Switching the photoinduced processes in host-guest complexes of β-cyclodextrin-substituted silicon(IV) phthalocyanines and a tetrasulfonated porphyrin

Porphyrins and phthalocyanines are two attractive classes of functional dyes for the construction of artificial light harvesting and charge separation molecular systems. The assembly of these components by supramolecular approach is of particular interest as this provides a facile route to build multi-chromophoric arrays with various architectures and tuneable photophysical properties. We report herein a series of host-guest complexes formed between a tetrasulfonated porphyrin and several silicon(IV) phthalocyanines substituted axially with two permethylated β-cyclodextrin units via different spacers. As shown by electronic absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic methods, the two components bind spontaneously in a 1:1 manner in water with large binding constants in the range of 1.1 × 10(7) to 3.5 × 10(8) M(-1). The photophysical properties of the resulting supramolecular complexes have also been studied in detail using steady-state and time-resolved optical spectroscopic methods. It has been found that two major photoinduced processes, namely fluorescence resonance energy transfer and charge transfer are involved which are controlled by the spacer between the β-cyclodextrin units and the silicon centre of phthalocyanine. Despite the fact that charge transfer is a thermodynamically favourable process for all the complexes, only the ones with a tetraethylene glycol or oxo linker exhibit an efficient charge transfer from the excited phthalocyanine to the porphyrin entity. The lifetimes of the corresponding charge-separated states have been determined to be 200 and 70 ps by picosecond pump-probe experiments.     

Prodrug design for the potent cardiovascular agent Nω-hydroxy-L-arginine (NOHA): synthetic approaches and physicochemical characterization

N(ω)-Hydroxy-L-arginine (NOHA)--the physiological nitric oxide precursor--is the intermediate of NO synthase (NOS) catalysis. Besides the important fact of releasing NO mainly at the NOS-side of action, NOHA also represents a potent inhibitor of arginases, making it an ideal therapeutic tool to treat cardiovascular diseases that are associated with endothelial dysfunction. Here, we describe an approach to impart NOHA drug-like properties, particularly by wrapping up the chemically and metabolically instable N-hydroxyguanidine moiety with different prodrug groups. We present synthetic routes that deliver several more or less highly substituted NOHA derivatives in excellent yields. Versatile prodrug strategies were realized, including novel concepts of bioactivation. Prodrug candidates were primarily investigated regarding their hydrolytic and oxidative stabilities. Within the scope of this work, we essentially present the first prodrug approaches for an interesting pharmacophoric moiety, i.e., N-hydroxyguanidine.     

Protein assembly directed by synthetic molecular recognition motifs

Tris-functionalized cyanuric acid (TCA) and melamine (TM) selectively recognize each other in aqueous solution with 1 : 1 stoichiometry. We have coupled biotin to TCA and TM to allow pseudo-tetrahedral display of TCA and TM on streptavidin through biotin-ligand binding. Synthetic cyanuric acid/melamine recognition is found to drive selective protein-protein assembly.     

Unsymmetrical β-cyclodextrin-conjugated silicon(IV) phthalocyanines as highly potent photosensitisers for photodynamic therapy

A series of unsymmetrical silicon(IV) phthalocyanines with a permethylated β-cyclodextrin unit and a sugar or a diamino moiety as the axial substituents have been prepared. These compounds are highly photocytotoxic with IC(50) values as low as 21 nM, which is ca. sevenfold lower than those of the symmetrical bis(cyclodextrin) analogue.     

Determination of total nitrofuran metabolites in shrimp muscle using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in the atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode

The method of MacMahon and Lohne for analysis of nitrofuran metabolites in shrimp was optimized to streamline the extraction processes and the LC analysis. This revised method includes 16 h of mild acid hydrolysis/derivatization followed by ethyl acetate extraction and analysis by LC/MS/MS in the atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode. This revised method was validated in shrimp for concentrations of 0.25 to 2.0 ng/g. The LOQ was 0.25 ng/g for all metabolites. The LOD was 0.052 nglg for 1-aminohydantoin (AHD), 0.206 ng/g for 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ), 0.108 ng/g for semicarbazide (SC), and 0.062 ng/g for 3-amino-5-morpholinomethyl-2-oxazolidinone (AMOZ). The spike recoveries with RSD into negative matrix at 1 ng/g were 100.2% (3.2%) for AHD, 102.5% (1.0%) for AOZ, 103.7% (2.3%) for SC, and 104.0% (3.3%) for AMOZ. The spike recoveries at 1 ng/g into unknown samples (n=108) containing varied levels of nitrofuran metabolites were 112.6% (25.7%) for AHD, 108.1% (12.1%) for AOZ, 103.0% (12.0%) for SC, and 100.3% (6.9%) for AMOZ. Interday precision with samples containing incurred AOZ concentrations of 0.92 to 17.8 ppb performed over a year was 10.4% RSD. The method is accurate and precise for determining nitrofuran concentrations in the edible tissue of shrimp.     

A rigid donor-acceptor daisy chain dimer

A functionalised cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) attached by a rigid linker to a tetrathiafulvalene unit, which is incapable of self-complexation, forms preferentially a [c2]daisy chain which undergoes rapid disassociation and reassociation on the (1)H NMR time-scale above room temperature.     

A co-crystal of polyoxometalates exhibiting single-molecule magnet behavior: the structural origin of a large magnetic anisotropy

A polyoxometalate-based {Mn(III)(3)Mn(IV)} single-molecule magnet exhibits a large axial anisotropy (D = -0.86 cm(-1)) resulting from a near-parallel alignment of Jahn-Teller axes. Its rigorous three-fold symmetry (i.e. rhombicity E→ 0) and increased intercluster separation via co-crystallization effectively hamper quantum tunnelling of the magnetization.     

Homo- and heteronuclear meso,meso-(E)-ethene-1,2-diyl-linked diporphyrins: preparation, x-ray crystal structure, electronic absorption and emission spectra and density functional theory calculations

Homo- and heteronuclear meso,meso-(E)-ethene-1,2-diyl-linked diporphyrins have been prepared by the Suzuki coupling of porphyrinylboronates and iodovinylporphyrins. Combinations comprising 5,10,15-triphenylporphyrin (TriPP) on both ends of the ethene-1,2-diyl bridge M(2)10 (M(2) =H(2)/Ni, Ni(2), Ni/Zn, H(4), H(2)Zn, Zn(2)) and 5,15-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)porphyrinato-nickel(II) on one end and H(2), Ni, and ZnTriPP on the other (M(2)11), enable the first studies of this class of compounds possessing intrinsic polarity. The compounds were characterized by electronic absorption and steady state emission spectra, (1)H?NMR spectra, and for the Ni(2) bis(TriPP) complex Ni(2)10, single crystal X-ray structure determination. The crystal structure shows ruffled distortions of the porphyrin rings, typical of Ni(II) porphyrins, and the (E)-C(2)H(2) bridge makes a dihedral angle of 50° with the mean planes of the macrocycles. The result is a stepped parallel arrangement of the porphyrin rings. The dihedral angles in the solid state reflect the interplay of steric and electronic effects of the bridge on interporphyrin communication. The emission spectra in particular, suggest energy transfer across the bridge is fast in conformations in which the bridge is nearly coplanar with the rings. Comparisons of the fluorescence behaviour of H(4)10 and H(2)Ni10 show strong quenching of the free base fluorescence when the complex is excited at the lower energy component of the Soret band, a feature associated in the literature with more planar conformations. TDDFT calculations on the gas-phase optimized geometry of Ni(2)10 reproduce the features of the experimental electronic absorption spectrum within 0.1 eV.