Swallowtail porphyrins: synthesis, characterization and incorporation into porphyrin dyads

The incorporation of symmetrically branched tridecyl ("swallowtail") substituents at the meso positions of porphyrins results in highly soluble building blocks. Synthetic routes have been investigated to obtain porphyrin building blocks bearing 1-4 swallowtail groups. Porphyrin dyads have been synthesized in which the zinc or free base (Fb) porphyrins are joined by a 4,4'-diphenylethyne linker and bear swallowtail (or n-pentyl) groups at the nonlinking meso positions. The swallowtail-substituted Zn(2)- and ZnFb-dyads are readily soluble in common organic solvents. Static absorption and fluorescence spectra and electrochemical data show that the presence of the swallowtail groups slightly raises the energy level of the filled a(2u)(pi) HOMO. EPR studies of the pi-cation radicals of the swallowtail porphyrins indicate that the torsional angle between the proton on the alkyl carbon and p-orbital on the meso carbon of the porphyrin is different from that of a porphyrin bearing linear pentyl groups. Regardless, the swallowtail substituents do not significantly affect the photophysical properties of the porphyrins or the electronic interactions between the porphyrins in the dyads. In particular, time-resolved spectroscopic studies indicate that facile excited-state energy transfer occurs in the ZnFb dyad, and EPR studies of the monocation radical of the Zn(2)-dyad show that interporphyrin ground-state hole transfer is rapid.     

Experimental and computational studies of trialkylaluminum and alkylaluminum chloride reactions with silica

Reactions of trimethylaluminum, triethylaluminum, and diethylaluminum chloride and ethylaluminum dichloride with silica gel have been studied experimentally by infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The silica gel was subjected to different pretreatments to alter surface functionalities prior to reaction. In all cases the extent of surface modification reaction follows the trend unmodified > 600 degrees C pretreated > hexamethyldisilazane (HMDZ) pretreated > 600 degrees C/HMDZ pretreated. All of the aluminum compounds studied completely react non-hydrogen-bonded silanols, while also reacting with hydrogen-bonded silanols and siloxanes. Primarily monomeric surface species result from the surface modification reaction. Ethylaluminum chlorides preferentially react with silanols through cleavage of the Al-C bond rather than the Al-Cl bond. Singly bonded Si(s)-O-AlCl(2) surface species are readily synthesized by reaction of ethylaluminum dichloride with HMDZ-pretreated silica gel. Bridged bonded (Si(s)-O)(2)-AlCl surface species are readily synthesized by reaction of diethylaluminum chloride with HMDZ-pretreated silica gel. Computational ab initio studies of the cluster Si(4)O(6)(OH)(4) as a model to study the reaction of monomeric and dimeric methylaluminum dichloride with a silica silanol are also described. Comparison of the potential energy surface (PES) of monomer and dimer indicates that the energetics favor monomer reaction, consistent with experimental results. The energy cost in the dimer reaction is primarily from cleavage of a bridged Al-Cl bond upon adsorption. This does not occur when the monomer adsorbs. A comparison of the PES for the two reaction pathways resulting from cleavage of either an Al-Cl or Al-C bond indicates that while the former reaction is slightly kinetically favored (E(a) = 23.1 kJ/mol for Al-Cl bond cleavage versus E(a) = 31.1 kJ/mol for Al-C bond cleavage), the latter is strongly thermodynamically favored with an overall free energy difference between the two reaction pathways of 135 kJ/mol favorable to Al-C bond cleavage. These reactions are thermodynamically controlled.     

Creation and comparison of MS/MS spectral libraries using quadrupole ion trap and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometers

Searchable libraries of MS/MS spectra, obtained using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) with data-dependent scan mode switching on both quadrupole ion trap and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometers in conjunction with electrospray ionization, are presented. The effects on library search scores of changing the parameters for producing collision-induced dissociation (CID) on both instrument types are systematically evaluated. These observations serve as a basis for determining a universal set of conditions for building MS/MS libraries. A group of 19 closely related steroids was used. The ability to obtain library-searchable spectra at low concentrations is demonstrated for the analysis of a sample of progesterone spiked with hydroxyprogesterone impurities at 0.1 and 0.01%.     

