystalline solid, only the broad, red-shifted band is observed. This broad band is attributed to excimer emission. It is shown that in alcoholic solutions that rate of excimer formation via diffusion is unacceptably large and it is suggested that fluoradene is aggregated in these solvents.     

Evidence of aggregation in dilute solution of amphoteric poly(amido-amine)s by size exclusion chromatography

Evidence of aggregation of amphoteric linear poly(amido-amine)s (PAAs) was proved using a multi-angle laser light scattering detector on-line to a size exclusion chromatography (SEC) system. As a rule the PAAs chemical structure, with the presence of charged groups that are both anionic and cationic, easily generates aggregation and non-steric fractionation. A non-amphoteric, non-aggregate PAAs polymer with an elution pattern close to ideal SEC was also obtained and characterized for comparison. The influence of PAAs synthesis conditions on the extent of aggregation was also studied.     

The aggregation of trichosanthin in aqueous solution

As a kind of cytotoxin extracted from the root tuber of Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim (Cucurbitaceae), trichosanthin can selectively bind to and kill the placental trophoblastic cells, which leads to a number of biomedical applications including the inhibition of trophoblastic tumors. However, the stability of trichosanthin in living organism is still one of the problems hindering the effectiveness of its applications. In this study, laser light scattering has been used successfully to investigate the stability of trichosanthin in both deionized water and KSCN aqueous solution in terms of the hydrodynamic size distribution of the trichosanthin aggregates as a function of both time and the salt concentration. It is found that the size distribution is always a bimodal one. One peak corresponds to a single trichosanthin chain; the other corresponds to the trichosanthin aggregates, which have an average hydrodynamic radius of ∼ 49 nm and are composed of ∼ 127 trichosanthin molecules when C_KSCN is higher than 0.5 mol/L. This implies that there exists an equilibrium between the single trichosanthin chain and its aggregates [i.e., nT ⇄ (T)_n]. Our results also suggest that the aggregates are made of the loosely packed trichosanthin molecules and behave as flexible polymer chains in θ solvent. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Micellar aggregation for ionic surfactant in pure solvent and electrolyte solution: nonextensive thermodynamics approach

We show in this study that the concepts of nonextensive thermodynamics introduced and applied in a series of previous studies can be used to describe the behaviour of ionic surfactant solutions at concentrations higher than the critical micelle concentration (cmc) in pure solvents and in the presence of electrolytes. We supposed that the aggregated amphiphiles and their counter ions form two interpenetrated nonextensive phases of the same thermodynamic dimension, m, characterised by two parameters A(am) and A(CI) related to the aggregated amphiphile and the counter ion, respectively. Our experimental results and those published in the literature indicate that logarithms of the activities of the amphiphile and of its counterion vary with the quantity of aggregated monomer according to a power law. Thus, we demonstrate a linear relation between the logarithms of the activities of the two ions beyond the cmc in pure solvents ("micellization product"). An original relation, different from the Corrin-Harkins relation, can thus be established to describe the effects of salt on the cmc of ionic surfactants. According to this relation the cmc of charged surfactant in some systems can increase in the presence of an electrolyte with a common ion.     

Many-body effects in polymers: especially polyacetylene

Many-electron effects in polymers are considered, with emphasis on the way electron-electron interactions are reflected in ground-state properties. After a survey of results on graph theory, built up from valence-bond structures, in which the importance of size consistency again emerges, some specific results of ground-state electron pair correlations in polyacetylene and polydiacetylene are considered, motivated by the linear dispersion of the π-electron plasmon, as measured in the optical experiments of Ritsko et al. The way in which such collective excitations can affect ground-state pair correlations is discussed as is the influence of low dimensionality. A brief summary is given of the way in which the energy gap in polyacetylene and polydiacetylene depends on electron-electron repulsion although unlike the plasmon problem where the long-range Coulomb repulsion e²/r_ij is essential, this problem is usefully tackled using the on-site Hubbard repulsion. Again, there can be no doubt that correlation is important in the ground states of polyacetylene and polydiacetylene. However, recent work on bond-charge repulsion shows that whether correlation enhances or suppresses dimerization depends strongly on the particular thermodynamic state in question: this is illustrated by specific examples relating to the metal-insulator transition in low-dimensional solids. A quite different aspect of many-body phenomena will then be considered, pertaining especially to AC electrical transport in biopolymers. Here, the importance of disorder in the experimental results currently available is stressed. A power law behaviour of the frequency-dependent conductivity, i.e. σ(ω) proportional to ω^s, is a characteristic feature at suitably high frequencies. This focusses attention on the power, s, and a brief discussion of simple models shows that, for those considered to date s< 1, with possible values of 1/4 and 1/2 being exhibited. A possible influence of a compensation effect on the high-frequency conductivity is suggested. It is argued, following Kreuzer and March, that this is a many-particle phenomenon ANDS = 1-(T/T_c) for T < T_c, where T_c is the compensation temperature; a result apparently due to Dyre. The possibility of further experimental and theoretical studies related to the many-body phenomena is referred to.     

