Self‐Assembly of Chiral Propeller‐like Supermolecules with Unusual “Sergeants‐and‐Soldiers” and “Majority‐Rules” Effects

Chiral amplification is an interesting phenomenon in supramolecular chemistry mainly observed in complicated systems in which cooperative effect dominate. Herein, chiral, supramolecular, propeller‐like architectures have been constructed through coassembly of an achiral disk‐shaped molecule and chiral amino acid derivatives driven by intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Both the “sergeants‐and‐soldiers” principle and “majority‐rules” effect are applicable in these discrete four‐component supermolecules, which are the simplest supramolecular system ever reported that exhibit chiral amplification.     

Green Synthesis of Red‐Emitting Carbon Nanodots as a Novel “Turn‐on” Nanothermometer in Living Cells

Temperature measurements in biology and medical diagnostics, along with sensitive temperature probing of living cells, is of great importance; however, it still faces significant challenges. Herein, a novel “turn‐on” carbon‐dot‐based fluorescent nanothermometry device for spatially resolved temperature measurements in living cells is presented. The carbon nanodots (CNDs) are prepared by a green microwave‐assisted method and exhibit red fluorescence (λ_em=615 nm) with high quantum yields (15 %). Then, an on–off fluorescent probe is prepared for detecting glutathione (GSH) based on aggregation‐induced fluorescence quenching. Interestingly, the quenched fluorescence could be recovered by increasing temperature and the CNDs–GSH mixture could behave as an off–on fluorescent probe for temperature. Thus, red‐emitting CNDs can be utilized for “turn‐on” fluorescent nanothermometry through the fluorescence quenching and recovery processes, respectively. We employ MC3T3‐E1 cells as an example model to demonstrate the red‐emitting CNDs can function as “non‐contact” tools for the accurate measurement of temperature and its gradient inside a living cell.     

Enhancing the Sensitivity of Aptameric Detection of Lysozyme with a “Feed‐Forward” Network of DNA‐Related Reaction Cycles

In this study, a network of DNA‐related reaction cycles was established to enhance the sensitivity of lysozyme detection with dual signal amplification, and aptamer‐based reactions were integrated into this system to provide high specificity. The network was organized in a feed‐forward manner: the “upstream cycles” recognized the lysozyme (the target) and released the “messenger strands” from probe A (a DNA construct); the “downstream cycles” received them and then released the “signal strands” from another DNA construct, probe B, in multiplied quantities to that of the original inputted lysozyme. The upstream cycles centered on “target‐displacement polymerization”, which circulates the lysozyme to provide primary amplification; the downstream cycles centered on “strand‐displacement polymerization”, which circulates the messenger strand to provide further amplification. There were also several “nicking–polymerization” cycles in both reaction groups that provide extra signal amplification. In total, the network enclosed eight interconnected and autonomic reaction cycles, with only two probes, two primers, and two enzymes needed as raw feeds, and the network can be operated simply in one‐pot mode. With this network, lysozyme could be quantified at lysozyme concentrations as low as 2.0×10^?14 M , with a detection limit of 3.6×10^?15 M (3σ rule), which was seven orders of magnitude lower than that obtained without any amplification(1.8×10^?8 M ). Detection of lysozyme in real serum samples confirmed the reliability and practicality of the assay based on this reported reaction network.     

On the “Wolfsberg–Helmholz Conjecture” of “Extended‐Hückel Theory”

After having reviewed some pioneer integral approximations closely related to Rüdenberg's expansions of one‐ and two‐electron orbital products, we apply the previously described “Implicit Multi‐Center Integration” techniques on Roothaan's “restricted” Fock‐matrix components over standard atomic orbital bases. The resulting compact forms are very similar to the well‐known “Wolfsberg–Helmholz Conjecture” of “Extended‐Hückel Theory,” which relates the various off‐diagonal matrix elements of “restricted” Fock‐type to their corresponding diagonal counterparts. In this way, a “nonempirical Extended‐Hückel Theory” can be created. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A “Catch‐and‐Release” Protocol for Alkyne‐Tagged Molecules Based on a Resin‐Bound Cobalt Complex for Peptide Enrichment in Aqueous Media

