Discovery of novel cathepsin S inhibitors by pharmacophore-based virtual high-throughput screening

The cysteine protease cathepsin S (CatS) is involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders, atherosclerosis, and obesity. Therefore, it represents a promising pharmacological target for drug development. We generated ligand-based and structure-based pharmacophore models for noncovalent and covalent CatS inhibitors to perform virtual high-throughput screening of chemical databases in order to discover novel scaffolds for CatS inhibitors. An in vitro evaluation of the resulting 15 structures revealed seven CatS inhibitors with kinetic constants in the low micromolar range. These compounds can be subjected to further chemical modifications to obtain drugs for the treatment of autoimmune disorders and atherosclerosis.     

Controlled Annealing in Adaptive Multicomponent Gels

We use a pH-driven annealing process to convert between co-assembled and self-sorted networks in multicomponent gels. The initially formed gels at low pH are co-assembled, with the two components coexisting within the same self-assembled structures. We use an enzymatic approach to increase the pH, resulting in a gel-to-sol transition, followed by a hydrolysis to lower the pH once again. As the pH decreases, a self-sorted network is formed by a two-stage gelation process determined by the pK_a of each component. This approach can be expanded to layered systems to generate many varied systems by changing composition and rates of pH change, adapting their microstructure and so allowing access to a far greater range of morphologies and complexity than can be achieved in single component systems.     

Characterisation of varnishes used in violins by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

The correct characterisation and a detailed knowledge of the materials originally used in violin varnishes, like natural resins, is crucial for the conservation in museums and for a suitable restoration technique. The study presented here reports on the potential of pyrolysis (Py) coupled with gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS) for the identification of chemical markers of each resin; this technique is very sensitive and selective, it needs a small quantity of sample and does not require chemical treatments. To improve the chromatographic behaviour of polar compounds the derivatising agent tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) in combination with pyrolysis has been used, in the so-called TMAH thermochemolysis or thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation (THM), or more simply pyrolysis-methylation. The natural resins studied were colophony, sandarac, manila copal, elemi, amber and benzoin, mainly composed of terpenic compounds, with the exception of the latter, composed of aromatic compounds. Many compounds were identified; in particular, methyl esters of resinous acids that, individually or in a group, can be used as chemical markers. However, through this technique it was not possible to distinguish between the sandarac and manila copal resins because their chromatographic behaviour is very similar. Finally, the procedure applied has been employed in the characterisation of original varnish samples.     

Guest-induced modification of a magnetically active ultramicroporous, gismondine-like, copper(II) coordination network

A novel ultramicroporous coordination polymer, namely [Cu(F-pymo)2(H2O)1.25]n (1, F-pymo = 5-fluoropyrimidin-2-olate), has been prepared and structurally characterized. 1 displays a zeolitic gismondine (GIS) topology, with ca. 2.9 A wide helical channels which, in the thermally activated counterpart (1'), account for a 13% void volume and are responsible for the observed selective solid-gas adsorption properties toward H2, N2, and CO2. At 77 K 1' behaves as a molecular sieve, selectively adsorbing H2 over N2, possibly due to size-exclusion reasons. At variance, although CO2 molecules are slightly larger than the pore size, they are readily incorporated by 1' at temperatures as high as 433 K. Variable-temperature X-ray powder diffraction (TXRPD) studies, in the temperature range 303-473 K, show that dehydration is reversible and has almost negligible effects on the network. At variance, the uptake of CO2 occurs through a transient phase and channels expansion. While the gas storage capacity of 1' is not very high-H2, 0.56 wt % and 0.010 kg H2/L at 90 K and 900 Torr, and CO2, 7.6 wt % at 273 K and 900 Torr-the guest molecules achieve very high densities, comparable to that of the liquid for H2 (0.023 vs 0.021 molecules A-3) and to that of the solid for CO2 (0.014 vs 0.022 molecules A-3). In addition, we have also studied the effect of the perturbation exerted by the guest molecules on its magnetic properties. The results show that while dehydration of 1 has negligible effect on its spin-canted antiferromagnetic behavior, CO2 incorporation in the pores is responsible for an increment of the transition temperature at which the weak ferromagnetic ordering takes place from 22 to 29 K.     