Oil-induced aggregation of block copolymer in aqueous solution

The oil-induced aggregation behavior of PEO-PPO-PEO Pluronic P84 [(EO)19(PO)39(EO)19] in aqueous solutions has been systematically investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy, freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The critical micellization temperature (CMT) for P84 in the presence of oils decreases with increasing oil concentration. The effectiveness of various oils in decreasing the CMT of block copolymer follows the order m-xylene (C(8)H(10)) > toluene (C(7)H(8)) > benzene (C(6)H(6)) > n-octane (C(8)H(18)) > n-hexane (C(6)H(14)) approximately cyclohexane (C(6)H(12)). It was found that the amount of anhydrous PO methyl groups increases whereas the amount of hydrated PO methyl groups decreases upon the addition of oils. At low oil concentration, the oil molecules are entrapped by the micellar core, but as the oil concentration increases above a certain value, the micellar core swells significantly as a result of the penetrated oil molecules, and much larger aggregates are formed. Intermolecular rotating-frame nuclear Overhauser effect (ROE) measurements between P84 and benzene were performed at 10 and 40 degrees C. The specific interaction between benzene and the methyl groups of PPO was determined, and it was observed that the interaction site remained unchanged as the temperature was increased.     

表面活性剂在溶液中聚集形态的动力学模拟

用耗散颗粒动力学模拟方法(DPD)展示了表面活性剂分子在溶液中的聚集形态，用扩散程度表征了表面活性剂溶液中的自组装情况。结果发现：这种分子动力学模拟方法能够直观地得到表面活性剂的聚集形态；随着表面活性剂的浓度增加，聚集形态依次从球状胶束、棒状或虫状胶束，六角状相，向层状相变化。     

Soluble peptidyl phosphoranes for metal-free, stereoselective ligations in organic and aqueous solution

Protocols for solid-phase syntheses of soluble peptidyl phosphoranes are presented. Various supported phosphoranylidene acetates were prepared on Rink amide or via alkylation of trialkyl- and triarylphosphines with bromoacetyl Wang ester. C-Acylation was conducted racemization-free with activated Fmoc-amino acids, followed by SPPS (solid-phase peptide synthesis). Acidic conditions released decarboxylated peptidyl phosphoranes into solution. The protocol allowed for the electronic variation of peptidyl phosphoranes which were investigated in ligation reactions with azides in organic and aqueous solvents.     

Enforcing solution phase nanoscopic aggregation in a palindromic tripeptide

C-terminal dimerization of a tripeptide palindrome afforded fibrillation in solution through an assembly probably driven by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic contributions; such an approach provides an expeditious entry into fabrication of fibrillating peptides from non-fibrillating peptide sequences.     

Salt effects on aggregation of O-carboxymethylchitosan in aqueous solution

The effects of salt with different valences (NaCl, CaCl2 and CrCl3) on the aggregation of O-carboxylmethylchitosan (OCMCS) in dilute aqueous solution were investigated using viscometry, dynamic laser light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). With increasing OCMCS concentration beyond a critical aggregation concentration (cac) of approximately 0.045 g/l, the aggregation of OCMCS appears in solution. The driving forces of the OCMCS aggregation are intermolecular hydrogen bond, hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic repulsion. The OCMCS aggregation behavior strongly depends on the valence of salt. When NaCl is added, the aggregate size increases with NaCl concentration. When CaCl2 or CrCl3 is added to a given OCMCS concentration, there exists a critical concentration each of Ca2+ and Cr3+. Before the critical concentration, the aggregates decrease in size with increasing salt concentration due to the intra-aggregate complexation; while after the critical concentration, the size of the aggregates increases with salt concentration due to the inter-aggregate complexation. Moreover, the effect of Cr3+ on the OCMCS aggregation is greater than that of Ca2+. The formation of the intra-aggregate complexation is found to be a kinetic process and the aggregate size decreases with time; the formation of the inter-aggregate complexation is also kinetic where the aggregate size increases with time. The aggregates dominated by the intra-aggregate complexation are small, compact and spherical, while the aggregates dominated by the inter-aggregate complexation show the big, compact and spherical morphology.     

