Copper(II), palladium(II) and platinum(II) chloride complexes with 5-amino-2-tert-butyltetrazole: Synthesis, characterization and cytotoxicity

Complexes CuL₃Cl₂, PdL₂Cl₂ and PtL₂Cl₂, where L is a novel ligand from the series of 2-substituted 5-aminotetrazoles, namely 5-amino-2-tert-butyltetrazole (1), have been synthesized by the reaction of metal(II) chlorides with 1 and characterized by IR spectroscopy, thermal and X-ray analyses. The crystallographic structural analysis of these complexes revealed that 1 acts as a monodentate ligand coordinated to the metal via endocyclic N4 atom. Platinum complex demonstrates promising cytotoxicity against human cervical carcinoma cells with IC₅₀ value average between those of cisplatin and carboplatin.     

High internal phase emulsion templates solely stabilised by functionalised titania nanoparticles

Porous polymer foams (poly-Pickering-HIPEs) have been synthesised from stable high internal phase emulsion templates solely stabilised by low concentrations of functionalised titania nanoparticles.     

Effects of bulk impurity concentration on the reactivity of metal surface: sticking of hydrogen molecules and atoms to polycrystalline Nb containing oxygen

Nonmetallic impurities segregated onto metal surfaces are able to drastically decrease the chemical reactivity of metals. In the present paper, effects of bulk impurities on the reactivity of metallic surfaces were investigated in a wide temperature range on an example of the sticking of hydrogen molecules and atoms to Nb [polycrystalline, with mainly (100)] containing solute oxygen. At all the investigated surface temperatures, T(S) (300-1400 K), we found the bulk oxygen concentration C(O) to have a strong effect on the integral probability, alpha(H(2) ), of dissociative sticking of H(2) molecules followed by hydrogen solution in the metal lattice: alpha(H(2) ) monotonically decreased by orders of magnitude with increasing C(O) from 0.03 to 1.5 at. %. The sticking coefficient alpha(H(2) ) was found to depend on T(S) but not on the gas temperature. The effect of C(O) on alpha(H(2) ) is explained by the presence of oxygen-free sites (holes in coverage) serving as active centers of the surface reaction in the oxygen monolayer upon Nb. In contrast to H(2) molecules, H atoms were found to stick to, and be dissolved in, oxygen-covered Nb with a probability comparable to 1, depending neither on C(O) nor on T(S). This proves that, unlike H(2) molecules, H atoms do stick to be dissolved mainly through regular surface sites covered by oxygen and not through the holes in coverage.     

Matrix isolation spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations for 2,7,12,17-tetra-tert-butylporphycene in argon and xenon

Electronic absorption spectra of 2,7,12,17-tetra-tert-butylporphycene (TTPC) have been recorded in low-temperature argon and xenon matrices for various deposition conditions. In the region of the S(0)-S(1) electronic transition, the spectra of TTPC in argon reveal a rich site structure, characterized by a series of more than 30 absorption peaks. Studies of the temperature dependence of the electronic spectra in solid argon demonstrated remarkable spectral changes, resulting in the broadening of all bands with increasing temperature. These temperature-induced spectral changes are, to a large degree, reversible, so lowering of temperature is accompanied by the recovery of the original fine-line spectrum. The absorption spectra in xenon reveal broad bands, on which a rich pattern of lines becomes superimposed at low temperatures. Trapping site distribution and the structure of the microenvironment around the TTPC chromophore, embedded in argon and xenon hosts, have been analyzed using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The MD results show that the trapping of TTPC in rare-gas solids is influenced by favorable embedding of the bulky tert-butyl groups inside the matrix cage. The crucial role of the tert-butyl groups for the thermodynamics and kinetics of matrix deposition is demonstrated by comparing the results with those obtained for the parent, unsubstituted porphycene.     

