Patterning the surface cytophobicity of an albumin-physisorbed substrate by electrochemical means

Spatiotemporal control of surface properties under physiological conditions such as those found in culture media is an important technique in fundamental cell biology, tissue engineering, and cell-based bioelectronics. To this end, we have developed a mild, wet cellular micropatterning technique. The principle of the technique is based on the fact that the cell-repellant property of the albumin-coated substrate rapidly switches to cell-adhesive upon exposure to the reactive oxidizing agent, electrochemically generated hypobromous acid. Herein, we report the effect of the hypobromous acid on serum albumin physisorbed on a hydrophobic substrate. It was found that albumin molecules detach from the substrate by application of the oxidizing agent, resulting in exposure of the underlying hydrophobic surface to the liquid phase. The adsorption of extracellular matrix proteins such as fibronectin onto the hydrophobic surface induces cell adhesion and growth.     

Cross-metathesis of vinyl aromatic heterocycles: comparison of Grubbs catalyst and Schrock catalyst

Metathesis of 2-vinyl aromatic heterocycles such as furan and thiophene has been investigated in the presence of a ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst from a synthetic standpoint. The self-metathesis of 2-vinyl aromatic heterocycles was not successful. However, the cross-metathesis of these aromatic heterocycles with 1-octene occurred efficiently, but the selectivity of cross-metathesis product was very low, below 50%. The origin of the low selectivity of heterodimer formation was elucidated through metallacyclobutane intermediate mechanism, observations of carbenes by in situ ¹H NMR, and the reaction products. The effect of oxygen on the reaction behavior was also examined. Furthermore, the data obtained on the Grubbs catalyst were compared with those on a molybdenum-based Schrock catalyst.     

Physicochemical properties of quaternary ammonium bromide-type trimeric surfactants

Trimeric surfactants of quaternary ammonium bromide (m-2-m-2-m, where m is the hydrocarbon chain length of 8, 10, or 12) with three hydrocarbon chains and three hydrophilic groups connected by two ethylene spacer chains were synthesized by the reaction of N,N,N',N",N"-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine and the corresponding alkyl bromide. Their physicochemical properties were characterized by surface tension, static and dynamic light-scattering, and fluorescence spectrum of pyrene techniques. The critical micelle concentrations (cmc's) of m-2-m-2-m shifted to lower concentrations with increasing hydrocarbon chain length, and their values were smaller by about one to three orders of magnitude than those of the corresponding dimeric (m-2-m) and monomeric surfactants (C(m)TAB) with the same hydrocarbon chain length. Of these surfactants, 10-2-10-2-10 showed the greatest efficiency in lowering the surface tension and provided the smallest occupied area per molecule, indicating that it adsorbs more compactly at the air/water interface. In addition, from the static and dynamic light-scattering measurements, the aggregation numbers of the trimeric surfactants at the cmc were very small, and two hydrodynamic diameters above the cmc were observed.     

Efficient anodic pyridination of poly(3-hexylthiophene) toward post-functionalization of conjugated polymers

Nucleophilic substitution reaction of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with pyridine derivatives as nucleophile was demonstrated in anodic oxidation process. The key reaction involves efficient nucleophilic attack of the pyridine derivatives toward thiophene rings in partly oxidized polymer, i.e., doped state, in the similar manner in which anodic pyridination of electrochemically generated pi-radical cation of a series of oligothiophene takes place in quantitative yield (Y. Li, K. Kamata, T. Kawai, J. Abe and T. Iyoda, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 2002, 1135-1140). When 1-methyl-4-(4'-pyridyl)pyridinium hexafluorophosphate (MPP+PF6-) was used as a functional nucleophile, the anodic pyridination reaction gave viologen-tailored poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), which was confirmed by electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical methods. The introduced ratio of viologen units was about 60% with respect to the polaron, i.e., one-electron oxidized state localized over five thiophene units.     

