Supramolecular aggregation of two hydroxy­carboxylic acid derivatives

The crystal structures of 7,7‐dicyclo­but­yl‐5‐hydroxy­meth­yl‐6‐oxabicyclo­[3.2.1]octa­ne‐1‐carboxylic acid, C₁₇H₂₆O₄, (I), and 1‐(hydroxy­meth­yl)‐7‐oxaspiro­[bicyclo­[3.2.1]octa­ne‐6,1′‐cyclo­penta­ne]‐5‐carboxylic acid, C₁₃H₂₀O₄, (II), determined at 170 K, show that the conformation of the hydroxy­meth­yl group (anti or gauche) affects the dimensionality (one‐ or two‐dimensional) of the supramolecular structures via O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. In (I), the carbox­yl and hydroxy­meth­yl groups inter­act with themselves, forming a one‐dimensional step‐ladder, while in (II), a two‐dimensional structure is made up of carboxylic acid centrosymmetric R₂²(8) dimers connected by hydrox­yl‐to‐ether contacts.     

Thermally induced rings formation in aluminosilicate structures

In the present study, we performed an investigation of phase transformation of zeolite Na-GIS in temperature interval from room temperature up to 1300°C. The collapse of S4R and S8R (secondary building units in zeolite Na-GIS) and the forming of pure sodium nepheline phase, consists of S6R, was examined. During the thermal transformation of Na-GIS zeolite symmetry of rings was changed and their deformation increases. The irregularity of rings causes the appearance of defect modes in the IR spectra of amorphous precursors. Investigated phases were characterized by XRPD, IR, NMR and DSC methods. A semiempirical method AM1 was used for calculation of vibrational spectrum of nepheline.     

Supramolecular chirality of the hydrogen-bonded complex Langmuir-Blodgett film of achiral barbituric acid and melamine

Complex monolayers of barbituric acid and melamine were formed by spreading a chloroform solution of amphiphilic barbituric acid on the subphase of melamine solution. It was confirmed that the complex monolayer was formed through in situ complementary hydrogen bonding at the air-water interface. It was interesting to find that the complex LB films showed supramolecular chirality although both of the molecules were achiral, as verified by the circular dichroism spectral measurements. It was suggested that the pi-pi stacking of the neighboring barbituric acid and melamine group in a helical sense resulted in the chirality of the molecular assemblies. Due to the directionality of the hydrogen bonding, the BA-M film could form regular aligned nanofibers on the AFM images. Increasing the subphase temperature will lead to the decrease of CD intensity and the change of the morphologies. We suggested that the strength of the hydrogen bonding resulted in the difference.     

Supramolecular hydrogels based on beta-amino acid derivatives

Here we report on a new class of supramolecular hydrogels based on dipeptides that consist of beta-amino acids, which may confer proteolytic resistance to the hydrogels for biomedical applications.     

Competitive formation of 10- and 7-membered hydrogen-bonded rings of proline-containing model peptides

Intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded structures of proline-containing model peptides with a sequence of N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-prolyl-Xaa-NHCH3 [Xaa = Gly (glycyl), Ala (alanyl), Phe (phenylalanyl), Leu (leucyl), Ile (isoleucyl), and Val (valyl)] were studied by proton nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy. Variation of chemical shifts of amide protons with composition change of DMSO-d6/CDCl3 mixed solvents were found to be a good measure of intramolecular hydrogen bonding of peptides in CDCl3 solution. It has been shown that 10- and 7-membered hydrogen-bonded rings, which should have the beta- and gamma-turn like structures in proteins, respectively, form competitively with each other. It is suggested that the equilibrium between the two hydrogen-bonded rings is determined by steric hindrance due to a side chain of the Xaa residue. Free energies for formation of the 10- and 7-membered hydrogen-bonded rings, deltaG10 and deltaG7, were estimated from the solvent composition-dependent change of the chemical shifts. A good correlation between deltaG10 and the occurrence frequencies of residues Xaa at the (i + 2)th position for the beta-turns in proteins has been found.     

Supramolecular structures and assembly and luminescent properties of quinacridone derivatives

The synthesis and single-crystal X-ray structures of two quinacridone derivatives, N,N'-di(n-butyl)quinacridone (1) and N,N'-di(n-butyl)-1,3,8,10-tetramethylquinacridone (2), are reported, and the 1H NMR, absorption, photoluminescent (PL), and electroluminescent (EL) characteristics are presented. Both these crystal structures are characterized by intermolecular pi...pi and hydrogen bonding interactions. The intermolecular pi...pi interactions lead to the formation of molecular columns in the solids of 1 and 2, and the interplanar contact distances between two adjacent molecules are 3.48 and 3.55 angstroms, respectively. Crystals of 1 display shorter intermolecular pi...pi contacts and higher density than 2. These results suggest that tighter intermolecular interactions exist in 1. The 1H NMR, absorption, and PL spectra of 1 and 2 in solutions exhibit concentration-dependent properties. The PL quantum yields of 1 in solutions decrease more quickly with the increase of concentration compared to that of 2 in solutions. For solid thin films of Alq3:1 (Alq3 = tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum), emission intensities dramatically decrease and obvious red shifts are observed when the dopant concentration is above 4.2%, while for films of Alq3:2, a similar phenomenon occurs when the concentration is above 6.7%. EL devices with Alq3:1 as emitting layer only show high efficiencies (20.3-14.5 cd/A) within the narrow dopant concentration range of 0.5-1.0%. In contrast, high efficiencies (21.5-12.0 cd/A) are achieved for a wider dopant concentration range of 0.5-5.0% when Alq3:2 films are employed as emitting layer. The different PL and EL concentration-dependent properties of the solid thin films Alq3:1 and Alq3:2 are attributed to their different molecular packing characteristics in the solid state.     