The development of new and mild protocols for the specific enrichment of biomolecules is of significant interest from the perspective of chemical biology. A cobalt–phosphine complex immobilised on a solid‐phase resin has been found to selectively bind to a propargyl carbamate tag, that is, “catch”, under dilute aqueous conditions (pH 7) at 4 °C. Upon acidic treatment of the resulting resin‐bound alkyne–cobalt complex, the Nicholas reaction was induced to “release” the alkyne‐tagged molecule from the resin as a free amine. Model studies revealed that selective enrichment of the alkyne‐tagged molecule could be achieved with high efficiency at 4 °C. The proof‐of‐concept was applied to an alkyne‐tagged amino acid and dipeptide. Studies using an alkyne‐tagged dipeptide proved that this protocol is compatible with various amino acids bearing a range of functionalities in the side‐chain. In addition, selective enrichment and detection of an amine derived from the “catch and release” of an alkyne‐tagged dipeptide in the presence of various peptides has been accomplished under highly dilute conditions, as determined by mass spectrometry.     

“Inverted” Deep Eutectic Solvents Based on Host‐Guest Interactions

Herein, the concept of “inverted” (the mode “molecules mainly interact with cations”) deep eutectic solvents (DESs) is proposed. A strategy to form inverted DESs by host‐guest interactions was developed, and thus numerous DESs could be designed and formed by a combination of host and guest molecules. These liquids are expected to be used as nonaqueous electrolytes in potassium‐ion batteries or other fields for further exploration.     

“Push‐pull” supramolecular chromophores supported on cyclopolymers

Well‐defined macromolecules have been obtained through free‐radical cyclopolymerization and cyclocopolymerization of difunctional and acrylic‐like monomers, which contained “push‐pull” supramolecular chromophores, able to form 1:1 complexes with Eu³⁺ ions in solution. The monomeric molecular modules are built around bismalonate crown ethers in a convergent fashion, in which one of the malonate moiety is derivatized as the ylidene malonate push‐pull fragment, and the other malonate moiety is elaborated to introduce two polymerizable and acrylic‐like substituents. The free‐radical induced cyclopolymerization of these monomers, or their cyclocopolymerization with UV/Vis “silent” but structurally related monomers, afforded macromolecular architectures characterized by GPC, NMR and DSC techniques. UV/Vis titration studies, performed with Eu(OTf)₃ as the supramolecular probe, revealed how adjacent chromophores within the polymeric backbone are virtually independent from each other, and how the binding ability towards the probe of these multivalent, highly packed cyclopolymeric architectures, although reduced, is still clearly detectable. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5202–5213, 2008     

Ionic Diode Characteristics at a Polymer of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIM) | Nafion “Heterojunction” Deposit on a Microhole Poly(ethylene‐terephthalate) Substrate

Ionic diode phenomena occur at asymmetric ionomer | aqueous electrolyte microhole interfaces. Depending on the applied potential, either an “open” or a “closed” diode state is observed switching between a high ion flow rate and a low ion flow rate. Physically, the “open” state is associated mainly with conductivity towards the microhole within the ionomer layer and the “closed” state is dominated by restricted diffusion‐migration access to the microhole interface opposite to the ionomer. In this report we explore a “heterojunction” based on an asymmetric polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM) | Nafion ionomer microhole interface. Improved diode characteristics and current rectification are observed in aqueous NaCl. The effects of creating the PIM | Nafion micro‐interface are investigated and suggested to lead to novel sensor architectures.     

