Crosslinking Super Yellow to produce super OLEDs: Crosslinking with azides enables improved performance

An increasing number of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is nowadays based on the use of polymers as the emissive material. For this material class in particular, solution-processing of the OLEDs has gained traction in both research and industry. However, in order to access multilayer material systems, orthogonal solvents must be used to prevent dissolution of previously prepared layers. The use of crosslinkers can facilitate this production method by reducing the number of orthogonal solvents needed since insoluble networks are generated. In this work, a novel bisazide crosslinker is employed to insolubilize Super Yellow, a polyphenylene-vinylene emitter. This allows the use of an additional poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine electron blocking layer (EBL) from the same solvent. Devices including the blocking layer show improved efficacies compared to reference devices without the additional EBL, while also maintaining the emission spectrum. Using the upscalable technique of doctor blading, OLEDs were fabricated which showed a particularly noticeable effect of the blocking layer with a nearly twofold increase in luminance and a 56% increase in current efficacy.     

4-Phosphoryl Pyrazolones for Highly Selective Lithium Separation from Alkali Metal Ions

Effective receptors for the separation of Li⁺ from a mixture with other alkali metal ions under mild conditions remains an important challenge that could benefit from new approaches. In this study, it is demonstrated that the 4-phosphoryl pyrazolones, H L ²-H L ⁴, in the presence of the typical industrial organophosphorus co-ligands tributylphosphine oxide (TBPO), tributylphosphate (TBP) and trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO), are able to selectively recognise and extract lithium ions from aqueous solution. Structural investigations in solution as well as in the solid state reveal the existence of a series of multinuclear Li⁺ complexes that include dimers (TBPO, TBP) as well as rarely observed trimers (TOPO) and represent the first clear evidence for the synergistic role of the co-ligands in the extraction process. Our findings are supported by detailed NMR, MS and extraction studies. Liquid-liquid extraction in the presence of TOPO revealed an unprecedented high Li⁺ extraction efficiency (78 %) for H L ⁴ compared to the use of the industrially employed acylpyrazolone H L ¹ (15 %) and benzoyl-1,1,1-trifluoroacetone (52 %) extractants. In addition, a high selectivity for Li⁺ over Na⁺, K⁺ and Cs⁺ under mild conditions (pH ∼8.2) confirms that H L ²-H L ⁴ represent a new class of ligands that are very effective extractants for use in lithium separation.     

Complexes with Atomic Gold Ions: Efficient Bis-Ligand Formation

Complexes of atomic gold with a variety of ligands have been formed by passing helium nanodroplets (HNDs) through two pickup cells containing gold vapor and the vapor of another dopant, namely a rare gas, a diatomic molecule (H₂, N₂, O₂, I₂, P₂), or various polyatomic molecules (H₂O, CO₂, SF₆, C₆H₆, adamantane, imidazole, dicyclopentadiene, and fullerene). The doped HNDs were irradiated by electrons; ensuing cations were identified in a high-resolution mass spectrometer. Anions were detected for benzene, dicyclopentadiene, and fullerene. For most ligands L, the abundance distribution of AuL_n⁺ versus size n displays a remarkable enhancement at n = 2. The propensity towards bis-ligand formation is attributed to the formation of covalent bonds in Au⁺L₂ which adopt a dumbbell structure, L-Au⁺-L, as previously found for L = Xe and C₆₀. Another interesting observation is the effect of gold on the degree of ionization-induced intramolecular fragmentation. For most systems gold enhances the fragmentation, i.e., intramolecular fragmentation in AuL_n⁺ is larger than in pure L_n⁺. Hydrogen, on the other hand, behaves differently, as intramolecular fragmentation in Au(H₂)_n⁺ is weaker than in pure (H₂)_n⁺ by an order of magnitude.     

Quantification of Volatile Aldehydes Deriving from In Vitro Lipid Peroxidation in the Breath of Ventilated Patients

Exhaled aliphatic aldehydes were proposed as non-invasive biomarkers to detect increased lipid peroxidation in various diseases. As a prelude to clinical application of the multicapillary column–ion mobility spectrometry for the evaluation of aldehyde exhalation, we, therefore: (1) identified the most abundant volatile aliphatic aldehydes originating from in vitro oxidation of various polyunsaturated fatty acids; (2) evaluated emittance of aldehydes from plastic parts of the breathing circuit; (3) conducted a pilot study for in vivo quantification of exhaled aldehydes in mechanically ventilated patients. Pentanal, hexanal, heptanal, and nonanal were quantifiable in the headspace of oxidizing polyunsaturated fatty acids, with pentanal and hexanal predominating. Plastic parts of the breathing circuit emitted hexanal, octanal, nonanal, and decanal, whereby nonanal and decanal were ubiquitous and pentanal or heptanal not being detected. Only pentanal was quantifiable in breath of mechanically ventilated surgical patients with a mean exhaled concentration of 13 ± 5 ppb. An explorative analysis suggested that pentanal exhalation is associated with mechanical power—a measure for the invasiveness of mechanical ventilation. In conclusion, exhaled pentanal is a promising non-invasive biomarker for lipid peroxidation inducing pathologies, and should be evaluated in future clinical studies, particularly for detection of lung injury.     

