Surface passivation of luminescent colloidal quantum dots with poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) through a ligand exchange process

Polydimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (PDMAEMA) was used as a multidentate ligand to modify the surface of CdSe/ZnS core-shell colloidal quantum dots in toluene with trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) as the surface ligand. Adsorption of PDMAEMA was accompanied by release of TOPO. The process is free of agglomeration, and the modified nanocrystals become soluble in methanol. The photoluminescence properties are well-preserved in either toluene or methanol.     

Ab initio molecular-dynamics simulation of aqueous proton solvation and transport revisited

The solvation and transport of the hydrated excess proton is studied using the Car-Parrinello molecular-dynamics (CPMD) simulation method. The simulations were performed using BLYP and HCTH gradient-corrected exchange-correlation energy functionals. The fictitious electronic mass was chosen to be small enough so that the underlying water structural and dynamical properties were converged with respect to this important CPMD simulation parameter. An unphysical overstructuring of liquid water in the CPMD simulations using the BLYP functional resulted in the formation of long-lived hydrogen-bonding structures involving the excess proton and a particular (special) water oxygen. The excess proton was observed to be attracted to the special oxygen through the entire length of the BLYP CPMD simulations. Consequently, the excess proton diffusion was limited by the mobility of the special oxygen in the slowly diffusing water network and, in turn, the excess proton self-diffusion coefficient was found to be significantly below the experimental value. On the other hand, the structural properties of liquid water in the HCTH CPMD simulation were seen to be in better agreement with experiment, although the water and excess proton diffusions were still well below the experimental value.     

Synthesis and structure of pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoindol-8-ones from Aromatic Ortho Diesters

The title compounds 2 , have now been shown to arise in certain cases from condensation of aromatic ortho-diesters with ketone, where formerly only indeno[1,2-c]pyrazol-4(1H)-ones 3 have been reported from such reaction. Heretofore 2 was obtained in a less direct fashion from phthalaldehydic acid esters. When hetero-aromatic diesters were employed, new heterocyclic ring systems as represented by 2a,b ,c were prepared for the first time. Structures of 2 have been verified from detailed ¹H and ¹³C nmr studies, while representative intermediates 4–9 in the condensation of diesters to 2 have been isolated and identified.     

Probing the molecular-scale lipid bilayer response to shear flow using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics

A nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation of the response of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayers to a solvent shear flow is presented. Application of shear flow to planar, stationary DMPC bilayers results in a redistribution of the membrane density profile along the bilayer normal due to the alignment of the lipids in the direction of flow and an increase in average lipid chain length. An increase in the intermolecular and intramolecular order of the lipids in response to the shear flow is also observed. This study provides groundwork for understanding the mechanism of the full response of lipid bilayers to externally imposed solvent shear flows, beginning with the response in the absence of collective lipid motions such as undulations and bilayer flow.     

An investigation of the properties of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-bioinspired silica hybrids

Elastomers typically require the incorporation of reinforcing fillers in order to improve their mechanical properties. For commercial silicone systems silica and titania are typically used as fillers. Fumed and precipitated silica are made on an industrial scale for many applications; however, we have shown recently that biological and synthetic macromolecules can generate new silica structures using a bioinspired route. Herein we have incorporated bioinspired silica fillers into poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomers and investigated their mechanical, morphological and thermal properties as a function of filler loading. The equilibrium stress-strain characteristics of the PDMS-bioinspired silica hybrids were determined as a function of bioinspired filler loading and the Mooney-Rivlin constants (2C₁ and 2C₂) were calculated. The thermal characteristics, in particular glass transition temperatures (T_g) and melting points (T_m), of the PDMS-bioinspired silica hybrids were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The thermal stability of these hybrid materials were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology of the samples was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the filler dispersion was characterized using ultra small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Although spherical silica particles were used here, we have demonstrated elsewhere that this bioinspired synthetic route also enables highly asymmetric silica structures to be prepared such as fibres and sheets. This methodology therefore offers the interesting possibility of preparing new hybrid systems where the properties are highly anisotropic.     

