Novel dihydrazone based polymers for electrophotography

The novel family of hole-transporting polymers containing hydrazone moieties is reported. The polymers were prepared in polyaddition reaction of dihydrazone-containing diepoxides with bifunctional nucleophilic linking agents in the presence of catalyst triethylamine. Obtained polymers were found to constitute novel polymeric hole transporting materials characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and time of flight method. The highest hole drift mobility in the newly synthesized polymers exceed 10⁻⁵ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at an electric field of 10⁶ V cm⁻¹.     

Easily functionalizable carbazole based building blocks with extended conjugated systems for optoelectronic applications

Carbazole based building blocks, possessing diphenylethenyl fragments, have been synthesized. Condensation of the carbazol-2-ol with diphenylacetaldehyde yields 1,3-substituted derivatives. Change of the synthesis sequence, however, (i.e., substitution at the hydroxyl and NH groups, followed by the condensation reaction) results in the 3,6-substituted products. Thermal, optical, electrochemical and photophysical properties of the synthesized derivatives have been investigated. Room temperature hole-drift mobilities, evaluated using xerographic time-of-flight technique, were found to exceed 10⁻⁴ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at strong electric fields. The obtained results indicate high charge mobility for molecularly doped polymers, especially considering the fact that these measurements were carried out under ambient conditions and not in high vacuum. Commercial availability and relative cheapness of the starting materials, simple synthetic method, number of sites available for easy functionalization and covalent linking to other molecules makes these precursors attractive building blocks for the construction of more complex low-molecular-weight or polymeric materials for optoelectronic applications.     

Diversity of coordination modes in the polymers based on 3,3′,4,4′-biphenylcarboxylate ligand

Four new compounds [Ni₂(4,4′-bpy)(3,4-bptc)(H₂O)₄]_n (1), [Ni(4,4′-bpy)(3,4-H₂bptc)(H₂O)₃]_n (2), [Mn₂(2,2′-bpy)₄(3,4-H₂bptc)₂] (3) and {[Mn(1,10-phen)₂(3,4-H₂bptc)]·4H₂O}_n (4) (3,4-H₄bptc=3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic acid, 4,4′-bpy=4,4′-bipyridine, 2,2′-bpy=2,2′-bipyridine, 1, 10-phen=1, 10-phenanthroline), have been prepared and structurally characterized. In all compounds, the derivative ligands of 3,4-H₄bptc (3,4-bptc⁴⁻ and 3,4-H₂bptc²⁻) exhibit different coordination modes and lead to the formation of various architectures. Compounds 1 and 2 display the three-dimensional (3D) framework: 1 shows a 3,4-connected topological network with (8³)(8⁵·10) topology symbol based on the coordination bonds while in 2, the hydrogen-bonding interactions are observed to connect the 1D linear chain generating a final 3D framework. 3 exhibits the 2D layer constructed from the hydrogen-bonding interactions between the dinuclear manganese units. Complex 4 shows the double layers motif through connecting the 1D zigzag chains with hydrogen-bonded rings. The thermal stability of 1-4 and magnetic property of 1 were also reported.     

Hole-transporting [3,3′]bicarbazolyl-based polymers and well-defined model compounds

Polymers containing bicarbazolyl moieties in the main chain have been synthesized by the modified Ullmann coupling reaction from 9H,9′H-[3,3′]bicarbazolyl and different dihalo derivatives. The number-average molecular weights of the polymers synthesized were in the range of 2500-6200 with a molecular weight distribution of 1.6-3.1. Well-defined model compounds for the polymers have been synthesized by stepwise reactions. All these compounds have been found to form glasses with glass transition temperatures in the range of 57-119 °C as characterised by differential scanning calorimetry. The electron photoemission spectra of the compounds have been recorded and the ionisation potentials of 5.35-5.4 eV have been established. Room temperature hole drift mobility of the synthesized compounds molecularly dispersed in a polymer host range from 10⁻⁶ to 3 × 10⁻⁵ cm²/V s at an electric field of 10⁶ V/cm at the room temperature.     

A facile and efficient synthesis of highly functionalised 3,3′-dispiropyrrolidine- and 3,3′-dispiropyrrolizidine bisoxindoles via [3+2] cycloaddition

The [3+2] cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides with isomerised Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts, both dipoles and dipolarophiles are derived from isatin, afforded highly functionalised 3,3′-dispiro pyrrolidine- and 3,3′-dispiropyrrolizidine bisoxindoles in high yields.     