A “Distorted‐BODIPY”‐Based Fluorescent Probe for Imaging of Cellular Viscosity in Live Cells

Cellular viscosity is a critical factor in governing diffusion‐mediated cellular processes and is linked to a number of diseases and pathologies. Fluorescent molecular rotors (FMRs) have recently been developed to determine viscosity in solutions or biological fluid. Herein, we report a “distorted‐BODIPY”‐based probe BV‐1 for cellular viscosity, which is different from the conventional “pure rotors”. In BV‐1 , the internal steric hindrance between the meso‐CHO group and the 1,7‐dimethyl group forced the boron–dipyrrin framework to be distorted, which mainly caused nonradiative deactivation in low‐viscosity environment. BV‐1 gave high sensitivity (x=0.62) together with stringent selectivity to viscosity, thus enabling viscosity mapping in live cells. Significantly, the increase of cytoplasmic viscosity during apoptosis was observed by BV‐1 in real time.     

A target‐group‐change couple with mass defect filtering strategy to identify the metabolites of “Dogel ebs” in rats plasma,urine and bile

“Dogel ebs” was known as Sophora flavescens Ait., a classical traditional Chinese Mongolian herbal medicine, which had the effects on damp‐heat dysentery, scrofula, and syndrome of accumulated dampness toxicity. Although the chemical constituents have been clarified by our previous studies, the metabolic transformation of “Dogel ebs” in vivo was still unclear. To explore the mechanism of “Dogel ebs,” the metabolites in plasma, bile, and urine samples were investigated. A fast positive and negative ion switching technology was used for the simultaneous determination of flavonoids and alkaloids in “Dogel ebs” in a single run. And a target‐group‐change coupled with mass defect filtering strategy was utilized to analyze the collected data. 89 parent compounds and 82 metabolites were characterized by high‐performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry. Both phase I and phase II metabolites were observed and the metabolic pathways involved in oxidation, demethylation, acetylation, and glucuronidation. 69 metabolites of “Dogel ebs,” including three hydroxyls bonding xanthohumol, formononetin‐7‐O‐glucuronide, 2′‐hydroxyl‐isoxanthohumol decarboxylation metabolite, oxysophocarpine dehydrogen, 9α‐hydroxysophoramine‐O‐glucuronide, etc. were reported for the first time.     

Lactose as a “Trojan Horse” for Quantum Dot Cell Transport

A series of glycan‐coated quantum dots were prepared to probe the effect of glycan presentation in intracellular localization in HeLa and SV40 epithelial cells. We show that glycan density mostly impacts on cell toxicity, whereas glycan type affects the cell uptake and intracellular localization. Moreover, we show that lactose can act as a “Trojan horse” on bi‐functionalized QDs to help intracellular delivery of other non‐internalizable glycan moieties and largely avoid the endosomal/lysosomal degradative pathway.     

Rational Design of an “OFF–ON” Phosphorescent Chemodosimeter Based on an Iridium(III) Complex and Its Application for Time‐Resolved Luminescent Detection and Bioimaging of Cysteine and Homocysteine

Biothiols, such as cysteine (Cys) and homocysteine (Hcy), play very crucial roles in biological systems. Abnormal levels of these biothiols are often associated with many types of diseases. Therefore, the detection of Cys (or Hcy) is of great importance. In this work, we have synthesized an excellent “OFF‐ON” phosphorescent chemodosimeter 1 for sensing Cys and Hcy with high selectivity and naked‐eye detection based on an Ir^III complex containing a 2,4‐dinitrobenzenesulfonyl (DNBS) group within its ligand. The “OFF‐ON” phosphorescent response can be assigned to the electron‐transfer process from Ir^III center and C^N ligands to the DNBS group as the strong electron‐acceptor, which can quench the phosphorescence of probe 1 completely. The DNBS group can be cleaved by thiols of Cys or Hcy, and both the ³M LCT and ³LC states are responsible for the excited‐state properties of the reaction product of probe 1 and Cys (or Hcy). Thus, the phosphorescence is switched on. Based on these results, a general principle for designing “OFF‐ON” phosphorescent chemodosimeters based on heavy‐metal complexes has been provided. Importantly, utilizing the long emission‐lifetime of phosphorescence signal, the time‐resolved luminescent assay of 1 in sensing Cys was realized successfully, which can eliminate the interference from the short‐lived background fluorescence and improve the signal‐to‐noise ratio. As far as we know, this is the first report about the time‐resolved luminescent detection of biothiols. Finally, probe 1 has been used successfully for bioimaging the changes of Cys/Hcy concentration in living cells.     

