Perturbing π-clouds with Substituents to Study the Effects on Reaction Dynamics of gauche-1,3-Butadiene to Bicyclobutane Electrocyclization

The conical intersection (CI) governs the ultra-fast relaxation of excited states in a radiationless manner and are observed mainly in photochemical processes. In the current work, we investigated the effects of substituents on the reaction dynamics for the conversion of gauche-1,3-butadiene to bicyclobutane via photochemical electrocyclization. We incorporated both electron withdrawing (−F) and donating (−CH₃) groups in the conjugated system. In our study, we optimized the minimum energy conical intersection (MECI) geometries using the multi-configurational state-averaged CASSCF approach, whereas, to study the ground state reaction pathways for the substituted derivatives, dispersion corrected, B3LYP-D3 functional was used. The non-adiabatic surface hopping molecular dynamics simulations were performed to observe the behaviour of electronic states involved throughout the photoconversion process. The results obtained from the multi-reference second-order perturbation correction of energy at the XMS-CASPT2 level of theory, topography analysis, and non-adiabatic dynamics suggest that the −CH₃ substituted derivatives can undergo faster thermal conversion to the product in the ground state with a smaller activation energy barrier compared to −F substituted derivative. Our study also reveals that the GBUT to BIBUT conversion follows both conrotatory and disrotatory pathways, whereas, on substitution with −F or −CH₃, the conversion proceeds via the conrotatory pathway.     

Heteroleptic Square Planar Cobalt(I/II) Complexes

Reduction of the cobalt(II) chloride complex, Ph₂B(^tBuIm)₂Co(THF)Cl ( 1 ) in the presence of ^tBuN≡C affords the diamagnetic, square planar cobalt(I) complex Ph₂B(^tBuIm)₂Co(C≡N^tBu)₂ ( 2 ). This is a rare example of a 16-electron cobalt(I) complex that is structurally related to square planar noble metal complexes. Accordingly, the electronic structure of 2 , as calculated by DFT, reveals that the HOMO is largely d_z² in character. Complex 2 is readily oxidized to its cobalt(II) congener [Ph₂B(^tBuIm)₂Co(C=N^tBu)₂]BPh₄ ( 3 -BPh₄), whose EPR spectral parameters are characteristic of low-spin d⁷ with an unpaired electron in an orbital of d_z² parentage. This is also consistent with the results of DFT calculations. Despite its 16-electron configuration and the d_z² parentage of the HOMO, the only tractable reactions of 2 involve one electron oxidation to afford 3 .     

Rhodium-Catalyzed C8-Alkenylation of Isoquinolones with Maleimides

An efficient Rh(III)-catalyzed C−H alkenylation of N-protected isoquinolone with maleimides is reported. The carbonyl group of isoquinolone acts as an inherent directing group. Various N-substituents in the maleimide, including alkyl, aryl, and even H and −OH, were well tolerated under the developed reaction condition. This protocol showed broad substrate scope, good selectivity, and excellent yields. Hammett plot is also drawn to check the effect of substituents on the reaction progress.     

Surface-Degenerate Semiconductor Photocatalysis for Efficient Water Splitting without Sacrificial Agents via a Reticular Chemistry Approach

The production of green hydrogen through photocatalytic water splitting is crucial for a sustainable hydrogen economy and chemical manufacturing. However, current approaches suffer from slow hydrogen production (<70 μmol ⋅ g_cat⁻¹ ⋅ h⁻¹) due to the sluggish four-electrons oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and limited catalyst activity. Herein, we achieve efficient photocatalytic water splitting by exploiting a multifunctional interface between a nano-photocatalyst and metal–organic framework (MOF) layer. The functional interface plays two critical roles: (1) enriching electron density directly on photocatalyst surface to promote catalytic activity, and (2) delocalizing photogenerated holes into MOF to enhance OER. Our photocatalytic ensemble boosts hydrogen evolution by ≈100-fold over pristine photocatalyst and concurrently produces oxygen at ideal stoichiometric ratio, even without using sacrificial agents. Notably, this unique design attains superior hydrogen production (519 μmol ⋅ g_cat⁻¹ ⋅ h⁻¹) and apparent quantum efficiency up to 13-fold and 8-fold better than emerging photocatalytic designs utilizing hole scavengers. Comprehensive investigations underscore the vital role of the interfacial design in generating high-energy photoelectrons on surface-degenerate photocatalyst to thermodynamically drive hydrogen evolution, while leveraging the nanoporous MOF scaffold as an effective photohole sink to enhance OER. Our interfacial approach creates vast opportunities for designing next-generation, multifunctional photocatalytic ensembles using reticular chemistry with diverse energy and environmental applications.     

Composite Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles with Dual-color Afterglow for Cross-correlation-based Living Cell Imaging

Room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials are characterized with emission after removing the excitation source. Such long-lived emission feature possesses great potential in biological fluorescence imaging because it enables a way regarding temporal dimension for separating the interference of autofluorescence and common noises typically encountered in conventional fluorescence imaging. Herein, we constructed a new type of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs)-based composite nanoparticles (NPs) with dual-color long-lived emission, namely millisecond-level green phosphorescence and sub-millisecond-level delayed red fluorescence by encapsulating a typical RTP dye and Rhodamine dye in the cavities of the MSNs with the former acting as energy donor (D) while the latter as acceptor (A). Benefiting from the close D-A proximity, energy match between the donor and the acceptor and the optimized D/A ratio in the composite NPs, efficient triplet-to-singlet Förster resonance energy transfer (TS-FRET) in the NPs occurred upon exciting the donor, which enabled dual-color long-lived emission. The preliminary results of dual-color correlation imaging of live cells based on such emission feature unequivocally verified the unique ability of such NPs for distinguishing the false positive generated by common emitters with single-color emission feature.     

