Luminescent Pd(II) Complexes with Tridentate − Aryl-pyridine-(benzo)thiazole Ligands

Cyclometalated Pd(II) complexes generally show inferior luminescence properties compared with their Pt(II) analogues. The established approach employing tridentate cyclometalating ligands has allowed us to create a series of square planar Pd(II) complexes [Pd( )X] from their protoligands H (2-(6-phenylpyridin-2-yl)thiazoles and -benzothiazoles; coligands X=Cl, Br, I) with extensive variations at the C_arene group (phenyl, naphthyl, fluorenyl), the central N_pyridine (pyridine, 4-phenylpyridine, 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-phenylpyridine), and the peripheral N_thiazole (thiazole, benzothiazole) to probe for structural factors that might enhance efficient luminescence. Long-wavelength bands at 400–500 nm were assigned to transitions into mixed ligand-centred/metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) states based on time-dependent (TD)DFT calculations. The MLCT contributions are rather low, in agreement with relatively long lifetimes and high photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 0.79 recorded in frozen glassy solvent matrices at 77 K along with emission bands showing pronounced vibrational progressions and peaking at about 520 nm. No photoluminescence was observed at 298 K in solution. Variation of the ligand allowed to shift the experimental absorption energies from about 2.4 to 2.7 eV, in good agreement with the electrochemical band gaps (2.58 to 2.81 eV). The theoretical absorption and emission spectra excellently reproduced the experimental trends.     

Aptamers: Potential Diagnostic and Therapeutic Agents for Blood Diseases

Aptamers are RNA/DNA oligonucleotide molecules that specifically bind to a targeted complementary molecule. As potential recognition elements with promising diagnostic and therapeutic applications, aptamers, such as monoclonal antibodies, could provide many treatment and diagnostic options for blood diseases. Aptamers present several superior features over antibodies, including a simple in vitro selection and production, ease of modification and conjugation, high stability, and low immunogenicity. Emerging as promising alternatives to antibodies, aptamers could overcome the present limitations of monoclonal antibody therapy to provide novel diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive treatments for blood diseases. Researchers in several biomedical areas, such as biomarker detection, diagnosis, imaging, and targeted therapy, have widely investigated aptamers, and several aptamers have been developed over the past two decades. One of these is the pegaptanib sodium injection, an aptamer-based therapeutic that functions as an anti-angiogenic medicine, and it is the first aptamer approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for therapeutic use. Several other aptamers are now in clinical trials. In this review, we highlight the current state of aptamers in the clinical trial program and introduce some promising aptamers currently in pre-clinical development for blood diseases.     

Characterization of Vegetables by Stable Isotopic and Elemental Signatures

ABSTRACT

109 Romanian parsley, celery and parsnip root, cucumber, vegetable marrow, onion, and pepper samples were characterized by their stable isotope ratios and elemental concentrations in comparison to imported varieties. Organic and conventional agriculture practices were also compared as well as a differentiation between eggplant and peppers grown in greenhouses and those in the field. δ²H values were between ?70.8 and 5.6‰, while the δ¹⁸O values were between ?9.0 and 4.1‰. The δ¹⁵N values for white onions were from 2.8 to 11.1‰. For Romanian organic onions, the carbon isotopic values were lower (?29.2 to ?28.2‰) compared to conventional onions from other countries (?27.8‰ to ?23.8%). Linear discriminant analysis was used to characterize agricultural practices and the geographic origin of the vegetables.     

Stereoselective total syntheses of (±)-sinularene and of (±)-5-epi-sinularene via intramolecular type-I-“magnesium-ene” reaction

(±)-Sinularene ($\text{1}$) as well as (±)-5-epi-sinularene ($\text{9}$) were synthesised in a stereocontrolled manner from the norbornene $\text{2}$ in overall yields of 4% and 8%, respectively. The key step $\text{5}$ → $\text{6}$ involves a regio- and stereoselective intramolecular “magnesium-ene” reaction.     

