Photochemical Reactivity of Naphthol-Naphthalimide Conjugates and Their Biological Activity

Quinone methide precursors 1a–e, with different alkyl linkers between the naphthol and the naphthalimide chromophore, were synthesized. Their photophysical properties and photochemical reactivity were investigated and connected with biological activity. Upon excitation of the naphthol, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) to the naphthalimide takes place and the quantum yields of fluorescence are low (Φ_F ≈ 10⁻²). Due to FRET, photodehydration of naphthols to QMs takes place inefficiently (Φ_R ≈ 10⁻⁵). However, the formation of QMs can also be initiated upon excitation of naphthalimide, the lower energy chromophore, in a process that involves photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from the naphthol to the naphthalimide. Fluorescence titrations revealed that 1a and 1e form complexes with ct-DNA with moderate association constants K_a ≈ 10⁵–10⁶ M⁻¹, as well as with bovine serum albumin (BSA) K_a ≈ 10⁵ M⁻¹ (1:1 complex). The irradiation of the complex 1e@BSA resulted in the alkylation of the protein, probably via QM. The antiproliferative activity of 1a–e against two human cancer cell lines (H460 and MCF 7) was investigated with the cells kept in the dark or irradiated at 350 nm, whereupon cytotoxicity increased, particularly for 1e (>100 times). Although the enhancement of this activity upon UV irradiation has no imminent therapeutic application, the results presented have importance in the rational design of new generations of anticancer phototherapeutics that absorb visible light.     

Electronic structure of substituted bicycloheptanones (camphors)

He I photoelectron spectra of some camphor derivatives have been recorded and are assigned on the basis of correlations with the spectra of related molecules. The spectra reported in this work together with those reported previously form a camphor database for study of electronic structure interactions between functional groups themselves and between groups and the bicycloalkane skeleton. The unsymmetrical camphor skeleton is found to be a poor relay for σ−π interactions.     

Investigation of benzene-hexafluorobenzene dynamics in liquid binary mixtures

The structure and microscopic dynamics of liquid mixtures of benzene and hexafluorobenzene at room temperature and several compositions have been studied by molecular-dynamics simulations. In this implementation we have rescaled the intermolecular H-F cross potential parameters obtained from the Lorentz-Berthelot combining rules, in order to avoid the substantial overestimation of the energy of mixing predicted by the model when the usual rules are employed. We found that a reduction in the strength of cross H-F interactions by 50% relative to the geometric mean is required in order to get a good agreement with experiments. Radial-angular pair-correlation functions between like and unlike species have been computed and analyzed, by comparing them with the correlations in the corresponding neat liquids. We have also studied the microscopic intermolecular momentum transfer, by computing the time correlation function between the initial velocity of a central molecule and later velocities of neighboring molecules. Structural and dynamical information extracted from the mentioned functions seem to be consistent with the picture of relatively long-lived benzene-hexafluorobenzene (Bz-Hf) complexes present in the mixtures, which would be responsible for the considerable perturbation of the structure in the first shell of like species, and would be moving within the liquid in a parallel face-to-face configuration. Using the tools developed originally to estimate hydrogen-bond lifetimes in liquids, we have computed the lifetimes of the Bz-Hf complexes as a function of the mixture composition, by two different methods: the direct time-averaging scheme and from the autocorrelation function of bond occupation numbers. The obtained lifetimes are strongly dependent on the scheme chosen to compute the characteristic times. We have obtained for the Bz-Hf dimer in solution, at room temperature, lifetimes in the range of 30-40 ps from averaging schemes and around 60-120 ps from autocorrelation function methods. In the latter case, the longest times correspond to the equimolar mixture.     

Thermal stability of poly(methyl methacrylate)/silica nano- and microcomposites as investigated by dynamic-mechanical experiments

The thermal stability of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) filled with silicon dioxide particles was investigated by means of rheological tests. The change in the storage modulus G′ was measured, which is a very sensitive method to detect molecular changes in polymers. The long-term thermal stability of the composites was found to depend on the temperature of the melt, the size of the silica particles, which ranged from nano- to micrometers, and the volume fraction of the filler. For high temperatures and a large surface area of the silica particles the behaviour of the composites differs significantly from that of the pure polymer. Pure PMMA degrades at high temperatures, which correlates with a decrease of G′. In contrast an increase in G′ with increasing temperature and filler surface was measured for the composite materials. This behaviour is explained by chemical reactions of the PMMA molecules with the silica particles. Effects of that kind were not found for SiO₂ filled polystyrene.     

Solvation dynamics in reverse micelles: the role of headgroup-solute interactions

We present molecular dynamics simulation results for solvation dynamics in the water pool of anionic-surfactant reverse micelles (RMs) of varying water content, w(0). The model RMs are designed to represent water/aerosol-OT/oil systems, where aerosol-OT is the common name for sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate. To determine the effects of chromophore-headgroup interactions on solvation dynamics, we compare the results for charge localization in model ionic diatomic chromophores that differ only in charge sign. Electronic excitation in both cases is modeled as charge localization on one of the solute sites. We find dramatic differences in the solvation responses for anionic and cationic chromophores. Solvation dynamics for the cationic chromophore are considerably slower and more strongly w(0)-dependent than those for the anionic chromophore. Further analysis indicates that the difference in the responses can be ascribed in part to the different initial locations of the two chromophores relative to the surfactant interface. In addition, slow motion of the cationic chromophore relative to the interface is the main contributor to the longer-time decay of the solvation response to charge localization in this case.     

