Encapsulation of divalent tetrahedral oxyanions of sulfur within the rigidified dimeric capsular assembly of a tripodal receptor: first crystallographic evidence of thiosulfate encapsulation within neutral receptor capsule

A simple tris(2-aminoethyl)amine based meta-chloro substituted tripodal thiourea receptor L has been extensively studied with two divalent oxyanions of sulfur, such as sulfate and thiosulfate, with identical dimensionality. The solid state crystal structure of the anion complexes with L reveal that the anions are encapsulated within the dimeric rigid capsular assembly of the receptor via N-Hanion interactions. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on the encapsulation of thiosulfate within dimeric capsular assembly of a neutral receptor. The tight capsular sizes for both anion complexes are quite comparable, whereas the coordination mode of the anions and the hydrogen bonding parameters are significantly varied. The three dimensional solid state structural orientations of the capsular complexes are mainly governed by the ClCl (for thiosulfate complex) and ClS (for sulfate complex) halogen bonding interactions. The solution-state binding and encapsulation of oxyanions by N-Hanion hydrogen bonding has also been confirmed by quantitative (1)H NMR titration and 2D NOESY NMR experiments. Both the experiments confirm that in contradiction of 2?:?1 solid state binding, in solution the studied anions are bound within the pseudocavity of the receptor with 1?:?1 binding stoichiometry. Moreover, the change in chemical shifts of thiourea -NH protons and the binding constant values suggest the receptor-sulfate interaction is more energetically favorable compared to the receptor thiosulfate interaction.     

Gold nano particles catalyzed oxidation of hydrazine by a metallo-superoxide complex: experimental evidences for surface activity of gold nano particles

Gelatin-capped gold nano particles (GNPs) of diameter 23, 28 and 36 nm were prepared and characterized as almost monodispersed, near-spherical solids. In acidic media, these GNPs at their very low concentration level (～10(-13) M) catalyze the oxidation of hydrazine by the metallo-superoxide, [(NH(3))(4)Co(III)(μ-NH(2),μ-O(2))Co(III)(NH(3))(4)](NO(3))(4) (1). In the presence of a large excess of hydrazine over [1], the catalyzed oxidation is first-order in [1], [GNPs] and media alkalinity. The pure first-order dependence implies that the size as well as the nature of the catalyst remained unchanged during the reaction. The catalytic efficacies increased with increased total surface area of the GNPs. Increasing T(Hydrazine) (T(Hydrazine) is the analytical concentration of hydrazine) tends to saturate the first-order rate constant (k(o)) for hydrazine oxidation and a plot of 1/k(o)versus T(Hydrazine) was found to be linear at a particular [GNPs], indicating the GNPs assisted deprotonation of N(2)H(5)(+) to N(2)H(4). The rate constants show a non-linear behavior with temperature studied in the range 288-308 K. At a lower temperature interval, viz. 288-298 K, k(o) increases with increasing temperature whereas at temperature interval, viz. 303-308 K, k(o) decreases with temperature. Such a variation indicates the important process of absorption and desorption of the reactants on and from the surface. A plausible mechanism for the GNPs catalyzed oxidation of hydrazine is suggested.     

An unprecedented "linear-bent" isomerism in tri-nuclear Cu(2)(II)Zn(II) complexes with a salen type di-Schiff base ligand

Two new trinuclear hetero-metallic copper(ii)-zinc(ii) complexes [(CuL)(2)Zn(N(3))(2)] ( and ) have been synthesized using [CuL] as a so-called "metalloligand" (where H(2)L = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)-1,3-propanediamine) and structurally characterized. Complexes and have the same molecular formula but crystallize in different crystal systems (triclinic for and monoclinic for ) with space group P1[combining macron] for and P2(1)/c for . is an angular trinuclear species, in which two terminal four-coordinate square planar "metalloligand" [CuL] are coordinated to a central Zn(ii) through double phenoxido bridges. The Zn(ii) is in a six-coordinate distorted octahedral environment being bonded additionally to two mutually cis nitrogen atoms of terminal azide ions. In complex , in addition to the double phenoxido bridge, the two terminal Cu(ii) ions are linked to the central Zn(ii) via a μ(-l,l) azido bridge giving rise to a square pyramidal environment around the Cu(ii) ions and consequently the structure becomes linear. These two species can be considered as "linear-bent" isomers. EPR spectra and ESI mass spectra show that the two isomers are identical in solution. The DFT calculation reveals that the energy of is 7.06 kcal mol(-1) higher than that of . The existence of both isomers in the solid state suggests that crystal packing interactions in are more efficient and probably compensate for the difference in energy.     

General and selective copper-catalyzed reduction of tertiary and secondary phosphine oxides: convenient synthesis of phosphines

Novel catalytic reductions of tertiary and secondary phosphine oxides to phosphines have been developed. Using tetramethyldisiloxane (TMDS) as a mild reducing agent in the presence of copper complexes, PO bonds are selectively reduced in the presence of other reducible functional groups (FGs) such as ketones, esters, and olefins. Based on this transformation, an efficient one pot reduction/phosphination domino sequence allows for the synthesis of a variety of functionalized aromatic and aliphatic phosphines in good yields.     