Ion–Molecule Reactions of “Rollover” Cyclometalated [Pt(bipy−H)]+ (bipy=2,2′‐bipyridine) with Dimethyl Ether in Comparison with Dimethyl Sulfide: An Experimental/Computational Study

The ion–molecule reactions of dimethyl ether with cyclometalated [Pt(bipy?H)]⁺ were investigated in gas‐phase experiments, complemented by DFT methods, and compared with the previously reported ion–molecule reactions with its sulfur analogue. The initial step corresponds in both cases to a platinum‐mediated transfer of a hydrogen atom from the ether to the (bipy?H) ligand, and three‐membered oxygen‐ and sulfur‐containing metallacycles serve as key intermediates. Oxidative C? C bond coupling (“dehydrosulfurization”), which dominates the gas‐phase ion chemistry of the [Pt(bipy?H)]⁺ ion with dimethyl sulfide, is practically absent for dimethyl ether. The competition in the formation of C₂H₄ and CH₂X (X=O, S) in the reactions of [Pt(bipy?H)]⁺ with (CH₃)₂X (X=O, S) as well as the extensive H/D exchange observed in the [Pt(bipy?H)]⁺/(CH₃)₂O system are explained in terms of the corresponding potential‐energy surfaces.     

On the use of “fast kinetics” to determine the mechanism of ligand substitution at a solvated transition‐metal intermediate

Substitution of the weakly‐coordinated solvent molecule at a solvated transition‐metal intermediate is frequently investigated by “fast kinetic” methods. In typical experiments, the kinetics of the reaction are determined by following the time dependence of the changes in the reaction mixture's UV‐visible or infrared spectrum following photolytic creation of the intermediate. We consider the two limiting mechanisms (associative and dissociative), as well as the case of competition between them, and show that under typical “fast kinetics” experimental conditions, the different mechanisms are kinetically indistinguishable. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 36: 427–433, 2004     

“Printing” DNA Strand Patterns on Small Molecules with Control of Valency,Directionality, and Sequence

The incorporation of synthetic molecules as corner units in DNA structures has been of interest over the last two decades. In this work, we present a facile method for generating branched small molecule‐DNA hybrids with controllable valency, different sequences, and directionalities (5′–3′) using a “printing” process from a simple 3‐way junction structure. We also show that the DNA‐imprinted small molecule can be extended asymmetrically using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and can be replicated chemically. This strategy provides opportunities to achieve new structural motifs in DNA nanotechnology and introduce new functionalities to DNA nanostructures.     

A “quasi‐flexible” automatic docking processing for studying stereoselective recognition mechanisms. Part I. Protocol validation

The main purpose of this work is the development and validation of a general scheme based on a systematic and automatic “quasi‐flexible” docking approach for studying stereoselective recognition mechanisms. To achieve our goals we explore the conformational and configurational space for small‐ or medium‐size flexible molecules in a systematic way, seeking a method that is both reasonably accurate and relatively fast from the computational point of view. In particular, we have developed a general computational protocol for the global molecular interaction evaluation (“Glob‐MolInE”) to efficiently explore the orientational and conformational space of flexible selectors and selectands used in modern chiral high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); the enantioselective binding of the selector (S)‐N‐(3,5‐dinitrobenzoyl)‐leucine‐ n‐propylamide (S)‐ 1 towards the selectand N‐(2‐naphthyl)‐alanine methyl ester 2 has been studied; the global minimum obtained for the homochiral associate [S( 1 )/S( 2 )] (Pop. >99%) is very close (RMS≃0.20) to the crystallographically determined structure. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 21: 515–530, 2000     