Photoabsorption and photofragmentation of isolated cationic silver cluster-tryptophan hybrid systems

We present a theoretical study of the size and structure selective absorption properties of cationic silver cluster-tryptophan Trp-Ag(n)(+) (n = 2-5,9) hybrid systems supported by photofragmentation experiments. Our time-dependent density functional theory calculations provide insight into the nature of excitations in interacting nanoparticle-biomolecule subunits and allow to determine characteristic spectral features as fingerprints of two different classes of structures: charge solvated and zwitterionic. Moreover, different types of charge transfer transitions have been identified. Charge transfer from pi system of tryptophan to silver cluster occurs for charge solvated structures while charge transfer from silver to the NH(3) (+) group takes place for zwitterionic structures. This has been confirmed by experimentally measured photofragmentation channels and molecular dynamics simulations. Our findings provide fundamental insight into the structure- and size-dependent mechanism responsible for the enhanced absorption and emission in nanoparticle-biomolecular hybrid systems.     

Total energy evaluation in the Strutinsky shell correction method

We analyze the total energy evaluation in the Strutinsky shell correction method (SCM) of Ullmo et al. [Phys. Rev. B 63, 125339 (2001)], where a series expansion of the total energy is developed based on perturbation theory. In agreement with Yannouleas and Landman [Phys. Rev. B 48, 8376 (1993)], we also identify the first-order SCM result to be the Harris functional [Phys. Rev. B 31, 1770 (1985)]. Further, we find that the second-order correction of the SCM turns out to be the second-order error of the Harris functional, which involves the a priori unknown exact Kohn-Sham (KS) density, rho(KS)(r). Interestingly, the approximation of rho(KS)(r) by rho(out)(r), the output density of the SCM calculation, in the evaluation of the second-order correction leads to the Hohenberg-Kohn-Sham functional. By invoking an auxiliary system in the framework of orbital-free density functional theory, Ullmo et al. designed a scheme to approximate rho(KS)(r), but with several drawbacks. An alternative is designed to utilize the optimal density from a high-quality density mixing method to approximate rho(KS)(r). Our new scheme allows more accurate and complex kinetic energy density functionals and nonlocal pseudopotentials to be employed in the SCM. The efficiency of our new scheme is demonstrated in atomistic calculations on the cubic diamond Si and face-centered-cubic Ag systems.     

Separation and evaluation of free radical-scavenging activity of phenol components of Emblica officinalis extract by using an HPTLC-DPPH* method

A new procedure has been developed to separate and quantify the free radical-scavenging activity of individual compounds from an Emblica officinalis extract based on the combination of HPTLC with a diode array detector (DAD) and postchromatographic DPPH* radical derivatization. Free gallic and ellagic acids and emblicanins A and B in the E. officinalis extract were separated by TLC and identified. All the compounds of the extract were capable of scavenging of DPPH* radicals. It was established that the DPPH* scavenging activity of emblicanins A and B was 7.86 and 11.20 times more than that of ascorbic acid and 1.25 and 1.78 times more than gallic acid, respectively. From the estimated ID50 values, it can be seen that the increasing order of activity was emblicanin B > emblicanin A > gallic acid > ellagic acid > ascorbic acid. Probably, the antioxidant activity of E. officinalis extract is associated with the presence of hydrolyzable tannins having ascorbic acid-like action.     

A sequential enantioselective, organocatalytic route to chiral 1,2-oxazines and chiral pyridazines

A sequential, organocatalysed asymmetric reaction to access chiral 1,2-oxazines and chiral pyridazines is reported, which proceeds in moderate to good yields and good to excellent enantioselectivities.     

Hf3 cluster is triply (sigma-, pi-, and delta-) aromatic in the lowest D3h, 1A1' state

The extensive search for the global minimum structure of Hf3 at the B3LYP/LANL2DZ level of theory revealed that D3h 3A2' (1a1'(2)1a2'(2)1e'(4)2a1'(2)1e'2) and D3h 1A1' (1a1'(2)2a1'(2)1e'(4)1a2'(2)3a1'2) are the lowest triplet and singlet states, respectively, with the triplet state being the lowest one. However, at the CASSCF(10,14)/Stuttgart+2f1g level of theory these two states are degenerate, indicating that at the higher level of theory the singlet state could be in fact the global minimum structure. The triplet D3h 3A2' (1a1'21a2'(2)1e'(4)2a1'(2)1e'2) structure is doubly (sigma- and pi-) aromatic and the singlet D3h 1A1' (1a1'(2)2a1'(2)1e'(4)1a2'(2)3a1'2) structure is the first reported triply (sigma-, pi-, and delta-) aromatic system.