Beneficial Effects of Epigallocatechin-3-O-Gallate,Chlorogenic Acid,Resveratrol, and Curcumin on Neurodegenerative Diseases

Many observational and clinical studies have shown that consumption of diets rich in plant polyphenols have beneficial effects on various diseases such as cancer, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). Animal and cellular studies have indicated that these polyphenolic compounds contribute to such effects. The representative polyphenols are epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate in tea, chlorogenic acids in coffee, resveratrol in wine, and curcumin in curry. The results of human studies have suggested the beneficial effects of consumption of these foods on NDDs including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and cellular animal experiments have provided molecular basis to indicate contribution of these representative polyphenols to these effects. This article provides updated information on the effects of these foods and their polyphenols on NDDs with discussions on mechanistic aspects of their actions mainly based on the findings derived from basic experiments.     

Tunable molecular magnetism in conjugated assembly of functional spin units

Molecular design and photoelectrochemically responsive functions of several redox‐tunable building blocks toward conjugated assembling were described. The viologen dimers and pyridylpyridinium dimers through π‐conjugated linkers showed multi‐step redox processes which were demonstrated electrochemically and photochemically. The 4,6‐pyrimidinylene and 3,6‐pyridazinylene linkers played an important role as effective mediators between two attached electrons in the two viologens or pyridinium groups. The latter pyridylpyridinium dimers and 3‐pyridylviologen have potential to coordinate various metal ions to give conjugated self‐assemblies.     

Novel Amphiphilic Diblock and Triblock Liquid‐Crystalline Copolymers with Well‐Defined Structures Prepared by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Summary: Based on a hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) macroinitiator (PEOBr), a novel amphiphilic diblock copolymer PEO‐block‐poly(11‐(4‐cyanobiphenyloxy)undecyl) methacrylate) (PEO‐b‐PMA(11CB)) was prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using CuCl/1,1,4,7,10,10‐hexamethyltriethylenetriamine as a catalyst system. An azobenzene block of poly(11‐[4‐(4‐butylphenylazo)phenoxyl]undecyl methacrylate) was then introduced into the copolymer sequence by a second ATRP to synthesize the corresponding triblock copolymer PEO‐b‐PMA(11CB)‐b‐PMA(11Az). Both of the amphiphilic block copolymers had well‐defined structures and narrow molecular‐weight distributions, and exhibited a smectic liquid‐crystalline phase over a wide temperature range.

The amphiphilic triblock copolymer synthesized here.     

Controllable Isomerization of Alkenes by Dual Visible‐Light‐Cobalt Catalysis

We report herein that thermodynamic and kinetic isomerization of alkenes can be accomplished by the combination of visible light with Co catalysis. Utilizing Xantphos as the ligand, the most stable isomers are obtained, while isomerizing terminal alkenes over one position can be selectively controlled by using DPEphos as the ligand. The presence of the donor–acceptor dye 4CzIPN accelerates the reaction further. Transformation of exocyclic alkenes into the corresponding endocyclic products could be efficiently realized by using 4CzIPN and Co(acac)₂ in the absence of any additional ligands. Spectroscopic and spectroelectrochemical investigations indicate Co^I being involved in the generation of a Co hydride, which subsequently adds to alkenes initiating the isomerization.     

Porous nanographene formation on γ-alumina nanoparticles via transition-metal-free methane activation

γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles promote pyrolytic carbon deposition of CH₄ at temperatures higher than 800 °C to give single-walled nanoporous graphene (NPG) materials without the need for transition metals as reaction centers. To accelerate the development of efficient reactions for NPG synthesis, we have investigated early-stage CH₄ activation for NPG formation on γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles via reaction kinetics and surface analysis. The formation of NPG was promoted at oxygen vacancies on (100) surfaces of γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles following surface activation by CH₄. The kinetic analysis was well corroborated by a computational study using density functional theory. Surface defects generated as a result of surface activation by CH₄ make it kinetically feasible to obtain single-layered NPG, demonstrating the importance of precise control of oxygen vacancies for carbon growth.

Oxygen vacancies on the (100) surface of γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles catalyse CH₄-CVD for single-layered nanoporous graphenes with no transition metal reaction centre. The rate-limiting step is the proton transfer (PT) in the activation of CH₄ on them.