Capillary electrophoresis of small solutes in linear polymer solutions: relation between ionic mobility, diffusion coefficient and viscosity

Electrophoretic mobilities, mu, and diffusion coefficients, D, of a small ion (molecular weight 579) were determined in dependence on the viscosity, eta, of aqueous buffer solutions containing ethylene glycol, or polyethylene glycol (PEG) with average molecular weights of 400, 20000, 100000 or 2000000, respectively, as additives. The values for mu and D are inversely proportional to the viscosity for the solutions with small-sized additives (ethylene glycol and PEG400), in accordance to Walden's rule. In contrast, for the longest polymers the mobilities and the diffusion coefficients approximate the values observed for pure water, and are nearly independent of the viscosity. This result agrees with the model of fractional free volume and the obstruction theory. For solutions with equal viscosity, three ranges can be differentiated for mu and D in relation to the size of the additive: for small additives, on the one hand, and the long-chained polymers, on the other hand, the values for mu and D are nearly independent of the size of the additive. In contrast, a pronounced increase of mu and D is found with increasing polymer size in the molecular weight range between 20000 and 100000. The ratio mu/D, occurring in a number of expressions for the plate height contributions, exhibits a remarkably small change over the entire polymer size and viscosity range (between 1 and 7 cP) under consideration. Consequently, the separation efficiency, expressed by the plate number, is found to be nearly constant, and is independent of viscosity.     

Quantum dot FRET biosensors that respond to pH, to proteolytic or nucleolytic cleavage, to DNA synthesis, or to a multiplexing combination

Fluorescent acceptors have been immobilized on nanoparticulate quantum dots (QDs), which serve in turn as their FRET donors. The broad excitation and narrow emission bands of QDs mark them as having excellent potential as donors for FRET and, in principle, differently colored QDs could be excited simultaneously. The present work describes the preparation and operation of FRET-based QD bioprobes individually able to detect the actions of protease, deoxyribonuclease, DNA polymerase, or changes in pH. In addition, two such QD-mounted biosensors were excited at a single wavelength, and shown to operate simultaneously and independently of each other in the same sample solution, allowing multiplex detection of the action of a protease, trypsin, in the presence of deoxyribonuclease.     

Two-Dimensional Supramolecular Polymerization of a Bis-Urea Macrocycle into a Brick-Like Hydrogen-Bonded Network

We report on a dendronized bis-urea macrocycle 1 self-assembling via a cooperative mechanism into two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets formed solely by alternated urea-urea hydrogen bonding interactions. The pure macrocycle self-assembles in bulk into one-dimensional liquid-crystalline columnar phases. In contrast, its self-assembly mode drastically changes in CHCl₃ or tetrachloroethane, leading to 2D hydrogen-bonded networks. Theoretical calculations, complemented by previously reported crystalline structures, indicate that the 2D assembly is formed by a brick-like hydrogen bonding pattern between bis-urea macrocycles. This assembly is promoted by the swelling of the trisdodecyloxyphenyl groups upon solvation, which frustrates, due to steric effects, the formation of the thermodynamically more stable columnar macrocycle stacks. This work proposes a new design strategy to access 2D supramolecular polymers by means of a single non-covalent interaction motif, which is of great interest for materials development.     

Preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide catalyzed by platinum nanoparticles in mesoporous silica

Preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO is an important practical process to purify H2 for use in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Although many supported noble metal catalysts have been reported so far, their catalytic performances remain insufficient for operation at low temperature. We found that Pt nanoparticles in mesoporous silica give unprecedented activity, selectivity, and durability in the PROX reaction below 353 K. We also studied the promotional effect of mesoporous silica in the Pt-catalyzed PROX reaction by infrared spectroscopy using the isotopic tracer technique. Gas-phase O2 is not directly used for CO oxidation, but the oxygen of mesoporous silica is incorporated into CO2. These results suggest that CO oxidation is promoted by the attack of the surface OH groups to CO on Pt without forming water.     