Accurate Interaction Energies of CO2 with the 20 Naturally Occurring Amino Acids

We have performed a series of highly accurate calculations between CO₂ and the 20 naturally occurring amino acids for the investigation of the attractive noncovalent interactions. Different nucleophilic groups present in the amino acid structures were considered (α-NH₂, COOH, side groups), and the stronger binding sites were identified. A database of accurate reference interactions energies was compiled as computed by explicitly-correlated coupled-cluster singles-and-doubles, together with perturbative triples extrapolated to the complete-basis-set limit. The CCSD(F12)(T)/CBS reference values were used for comparing a variety of popular density functionals with different basis sets. Our results show that most density functionals with the triple-zeta basis set def2-TZVPP align with the CCSD(F12)(T)/CBS reference values, but errors range from 0.1 kcal/mol up to 1.0 kcal/mol.     

Organometallic Allene [(μ-C)(Fe(CO)4)2]: Bridging Carbon Showing Transformation from Classical Electron-Sharing Bonding to Double σ-Donor and Double π-Acceptor Ligation

Allenes (R₂C=C=CR₂) have been traditionally perceived to feature localized orthogonal π-bonds between the carbon centres. We have carried out quantum-mechanical studies of the organometallic allenes envisioned by the isolobal replacement of the terminal CH₂ groups by the d⁸ Fe(CO)₄ fragment. Our studies have identified two organometallic allenes viz. D_2d symmetric [(μ-C)(Fe(CO)₄)₂] ( 2 ) and D₃ symmetric [(μ-C)(Fe(CO)₄)₂] ( 3 ) with trigonal bipyramidal coordination at the Fe atoms. Compound 2 features the bridging carbon atom in an equatorial position with respect to the ligands on the TM centre, while 3 features the central carbon atom in an axial position. The bis-pseudoallylic anionic delocalisation proposed in the C2-C1-C3 spine of organic allene is retained in the organometallic allene 2 , and is transformed to a typical three-centre bis-allylic anionic delocalisation in the organometallic allene 3 . The topological analysis of electron density also indicates a bis-allylic anionic type delocalisation in the organometallic allenes. The quantitative bonding analysis using the EDA-NOCV method suggests a transition from classical electron-sharing bonding between the central carbon atom and the terminal groups in 1 to donor-acceptor bonding in 3 . Meanwhile, both electron-sharing and donor-acceptor bonding models are found to be probable heuristic bonding representations in the organometallic allene 2 .     

Development of an Organic Dye-Conjugated β-Diketonate-Europium Complex Luminescence Probe for Discrimination and Detection of Intracellular Biothiols

Small molecular biothiols, cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy) and glutathione (GSH), play important roles in organisms, and their concentration levels are indicative of some human diseases. Herein we report an organic dye-conjugated β-diketonate-Eu³⁺ complex, [Eu(NBD-keto)₃(DPBT)] (NBD-keto: 7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD)-conjugated to 1,1,1,2,2-pentafluoro-5-phenyl-3,5-pentanedionate through a “O” ether bond; DPBT: 2-(N,N-diethylanilin-4-yl)-4,6-bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,5-triazine), which acts as a unique luminescent probe for detecting and discriminating biothiols. [Eu(NBD-keto)₃(DPBT)] itself is not luminescent due to intramolecular interactions between NBD and β-diketonate-Eu³⁺ moieties. Upon reaction with biothiols, the β-diketonate-Eu³⁺ complex [Eu(keto)₃(DPBT)] is generated, which emits long-lived red emission at 610 nm. Meanwhile, three biothiol-substituted NBD derivatives that exhibit different luminescence behaviors, green emissive (short-lived) NBD-NR (R=Cys or Hcy) at 540 nm and non-luminescent NBD-SR (R=GSH), are also generated. These luminescence response behaviors allow time-gated and steady-state luminescence modes to be combined for detecting total biothiols and discriminating GSH and Cys/Hcy. Using this probe, the quantitative detection and discrimination of GSH and Cys/Hcy in lysis solutions of HeLa cells were realized, which revealed the potential of the probe for biomedical applications.     

Efficient removal of DNA from proteomic samples prior to two-dimensional map analysis

Several methods have been described in the literature for removal of DNA from protein samples prior to proteome analysis. They in general involve protein precipitation techniques. In other protocols, DNAse treatment is suggested prior to precipitation of proteins in excess acetone. All these methods have been evaluated and found to perform poorly in DNA removal, as illustrated by two-dimensional (2D) maps where horizontal and vertical sample streaking are still substantial. Such removal is in general necessary in tissue lysates and especially when analysing sub-cellular organelles, such as nuclei, where the high DNA levels strongly interfere with proteome analysis. Another method is proposed here for efficient DNA removal: two-phase extraction of DNA in chloroform/phenol/isoamyl alcohol, a procedure commonly used to rid DNA samples of protein contaminants, but rarely applied to protein preparation. This extraction is not very efficient if performed at slightly acidic to neutral pH values, but it performs extremely well at pH values of 9.5 or higher. The 2D maps thus obtained of Escherichia coli lysates as well as extracts from purified nuclei of eukaryotic cells are not only devoid of any vertical or horizontal streaking, but exhibit many more spots, especially in the alkaline region of the 2D gels, suggesting that these basic proteins were in general lost to proteome analysis due to co-precipitation in tenacious protein–DNA complexes. It is hypothesized that the alkaline pH values adopted in the two-phase extraction help to fully disrupt any residual DNA–protein complexes, due to strong Coulombic repulsion.