Aromatic δ-peptides: design, synthesis and structural studies of helical, quinoline-derived oligoamide foldamers

Oligoamides of 8-amino-4-isobutoxy-2-quinolinecarboxylic acid were designed and synthesized, and their helical structures were characterized in the solid state by single crystal X-ray diffraction, and in solution by ¹H NMR. The monomer methyl 4-isobutoxy-8-nitro-2-quinolinecarboxylate is easily prepared in three steps from 2-nitroaninile and dimethyl acetylene dicarboxylate. Successive hydrogenations of nitro groups, saponifications of esters and couplings of amines and acids via the acid chlorides gave a dimer, tetramer, hexamer, octamer, and decamer in a convergent fashion. The oligomers were shown to adopt a bent conformation stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bonds between amide hydrogens and adjacent quinoline nitrogens. In the solid, the dimer adopts a planar crescent shape and the octamer a helical conformation. All NMR data are consistent with similar conformations in solution. The helices are apparently remarkably stable. Some of them remain helical even at 120°C in deuterated DMSO. The structural studies confirm the predictions made by computer and demonstrate the high potency of the design principles.     

Highly ordered metal oxide nanopatterns prepared by template-assisted chemical solution deposition

TiO₂, Al₂O₃, and ZrO₂ patterns composed of ordered nano motifs of various morphologies (i.e. perforations (craters), rings, canyons, wires, dots, or channels) with typical lateral dimensions of less than 40 nm and thickness below 15 nm are presented. Simple chemical solution deposition (CSD) of molecular inorganic precursors and commercial block copolymers was used to create patterns on several substrate surfaces (bare, hydrophobized or gold covered silicon wafers and ITO). Self-assembly during evaporation and subsequent stabilization at 500 °C leads to the various nanostructures. Compared to other techniques for surface nano patterning, the present method has the advantage of being cheap, reproducible and easy to scale up and does not require specialized equipment. The type, dimension, and organization of these motifs were assessed by AFM, FE-SEM, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and GI-SAXS and are shown to depend on the conditions of preparation. Usage as model surfaces for modelling of wetting properties and as nanoelectrode arrays were investigated.     

Determination of the radiative lifetimes of the b1Σ+ and a1Δ states in NH by ab initio methods

Probabilities for the spin-forbidden transitions from the b¹Σ⁺ and a¹Δ states to the X³Σ^? ground state of NH have been evaluated by a first-order perturbation expansion into S-eigenfunctions Nine ³Π and ¹Π, five ¹Σ⁺ and three ³Σ^? states have been calculated by the MRD CI method at the experimental equilibrium distance of the X³Σ^? state (1.0362 Å) which cover a vertical spectral region of = 100000 cm^?1. The expansion terms of the perturbation sum are spin-orbit coupling coefficients obtained by using the Breit-Pauli one- and two-electron spin-orbit operator. The radiative lifetime of b¹Σ⁺ has been determined in the Franck-Condon approximation to be 72 ms from ab initio data and 97 ms if experimental excitation energies for the low-lying valence states are employed. Recent experiments give a somewhat shorter lifetime for the corresponding 0-0 transition of 53 ms. The lifetime is governed by the transition to the ³Σ^?_±1 level of the non-rotating molecule, borrowing its intensity mainly from the A³Π → X³Σ^? dipole transition. The second possible transition to the Ω = 0 level of the ground state is found to be weak. A similar relation of μ₁/μ₀ is expected for all the hydrogen containing isovalent molecules such as PH and AsH. The radiative lifetime of the a¹Δ state has been calculated to be = 1.7 s. Recent matrix experiments predict a gas-phase lifetime of at least 3 s. Further experimental and theoretical investigations are in progress to clarify this unusual finding that the experimentally determined lifetime is longer than that calculated theoretically.     

A theoretical study of the vibronic structure in the electronic spectrum of HNO+

The results of an ab initio study of the vibronic and rotational structure in the ²Π state of HNO⁺ are presented. It is shown that the absorption spectrum at 7200 Å observed by Herzberg could be caused by the transition from the ground to the first excited electronic state of HNO⁺     

Trends in Radiation Polymerization

Previously it was generally assumed that high energy radiation could only initiate radical polymerization in solutions of monomers. However, examples of radiation-induced polymerization have recently become known that proceed via an ionic mechanism. Thus, solutions of a monomer can be polymerized ionically, preferably in the presence of a solid, at low temperatures. Suprisingly, this may also be accomplished with ultra-pure, mainly anhydrous systems, even at room temperature. The nature of the ions has not yet been fully elucidated.     

Studying variations in the PCDD/PCDF profile across various food products using multivariate statistical analysis

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) are widely recognized by the scientific community as persistent organic pollutants due to their toxicity and adverse effects on wildlife and human health. The actual regulation dedicated to the monitoring of dioxins in food is based on the measurement of 17 congener concentrations. The final result is reported as a toxic equivalent value that takes into account the relative toxicity of each congener. This procedure can minimize the qualitative information available from the abundances of each PCDD/PCDF congener: the characteristic contamination profile of the sample. Multivariate statistical techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA) or linear discriminant analysis (LDA), represent an interesting way to investigate this qualitative information. Nevertheless, they have only been applied to the analysis of contamination data from food products and biological matrices infrequently. The objective of the present study was to analyze a large data set from dioxin analyses performed on various food products of animal origin. The results demonstrate the existence of differences in congener-specific patterns between the analyzed samples. Variability was first demonstrated in terms of the food type (fish, meat, milk, fatty products). Then a variability was observed that was related to the specific animal species for meat and milk samples (bovine, ovine, porcine, caprine and poultry). Some practical applications of these results are discussed. The origin(s) of the observed differences, as well as their significance, now remain to be investigated, both in terms of environmental factors and transfer through living organisms. A better knowledge of the relation between a contamination profile and its specific source and/or food product should be of great interest to scientists working in the fields of contaminant analysis, toxicology and metabolism, as well as to regulatory bodies and risk assessors in charge of final decisions regarding the eventual hazards associated with theses substances.     

Persistent Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Triarylboranes: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study

Achieving highly efficient phosphorescence in purely organic luminophors at room temperature remains a major challenge due to slow intersystem crossing (ISC) rates in combination with effective non‐radiative processes in those systems. Most room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) organic materials have O‐ or N‐lone pairs leading to low lying (n, π*) and (π, π*) excited states which accelerate k_isc through El‐Sayed's rule. Herein, we report the first persistent RTP with lifetimes up to 0.5 s from simple triarylboranes which have no lone pairs. RTP is only observed in the crystalline state and in highly doped PMMA films which are indicative of aggregation induced emission (AIE). Detailed crystal structure analysis suggested that intermolecular interactions are important for efficient RTP. Furthermore, photophysical studies of the isolated molecules in a frozen glass, in combination with DFT/MRCI calculations, show that (σ, B p)→(π, B p) transitions accelerate the ISC process. This work provides a new approach for the design of RTP materials without (n, π*) transitions.