Multifunctional nanostructures based on inorganic nanoparticles and oligothiophenes and their exploitation for cellular studies

The combination of materials that possess different properties (such as, for instance, fluorescence and magnetism) into one single object of nanoscale size represents an attractive challenge for biotechnology, especially for their potential relevance in biomedical applications. We report here the preparation of novel bifunctional conjugates based on the linkage of inorganic nanoparticles to organic oligothiophene fluorophores (OTFs). In comparison to the organic dyes commonly used in bioimaging and more similarly to colloidal quantum dots, OTFs have broad optical absorption spectra, and therefore OTF fluorophores emitting at different colors can be excited with a single excitation source, allowing for easier multiplexing analysis. In this work we show the preparation of OTF-nanoparticle conjugates based on gold and iron oxide nanoparticles and their characterization using different techniques such as gel electrophoresis, photoluminescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and so on. In addition, by performing an in vitro study on human tumor cells we show that OTF-nanoparticle conjugates emitting at different colors can be used for multiplexing detection. Also, in the case of iron oxide-OTF conjugates, once uptaken by the cells, we show that they preserve both their fluorescent and their magnetic properties.     

Synthesis, characterization, and DFT/TD-DFT calculations of highly phosphorescent blue light-emitting anionic iridium complexes

Highly phosphorescent blue-light-emitting anionic iridium complexes (C4H9)4N[Ir(2-phenylpyridine)2(CN)2] (1), (C4H9)4N[Ir(2-phenyl-4-dimethylaminopyridine)2(CN)2] (2), (C4H9)4N[Ir(2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-pyridine)2(CN)2] (3), (C4H9)4N[Ir(2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-4-dimethylaminopyridine)2(CN)2] (4), and (C4H9)4N[Ir(2-(3,5-difluorophenyl)-4-dimethylaminopyridine)2(CN)2] (5) were synthesized and characterized using NMR, UV-vis absorption, and emission spectroscopy and electrochemical methods. In these complexes color and quantum yield tuning aspects are demonstrated by modulating the ligands with substituting donor and acceptor groups on both the pyridine and phenyl moieties of 2-phenylpyridine. Complexes 1-5 display intense photoluminescence maxima in the blue region of the visible spectrum and exhibit very high phosphorescence quantum yields, in the range of 50-80%, with excited-state lifetimes of 1-4 micros in acetonitrile solution at 298 K. DFT and time dependent-DFT calculations were performed on the ground and excited states of the investigated complexes to provide insight into the structural, electronic, and optical properties of these systems.     

Simple preparations of Pd6Cl12, Pt6Cl12, and Qn[Pt2Cl8+n], n=1, 2 (Q=TBA+, PPN+) and structural characterization of [TBA][Pt2Cl9] and [PPN]2[Pt2Cl10].C7H8

The hexanuclear Pd6Cl12, i.e., the crystal phase classified as beta-PdCl2, was obtained by reacting [TBA]2[Pd2Cl6] with AlCl3 (or FeCl3) in CH2Cl2. The action of AlCl3 on PtCl42-, followed by digestion of the resulting solid in 1,2-C2H4Cl2 (DCE), CHCl3, or benzene, produced Pt6Cl12.DCE, Pt6Cl12.CHCl3, or Pt6Cl12.C6H6, respectively. Treating [TBA]2[PtCl6] with a slight excess of AlCl3 afforded [TBA][Pt2Cl9], whose anion was established crystallographically to be constituted by two "PtCl6" octahedra sharing a face. Dehydration of H2PtCl6.nH2O with SOCl2 gave an amorphous compound closely analyzing as PtCl4, reactive with [Q]Cl in SOCl2 to yield [Q][Pt2Cl9] or [Q]2[Pt2Cl10], depending on the [Q]Cl/Pt molar ratio (Q=TBA+, PPN+). A single-crystal X-ray diffraction study has shown [PPN]2[Pt2Cl10].C7H8 to contain dinuclear anions formed by two edge-sharing PtCl6 octahedra.     

Self‐Sufficient Formaldehyde‐to‐Methanol Conversion by Organometallic Formaldehyde Dismutase Mimic

The catalytic networks of methylotrophic organisms, featuring redox enzymes for the activation of one‐carbon moieties, can serve as great inspiration in the development of novel homogeneously catalyzed pathways for the interconversion of C₁ molecules at ambient conditions. An imidazolium‐tagged arene–ruthenium complex was identified as an effective functional mimic of the bacterial formaldehyde dismutase, which provides a new and highly selective route for the conversion of formaldehyde to methanol in absence of any external reducing agents. Moreover, secondary amines are reductively methylated by the organometallic dismutase mimic in a redox self‐sufficient manner with formaldehyde acting both as carbon source and reducing agent.