Green Synthesis,Characterization, and Antibacterial Properties of Silver Nanoparticles Obtained by Using Diverse Varieties of Cannabis sativa Leaf Extracts

Cannabis sativa L. (hemp) is a plant used in the textile industry and green building material industry, as well as for the phytoremediation of soil, medical treatments, and supplementary food products. The synergistic effect of terpenes, flavonoids, and cannabinoids in hemp extracts may mediate the biogenic synthesis of metal nanoparticles. In this study, the chemical composition of aqueous leaf extracts of three varieties of Romanian hemp (two monoecious, and one dioecious) have been determined by Fourier-Transformed Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), high-performance liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry (UHPLC-DAD-MS). Then, their capability to mediate the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their pottential antibacterial applications were evaluated. The average antioxidant capacity of the extracts had 18.4 ± 3.9% inhibition determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH^•) and 78.2 ± 4.1% determined by 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS™) assays. The total polyphenolic content of the extracts was 1642 ± 32 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) L⁻¹. After this, these extracts were reacted with an aqueous solution of AgNO₃ resulting in AgNPs, which were characterized by UV−VIS spectroscopy, FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results demonstrated obtaining spherical, stable AgNPs with a diameter of less than 69 nm and an absorbance peak at 435 nm. The mixture of extracts and AgNPs showed a superior antioxidant capacity of 2.3 ± 0.4% inhibition determined by the DPPH^• assay, 88.5 ± 0.9% inhibition as determined by the ABTS^•+ assay, and a good antibacterial activity against several human pathogens: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Staphylococcus aureus.     

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a New One-dimensional Nickel(Ⅱ) Complex with 2-Pyridinecarboxyic Acid and 4,4′-Bipyridine Ligands

A new metal-organic coordination polymer [Ni[(2-pya)2(4,4′-bipy)]n·6nH2O (2-pya = 2-pyridinecarboxylic acid, 4,4′-bipy = 4,4′-pyridine) 1 has been hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectrum, TG and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The complex crystallizes in tetragonal, space group I41/a with a = b = 22.5642(19), c = 10.7118(18), V = 5453.8(11) 3, C22H28N4NiO10, Mr = 567.19, Dc = 1.382 g/cm3, μ(MoKα) = 0.769 mm-1, F(000) = 2368, Z = 8, the final R = 0.0572 and wR = 0.1254 for 1401 observed reflections (I > 2σ(I)). It exhibits a one-dimensional chain-like structure by mixed ligands of 2-pyridinedicarboxylic acid and 4,4′-pyridine.     

Modulation of Protein Dimerization by a Supramolecular Host–Guest System

Two sets of cyan and yellow fluorescent proteins, monomeric analogues, and analogues with a weak affinity for dimerization were functionalized with supramolecular host–guest molecules by expressed protein ligation. The host–guest elements induce selective assembly of the monomeric variants into a supramolecular heterodimer. For the second set of analogues, the supramolecular host–guest system acts in cooperation with the intrinsic affinity between the two proteins, resulting in the induction of a selective protein–protein heterodimerization at a more dilute concentration. Additionally, the supramolecular host–guest system allows locking of the two proteins in a covalent heterodimer through the facilitated and selective formation of a reversible disulfide linkage. For the monomeric analogues this results in a strong increase of the energy transfer between the proteins. The protein heterodimerization can be reversed in a stepwise fashion. The trajectory of the disassembly process differs for the monomeric and dimerizing set of proteins. The results highlight that supramolecular elements connected to proteins can both be used to facilitate the interaction between two proteins without intrinsic affinity and to stabilize weak protein–protein interactions at concentrations below those determined by the actual affinity of the proteins alone. The subsequent covalent linkage between the proteins generates a stable protein dimer as a single species. The action of the supramolecular elements in concert with the proteins thus allows the generation of protein architectures with specific properties and compositions.     

Curves of infinite length in 4 × 4-labyrinth fractals

We study 4 × 4-labyrinth fractals, which are self similar dendrites. For all 4 × 4-labyrinth fractals we answer the question, whether there is a curve of finite length in the fractal from one point to another point in the fractal. In the first case, between any two points in the fractal there is a unique arc a, the length of a is infinite, and the set of points, where no tangent exists to a, is dense in a. In the second case, there are also pairs of points between that there is a unique arc of finite length. The authors are supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Project P-20412.     

The HITRAN 2008 molecular spectroscopic database

This paper describes the status of the 2008 edition of the HITRAN molecular spectroscopic database. The new edition is the first official public release since the 2004 edition, although a number of crucial updates had been made available online since 2004. The HITRAN compilation consists of several components that serve as input for radiative-transfer calculation codes: individual line parameters for the microwave through visible spectra of molecules in the gas phase; absorption cross-sections for molecules having dense spectral features, i.e. spectra in which the individual lines are not resolved; individual line parameters and absorption cross-sections for bands in the ultraviolet; refractive indices of aerosols, tables and files of general properties associated with the database; and database management software. The line-by-line portion of the database contains spectroscopic parameters for 42 molecules including many of their isotopologues.