Synthesis and properties of 4,4′-bipyridine based tetracationic carbazolophanes

The precyclophane derived from 3,6-bis(bromomethyl)-9-ethylcarbazole and 5 equiv of 4,4′-bipyridine underwent macrocyclization on quaternization with various dibromides including 3,6-bis(bromomethyl)-9-ethylcarbazole to give carbazole-paraquat, self-complementary, cyclophanes revealing distinct charge-transfer and electrostatic interactions. The macrocyclic carbazolophane 1 was also obtained by a one-pot quaternization technique using equimolar amounts of 3,6-bis(bromomethyl)-9-ethylcarbazole and 4,4′-bipyridine.     

The charge carrier mobility’s activation energies and pre-factor dependence on dopant concentration in molecularly doped polymers

The elucidation of the charge transport mechanism in molecularly doped polymers MDP has been confused by disagreement on the role of disorder, which has led to disagreement on how to analyze the experimental mobility data. Plotting the mobility vs. T⁻¹ or T⁻² where T is temperature gives an Arrhenius activation energy or disorder energy respectively, which cannot be compared. A methodology is suggested to convert disorder energies into activation energies. This allows a compilation of a list of the activation energies of all MDP’s which have been characterized as a function of dopant concentration and a correlation of the activation energies with material properties.     

Investigation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine as colorimetric substrate for a peroxidatic DNAzyme

In this work, the suitability of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine sulfate (TMB) as the substrate of a DNAzyme catalytic system composed of a guanine-quadruplex DNA molecule and hemin was investigated. In the presence of H₂O₂, the hemin-DNA complex catalyzes the oxidation of TMB to produce two colored products, much like a peroxidase. The color-generating activity of this system could be influenced by several factors such as buffer type, pH value, DNA sequence, reaction time, and concentrations of both the hemin and H₂O₂. To illustrate the utility of this catalytic system, we designed a colorimetric assay, in which a synthetic oligonucleotide with a sequence complementary to the G-quadruplex DNA was used as the target. A detection limit of 1.86 nM was obtained. Our data have shown that TMB was an excellent colorimetric indicator that reported the peoxidase activities of the widely studied hemin-G-quadruplex DNAzyme system.     

Ordered porous films based on fluorinated polyimide derived from 2,2′-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane dianhydride and 3,3′-dimethyl-4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane

One of fluorinated polyimides was synthesized from 2,2′-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA) and 3,3′-dimethyl-4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane (DMMDA) by two-steps method, which had good solubility and hydrophilicity. 6FDA-DMMDA polyimide was dissolved in chloroform (CHCl₃) and cast on a glass substrate in a humid atmosphere. It was found that 6FDA-DMMDA/CHCl₃ solution was easy to form ordered porous structure at high concentration, and the reason was discussed in detail. In addition, the influences of solution concentration, the atmosphere humidity, were also tested.     

Lead-selective fluorescent optode membrane based on 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethyl-N-(9-anthrylmethyl)benzidine

A new proton-selective fluorescing indicator, 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethyl-N-(9-anthrylmethyl)benzidine (TMANB) has been synthesized and applied in an optode membrane for the determination of lead ion that works on the basis of a cation-exchange mechanism. When embedded in a plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane containing lead ionophore (tert-butylcalix[4]arene-tetrakis(N,N-dimethylthioacetamide)) and a lipophilic anionic site [potassium tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)borate], TMANB shows a significant fluorescence signal change on exposure to aqueous HCl solution containing lead ion, which exhibits the theoretically expected fluorescence response to lead ion concentration. The selectivity, response time, reproducibility and reversibility, and lifetime of the optode membrane were discussed.     

A 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine-imprinted polymer gel surface plasmon resonance sensor based on template-responsive shrinkage

Molecularly imprinted polymer gel film on the gold substrate of a chip was prepared with minute amount of cross-linker for the fabrication of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor sensitive to 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine. The molecularly imprinted gel film was anchored on a gold chip by a surface-bound photo-radical initiator. The sensing of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine is based on responsive shrinkage of the imprinted polymer gel film that is triggered by target binding. This change can improve the responsiveness of the imprinted SPR sensor to 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine. The molecularly imprinted polymer gel film was characterized with contact angle measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammogram, swelling measurements and atomic force microscopy. The changes of SPR spectroscopy wavenumber shifts revealed that the imprinted gel sensing film can ‘memorize’ the binding of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine compared to non-imprinted one. The imprinted gel-SPR sensor showed a linear response in the range of 9.0 × 10⁻¹² to 5.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ mol L⁻¹ (R² = 0.9998) for the detection of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine, and it also exhibited high selectivity to 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine compared to its structurally related analogues. We calculated the detection limits to be 0.471 ng L⁻¹ for tap water and 0.772 ng kg⁻¹ for soil based on a signal to noise ratio of 3. The method showed good recoveries and precision for the samples spiked with 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine. This suggest that the imprinted gel-SPR sensing method can be used as a promising alternative for the detection of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine.     