Cd(ii)-triggered excimer-monomer conversion of a pyrene derivative: time dependent red-shift of monomer emission with cell staining application

An efficient fluorescent probe (E)-N1-((E)-2-((pyren-7-yl)methyleneamino)ethyl)-N2-((pyren-7-yl)methylene)ethane-1,2-diamine (L) has been synthesized by a facile one-step condensation reaction. L can selectively detect Cd(2+) in presence of other common metal ions in 0.1 M HEPES buffered DMSO-water (4?:?1, v/v) medium. The detection limit of Cd(2+) is 1.8 × 10(-8) M. Cd(2+) can effectively convert the excimer emission of L into its monomer emission which in turn exhibits a time-dependent red-shift.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel polymeric hydrogel based on hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose grafted with polyacrylamide

A novel hydrogel has synthesized by grafting polyacrylamide chains onto hydroxypropyl methylcellulose in presence of potassium persulphate as initiator using solution polymerization technique. The reaction was carried out in homogeneous aqueous medium. The effect of reaction parameters on percentage of grafting (% G) and grafting efficiency (% GE) were discussed. The parameters were varied systematically to achieve the best hydrogel. Developed hydrogels were characterized by various materials characterization techniques. The dynamic and equilibrium swelling properties of hydrogels were investigated as a function of pH and time in various buffer solutions similar to that of gastric and intestinal fluid. Results showed that with increase in % G and % GE, the rate of swelling decreases, which can opens the door for further study of their utilization as matrices for controlled/sustained/targeted drug delivery.     

Metal‐Ion Metathesis in Metal–Organic Frameworks: A Synthetic Route to New Metal–Organic Frameworks

A porous metal–organic framework, Mn(H₃O)[(Mn₄Cl)₃(hmtt)₈] (POST‐65), was prepared by the reaction of 5,5′,10,10′,15,15′‐hexamethyltruxene‐2,7,12‐tricarboxylic acid (H₃hmtt) with MnCl₂ under solvothermal conditions. POST‐65(Mn) was subjected to post‐synthetic modification with Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu according to an ion‐exchange method that resulted in the formation of three isomorphous frameworks, POST‐65(Co/Ni/Cu), as well as a new framework, POST‐65(Fe). The ion‐exchanged samples could not be prepared by regular solvothermal reactions. The complete exchange of the metal ions and retention of the framework structure were verified by inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry (ICP‐AES), powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface‐area analysis. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffractions studies revealed a single‐crystal‐to‐single‐crystal (SCSC)‐transformation nature of the ion‐exchange process. Hydrogen‐sorption and magnetization measurements showed metal‐specific properties of POST‐65.     

Directional change of magnetic easy axis of arrays of cobalt nanowires: Role of non-dipolar magnetostatic interaction

Room temperature magnetization of two dimensional (2D) arrays of cobalt nanowires (NWs) having diameter 50 and 150 nm prepared by electrodeposition are studied in details. Diffraction patterns of the NWs reveal that the crystallites of the NWs become more textured on decreasing their diameter. Magnetic hysteresis loop measurements show the magnetic easy axis changes its direction from axial to perpendicular direction of NWs on increasing the length of the NWs. The magnetostatic interaction among the NWs, known as the key factor in defining the easy direction is found not to be dipolar at all the circumstances. An aspect ratio (length/diameter of NWs) dependence of the non-dipolar interaction in 150 nm NWs is evident from the static magnetization as well as from ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements.     

Nuclear Quadrupole Interactions in Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Detection of Energetic and Controlled Materials: Theoretical Study

There has been a growing interest in nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) techniques useful for the detection of explosives and drugs in solid state systems. This paper uses the first-principles one-electron Hartree?CFock theoretical method to study the nuclear quadrupole interaction parameters e ² qQ and ?? for the ¹⁴N nuclei in the explosives RDX and ??-HMX as well as the drugs cocaine and heroin. It has been found in our earlier published investigations reviewed here that there is very good agreement for our calculated e ² qQ and ?? for ¹⁴N, for all these four systems, and experiment. We also present our unpublished theoretical results for cocaine with an HCl molecule attached. We successfully explain quantitatively the drastic decrease in e ² qQ in going to cocaine-HCl from cocaine-free base as well as the observed substantial increase in ?? and discuss the implications of these dramatic changes for NQR detection in general.     

Completely random nanoporous Cu4O3–CuO–C composite thin films for potential application as multiple channel photonic band gap based filter in the telecommunication wavelengths

In 2003, Babin et al. theoretically predicted (J. Appl. Phys. 94:4244, 2003) that fabrication of organic–inorganic hybrid materials would probably be required to implement structures with multiple photonic band gaps. In tune with their prediction, we report synthesis of such an inorganic–organic nanocomposite, comprising Cu₄O₃–CuO–C thin films that experimentally exhibit the highest (of any known material) number (as many as eleven) of photonic band gaps in the near infrared. On contrary to the report by Wang et al. (Appl. Phys. Lett. 84:1629, 2004) that photonic crystals with multiple stop gaps require highly correlated structural arrangement such as multilayers of variable thicknesses, we demonstrate experimental realization of multiple stop gaps in completely randomized structures comprising inorganic oxide nanocrystals (Cu₄O₃ and CuO) randomly embedded in a randomly porous carbonaceous matrix. We report one step synthesis of such nanostructured films through the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique using a single source metalorganic precursor, Cu₄(deaH)(dea)(oAc)₅???(CH₃)₂CO. The films displaying multiple (4/9/11) photonic band gaps with equal transmission losses in the infrared are promising materials to find applications as multiple channel photonic band gap based filter for WDM technology.