An ab initio study of the absorption spectra of indirubin, isoindigo, and related derivatives

The UV/visible spectra of a series of indirubin, isoindigo, and other indigo/thioindigo related dyes have been evaluated in various solvent environments by using the time-dependent density functional theory in conjunction with the polarizable continuum model. Even for molecules of the same family, significant differences in the excitation processes have been noted. Two hybrid functionals have been selected: B3LYP and PBE0. For a set of the 50 selected molecular cases, both functionals provide accurate lambda(max), with mean absolute deviations limited to 0.1 eV. Actually, isoindigo is the main challenging series, with systematically underestimated excitation energies, due to the different nature of the excitation process. In most cases, we found that PBE0 is more efficient in reproducing the experimental values than B3LYP for sulfur-containing dyes not featuring internal hydrogen bonds, the reverse assertion being also true. In addition, the spectra of a series of unknown dyes have been predicted.     

Addressing metal centres in supramolecular assemblies

Supramolecular metal ion assemblies are deposited from their solutions onto highly orientated pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrates to be imaged by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). Since the structural and electronic information of STM measurements are strongly entangled, the spectroscopic interpretation and analysis of the images of such molecular assemblies has proven to be challenging. This tutorial review focuses on a general room temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) protocol, current induced tunnelling spectroscopy (CITS), applied to free-standing 1D and 2D arrangements of supramolecular metal ion assemblies rendering local tunnelling probabilities with submolecular resolution. The size of the investigated molecular assemblies was confirmed by comparison with X-ray crystallographic data, while the consistency of the spectroscopic investigations and of the determined positions of the metal ions within the assemblies was checked by DFT calculations. Due to the genuine level structure of coordinated metal centers, it was possible to map exclusively the position of the coordination bonds in supramolecular transition metal assemblies with submolecular spatial resolution using the CITS technique. CITS might thus constitute an important tool to achieve directed bottom-up construction and controlled manipulation of fully electronically functional, two-dimensional molecular designs.     

Post-translational modification of Rhodococcus R312 and Comamonas NI1 nitrile hydratases

Nitrile hydratases (NHases) are industrially significant iron- and cobalt-containing enzymes used in the large-scale synthesis of acrylamide. Previous reports have shown that the active site peptides of NHases are post-translationally modified by oxidation of cysteine residues, and that these modifications are essential for catalysis. We report mass spectrometric evidence of the oxidation states of the active site cysteines in the iron coordination spheres of two iron-containing nitrile hydratases, namely R312 NHase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain R312 and NI1 NHase from Comamonas testosteroni. At least one of these cysteines is oxidised to a sulfinic acid (SO(2)H) and there is also evidence suggesting an additional oxidation to a sulfenic acid (SOH). This is the first evidence for the presence of these oxidation states for full-length NHases and for Fe-NHases from different microorganisms. The presence of these covalent modifications was confirmed by performing mass spectrometry on the active site peptide of R312 NHase, under native, reduced and carboxymethylated conditions. We also show the nitrosylation of the iron by mass spectrometry, as well as the release of NO by photoirradiation.     

Synthesis and Properties of Sodium and Europium(III) Cryptates Incorporating the 2,2′-Bipyridine 1,1′-Dioxide and 3,3′-Biisoquinoline 2,2′-Dioxide Units

The sodium and europium cryptates of the new macrobicyclic ligands 2 and 3 incorporating the 2,2′-bipyri dine 1,1′-dioxide and 3,3′-biisoquinoline 2,2′-dioxide units, respectively, have been prepared. The Eu^III complexes present characteristic ¹H-NMR spectra, showing large shifts, and are strongly luminescent in aqueous solution. These markedly improved luminescent properties, compared to the europium cryptate of the parent macrobicyclic ligand 1 , may be ascribed at least in part to a better shielding of the bound cation by the N-oxide sites.     

Crystal Structures of the Lanthanum(III), Europium(III), and Terbium(III) Cryptates of Tris(bipyridine) Macrobicyclic Ligands

The crystal structures of the La^III, Eu^III, and Tb^III complexes of macrobicyclic [bpy.bpy.bpy] ligands, [La³⁺ ? 1 ]3 Cl^? ( = 3- La), [Tb³⁺ ? 1 ]3 Cl^? ( = 3- Tb), and [Eu³⁺ ? 2 ]3 C1^? ( = 3- Eu), have been determined. They confirm the cryptate nature of these species, the cations being bound to the eight N-sites of the ligand. The macrobicycle presents two open faces, thus allowing additional coordination of two species, Cl^? ions or H₂O molecules, to the bound cations. These data provide structural support for the photophysical studies of the luminescent properties of the Eu^III and Tb^III cryptates, which indicated residual coordination of H₂O molecules.     

Living diradical polymerization

A diradical initiator containing two thermoreversible bonds was prepared and used for the polymerization of styrene at 90°C. The monomer consumption and the variation of the molecular weight were monitored with time. The results show that the process can be considered as living and that the polymerization rate is independent of the radical initiator concentration. By elemental analysis of the chain ends it was concluded that the propagation reaction occurs at both ends.     

Persulfuration of phosphinines: Synthesis and X-ray crystal structure analysis of a P2S3 derivative

The reaction of 4,5-dimethyl-2-phenylphosphinine with sulfur in boiling benzene in the presence of N-methylimidazole as a catalyst first yields a P-sulfide. This monosulfide further reacts with sulfur to give a diphosphinine trisulfide and a diphosphinine tetrasulfide. The X-ray crystal structure analysis of the trisulfide has been carried out. The two head-to-tail 1,6-dihydrophosphinine rings are connected by P S C and P C links, thus forming a central 1,2,4-thiadiphospholane heterocycle. The P C bridge is weak [1.881(3) Å] and sulfur can insert into it to give the symmetrical tetrasulfide with two P S C bridges.     

Confinement Effects on the Crystallization Kinetics and Self-Nucleation of Double Crystalline Poly(p-dioxanone)-b-poly(ϵ-caprolactone) Diblock Copolymers

The morphology, crystallization and self nucleation behavior of double crystalline diblock copolymers of poly(p-dioxanone) (PPDX) and poly(ϵ-caprolactone) (PCL) with different compositions have been studied by different techniques, including optical microscopy (OM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The two blocks crystallize in a single coincident exotherm when cooled from the melt. The self-nucleation technique is able to separate into two exotherms the crystallization of each block. We have gathered evidences indicating that the PPDX block can nucleate the PCL block within the copolymers regardless of the composition. This effect is responsible for the lack of homogeneous nucleation or fractionated crystallization of the PCL block even when it constitutes a minor phase within the copolymer (25% or less). Nevertheless, we were able to show that decreasing amounts of PCL within the diblock copolymer still produces confinement effects that retard the crystallization kinetics of the PCL component and decrease the Avrami index. On the other hand evidence for confinement was also obtained for the PPDX block, since as its content is reduced within the copolymer, a depression in its self-nucleation and annealing temperatures were observed.