A general copper-catalyzed sulfonylation of arylboronic acids

A general copper-catalyzed method for the sulfonylation of arylboronic acids with sulfinate salts is described. A variety of alkyl-aryl, diaryl, and alkyl-heteroaryl sulfones were synthesized in good yield.     

Imaging pancreatic cancer using surface-functionalized quantum dots

In this study, CdSe/CdS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) were used as optical contrast agent for imaging pancreatic cancer cells in vitro using transferrin and anti-Claudin-4 as targeting ligands. CdSe/CdS/ZnS was chosen because the CdSe/CdS/ZnS QDs have better photoluminescence (PL) efficiency and stability than those of CdSe/ZnS. The transferrin-mediated targeting is demonstrated in both a cell-free coprecipitation assay as well as using in vitro confocal microscopy. Pancreatic cancer specific uptake is also demonstrated using the monoclonal antibody anti-Claudin-4. This targeted QD platform will be further modified for the purpose of developing as an early detection imaging tool for pancreatic cancer.     

Ligand‐Induced Evolution of Intrinsic Fluorescence and Catalytic Activity from Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles

To develop CoFe₂O₄ as magneto‐fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) for biomedical applications, it would be advantageous to identify any intrinsic fluorescence of this important magnetic material by simply adjusting the surface chemistry of the NPs themselves. Herein, we demonstrate that intrinsic multicolor fluorescence, covering the whole visible region, can be induced by facile functionalization of CoFe₂O₄ NPs with Na‐tartrate. Moreover, the functionalized CoFe₂O₄ NPs also show unprecedented catalytic efficiency in the degradation of both biologically and environmentally harmful dyes, pioneering the potential application of these NPs in therapeutics and wastewater treatment. Detailed investigation through various spectroscopic tools unveils the story behind the emergence of this unique optical property of CoFe₂O₄ NPs upon functionalization with tartrate ligands. We believe our developed multifunctional CoFe₂O₄ NPs hold great promise for advanced biomedical and technological applications.     

Optimal observable analysis for the decay $$b \rightarrow s$$ plus missing energy

The decay \(b\rightarrow s\nu {\bar{\nu }}\) has received comparatively less attention than the semileptonic decay \(b\rightarrow s\ell ^+\ell ^-\), because neutrinos pass undetected and hence the process offers lesser number of observables. We show how the decay \(b\rightarrow s~+\) invisible(s) can shed light, even with a limited number of observables, on possible new physics beyond the Standard Model and also show, quantitatively, the reach of future B factories like SuperBelle to uncover such new physics. Depending on the operator structure of new physics, different channels may act as the best possible probe. We show, using the optimal observable technique, how almost the entire parameter space allowed till now can successfully be probed at a high-luminosity B factory.     

Structural Features of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ortho</Emphasis>-hydroxy Bis-phenols and Their Comparison with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Para</Emphasis>-hydroxy Bis-phenols

Abstract The crystal structures of four bis-phenols are reported to substantiate the fact that the weak interactions play a major role in the crystal packing of bis-phenols. The reaction of 2,4-dimethylphenol with aldehydes such as 2-naphthaldehyde, terephthaldehyde in the presence of trifluoracetic acid gave 2-[bis(2-hydroxy 3,5-dimethylphenyl)methyl]naphthalene (1) and 4-[bis(2-hydroxy 3,5-dimethylphenyl) methyl]benzaldehyde (2), respectively. The 2-[bis-(2-hydroxy 3,5-dimethylphenyl)-methyl]naphthalene (1) crystallizes in orthorhombic, Pbca, a = 11.905(3) ?, b = 18.788(5) ?, c = 18.894(5) ?, 4-[bis(2-hydroxy 3,5-dimethylphenyl)methyl] benzaldehyde (2) in monoclinic, Cc, a = 8.880(3) ?, b = 16.394(7) ?, c = 13.700(5) ?, γ = 104.542(2)°. The reaction of 2-nitrobenzaldehyde with 2,4-dimethylphenol gave 2-benzo[c] isoxazo-3-yl 4,6-dimethylphenol (3) and its crystal parameters are orthorhombic, P2₁2₁2₁, a = 7.737(6) ?, b = 11.885(9) ?, c = 13.336(8) ?. The reaction of 2,6-dimethylphenol with 4-nitrobenzaldehyde and 2-chlorobenzaldehyde gave bis(4-hydroxy 3,5-dimethylphenyl)(4-nitrophenyl)methane (4) and bis(4-hydroxy 3,5-dimethylphenyl)(2-chlorophenyl)methane (5), respectively. The bis(4-hydroxy 3,5dimethylphenyl)(4-nitrophenyl)methane (4) crystallizes in monoclinic, C2/c, a = 25.921(1) ?, b = 12.202(4) ?, c = 15.6084(7) ?, β = 122.172(4)°, and bis(4-hydroxy 3,5-dimethylphenyl) (2-chlorophenyl)methane crystallizes as acetonitrile solvate (5) in triclinic, P-1, a = 12.314(3) ?, b = 14.111(3) ?, c = 15.078(5) ?, α = 98.268(2)°, β = 111.268(2)°, γ = 114.304(1)˚. The unit cell of 5 contains two pairs of crystallographically unsymmetric molecules of bis-phenols. Index abstract The crystal structures of four bis-phenols are reported to substantiate the fact that the weak interactions plays a major role in crystal packing and can induce symmetry non-equivalence among bis-phenols in unit cell of bis-phenols.      