Silver nanoparticles as antimicrobial agent: a case study on E. coli as a model for Gram-negative bacteria

The antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles against E. coli was investigated as a model for Gram-negative bacteria. Bacteriological tests were performed in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium on solid agar plates and in liquid systems supplemented with different concentrations of nanosized silver particles. These particles were shown to be an effective bactericide. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) were used to study the biocidal action of this nanoscale material. The results confirmed that the treated E. coli cells were damaged, showing formation of "pits" in the cell wall of the bacteria, while the silver nanoparticles were found to accumulate in the bacterial membrane. A membrane with such a morphology exhibits a significant increase in permeability, resulting in death of the cell. These nontoxic nanomaterials, which can be prepared in a simple and cost-effective manner, may be suitable for the formulation of new types of bactericidal materials.     

New synthesis of 7-bromo-1, 3-dihydro-3-hydroxy-5-(2′-pyridyl)-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one

A new synthesis of 7-bromo-1,3-dihydro-3-hydroxy-5-(2′-pyridyl)-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one ( 5 ) is described. Starting from bromazepam ( 3 ), C(3) acylation with lead tetraacetate/potassium iodide in acetic acid affords 4 , while its mild hydrolysis according to our recently described method (5) gives 5 . Improved hexamine cyclization of 1 into 3 , via quaternary hexaminium salt 2 , is discussed, and identification of the intermediates 7 and 8 is performed. Compound 5 undergoes on melting, or on brief heating in glacial acetic acid, the thermal rearrangement into quinazolin-2-aldehyde ( 13 ), the structure of which is confirmed by oxidation into the ester 14 , which in turn was hydrolyzed to the acid 15 . The same compound ( 5 ) rearranges on heating with manganese(III) acetate in acetic acid into the 3-amino-2-quinolone derivative 6 . On heating in glacial acetic acid in the presence of lead tetraacetate/potassium iodide (or iodine), compound 4 , in addition to giving the aldehyde 13 , ester 14 and acid 15 rearrangement products, affords 1,2-dihydroquinazolin-2-carboxylic acid 16 .     

Photoelectron spectroscopy of natural products: terpenes

HeI photoelectron spectra of three terpenes: alpha-pinene, pulegone and cembrene have been measured. The analysis of their electronic structure is based on the comparison of measured spectra with those of related compounds and on the comparison with molecular structures of studied compounds. We discuss changes in ionization energies of C-C double bonds which are situated at different positions along the rings.     

Water motion in reverse micelles studied by quasielastic neutron scattering and molecular dynamics simulations

Motion of water molecules in Aerosol OT [sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate, AOT] reverse micelles with water content w(0) ranging from 1 to 5 has been explored both experimentally through quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) and with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The experiments were performed at the energy resolution of 85 microeV over the momentum transfer (Q) range of 0.36-2.53 A(-1) on samples in which the nonpolar phase (isooctane) and the AOT alkyl chains were deuterated, thereby suppressing their contribution to the QENS signal. QENS results were analyzed via a jump-diffusion/isotropic rotation model, which fits the results reasonably well despite the fact that confinement effects are not explicitly taken into account. This analysis indicates that in reverse micelles with low-water content (w(0)=1 and 2.5) translational diffusion rate is too slow to be detected, while for w(0)=5 the diffusion coefficient is much smaller than for bulk water. Rotational diffusion coefficients obtained from this analysis increase with w(0) and are smaller than for bulk water, but rotational mobility is less drastically reduced than translational mobility. Using the Faeder/Ladanyi model [J. Phys. Chem. B 104, 1033 (2000)] of reverse micelle interior, MD simulations were performed to calculate the self-intermediate scattering function F(S)(Q,t) for water hydrogens. Comparison of the time Fourier transform of this F(S)(Q,t) with the QENS dynamic structure factor S(Q,omega), shows good agreement between the model and experiment. Separate intermediate scattering functions F(S) (R)(Q,t) and F(S) (CM)(Q,t) were determined for rotational and translational motion. Consistent with the decoupling approximation used in the analysis of QENS data, the product of F(S) (R)(Q,t) and F(S) (CM)(Q,t) is a good approximation to the total F(S)(Q,t). We find that the decay of F(S) (CM)(Q,t) is nonexponential and our analysis of the MD data indicates that this behavior is due to lower water mobility close to the interface and to confinement-induced restrictions on the range of translational displacements. Rotational relaxation also exhibits nonexponential decay. However, rotational mobility of O-H bond vectors in the interfacial region remains fairly high due to the lower density of water-water hydrogen bonds in the vicinity of the interface.     

Water/hydrocarbon interfaces: effect of hydrocarbon branching on single-molecule relaxation

Water/hydrocarbon interfaces are studied using molecular dynamics simulations in order to understand the effect of hydrocarbon branching on the dynamics of the system at and away from the interface. A recently proposed procedure for studying the intrinsic structure of the interface in such systems is utilized, and dynamics are probed in the usual laboratory frame as well as the intrinsic frame. The use of these two frames of reference leads to insight into the effect of capillary waves at the interface on dynamics. The systems were partitioned into zones with a width of 5 A, and a number of quantities of dynamical relevance, namely, the residence times, mean squared displacements, the velocity auto correlation functions, and orientational time correlations for molecules of both phases, were calculated in the laboratory and intrinsic frames at and away from the interface. For the aqueous phase, translational motion is found to be (a) diffusive at long times and not anomalous as in proteins or micelles, (b) faster at the interface than in the bulk, and (c) faster upon reduction of the effect of capillary waves. The rotational motion of water is (a) more anisotropic at the interface than in the bulk and (b) dependent on the orientation of the covalent O-H bond with respect to the plane of the interface. The effect of hydrocarbon branching on aqueous dynamics was found to be small, a result similar to the effect on the interfacial water structure. The hydrocarbon phase shows a larger variation for all dynamical probes, a trend consistent with their interfacial structure.