Variable temperature spectroscopy of as-grown and passivated CdS nanowire optical waveguide cavities

Semiconductor nanowire waveguide cavities hold promise for nanophotonic applications such as lasers, waveguides, switches, and sensors due to the tight optical confinement in these structures. However, to realize their full potential, high quality nanowires, whose emission at low temperatures is dominated by free exciton emission, need to be synthesized. In addition, a proper understanding of their complex optical properties, including light-matter coupling in these subwavelength structures, is required. We have synthesized very high-quality wurztite CdS nanowires capped with a 5 nm SiO(2) conformal coating with diameters spanning 100-300 nm using physical vapor and atomic layer deposition techniques and characterized their spatially resolved photoluminescence over the 77-298 K temperature range. In addition to the Fabry-Pe?rot resonator modulated emission from the ends of the wires, the low temperature emission from the center of the wire shows clear free excitonic peaks and LO phonon replicas, persisting up to room-temperature in the passivated wires. From laser scanning measurements we determined the absorption in the vicinity of the excitonic resonances. In addition to demonstrating the high optical quality of the nanowire crystals, these results provide the fundamental parameters for strong light-matter coupling studies, potentially leading to low threshold polariton lasers, sensitive sensors and optical switches at the nanoscale.     

Electrochemical and optical characterization of triarylamine functionalized gold nanoparticles

This paper describes the synthesis, structural analysis, and investigations of the optical and electrochemical properties of some gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) which consist of a triarylamine ligand shell attached to small gold cores (Au-Tara). The triarylamine chromophores were attached to small 4-bromobenzenethiol covered gold nanoparticles (ca. 2 nm in diameter) by Sonogashira reaction. This procedure yields triarylamine redox centers attached via π-conjugated bridging units of different length to the gold core. The AuNPs were analyzed with (1)H NMR spectroscopy, diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique was used to determine the composition of the redox active particles via the Randles-Sevcik equation. The optical and electrochemical properties of the Au-Tara nanoparticles and of their corresponding unbound ligands (Ref) were investigated with UV/vis/NIR absorption spectroscopy, Osteryoung square wave voltammetry (OSWV), and spectroelectrochemistry (SEC). These data show that the assembling of triarylamines in the vicinity of a gold nanoparticle can change the optical and electrochemical properties of the triarylamine redox chromophores depending on the kind and length of the bridging unit. This is due to gold core-chromophore and chromophore-chromophore interactions.     

Intrinsically fluorescent glycoligands to study metal selectivity

Glycoligands are a versatile family of ligands centered on a sugar platform and functionalized by Lewis bases. In this article, pentofuranoses were appended with the fluoroionophores 4-(pyridin-2'-yl)-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl and 4-(2',1',3'-benzothiadiazol-4'-yl)-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl using the "click-like" cycloaddition [2 + 3] of Huisgen catalyzed by copper(I). Their fluorescence properties were used to study metal cation complexation. A possible selective functionalization of furanoscaffolds allows the synthesis of "mixed" glycoligands with the successive insertion of these different fluoroionophores. The metal selectivity and the chelating behavior of these six resulting intrinsically fluorescent glycoligands were investigated. The change in the configuration at the carbon C3 of furanose did not influence either the metal selectivity or the binding constants. However, different selectivities and binding constants were found to depend on the nature of the fluoroionophore moieties. Overall, the triazolylbenzothiadiazolyl chelating group was shown to be less efficient than the triazolylpyridyl claw for complexation. Interestingly enough, the triazolylbenzothiadiazolyl claw, which fluoresces in the visible range, did not interfere in the binding and selectivity of the more efficient triazolylpyridyl claw. This study suggests that the triazolylbenzothiadiazolyl moiety could be used as an adequate fluorescent reporter to qualitatively monitor complexation of other moieties.     

Bi(OTf)3-, TfOH-, and TMSOTf-mediated, one-pot epoxide rearrangement, addition, and intramolecular silyl-modified Sakurai (ISMS) cascade toward dihydropyrans: comparison of catalysts and role of Bi(OTf)3

Catalytic quantities of bismuth(III) triflate efficiently initiate the rearrangement of epoxides to aldehydes, which subsequently react with (Z)-δ-hydroxyalkenylsilanes to afford 2,6-disubstituted 3,6-dihydro-2H-pyrans. Isolated yields of desired products using Bi(OTf)(3) were compared with yields obtained when the reactions were run with TfOH and TMSOTf in the presence and absence of several additives. These studies, as well as NMR spectroscopic analyses, indicate an initial Lewis acid/base interaction between Bi(OTf)(3) and substrates providing TfOH in situ.     

Advanced simulation of conductance histograms validated through channel-sensitive experiments on indium nanojunctions

We demonstrate a self-contained methodology for predicting conductance histograms of atomic and molecular junctions. Fast classical molecular-dynamics simulations are combined with accurate density functional theory calculations predicting both quantum transport properties and molecular-dynamics force field parameters. The methodology is confronted with experiments on atomic-sized indium nanojunctions. Beside conductance histograms the distribution of individual channel transmission eigenvalues is also determined by fitting the superconducting subgap features in the I-V curves. The remarkable agreement in the evolution of the channel transmissions demonstrates that the simulated ruptures are able to reproduce a realistic statistical ensemble of contact configurations, whereas simulations on selected ideal geometries show strong deviations from the experimental observations.     