MolE8: finding DFT potential energy surface minima values from force-field optimised organic molecules with new machine learning representations

The use of machine learning techniques in computational chemistry has gained significant momentum since large molecular databases are now readily available. Predictions of molecular properties using machine learning have advantages over the traditional quantum mechanics calculations because they can be cheaper computationally without losing the accuracy. We present a new extrapolatable and explainable molecular representation based on bonds, angles and dihedrals that can be used to train machine learning models. The trained models can accurately predict the electronic energy and the free energy of small organic molecules with atom types C, H N and O, with a mean absolute error of 1.2 kcal mol⁻¹. The models can be extrapolated to larger organic molecules with an average error of less than 3.7 kcal mol⁻¹ for 10 or fewer heavy atoms, which represent a chemical space two orders of magnitude larger. The rapid energy predictions of multiple molecules, up to 7 times faster than previous ML models of similar accuracy, has been achieved by sampling geometries around the potential energy surface minima. Therefore, the input geometries do not have to be located precisely on the minima and we show that accurate density functional theory energy predictions can be made from force-field optimised geometries with a mean absolute error 2.5 kcal mol⁻¹.

New representations and machine learning calculate DFT minima from force field geometries.     

Nearly invariant subspaces for shift semigroups

Let{T (t)}_t≥0 be a C₀-semigroup on an infinite-dimensional separable Hilbert space; a suitable definition of near{T (t)~*}_t≥0 invariance of a subspace is presented in this paper. A series of prototypical examples for minimal nearly{S(t)~*}t≥0 invariant subspaces for the shift semigroup{S(t)}_t≥0 on L²(0,∞) are demonstrated, which have close links with near T~*_θ invariance on Hardy spaces of the unit disk for an inner function θ. Especially, ...     

Improvement of Biological Effects of Root-Filling Materials for Primary Teeth by Incorporating Sodium Iodide

Therapeutic iodoform (CHI₃) is commonly used as a root-filling material for primary teeth; however, the side effects of iodoform-containing materials, including early root resorption, have been reported. To overcome this problem, a water-soluble iodide (NaI)-incorporated root-filling material was developed. Calcium hydroxide, silicone oil, and NaI were incorporated in different weight proportions (30:30:X), and the resulting material was denoted DX (D5~D30), indicating the NaI content. As a control, iodoform instead of NaI was incorporated at a ratio of 30:30:30, and the material was denoted I30. The physicochemical (flow, film thickness, radiopacity, viscosity, water absorption, solubility, and ion releases) and biological (cytotoxicity, TRAP, ARS, and analysis of osteoclastic markers) properties were determined. The amount of iodine, sodium, and calcium ion releases and the pH were higher in D30 than I30, and the highest level of unknown extracted molecules was detected in I30. In the cell viability test, all groups except 100% D30 showed no cytotoxicity. In the 50% nontoxic extract, D30 showed decreased osteoclast formation compared with I30. In summary, NaI-incorporated materials showed adequate physicochemical properties and low osteoclast formation compared to their iodoform-counterpart. Thus, NaI-incorporated materials may be used as a substitute for iodoform-counterparts in root-filling materials after further (pre)clinical investigation.     

The photodegradation of cadmium yellow paints in Henri Matisse’s Le Bonheur de vivre (1905–1906)

Evidence for the alteration of the yellow paints in Henri Matisse’s Le Bonheur de vivre (1905–1906, The Barnes Foundation) has been observed since the 1990s. The changes in this iconic work of Matisse’s Fauvist period include lightening, darkening, and flaking of the yellow paints. Handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and multispectral imaging surveys reveal that the degradation is confined to cadmium yellow (CdS) paints. The discoloration of cadmium yellow paints in Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early modernist work from the 1880s through the 1920s has been ascribed to the photo-oxidative degradation of CdS. Preliminary investigations of the degraded yellow paints in this work involved Cd L_III-edge X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source (SSRL Menlo Park, California) and Scanning Electron Microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDS) at the Winterthur Museum Scientific Research and Analysis Laboratory. To determine if the visual changes in the paints did in fact indicate photo-oxidative degradation and if different chemistries could be observed for the lightened versus darkened regions, synchrotron radiation-micro Fourier Transform InfraRed (SR-μFTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray Fluorescence (SR-μXRF) mapping and micro X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (μXANES) mapping at the Cd L_III-edge of the altered paint cross-sections were carried out at the European synchrotron radiation facility (ESRF, Grenoble, France) beamline ID-21. The goal is to elucidate the discoloration mechanisms observed in the paint using elemental and speciation mapping. The μXANES mapping and SR-FTIR imaging showed a substantial enrichment of CdCO₃ in the off-white surface crust of the faded/discolored CdS paint. This suggests that the CdCO₃ is present as an insoluble photodegradation product rather than solely a paint filler or starting reagent. Additionally, oxalates and sulfates were found to be concentrated at the alteration surface.