Structure elucidation of nigricanoside A through enantioselective total synthesis

Nigricanoside A was isolated from green alga, and its dimethyl ester was found to display potent cytotoxicity. Its scarcity prevented a full structure elucidation, leaving total synthesis as the only means to determine its relative and absolute stereochemistry and to explore its biological activity. Here we assign the stereochemistry of the natural product through enantioselective total synthesis and provide initial studies of its cytotoxicity.     

Controlling the mechanism of fulvene S(1)/S(0) decay: switching off the stepwise population transfer

Direct quantum dynamics simulations were performed to model the radiationless decay of the first excited state S(1) of fulvene. The full space of thirty normal mode nuclear coordinates was explicitly considered. By default, ultrafast internal conversion takes place centred on the higher-energy planar region of the S(1)/S(0) conical intersection seam, giving the stepwise population transfer characteristic of a sloped surface crossing, and leading back to the ground state reactant. Two possible schemes for controlling whether stepwise population transfer occurs or not-either altering the initial geometry distribution or the initial momentum composition of the photo-excited wavepacket-were explored. In both cases, decay was successfully induced to occur in the lower-energy twisted/peaked region of the crossing seam, switching off the stepwise population transfer. This absence of re-crossing is a direct consequence of the change in the position on the intersection at which decay occurs (our target for control), and its consequences should provide an experimentally observable fingerprint of this system.     

Photostability via sloped conical intersections: a computational study of the excited states of the naphthalene radical cation

On the basis of an extensive ab initio electronic structure study of the ground and excited-state potential energy surfaces of the naphthalene radical cation (N*+), we propose a mechanism for its ultrafast nonradiative relaxation from the second excited state (D2) down to the ground state (D0), which could explain the experimentally observed photostability [Zhao, L.; Lian, R.; Shkrob I. A.; Crowell, R. A.; Pommeret, S.; Chronister, E. L.; Liu, A. D.; Trifunac, A. D. J. Phys. Chem. A., 2004, 108, 25]. The proposed photophysical relaxation pathway involves internal conversion from the D2 state down to the D0 state via two consecutive, accessible, sloped conical intersections (CIs). The two crossings, D0/D1 and D1/D2, are characterized at the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) level. At this level of theory, the D0/D1 crossing is energetically readily accessible, while the D1/D2 CI appears too high in energy to be involved in internal conversion. However, the inclusion of dynamic correlation effects, via single point CASPT2 calculations including excitations out of the valence pi- and sigma-orbitals, lowers the D0 and D2 state energies with respect to D1. Extrapolations at the CASPT2 level predict that the D1/D2 crossing is then significantly lower in energy than with CASSCF indicating that with a higher-level treatment of dynamic correlation it may be energetically accessible following vertical excitation to D2. N*+ is proposed as one of the species contributing to a series of diffuse infrared absorption bands originating from interstellar clouds. Understanding the mechanism for photostability in the gas phase, therefore, has important consequences for astrophysics.     

Controlling product selection in the photodissociation of formaldehyde: direct quantum dynamics from the S1 barrier

Controlling the selectivity between H(2)+CO and H+HCO in the S(1)/S(0) nonadiabatic photodissociation of formaldehyde has been investigated using direct quantum dynamics. Simulations started from the S(1) transition state have suggested that a key feature for controlling the branching ratio of ground-state products is the size of the momentum given to the wavepacket along the transition vector. Our results show that letting the wavepacket fall down from the barrier to the conical intersection with no initial momentum leads to H(2)+CO, while extra momentum toward products favors the formation of H+HCO through the same conical intersection. Quantum dynamics results are interpreted in semiclassical terms with the aid of a Mulliken-like analysis of the final population distribution among both products and the reactant on each electronic state.     

Transition structure in a diabatic surface formalism

The theory of an implementation of the diabatic surface model within the Heitler–London valence bond approach is described. It is shown that the HL –VB wave function can be obtained from a Van-Vleck transformation of an MC –SCF wave function which has been built from atom-localized orbitals. This wave function is built from a superposition of two diabatic components, reactantlike and productlike. The transition structure is then obtained as the minimum of the seam of intersection of the diabatic surfaces and the algorithm for performing this constrained optimization is described. Several areas of application are also discussed.     

Formation and characterization of polymersomes made by a solvent injection method

In this article a solvent injection method is described for vesicle formation using poly(butadiene)‐ b‐poly(acrylic acid) diblock copolymers as the amphiphilic molecules. Vesicles composed of polymer bilayers are commonly referred to as polymersomes. Solvent injection is shown to be a rapid method for polymersome formation suitable to make large volumes of polymersome solution. The method can be manipulated to obtain a wide range of vesicle sizes depending on the polymer concentration and preparation conditions. Polymersome solutions in this study are characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), fluorescent microscopy, and electron microscopy. Polymersome sizes range from tens of nanometers to several microns. The membrane thickness of smaller polymersomes is found to lie between 14–20 nm. Larger polymersomes are found to have somewhat thicker membranes. The procedure involves the addition of polymers dissolved in an organic solvent to a stirred aqueous solution. The formation of polymersomes by this method is proposed to be governed by the limited mutual solubility of the two solvents and the simultaneous diffusion of solvent and water out of and in to initially formed organic solvent droplets. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.