Manipulating Nonclassicality via Quantum State Engineering Processes: Vacuum Filtration and Single Photon Addition

The effect of two quantum state engineering processes that can be used to burn a hole at vacuum in the photon number distribution of quantum states of radiation field is compared using various witnesses of lower- and higher-order nonclassicality as well as a measure of nonclassicality. Specifically, the modification in nonclassical properties due to vacuum state filtration and a single photon addition on an even coherent state, binomial state, and Kerr state are investigated using the criteria of lower- and higher-order antibunching, squeezing, and sub-Poissonian photon statistics. Further, the amount of nonclassicality present in these engineered quantum states having enormous applications in continuous variable quantum communication is quantified and analyzed by using an linear entropy-based entanglement potential. It is observed that all the quantum states studied here are highly nonclassical, and the hole-burning processes can introduce/enhance nonclassical features. However, it is not true in general. A hole at vacuum implies a maximally nonclassical state (as far as Lee's nonclassical depth is concerned), but a particular process of hole burning at vacuum does not ensure the existence of any particular nonclassical feature. Specifically, lower- and higher-order squeezing are not observed for photon-added and vacuum filtered even coherent states.     

γ-Resorcyclic Acid-Based AIEgens for Illuminating Endoplasmic Reticulum**

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has emerged as one of the interesting sub-cellular organelles due to its role in myriads of biological phenomena. Subsequently, visualization of the structure-function and dynamics of ER remained a major challenge to understand its involvement in different diseased states including cancer. To illuminate the ER, herein we have designed and synthesized γ-resorcyclic acid-based small molecules, which showed remarkable aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property in water. This AIE property was originated from the dual intramolecular H-bonding leading to the self-assembled 2D aggregation confirmed by pH- and temperature-dependent fluorescence quenching studies as well as scanning electron microscopy. These small molecules illuminated the sub-cellular ER in HeLa cervical cancer cells as well as non-cancerous RPE-1 human retinal epithelial cells within 1 h. These novel small molecules have the potential to light up ER chemical biology in diseased states.     

Recent developments in the study of higher order nonclassical states

Our recent observations ort higher order nonclassicality are described. Recently we have shown that a generalized notion of higher order nonclassicality (in terms of higher order moments) can be introduced. Under this generalized framework of higher order nonclassicality, conditions of higher order squeezing and higher order subpoissonian photon statistics are derived. Further, with the help of simple density matrices, it is shown that the higher order antibunching (HOA) and higher order subpoissonian photon statistics (HOSPS) are not the manifestation of the same phenomenon and consequently it is incorrect to use the condition of HOA as a test of HOSPS. It is established that the HOA and HOSPS may exist even in absence of the corresponding lower order phenomenon. It is also shown that the potential sources of Single photon must satisfy the condition of HOA. Most of the intermediate states are shown to satisfy the criteria of HOA. A protocol for comparison of potential Single photon sources (SPS) is reported here and the protocol is used to compare some of the existing proposals of SPS. Further, it is shown that it is possible to derive an arbitrarily large number of criterion for higher order nonclassicality but all of them does not yield new and interesting information.