Novel tri-carbazole modified fluorene host material for highly efficient solution-processed blue and green electrophosphorescent devices

A series of novel solution-processable small-molecule host materials: 2DPF-TCz, 2SBF-TCz, 27DPF-TCz, and 27SBF-TCz comprising a fluorene monomer as the rigid core and tri-carbazole as the periphery have been designed and synthesized, and their optical, electrochemical, and thermal properties have been fully characterized. The host materials exhibit high glass-transition temperatures (231–310 °C) and high triplet energy levels (2.61–2.73 eV). High-quality amorphous thin films can be obtained by spin-coating the host materials from solutions. It is found that the HOMO level of the host materials can be tuned by linking the tri-carbazole unit to the 2,7 positions of the fluorine core, resulting in appropriate HOMO energy levels (−5.36 to −5.23 eV) for improved hole-injection in the device. Solution-processed blue and green electrophosphorescent devices bases on the developed host materials exhibit high efficiencies of 21.2 and 34.8 cd A⁻¹, respectively.     

New active ruthenium(II) complexes based N3,N3′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-2,2′-bipyridine-3,3′-diamine and P,P′-diphenylphosphinous acid-P,P′-[2,2′-bipyridine]-3,3′-diyl ester ligands for transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones by propan-2-ol

The dimeric starting material [Ru(η⁶-p-cymene)(μ-Cl)Cl]₂ reacts with N3,N3′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-2,2′-bipyridine-3,3′-diamine, 1 and P,P′-diphenylphosphinous acid-P,P′-[2,2′-bipyridine]-3,3′-diyl ester, 2 ligands to afford bridged dinuclear complexes [C₁₀H₆N₂{NHPPh₂-Ru(η⁶-p-cymene)Cl₂}₂], 3 and [C₁₀H₆N₂{OPPh₂-Ru(η⁶-p-cymene)Cl₂}₂], 4 in quantitative yields. These bis(aminophosphine) and bis(phosphinite) based Ru(II) complexes serve as active catalyst precursors for the transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone derivatives in 2-propanol and especially 4 acts as a good catalyst, giving the corresponding alcohols in 99% yield in 20 min (TOF ? 280 h⁻¹).     

十字交叉型π共轭分子3,6-二苯-1,2,4,5-(2′,2″-二苯基)-苯并二噁唑的电子结构和电荷传输性质的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论的B3LYP方法, 在6-31G(d)基组水平下研究了以三联苯和二苯基苯并噁唑构成的十字交叉型共轭分子3,6-二苯基-1,2,4,5-(2′,2″-二苯基)-苯并二噁唑的电子结构和电荷传输性质. 通过对分子的重组能和晶体中分子间电荷传输积分的计算得到该分子的空穴迁移率为0.31 cm²·V^-1·s^-1, 电子迁移率为0.11 cm²/(V·s). 计算结果表明, 空穴的传输主要是通过三联苯方向上两端苯环的“边对面”的相互作用以及分子中心π体系的错位重叠相互作用来实现的. 而电子的传输路径主要是通过苯并噁唑方向的π-π重叠相互作用来实现. 通过分析分子正负离子态的Mulliken电荷发现, 正电荷较多分布在三联苯方向上, 而负电荷较多分布在苯并噁唑方向上. 计算结果表明, 电子和空穴的传输分别在分子相互交叉的不同方向上, 有利于电子和空穴的平衡传输.     

Single-chain and monolayered conjugated polymers for molecular electronics

Exploring the charge transport properties and electronic functions of molecules is of primary interest in the area of molecular electronics. Conjugated polymers (CPs) represent an attractive class of molecular candidates, benefiting from their outstanding optoelectronic properties. However, they have been less studied compared with the small-molecule family, mainly due to the difficulties in incorporating CPs into molecular junctions. In this review, we present a summary on how to fabricate CP-based singlechain and monolayered junctions, then discuss the transport behaviors of CPs in different junction architectures and finally introduce the potential applications of CPs in molecular-scale electronic devices. Although the research on CP-based molecular electronics is still at the initial stage, it is widely accepted that (1) CP chains are able to mediate long-range charge transport if their molecular electronic structures are properly designed, which makes them potential molecular wires, and (2) the intrinsic optoelectronic properties of CPs and the possibility of incorporating desirable functionalities by synthetic strategies imply the potential of employing tailor-made polymeric components as alternatives to small molecules for future molecular-scale electronics.     

