Photochemistry of dithiocarbamate Cu(II) complex in CCl4

Laser pulse photolysis was used to study the nature and reactions of intermediates in the photochemistry of the flat dithiocarbamate complex Cu(Et(2)dtc)(2) in CCl(4). A nanosecond laser pulse (355 nm) is shown to induce intermediate absorption bands of bivalent copper complex whose coordination sphere contains a dithiocarbamate radical Et(2)dtc(?) and a chloride ion at the axial position ([(Et(2)dtc)Cu(Et(2)dtc(?))Cl(a)]). At room temperature during some microseconds after the laser pulse, this intermediate interacts with the initial complex to form presumably a dimer [Cu(2)(Et(2)dtc)(3)(Et(2)dtc(?))Cl]. The latter vanishes in the second-order reaction. Analysis of kinetic and spectral features gives the arguments for the formation of a cluster [Cu(2)(Et(2)dtc)(3)Cl-tds-Cu(2)(Et(2)dtc)(3)Cl], which produces a new absorption band at 345 nm. The cluster decomposes in ～5 ms into final products, a binuclear complex [Cu(2)(Et(2)dtc)(3)Cl] and tetraethylthiuramdisulfide (Et(4)tds).     

Type S Non-Ribosomal Peptide Synthetases for the Rapid Generation of Tailormade Peptide Libraries**

Bacterial natural products in general, and non-ribosomally synthesized peptides in particular, are structurally diverse and provide us with a broad range of pharmaceutically relevant bioactivities. Yet, traditional natural product research suffers from rediscovering the same scaffolds and has been stigmatized as inefficient, time-, labour- and cost-intensive. Combinatorial chemistry, on the other hand, can produce new molecules in greater numbers, cheaper and in less time than traditional natural product discovery, but also fails to meet current medical needs due to the limited biologically relevant chemical space that can be addressed. Consequently, methods for the high throughput generation of new natural products would offer a new approach to identifying novel bioactive chemical entities for the hit to lead phase of drug discovery programs. As a follow-up to our previously published proof-of-principle study on generating bipartite type S non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), we now envisaged the de novo generation of non-ribosomal peptides (NRPs) on an unreached scale. Using synthetic zippers, we split NRPSs in up to three subunits and rapidly generated different bi- and tripartite NRPS libraries to produce 49 peptides, peptide derivatives, and de novo peptides at good titres up to 145 mg L⁻¹. A further advantage of type S NRPSs not only is the possibility to easily expand the created libraries by re-using previously created type S NRPS, but that functions of individual domains as well as domain-domain interactions can be studied and assigned rapidly.     

Adamantyl Side Chains as Anti-Aggregating Moieties in Dyes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Designing and evaluating novel dye concepts is crucial for the development of the field of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In our recent report, the novel concept of tethering the anti-aggregation additive chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) to dyes for DSSC was introduced. Based on the performance improvements seen for this modification, the aim of this study is to see if a simplified anti-aggregation unit could achieve similar results. The following study reports the synthesis and photovoltaic characterization of two novel dyes decorated with the steric ethyladamantyl moiety on the π-spacer, and on the triarylamine donor. This modification is demonstrated to be successful in increasing the photovoltages in devices employing copper-based electrolytes compared to the non-modified reference dye. The best photovoltaic performance is achieved by a device prepared with the adamantyl decorated donor dye and CDCA, this device achieves a power conversion efficiency of 6.1 % (Short-circuit current=8.3 mA cm⁻², Open-circuit voltage=1054 mV, Fill factor=0.69). The improved photovoltaic performance seen for the adamantyl decorated donor demonstrate the potential of ethyladamantyl side chains as a tool to ensure surface protection of TiO₂.     

An Anthracene-Based Metal-Organic Framework for Selective Photo-Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Formic Acid Coupled with Water Oxidation

A Zr-based metal-organic framework has been synthesized and employed as a catalyst for photochemical carbon dioxide reduction coupled with water oxidation. The catalyst shows significant carbon dioxide reduction property with concomitant water oxidation. The catalyst has broad visible light as well as UV light absorption property, which is further confirmed from electronic absorption spectroscopy. Formic acid was the only reduced product from carbon dioxide with a turn-over frequency (TOF) of 0.69 h⁻¹ in addition to oxygen, which was produced with a TOF of 0.54 h⁻¹. No external photosensitizer is used and the ligand itself acts as the light harvester. The efficient and selective photochemical carbon dioxide reduction to formic acid with concomitant water oxidation using Zr-based MOF as catalyst is thus demonstrated here.     

La2Si2O7 im I—Typ: Gemäß La6[Si4O13][SiO4]2 kein echtes Lanthandisilicat

I‐Type La₂Si₂O₇: According to La₆[Si₄O₁₃][SiO₄]₂ not a Real Lanthanum Disilicate In attempts to synthesize lanthanum telluride silicate La₂Te[SiO₄] (from La, TeO₂, SiO₂ and CsCl, molar ratio: 1 : 1: 1 : 20, 950 °C, 7 d) or fluoride‐rich lanthanum fluoride silicates (from LaF₃, La₂O₃, SiO₂ and CsCl, molar ratio: 5 : 2 : 3 : 17, 700 °C, 7 d) in evacuated silica tubes, colourless lath‐shaped single crystals of hitherto unknown I‐type La₂Si₂O₇ (monoclinic, P2₁/c; a = 726.14(5), b = 2353.2(2), c = 1013.11(8) pm, β = 90.159(7)°) were found in the CsCl‐flux melts. Nevertheless, this new modification of lanthanum disilicate does not contain any discrete disilicate groups [Si₂O₇]^6‐ but formally three of them are dismutated into one catena‐tetrasilicate ([Si₄O₁₃]^10‐ unit of four vertex‐linked [SiO₄]^4‐ tetrahedra) and two ortho‐silicate anions (isolated [SiO₄]^4‐ tetrahedra) according to La₆[Si₄O₁₃][SiO₄]₂. This compound can be described as built up of alternating layers of these [SiO₄]^4‐ and the horseshoe‐shaped [Si₄O₁₃]^10‐ anions along [010]. Between and within the layers the high‐coordinated La ³⁺ cations (CN = 9 ‐ 11) are localized. The close structural relationship to the borosilicates M₃[BSiO₆][SiO₄](M = Ce ‐ Eu) is discussed and structural comparisons with other catena‐tetrasilicates are presented.