Sterically Shielded Heptamethine Cyanine Dyes for Bioconjugation and High Performance Near‐Infrared Fluorescence Imaging

The near‐infrared window of fluorescent heptamethine cyanine dyes greatly facilitates biological imaging because there is deep penetration of the light and negligible background fluorescence. However, dye instability, aggregation, and poor pharmacokinetics are current drawbacks that limit performance and the scope of possible applications. All these limitations are simultaneously overcome with a new molecular design strategy that produces a charge balanced and sterically shielded fluorochrome. The key design feature is a meso‐aryl group that simultaneously projects two shielding arms directly over each face of a linear heptamethine polyene. Cell and mouse imaging experiments compared a shielded heptamethine cyanine dye (and several peptide and antibody bioconjugates) to benchmark heptamethine dyes and found that the shielded systems possess an unsurpassed combination of photophysical, physiochemical, and biodistribution properties that greatly enhance bioimaging performance.     

Iterative Suzuki‐Miyaura Cross‐coupling/Bromo‐desilylation Reaction Sequences for the Assembly of Chemically Well‐defined,Acyclic Oligopyrrole/Benzenoid Hybrids Embodying Mixed Modes of Connectivity

Syntheses of a range of chemically well‐defined oligopyrrole/benzenoid hybrids are described using tandem Suzuki‐Miyaura cross‐coupling/bromo‐desilyation reaction sequences for linking borylated pyrroles, halogenated pyrroles and/or dibromobenzenes to one another. By such means, including iterative variants, a range of all α‐linked, all β‐linked oligopyrroles as well as certain combinations thereof have been assembled, some of them for the first time. The conductivities of iodine‐treated thin films formed from certain such systems have been determined.     

Chemically initiated graft copolymerization of acrylic acid onto acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) terpolymer and its constituent polymers

The graft copolymerization of acrylic acid onto acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer (ABS), has been initiated by the use of both benzoyl peroxide and azobisisobutyronitrile. Addition occurs in the butadiene region of the polymer, either by the loss of a vinylic hydrogen and subsequent radical formation and addition of monomer or by addition to the double bond. The amount of acrylic acid which may be added is dependent upon the time and temperature of the reaction and the concentration of monomer and initiator. Thermal analysis of the grafted samples show that the residue is less than that expected based upon the composition of the copolymer; similar results have been previously obtained for acrylic acid grafted by another technique. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The use of carbon black-supported sulfuric acid to initiate the cationic polymerization of cyclic ketene acetals

Stable polymers were made by the cationically initiated 1,2-polymerization of cyclic ketene acetals employing heterogeneous, activated carbon-supported sulfuric acid catalysts. A methodology has been established for the preparation of the carbon black of different acidic strengths. By adjusting either the acid strength or the amount of carbon black used, cyclic ketene acetals with different activities can be polymerized efficiently to form stable high molecular weight polymers. This methodology will be a useful tool for polymerization, copolymerization, and studies of the relative reactivities of the cyclic ketene acetals. The polymer structures were determined by FTIR, ¹³C-NMR, and ¹H-NMR studies. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Complexation of poly(vinyl alcohol)–congo red aqueous solutions. 3. Dynamic light scattering study

Mesoscopic structures of poly(vinyl alcohol)(SINGLEBOND)Congo red (PVA(SINGLEBOND) CR) complexes in aqueous solutions were investigated in terms of dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique. The intensity-intensity time correlation function, g⁽²⁾(t), was analyzed with an equation including a single and a stretched exponential function. Two diffusion coefficients, D_f (fast) and D_s (slow) were evaluated. D_f was converted to the apparent correlation length, ξ_app, via the mode-mode coupling hypothesis. The estimated ξ_app was insensitive to the sol(SINGLEBOND)to(SINGLEBOND)gel transition but decreased with CR concentration. This change may be related to the electrostatic screening effect. On the other hand, D_s oscillates with increasing CR concentration at a specific PVA concentration range. This explains well the reentrant sol(SINGLEBOND)gel(SINGLEBOND)sol(SINGLEBOND)gel transition behavior observed in the PVA(SINGLEBOND)CR systems. D_s seems to represent the mobility of the PVA(SINGLEBOND)CR complexes, which annihilates at the gel point. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The products of the reaction of the hydroxyl radical with 2-ethoxyethyl acetate

The gas-phase reaction products of the OH radical with 2-ethoxyethyl acetate (EEA, CH₃C(O)OCH₂CH₂OCH₂CH₃) have been investigated. 1,2-Ethanediol acetate formate (EAF, CH₃C(O)OCH₂CH₂OC(O)H) and ethyl formate (EF, HC(O)OCH₂CH₃) were identified as the two main products. A third product, ethylene glycol diacetate (EGD, CH₃C(O)OCH₂CH₂OC(O)CH₃), was also observed. EAF, EF, and EGD formation yields were determined to be 0.37 ± 0.03 and 0.328 ± 0.018 and 0.040 ± 0.005, respectively. Proposed reaction mechanisms are discussed and compared with these data. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The spectrum for rotational Steiner triple systems

We develop some recursive constructions for rotational Steiner triple systems with which the spectrum of a k-rotational Steiner triple system of order v is completely determined for each positive integer k. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Investigation of Metastable Low Dimensional Halometallates

The solvothermal synthesis, structure determination and optical characterization of five new metastable halometallate compounds, [1,10-phenH][Pb_3.5I₈] (1), [1,10-phenH₂][Pb₅I₁₂]·(H₂O) (2), [1,10-phen][Pb₂I₄] (3), [1,10-phen]₂[Pb₅Br₁₀] (4) and [1,10-phenH][SbI₄]·(H₂O) (5), are reported. The materials exhibit rich structural diversity and exhibit structural dimensionalities that include 1D chains, 2D sheets and 3D frameworks. The optical spectra of these materials are consistent with bandgaps ranging from 2.70 to 3.44 eV. We show that the optical behavior depends on the structural dimensionality of the reported materials, which are potential candidates for semiconductor applications.     

A compact Raman microprobe/microscope: Analysis of polydiacetylene Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett films

A compact Raman microprobe/microscope has been developed which contains no wavelength dispersive elements. Multilayer dielectric filters, tuned by rotation, provide sufficient wavelength selectivity for taking Raman spectra and forming Raman images of samples as small as 1 μm in diameter. The application of the instrument is demonstrated by Raman spectra and images of polydiacetylene Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett films.