Crossover in the slow decay of dynamic correlations in the lorentz model

The long-time behavior of transport coefficients in a model for spatially heterogeneous media in two and three dimensions is investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. The behavior of the velocity autocorrelation function is rationalized in terms of a competition of the critical relaxation due to the underlying percolation transition and the hydrodynamic power-law anomalies. In two dimensions and in the absence of a diffusive mode, another power-law anomaly due to trapping is found with an exponent -3 instead of -2. Further, the logarithmic divergence of the Burnett coefficient is corroborated in the dilute limit; at finite density, however, it is dominated by stronger divergences.     

A Molecular Photosensitizer in a Porous Block Copolymer Matrix-Implications for the Design of Photocatalytically Active Membranes

Recently, porous photocatalytically active block copolymer membranes were introduced, based on heterogenized molecular catalysts. Here, we report the integration of the photosensitizer, i. e., the light absorbing unit in an intermolecular photocatalytic system into block copolymer membranes in a covalent manner. We study the resulting structure and evaluate the orientational mobility of the photosensitizer as integral part of the photocatalytic system in such membranes. To this end we utilize transient absorption anisotropy, highlighting the temporal reorientation of the transition dipole moment probed in a femtosecond pump-probe experiment. Our findings indicate that the photosensitizer is rigidly bound to the polymer membrane and shows a large heterogeneity of absolute anisotropy values as a function of location probed within the matrix. This reflects the sample inhomogeneity arising from different protonation states of the photosensitizer and different intermolecular interactions of the photosensitizers within the block copolymer membrane scaffold.     

Synthesis and Surface‐Spectroscopic Characterization of Photoisomerizable glyco‐SAMs on Au(111)

Photoisomerizable glyco‐SAMs (self‐assembled monolayers), utilizing synthetic azobenzene glycoside derivatives were fabricated. The ultimate goal of this project is to assay the influence of the 3D arrangement of sugar ligands on cell adhesion, and eventually make cell adhesion photoswitchable. However, it is a prerequisite for any biological study on the spatial conditions of carbohydrate recognition, that photoisomerization of the surface molecules can be verified. Here, we employed IRRAS and XPS to spectroscopically characterize glyco‐SAMs. In particular and unprecedented to date, we prove reversible E→Z→E isomerization of azobenzene glycoside‐terminated SAMs.     

Experimental and Computational Studies of a Multi‐Electron Donor–Acceptor Ligand Containing the Thiazolo[5,4‐d]thiazole Core and its Incorporation into a Metal–Organic Framework

A ligand containing the thiazolo[5,4‐d]thiazole (TzTz) core (acceptor) with terminal triarylamine moieties (donors), N,N′‐(thiazolo[5,4‐d]thiazole‐2,5‐diylbis(4,1‐phenylene))bis(N‐(pyridine‐4‐yl)pyridin‐4‐amine ( 1 ), was designed as a donor–acceptor system for incorporation into electronically active metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). The capacity for the ligand to undergo multiple sequential oxidation and reduction processes was examined using UV/Vis‐near‐infrared spectroelectrochemistry (UV/Vis‐NIR SEC) in combination with DFT calculations. The delocalized nature of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) was found to inhibit charge‐transfer interactions between the terminal triarylamine moieties upon oxidation, whereas radical species localized on the TzTz core were formed upon reduction. Conversion of 1 to diamagnetic 2+ and 4+ species resulted in marked changes in the emission spectra. Incorporation of this highly delocalized multi‐electron donor–acceptor ligand into a new two‐dimensional MOF, [Zn(NO₃)₂( 1 )] ( 2 ), resulted in an inhibition of the oxidation processes, but retention of the reduction capability of 1 . Changes in the electrochemistry of 1 upon integration into 2 are broadly consistent with the geometric and electronic constraints enforced by ligation.     

Super‐Resolution Imaging of the Golgi in Live Cells with a Bioorthogonal Ceramide Probe

We report a lipid‐based strategy to visualize Golgi structure and dynamics at super‐resolution in live cells. The method is based on two novel reagents: a trans‐cyclooctene‐containing ceramide lipid (Cer‐TCO) and a highly reactive, tetrazine‐tagged near‐IR dye (SiR‐Tz). These reagents assemble via an extremely rapid “tetrazine‐click” reaction into Cer‐SiR, a highly photostable “vital dye” that enables prolonged live‐cell imaging of the Golgi apparatus by 3D confocal and STED microscopy. Cer‐SiR is nontoxic at concentrations as high as 2 μM and does not perturb the mobility of Golgi‐resident enzymes or the traffic of cargo from the endoplasmic reticulum through the Golgi and to the plasma membrane.