Polarization control over electric and magnetic dipole resonances of dielectric nanoparticles on metallic films

We reveal unusually strong polarization sensitivity of electric and magnetic dipole resonances of high‐index dielectric nanoparticles placed on a metallic film. By employing dark‐field spectroscopy, we observe the polarization‐controlled transformation from high‐Q magnetic‐dipole scattering to broadband suppression of scattering associated with the electric dipole mode, and show numerically that it is accompanied by a strong enhancement of the respective fields by the nanoparticle. Our experimental data for silicon nanospheres are in an excellent agreement with both analytical calculations based on Green's function approach and the full‐wave numerical simulations. Our findings further substantiate dielectric nanoparticles as strong candidates for many applications in enhanced sensing, spectroscopy and nonlinear processes at the nanoscale.

     

Computational analysis of local membrane properties

In the field of biomolecular simulations, dynamics of phospholipid membranes is of special interest. A number of proteins, including channels, transporters, receptors and short peptides are embedded in lipid bilayers and tightly interact with phospholipids. While the experimental measurements report on the spatial and/or temporal average membrane properties, simulation results are not restricted to the average properties. In the current study, we present a collection of methods for an efficient local membrane property calculation, comprising bilayer thickness, area per lipid, deuterium order parameters, Gaussian and mean curvature. The local membrane property calculation allows for a direct mapping of the membrane features, which subsequently can be used for further analysis and visualization of the processes of interest. The main features of the described methods are highlighted in a number of membrane systems, namely: a pure dimyristoyl-phosphatidyl-choline (DMPC) bilayer, a fusion peptide interacting with a membrane, voltage-dependent anion channel protein embedded in a DMPC bilayer, cholesterol enriched bilayer and a coarse grained simulation of a curved palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidyl-choline lipid membrane. The local membrane property analysis proves to provide an intuitive and detailed view on the observables that are otherwise interpreted as averaged bilayer properties.     

Synthesis and Investigation of the V‐shaped Tröger′s Base Derivatives as Hole‐transporting Materials

V‐shaped Tröger′s base core has been investigated as a central linking unit in the synthesis of new charge‐transporting materials for optoelectronic applications. The studied molecules have been synthesized in two steps from relatively inexpensive starting materials, and demonstrate high glass transition temperatures, good stability of the amorphous state, and comparatively high hole drift mobility (up to 0.011 cm² V^?1 s^?1).     

Accurate and Rigorous Prediction of the Changes in Protein Free Energies in a Large‐Scale Mutation Scan

The prediction of mutation‐induced free‐energy changes in protein thermostability or protein–protein binding is of particular interest in the fields of protein design, biotechnology, and bioengineering. Herein, we achieve remarkable accuracy in a scan of 762 mutations estimating changes in protein thermostability based on the first principles of statistical mechanics. The remaining error in the free‐energy estimates appears to be due to three sources in approximately equal parts, namely sampling, force‐field inaccuracies, and experimental uncertainty. We propose a consensus force‐field approach, which, together with an increased sampling time, leads to a free‐energy prediction accuracy that matches those reached in experiments. This versatile approach enables accurate free‐energy estimates for diverse proteins, including the prediction of changes in the melting temperature of the membrane protein neurotensin receptor 1.     

Hole-transporting hydrazones

This tutorial review covers recent contributions in the area of hole-transporting hydrazones, which are widely used in optoelectronic devices. It is addressed to students and researchers interested in the synthesis and properties of organic electroactive materials. The thermal, charge transport and other properties of electroactive hydrazones are compared and the relationships between the molecular structures and properties are emphasized. The first part discusses the low-molar-mass hydrazones and presents examples of their synthetic routes and chemical structures. In the second part, polymeric arylaldehyde hydrazones containing hydrazone moieties as the side substituents and in the main-chain are described.     

Synthesis and cyclizations of N-(2,3-, 3,4- and 3,5-dimethylphenyl)-beta-alanines

A series of 1-aryl substituted dihydro-, 5-methyl-dihydro- and 6-methyl-dihydro-2,4(1H,3H)pyrimidinediones and their 2-thio analogues were obtained by reaction of the corresponding beta-alanines or alpha-methyl- and beta-methyl-beta-alanines with urea or potassium thiocyanate. The reaction of N-(2,3- and 3,5-dimethylphenyl)-alpha-methyl-beta-alanines with ethyl acetoacetate gave 1-(2,3- or 3,5-dimethylphenyl)-2,5-dimethyl-1,4,5,6-tetrahydro-4(1H)pyridones. The combined spectral data obtained by (1)H-, (13)C-,(1)H/(13)C (HETCOR) NMR and IR provided useful information about the structure of the products synthesized in this work.     

Synthesis and Functionalization of 8‐Methyl‐2h‐pyrimido [2,1‐c][1,2,4]triazine‐3,6(1h,4h)‐dione

6‐Methyl‐2‐methylthio‐4‐oxopyrimidin‐3(4H)‐yl)acetohydrazide on heating in benzylamine undergo cyclization to 8‐methyl‐2H‐pyrimido[2,1‐c][1,2,4]triazine‐3,6(1H, 4H)‐dione, which under treatment with bromine in glacial acetic acid was converted to 7‐bromo substituted derivative and at reflux with Lawesson's reagent yielded 3‐thioxo compound. The latter reacted with primary and secondary amines to give 3‐amino substituted pyrimidotriazines and on alkylation—the corresponding S‐alkyl derivatives.     

Molecular vibrations-induced quantum beats in two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

Quantum beats in nonlinear spectroscopy of molecular aggregates are often attributed to electronic phenomena of excitonic systems, while nuclear degrees of freedom are commonly included into models as overdamped oscillations of bath constituents responsible for dephasing. However, molecular systems are coupled to various high-frequency molecular vibrations, which can cause the spectral beats hardly distinguishable from those created by purely electronic coherences. Models containing damped, undamped, and overdamped vibrational modes coupled to an electronic molecular transition are discussed in this paper in context of linear absorption and two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy. Analysis of different types of bath models demonstrates how do vibrations map onto two-dimensional spectra and how the damping strength of the coherent vibrational modes can be resolved from spectroscopic signals.