Uncatalyzed peptide bond formation between two double amino acid molecules in the gas phase

The gas phase mechanism for peptide bond formation between two double amino acid (DAA) molecules ((NH₂)₂C(COOH)₂) is investigated in the absence of any catalysts. Two different paths, concerted and stepwise, each leading to both cis and trans DAA‐DAA dipeptide products (four mechanisms total) are examined on the basis of theoretical calculations carried out at the CCSD(T)/aug‐cc‐pVDZ//MP2/aug‐cc‐pVDZ level. The investigation indicates that the concerted mechanism leading to the trans configuration of the peptide bond in the DAA‐DAA dipeptide product is thermodynamically favored by about 5 kcal mol^?1 and requires slightly less energy than the remaining pathways considered. Moreover, the peptide bond formation process between two DAA molecules in the gas phase resembles the analogous reactions between two natural amino acids.     

Supramolecular structures formed by calix[8]arene derivatives

Octamethoxy calix[8]arenes substituted in the para position by amide, urea, and imide functions were synthesized from the octamethyl ether of tert-butylcalix[8]arene by ipso nitration, reduction, and acylation. Scanning force microscopy of spin coated samples on graphite suggests that these derivatives self-organize into tubular nanorods via hydrogen bonds between p-amide functions. A single-crystal X-ray structure reveals a centrosymmetric conformation for the octanitro derivative. [structure: see text]     

Quantum chemical calculations of the molecular structures of hybrid amino acid derivatives of fullerene C60

The stereoselectivity of the formation of hybrid amino acid derivatives of fullerene (AADF) C₆₀ was studied. The energies of the model addition reactions C₆₀ + n C₂H₆ ? Me _n -C₆₀-Me _n (1) and C₆₀ + n EtNC₄H₇Me ? Et _n -C₆₀-(NC₄H₇Me) _n (2) (n = 1–3) were calculated by the DFT method B3LYP/6-31G*. The most stable products of reaction (1) are hexamethylated fullerene derivatives in which five Me groups are arranged in the form of a regular pentagon. Among the AADF obtained by reaction (2), 1,4-disubstituted fullerene isomers are most stable. The molecular structures of such isomers were calculated for six biologically active hybrid AADF; the solvent contact areas of these molecules were evaluated.     

Supramolecular organogels formed by monochain derivatives of succinic acid

The monoalkyl chain derivatives of succinic acid self-assemble into ordered bilayer aggregates by forming dimers of hydrogen bonded carboxylic acid in a number of organic solvents and finally gelatinize the solvents. The gelation ability of each derivative was inspected. The morphologies of xerogels were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The microstructure of aggregates was studied by small angle X-ray diffraction (SA-XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results reveal that the intermolecular hydrogen bonds between neighboring molecules are critical factor in the process of organogelation.     

Imprinting of amino acid derivatives in macroporous polymers

Phenylalanine ethyl ester-selective polymers have been prepared using the ion-pair association of substrate and carboxyl-containing vinyl monomers in the polymerization step.     

Stable shell structures in hydrogen-bonded complexes

Neutral clusters (NH₃) _n ((CH₃)₃N) _m and (H₂O) _n ((CH₃)₃N) _m , prepared in a pulsed nozzle supersonic expansion, are ionized by multiphoton ionization and investigated with a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry technique. The observed mixed cluster ions display a maximum intensity atm=2(n+1) whenn ≦ 5 for (NH₃) _n ·((CH₃)₃N) _m H⁺ andm=n+2 whenn ≦ 4 for (H₂O) _n ((CH₃)₃N) _m H⁺ indicating that the cluster ions with these combinations have a stable closed shell structure. However, the pattern begins to break down whenn>5 for ammonia system andn>4 for water system. Thereupon, the most intense peaks are reached with one molecule less than the pattern required, i.e.m=2(n+1)?1 whenn=6 for (NH₃) _n ((CH₃)₃N) _m H⁺ andm=(n+2)?1 whenn=5 for (H₂O) _n ((CH₃)₃N) _m H⁺. These findings strongly suggest the onset of hydrogen-bonded ring structures from chain-like ones at critical cluster sizes. This is also supported by the studies of the metastable decomposition.     

Supramolecular control of self-assembling terthiophene-peptide conjugates through the amino acid side chain

The self-assembly of oligothiophene-peptide conjugates can be directed through the systematic variation of the peptide sequence into different nanostructures, including flat spicules, nanotubes, spiral sheets, and giant, flat sheets. Furthermore, the assembly of these molecules is not controlled by steric interactions between the amino acid side chains.     

An approach to highly oxygenated monocyclic derivatives with large rings

Coupling of the d-glucose and d-xylose derivatives via a phosphonate methodology provided a C12 higher sugar enone, which was converted into the protected dodecitol with both terminal free OH groups. This compound was used as a starting material for the preparation of highly oxygenated macrocyclic derivatives.