“Printing” DNA Strand Patterns on Small Molecules with Control of Valency,Directionality, and Sequence

The incorporation of synthetic molecules as corner units in DNA structures has been of interest over the last two decades. In this work, we present a facile method for generating branched small molecule‐DNA hybrids with controllable valency, different sequences, and directionalities (5′–3′) using a “printing” process from a simple 3‐way junction structure. We also show that the DNA‐imprinted small molecule can be extended asymmetrically using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and can be replicated chemically. This strategy provides opportunities to achieve new structural motifs in DNA nanotechnology and introduce new functionalities to DNA nanostructures.     

An Efficient Probe for Rapid Detection of Cyanide in Water at Parts per Billion Levels and Naked‐Eye Detection of Endogenous Cyanide

A new molecular probe based on an oxidized bis‐indolyl skeleton has been developed for rapid and sensitive visual detection of cyanide ions in water and also for the detection of endogenously bound cyanide. The probe allows the “naked‐eye” detection of cyanide ions in water with a visual color change from red to yellow (Δλ_max=80 nm) with the immediate addition of the probe. It shows high selectivity towards the cyanide ion without any interference from other anions. The detection of cyanide by the probe is ratiometric, thus making the detection quantitative. A Michael‐type addition reaction of the probe with the cyanide ion takes place during this chemodosimetric process. In water, the detection limit was found to be at the parts per million level, which improved drastically when a neutral micellar medium was employed, and it showed a parts‐per‐billion‐level detection, which is even 25‐fold lower than the permitted limits of cyanide in water. The probe could also efficiently detect the endogenously bound cyanide in cassava (a staple food) with a clear visual color change without requiring any sample pretreatment and/or any special reaction conditions such as pH or temperature. Thus the probe could serve as a practical naked‐eye probe for “in‐field” experiments without requiring any sophisticated instruments.     

The Origin of the “Snap‐In” in the Force Curve between AFM Probe and the Water/Gas Interface of Nanobubbles

The long‐range attractive force or “snap‐in” is an important phenomenon usually occurring when a solid particle interacts with a water/gas interface. By using PeakForce quantitative nanomechanics the origin of snap‐in in the force curve between the atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe and the water/gas interface of nanobubbles has been investigated. The snap‐in frequently happened when the probe was preserved for a certain time or after being used for imaging solid surfaces under atmospheric conditions. In contrast, imaging in liquids rarely induced a snap‐in. After a series of control experiments, it was found that the snap‐in can be attributed to hydrophobic interactions between the water/gas interface and the AFM probe, which was either modified or contaminated with hydrophobic material. The hydrophobic contamination could be efficiently removed by a conventional plasma‐cleaning treatment, which prevents the occurring of the snap‐in. In addition, the adsorption of sodium dodecyl sulfate onto the nanobubble surface changed the water/gas interface into hydrophilic, which also eliminated the snap‐in phenomenon.     

Developing A “Polysulfide‐Phobic” Strategy to Restrain Shuttle Effect in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Inspired by hydrophobic interface, a novel design of “polysulfide‐phobic” interface was proposed and developed to restrain shuttle effect in lithium–sulfur batteries. Two‐dimensional VOPO₄ sheets with adequate active sites were employed to immobilize the polysulfides through the formation of a V?S bond. Moreover, owing to the intrinsic Coulomb repulsion between polysulfide anions, the surface anchored with polysulfides can be further evolved into a “polysulfide‐phobic” interface, which was demonstrated by the advanced time/space‐resolved operando Raman evidences. In particular, by introducing the “polysulfide‐phobic” surface design into separator fabrication, the lithium–sulfur battery performed a superior long‐term cycling stability. This work expands a novel strategy to build a “polysulfide‐phobic” surface by “self‐defense” mechanism for suppressing polysulfides shuttle, which provides new insights and opportunities to develop advanced lithium–sulfur batteries.