40]nonaphyrin(1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1) and its heterometallic complexes with palladium-carbon bonds

meso-Pentafluorophenyl- substituted [40]nonaphyrin(1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1) 3 has been prepared by using a stepwise ring-size-selective synthesis, and has been reduced with NaBH(4) to [42]nonaphyrin(1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1) 5. Structurally, 3 is characterized by a figure-of-eight shape, consisting of a porphyrin-like tetrapyrrolic segment and a hexaphyrin-like hexapyrrolic segment, whereas 5 has been found to adopt a distorted nonplanar butterfly-like shape. In the mono-metal complexes 6 and 7, a Zn(II) or Cu(II) ion is bound by the porphyrin-like tetrapyrrolic segment, maintaining the overall structure of 3. Similarly to 3, complexes 6 and 7 are interconvertible with the corresponding complexes 9 and 10 through two-electron reduction with NaBH(4) and oxidation with DDQ. The metal-free hexaphyrin-like segments of 6 and 7 have been shown to serve as a suitable platform for the complexation of two palladium ions, providing hetero-trinuclear metal complexes 11 (Zn(II)-Pd(II)-Pd(II)) and 13 (Cu(II)-Pd(II)-Pd(II)) in high yields, in which the Zn or Cu ion resides at the same porphyrin-like segment, and one Pd ion is bound in an NNCC fashion through double C--H bond activation while the other is bound in an NNC fashion with single C--H bond activation. Multi-metal complexes 11, 12, and 13 exhibit small electrochemical HOMO-LUMO gaps (<0.6 eV), despite their nonplanar conformations.     

A High‐Barrier Molecular Balance for Studying Face‐to‐Face Arene–Arene Interactions in the Solid State and in Solution

An atropisomeric molecular balance was developed to study face‐to‐face arene–arene interactions. The balance has a large central 1,4,5,8‐naphthalene diimide surface that forms intramolecular arene–arene interactions with two pendent arms. The balance adopts distinct syn and anti isomers with varying numbers of intramolecular interactions. Thus, the strength of the arene–arene interaction could be quantitatively measured by NMR spectroscopy from the anti/syn ratios. The size of the arene arms was easily varied, which allowed examination of the relationship between arene size and strength of the interaction. A nonlinear size dependence was observed in solution with larger arene arms having a disproportionately stronger arene–arene interaction. The intramolecular arene–arene interactions were also characterized in the solid state by X‐ray crystallography. These studies were facilitated by the kinetic stability of the syn and anti isomers at room temperature due to the high isomerization barrier (ΔG=27.0 kcal mol^?1). Thus, the anti isomer could be selectively isolated and crystallized in its folded conformation. The X‐ray structures confirmed that the anti isomers formed two strong intramolecular arene–arene interactions with face‐to‐face geometries. The solid‐state structure analysis also reveals that the rigid framework may contribute to the observed nonlinear size trend. The acetate linker is slightly too long, which selectively destabilizes the balances with smaller arene arms. The larger arene arms are able to compensate for the longer linker and form effective intramolecular arene–arene interactions.     

Metal-Free Twofold Electrochemical C−H Amination of Activated Arenes: Application to Medicinally Relevant Precursor Synthesis

The efficient production of many medicinally or synthetically important starting materials suffers from wasteful or toxic precursors for the synthesis. In particular, the aromatic non-protected primary amine function represents a versatile synthetic precursor, but its synthesis typically requires toxic oxidizing agents and transition metal catalysts. The twofold electrochemical amination of activated benzene derivatives via Zincke intermediates provides an alternative sustainable strategy for the formation of new C−N bonds of high synthetic value. As a proof of concept, we use our approach to generate a benzoxazinone scaffold that gained attention as a starting structure against castrate-resistant prostate cancer. Further improvement of the structure led to significantly increased cancer cell line toxicity. Thus, exploiting environmentally benign electrooxidation, we present a new versatile and powerful method based on direct C−H activation that is applicable for example the production of medicinally relevant compounds.     

Structures and bonding situation of Pb2X2 (X?=?H, F, Cl, Br and I)

Quantum chemical calculations using DFT (BP86) and ab initio methods (MP2, MP4 and CCSD(T)) have been carried out for the title compounds. The nature of the Pb?CPb interactions has been investigated with an energy decomposition analysis. The energy minimum structures of the halogen substituted Pb₂X₂ molecules possess a doubly bridged butterfly geometry A like the parent system Pb₂H₂. The unusual geometry can be explained with the interactions between PbX fragments in the X ²?? ground state which leads to one Pb?CPb electron-sharing ?? bond and two donor?Cacceptor bonds between the Pb?CX bonds as donor and vacant p(??) AOs of Pb. The energy difference between the equilibrium form A and the linear structure XPb??PbX (E) which is a second-order saddle point is much higher when X is a halogen atom than for X?=?H. This is because the a ⁴??^?????X ²?? excitation energies of PbX (X?=?F?CI) are higher than for PbH. The structural isomers B, D1, D2, E, F1, F2 and G of Pb₂X₂ are no minima on the potential energy surface.