Synthesis of New Cα,α-Diarylaminomethylphosphonic Acids and their Esters

Abstract

A procedure for the preparation of N-protected 1 or unprotected C_a,a-disubstituted (diarylaminomethyl)-phosphonic acids and their esters is reported.¹ This method is a generalisation of the Kabachnik-Fields method described in the literature.²     

Influence of the Side‐Chain Length on the Cellular Uptake and the Cytotoxicity of Rhenium Triscarbonyl Derivatives: A Bimodal Infrared and Luminescence Quantitative Study

Rhenium triscarbonyl complexes fac‐[Re(CO)₃(N^N)] with appropriate ancillary N^N ligands are relevant for fluorescent bio‐imaging. Recently, we have shown that [Re(CO)₃] cores can also be efficiently mapped inside cells using their IR signature and that they can thus be used in a bimodal approach. To describe them we have coined the term SCoMPIs for single‐core multimodal probes for imaging. In the context of the use of these SCoMPIs in bio‐imaging, the questions of their cellular uptake and cytotoxicity are critical. We report here a series of compounds derived from the [Re(CO)₃Cl(pyta)] core (pyta=4‐(2‐pyridyl)‐1,2,3‐triazole). The pyta ligand is of interest because it can be easily functionalized. Aliphatic side chains (C₄, C₈, and C₁₂) were appended to this core. A correlative study involving IR and luminescence was performed to monitor and quantify their cellular internalization. We studied the relationship between lipophilicity (log P(o/w)), cytotoxicity (IC₅₀), and cellular uptake, and we showed that both uptake and cytotoxicity increase with the length of the side chain, with a higher uptake for the C₁₂ derivative. This study stresses the distinction that has to be made between apparent toxicity, determined as an incubation concentration IC₅₀, and intrinsic toxicity. Indeed, the intrinsic toxicity of a compound can remain hidden if it is not cell permeable. Therefore it must be kept in mind that IC₅₀ values are composite values, reflecting both cellular uptake and intrinsic toxicity.     

Sunlight‐Driven Copper‐Catalyst Activation Applied to Photolatent Click Chemistry

The synthesis, full characterization, photoreduction properties, and catalytic activity for the copper(I)‐catalyzed alkyne‐azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction of a copper(II)–DMEDA (N,N′‐dimethylethylendiamine) complex is reported. Spectroscopic studies (UV/Vis, EPR) demonstrated that under daylight illumination highly effective copper(II) to copper(I) reduction occurs in this complex. These findings are in agreement with a high photoreduction quantum yield value of 0.22 in MeOH, and a value approaching unity as determined in THF. The reduction process, which can also be conducted by irradiation at 365 nm by using a standard TLC (thin layer chromatography) lamp, is ascribed to a highly efficient photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process mediated by the benzophenone photosensitizer present in the carboxylate counterion. Having deaerated the reaction mixture, the photogenerated copper(I) species proved to be highly active for the CuAAC reaction, demonstrated by reactions conducted with low catalyst loading (0.5 mol %) on a range of clickable protected and non‐protected mono‐ and disaccharides. Once initiated, the reaction can be stopped at any time on introducing air into the reaction medium. Deoxygenation followed by irradiation restores the activity, making the copper(II)–DMEDA complex a switchable catalyst of practical value.     

Validation of a solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of nine basic pharmaceuticals in wastewater and surface water samples

This paper reports the development and validation of a quantitative LC-electrospray (ESI)-MS/MS method for the simultaneous analysis of nine basic pharmaceuticals (flubendazole, pipamperone, cinnarizine, ketoconazole, miconazole, rabeprazole, itraconazole, domperidone and propiconazole) in environmental waters. Sample preparation consisted of solid-phase extraction on a Speedisk phenyl and a NH(2) solid-phase extraction tube for sample clean-up. Chromatography was performed on a pentafluorophenyl column in a total run time of 24min. Due to different matrix effects measured in different surface water samples, standard addition was the only method to perform accurate quantification. Limits of detection and quantification were in the range of <0.05-1ng/l and 0.05-10ng/l, respectively. The method showed good precision and accuracy. Recoveries were in the range of 60-100%. This method allows to identify and quantify these pharmaceuticals in wastewater and surface water and enables to perform comprehensive studies on the occurrence in and removal of these drugs from influent and effluent wastewaters and surface waters.     

Synthesis and properties of functionalized 4 nm scale molecular wires with thiolated termini for self-assembly onto metal surfaces

We report the synthesis of new oligo(aryleneethynylene) molecular wires of ca. 4 nm length scale by palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira cross-coupling methodology. Key structural features are the presence of electron donor 9-(1,3-dithiol-2-ylidene)fluorene (compounds 13 and 14) and electron acceptor 9-[di(4-pyridyl)methylene]fluorene units (compound 16) at the core of the molecules. Terminal thiolate substituents are protected as cyanoethylsulfanyl (13 and 16) or thioacetate derivatives (14). The molecules display well-defined redox processes in solution electrochemical studies. The optical properties in solution are similar to those of the fluorenone analog 6: the strongest absorptions for 6, 13 and 16 are in the region lambda(max) = 387-393 nm, with 13 showing an additional shoulder at 415 nm which is not present for 6 and 16; this shoulder is assigned to a HOMO-LUMO transition from the dithiole to the fluorene unit. Molecules 6, 13, 14 and 16 form self-assembled monolayers on gold substrates which exhibit essentially symmetrical current-voltage (I-V) characteristics when contacted by a gold scanning tunelling microscope (STM) tip. The effects of the chemical modifications at the central unit of 6, 14 and 16 on the HOMO-LUMO levels and electron transport through the molecules in vacuum have been computed by an ab initio approach.