Novel and highly sensitive mixed-polymeric electrokinetic chromatography system for determination of contaminants and impurities of heparin samples

A mixed‐polymeric electrokinetic chromatography system has been developed for the simultaneous determination of a contaminant like oversulfated condroitin sulfate (OSCS) and impurities expressed as dermatan (Der) in heparin (Hep) samples. The EKC system consisted of 0.5% w/v polymeric β‐CD, 0.4% w/v tetronic^® 1107 and 400 mM tris‐phosphate buffer at pH 3.5. The optimized electrophoretic conditions included the use of an uncoated‐silica capillary of 50 cm of total length and 75 μm id, an applied voltage of ?7 kV, a temperature of 30°C and 200 nm UV‐detection. The highly sensitive method developed showed low values of LOD, 0.07% w/w (0.07 μg/mL) (OSCS) and 0.1% w/w (0.1 μg/mL) (Der), and values of LOQ 0.2% w/w (0.2 μg/mL) (OSCS) and 0.3% w/w (0.3 μg/mL) (Der) with a concentration level of Hep sample as low as 0.1 mg/mL. Additional parameters of validation such as specificity, linearity, accuracy, and robustness were evaluated according to international guidelines. Owing to its simplicity, high sensitivity, and reliability, the proposed method can be an advantageous alternative to the traditional methodologies for the analysis of Hep in raw material and specially in finished products because of the low amounts of Hep sample required.     

A highly efficient resolution protocol for 2′-halo-α-methylbenzylamines

A highly efficient resolution protocol for 2′-halo-α-methylbenzylamines is reported. Commercially available and inexpensive mandelic acid can be used for the resolution of the Br, Cl, and F derivatives to >99% de in a single crystallization. In addition, the reduction of acetophenone oximes using borane-dimethylsulfide is presented as a method for the preparation of racemic amine precursors.     

Novel functional monomer for the electrochemical synthesis of highly affine epitope-imprinted polymers

To address the lack of functional monomer diversity for the electrosynthesis of protein-selective molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), we introduce a new concept able to lead to a new class of functional monomers. This is based on conjugating an electropolymerizable monomer unit (umbelliferone) to an amino acid for closer mimicking of protein-based natural affinity ligands such as antibodies. As the first representative of this class of monomers an aspartate-umbelliferone (Asp-UMB) conjugate was synthesized and here we provide the proof for its suitability to generate highly affine MIPs for proteins by epitope imprinting. As model we used a heptapeptide (GFNCYFP) stemming from the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to generate epitope-imprinted polymers able to recognize the parent RBD protein. For rapid optimization and assessment of the binding kinetics we prepared MIP microarrays on surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi) chips. First the peptides were microspotted on the bare gold surface of the chips followed by the electropolymerization of Asp-UMB. This resulted in ca. 2 nm thick, highly uniform, and electrically insulating polymer film, well suited both for hierarchical epitope imprinting and SPRi read-out. Taking advantage also of the on-chip optimization enabled by the microarray format the increased functional diversity of the new monomer resulted in highly affine MIPs with equilibrium dissociation constants in the lower picomolar range.     

A highly selective colorimetric probe based on 2,2′,2″-trisindolylmethene for cysteine/homocysteine

The interaction and colorimetric sensing properties of receptor 1, tris(3-methylindole-2-yl)methene as the perchlorate salt, with amino acids in aqueous MeCN at neutral pH were investigated using UV-vis spectroscopic techniques. Specifically, receptor 1 behaves as a colorimetric probe for selective and sensitive detection of cysteine (Cys)/homocysteine (Hcy) based on the nucleophilic addition reaction between the sulphydryl group of Cys/Hcy and the meso carbon-carbon double bond of receptor 1, leading to clear color change from violet to colorless. A more quantitative determination for Cys/Hcy was preliminary performed by flow injection analysis (FIA) coupled with spectrophotometry. The selective binding ability of receptor 1 toward Cys/Hcy has also been evaluated by electrochemical techniques.     

Synthesis and characterization of phenol‐based biaryl proton conducting polymers

Biaryl hydroxy polymers with orthogonal disposition of proton transporting ? OH moieties have been synthesized via conventional free radical polymerization. The polymers are characterized for their thermal stability and proton conductivity, and the results are compared with the corresponding styrenic hydroxy polymers. The orthogonal disposition of ? OH moieties in biaryl polymers does result in lower E_a for proton transport. However, the lower E_a values in biaryl polymers did not translate into a net increase in proton conductivity. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012