Base Hydrolysis of Pentaaminecobalt (III) Complexes: The [CoX(dien) (dapo)]n+ system. Part 3. The internal conjugate base mechanism

Azide anation and racemization of optically pure mer-exo(H)- and mer-endo(H)-[Co(OH)(dien)(dapo)]²⁺ ( A and B (X = OH), resp.; dien = N-(2-aminoethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine; dapo = 1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol) involve the same symmetrical pentacoordinate intermediate as the base hydrolyses of the corresponding mer-exo(H)- and mer-endo(H)-[CoX(dien)(dapo)]²⁺ species A and B , respectively, where X = Cl, Br, or N₃. The kinetic parameters of the anation process are fully compatible with the independently measured competition ratio. The rate data reveal that substitution of OH^? is unexpectedly fast, viz. it is not consistent with the usual sequence Br^? > Cl^? > H₂O > N > OH^?. This behavior is interpreted on the basis of an internal conjugate base mechanism which involves an amino-hydroxo/aminato-aqua tautomerism, viz. the reaction is actually an OH^? -catalyzed substitution of [CoH₂O(dien)(dapo)]³⁺ where deprotonation occurs effectively at the secondary-amine site NH of dien.     

Experimental and theoretical study of the V → T,R relaxation of CD4 between 300 and 100 K

Rate constants for the vibrational deactivation of CD₄ by the collision partners CD₄, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, D₂ and O₂ have been measured using a laser-fluorescence technique. The results are compared with those for the deactivation of CH₄ by the same collision partners and with a modified SSH type theoretical treatment.     

Synthesis, structure, and kinetics and stereochemistry of base-catalyzed hydrolysis of meso- and rac-[Co2(tmpdtne)Cl2]4+, bis(pentaamine) complexes devoid of deprotonatable NH centers

The bis(pentadentate) ligand tmpdtne binds two Co(II) centers, and the entity is readily oxidized to the dicobalt(III) derivative [Co(2)(tmpdtne)Cl(2)](4+) which has been separated into two isomeric forms. NMR studies establish these as meso and rac isomers arising from the different or same absolute configurations for the asym configuration about each Co(III) center. Each dinuclear ion base hydrolyses to the dihydroxo derivative [Co(2)(tmpdtne)(OH)(2)](4+) with retained asym configurations about each metal ion and also retained rac or meso configurations. The kinetics for the stepwise loss of the two Cl(-) ligands is uniphasic, and data are presented to show that the loss of the first chloride is rate determining and is followed by very rapid intramolecular and loss of the second Cl(-) via a hydroxo-bridged species to yield the observed dihydroxo derivative. Meso and rac forms of the latter have been crystallized. The X-ray crystal structure of the rac-dihydroxo complex is reported, and it establishes the configurations of all the complexes reported. The (1)H NMR spectra for the hydroxo ions show very high field Co-OH resonances (ca. delta-0.5 ppm) not observed previously for such ions, and this result is discussed in the context of published (1)H NMR data for bridged Co-OH-Co species. The base hydrolysis kinetics for the dichloro ions are first order in [OH(-)], and deprotonation at an alpha-CH(2) center (alpha to a pyridyl) is identified as the source of the catalysis, since there is no NH center available for deprotonation on the ligand. These data further support the new pseudoaminate base hydrolysis mechanism first reported in 2003. The values of k(OH) for the second-order base-catalyzed reaction are ca. 4.0 M(-1) s(-1) for both the rac and meso isomers, and these results are discussed in terms of the increased acidities of these 4+ cations compared to their 2+ ion counterparts.     

Intramolecular Diels-Alder and tandem intramolecular Diels-Alder/1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of 1,3,4-oxadiazoles

The scope of intramolecular Diels-Alder and a novel tandem Diels-Alder/1,3-dipolar cycloaddition cascade of 1,3,4-oxadiazoles is disclosed. In the cases examined, the tandem cycloadditions construct three new rings with formation of four new C-C bonds and set all six stereocenters about a central six-membered ring in a single step including three contiguous and four total quaternary centers without a trace of a second diastereomer.     

Preparation and dilute solution properties of model gemini nonionic surfactants

Dimeric poly(ethylene oxide) surfactants (or nonionic gemini surfactants) with the structure (Cn-2H2n-3CHCH2O(CH2CH2O)mH)2(CH2)6 (or GemnEm), where n is the alkyl length and m is the average number of ethylene oxides per head group, were synthesized. Surfactants were synthesized with alkyl chain lengths n = 12, 14, and 20 and m = 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30. Water solubilities and cloud temperatures at 1 wt% were determined by measuring turbidity as a function of temperature. Cloud temperatures increase with m and decrease with n, as observed for conventional surfactants. For large m the cloud temperatures were all above 100 degrees C. Surfactants with small m (i.e., n = 12, 14, m = 5 and n = 20, m = 10) were insoluble at room temperature, forming two-phase mixtures. Critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) were measured using a pyrene fluorescence method and are all in the range of 10(-7) to 10(-6) M, with the lowest values from the surfactants with large n and small m. CMCs of mixtures with both anionic and nonionic conventional (monomeric) surfactants were well described by an ideal mixing model.