The aggregation behavior of O-carboxymethylchitosan in dilute aqueous solution

O-Carboxymethylchitosan (OCMCS) is a kind of biocompatible derivatives of chitosan whose water solubility is strongly dependent on the degree of carboxymethylation. The OCMCS with 100 carboxymethyl groups and 75 amino groups per 100 anhydroglucosamine units of OCMCS was synthesized by the reaction of chitosan and monochloroacetic. When OCMCS was dissolved in water, its solution was neutral and OCMCS behaved like a weak polyanionic polyeclectrolyte because most of carboxylic groups were not dissociated in neutral aqueous solution. The aggregation behavior of OCMCS in aqueous solution was studied by surface tensiometry, steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy and viscometry. The critical aggregation concentration (cac) of OCMCS was determined to be between 0.042 mg/ml and 0.050 mg/ml. The possible aggregation mechanism of OCMCS in water was elucidated.     

Evidence for lower critical solution behavior in ionic liquid solutions

Lower critical solution temperatures (LCST)-type of phase diagrams, including the presence of closed loops, have been encountered for the first time in binary and quasi-binary liquid solutions of ionic liquids. Furthermore, the results constitute the first experimental support for the existence of a theoretically postulated, but never encountered, special kind of type VII phase diagram. Two distinct mechanisms are involved in the appearance of demixing upon temperature increase. These findings underlie the presence of specific, oriented interactions between the ionic liquid, 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl}amide, [Cnmim][NTf2], and trichloromethane, as well as aggregation phenomena.     

Electrolyte-induced mesoscopic aggregation of thiacarbocyanine dye in aqueous solution: counterion size specificity

Countercation size specificity is presented for the electrolyte-induced aggregation of 3,3'-disulfopropyl-5,5'-dichloro-9-methyl thiacarbocyanine (TCC) dye in aqueous solution. Addition of electrolytes having a small monovalent cation (Na+, NH4+, or Cs+) induced pure H aggregates of TCC, whereas J aggregates were preferentially promoted by electrolytes with a large monovalent cation ([N(CH3)4]+ or [N(C2H5)4]+). The electrolyte-induced H aggregate (HS aggregate) differed spectroscopically from that spontaneously self-assembled in aqueous solution. Mesoscopic structure of the HS aggregates was revealed via polarized-light microscopy and atomic force microscopy; a rodlike morphology of 50-70 nm wide and tens to hundreds of micrometers long with very strong negative birefringence. A simple structural model based on semiempirical molecular orbital calculations can explain the aggregation behaviors: The anionic TCC monomer shows a considerable planar geometry between two benzothiazole end groups when it involves a sodium cation, which favors the H-type molecular arrangements in a face-to-face orientation. On the other hand, the TCC dye has a twisted conformation when it implicates a large tetramethylammonium cation, resulting in the formation of the J aggregates.     

Soliton defects in polyacetylene: Local-density functional results

We report local-density functional results for the electronic structure of neutral soliton defects in polyacetylene. The results were obtained using a modified version of the discrete variational method Xα molecular cluster model. For defect-free chains the calculated X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectra are in good agreement with experiment. For chains with low concentrations of solitons, we find the forbidden gap broadens slightly, and two nearly dispersionless bands, split by several tenths of eV, are introduced into the gap. The predicted splitting is in accord with recent experimental results for this defect.     

EPR in non-doped irradiated polyacetylene

The influence of -irradiation on the paramagnetic properties of non-doped polyacetylene at low and high radiation doses has been studied and summarized. The dependence of the EPR spectra on the radiation dose in irradiated polyacetylene has been measured. No essential changes of the spin mobility as a consequence of irradiation were observed. Our measurements of spin concentration confirm the high resistivity of non-doped polyacetylene to radiation.