Tetradecanuclear polycarbonatolanthanoid clusters: Diverse coordination modes of carbonate providing access to novel core geometries

The synthesis of two high nuclearity lanthanoid clusters demonstrates the versatility of the carbonate anion as a robust cluster forming agent, potentially allowing for the formation of otherwise inaccessible core topologies. The complexes, [Gd(14)(CO(3))(13)(ccnm)(9)(OH)(H(2)O)(6)(phen)(13)(NO(3))](CO(3))(2.5)·(phen)(0.5) () and [Dy(14)(CO(3))(13)(ccnm)(10)(OH)(H(2)O)(6)(phen)(13)](CO(3))(2.5)·(phen)(0.5) () (ccnm = carbamoylcyanonitrosomethanide, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline), contain a [Ln(14)(CO(3))(13)(OH)] core in which the carbonate anions display four unique coordination modes. The complexes are chiral, and the ccnm ligands also display four unique coordination modes. Extensive intra- and intermolecular π-π stacking between phen ligands leads to the formation of 1D chains in the crystal structure. Both complexes display magnetic properties that are indicative of antiferromagnetic coupling, with complex displaying behaviour consistent with possible single molecule magnet properties.     

HPLC-assisted automated oligosaccharide synthesis

A standard HPLC was adapted to polymer supported oligosaccharide synthesis. Solution-based reagents are delivered using a software-controlled solvent delivery system. The reaction progress and completion can be monitored in real time using a standard UV detector. All steps of oligosaccharide assembly including loading, glycosylation, deprotection, and cleavage can be performed using this setup.     

Spin crossover in polymeric and heterometallic FeII species containing polytopic dipyridylamino-substituted-triazine ligands

We report the synthesis and characterisation of the new polytopic ligands, ddta (N,N-di(pyridin-2-yl)-4,6-di(1,4,7,10-tetraoxa-13-azacyclopentadecan-13-yl)-1,3,5-triazin-2-amine) and tptd (N(2),N(2),N(4),N(4)-tetra(pyridin-2-yl)-6-(1,4,7,10-tetraoxa-13-azacyclopentadecan-13-yl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine). Each contains N-donor dipyridylamino binding sites as well as separate and distinct mono-aza-15-crown-5 binding sites. The ligand ddta has been used to synthesise the polymeric heterometallic SCO compound trans-[Fe(II)(NCS)(2)(ddta)(2)Na(2)](ClO(4))(2)·4CH(3)CH(2)CH(2)OH, 1, and tptd has been used to synthesise the polymeric SCO compound trans-[Fe(II)(NCS)(2)(tptd)]·CH(3)OH, 2, and the dinuclear compound cis-[(Fe(II))(2)(NCS)(4)(tptd)(2)], 3. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show that 1 and a desolvated sample of 2 each undergo a gradual, one-step spin transition with T(?) values of ~240 K and ~110 K, respectively. The paucity of inter-chain intermolecular interactions, as well as the flexible, covalent bridges between Fe(II) spin crossover sites, are likely to contribute to the gradual nature of the spin transition observed in each case. Variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction studies on 1 show the anisotropic behaviour of the unit cell parameters, where c and the b-c plane are most affected by structural changes occurring as the temperature is lowered.     

Deposition of continuous nickel shells on polymer microspheres

Anisotropic conductive adhesives (ACAs) are widely used as interconnect materials in the manufacturing of LCD screens. To be integrated in a broader range of applications, several technical and economical issues still need to be addressed. Encapsulating the polymer particles within continuous, compact, and adhering metallic conductive shells is one of these challenges. This work describes a method for depositing nickel layers with different thickness (30-120nm) onto monosized polymer particles. The novelty of the approach consists in modifying the surface of polymer particles with linear polymeric amines. We show that by increasing amine chain length the structure and adhesion of deposited nickel shell are significantly improved. The effect of key parameters of the electroless Ni plating are discussed and illustrated.     

Carbon optically transparent electrodes for electrogenerated chemiluminescence

This study investigates pyrolyzed photoresist film (PPF)-based carbon optically transparent electrodes (C-OTEs) for use in electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) studies. Oxidative-reductive ECL is obtained with a well-characterized ECL system, C8S3 J-aggregates with 2-(dibutylamino)ethanol (DBAE) as coreactant. Simultaneous cyclic voltammograms (CVs) and ECL transients are obtained for three thicknesses of PPFs and compared to nontransparent glassy carbon (GC) and the conventional transparent electrode indium tin oxide (ITO) in both front face and transmission electrode cell geometries. Despite positive potential shifts in oxidation and ECL peaks, attributed to the internal resistance of the PPFs that result from their nanoscale thickness, the PPFs display similar ECL activity to GC, including the low oxidation potential (LOP) observed for amine coreactants on hydrophobic electrodes. Reductive-oxidative ECL was obtained using the well-studied ECL luminophore Ru(bpy)(3)(2+), where the C-OTEs outperformed ITO because of electrochemical instability of ITO at very negative potentials. The C-OTEs are promising electrodes for ECL applications because they yield higher ECL than ITO in both oxidative-reductive and reductive-oxidative ECL modes, are more stable in alkaline solutions, display a wide potential window of stability, and have tunable transparency for more efficient detection of ECL.     

New ruthenium(II) complexes functionalized with coumarin derivatives: synthesis, energy-transfer-based sensing of esterase, cytotoxicity, and imaging studies

Two new bichromophoric ruthenium(II) complexes, [Ru(bpy)(2)(bpy-CM)](PF(6))(2) and [Ru(bpy)(2)(bpy-CM343)](PF(6))(2) (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine, CM=coumarin) with appended coumarin ligands have been designed and synthesized. The energy-transfer-based sensing of esterase by the complexes has been studied by using UV/Vis and luminescence spectroscopic methods. The cytotoxicity and the cellular uptake of one of the complexes have also been investigated.     

Microfluidic platform for combinatorial synthesis in picolitre droplets

This paper presents a droplet-based microfluidic platform for miniaturized combinatorial synthesis. As a proof of concept, a library of small molecules for early stage drug screening was produced. We present an efficient strategy for producing a 7 × 3 library of potential thrombin inhibitors that can be utilized for other combinatorial synthesis applications. Picolitre droplets containing the first type of reagent (reagents A(1), A(2), …, A(m)) were formed individually in identical microfluidic chips and then stored off chip with the aid of stabilizing surfactants. These droplets were then mixed to form a library of droplets containing reagents A(1-m), each individually compartmentalized, which was reinjected into a second microfluidic chip and combinatorially fused with picolitre droplets containing the second reagent (reagents B(1), B(2), …, B(n)) that were formed on chip. The concept was demonstrated with a three-component Ugi-type reaction involving an amine (reagents A(1-3)), an aldehyde (reagents B(1-7)), and an isocyanide (held constant), to synthesize a library of small molecules with potential thrombin inhibitory activity. Our technique produced 10(6) droplets of each reaction at a rate of 2.3 kHz. Each droplet had a reaction volume of 3.1 pL, at least six orders of magnitude lower than conventional techniques. The droplets can then be divided into aliquots for different downstream screening applications. In addition to medicinal chemistry applications, this combinatorial droplet-based approach holds great potential for other applications that involve sampling large areas of chemical parameter space with minimal reagent consumption; such an approach could be beneficial when optimizing reaction conditions or performing combinatorial reactions aimed at producing novel materials.