NEW PHTHALOCYANINE PHOTOSENSITIZERS FOR PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY

Six new aluminum and silicon phthalocyanines have been synthesized and their photocytotoxicity toward V79 cells has been studied. The compounds that have been prepared are: AIPcOSi(CH₃)₂(CH₂),N(CH₃)₂, I; AIPcOSi(CH₃)₂(CH₂)₃N(CH₃)₃⁺I^?, II; CH₃SiPcOSi(CH₃)₂(CH₂)₃N(CH₃)₂, III; HOSiPcOSi(CH₃)₂(CH₂)₃N(CH₃)₂, IV; HOSiPcOSi(CH₃)₂(CH₂)₃)₃(CH₃)₃⁺I^?, V; and SiPc[OSi(CH₃)₂(CH₂)₃N(CH₃)₃⁺I^?]₂, VI. Relative growth delay values for compounds I-VI and relative cytotoxicity values for compounds I, II, IV, V and VI have been determined. Compounds I and II have been shown to be comparable in photocytotoxicity to what is presumed to be AIPcOH.xH₂O, and compound IV has been shown to have greater activity. The classes of compounds to which these six compounds belong appear to have potential for photodynamic therapy.     

The sila-Pummerer reaction of γ-silyl substituted cycloalkanoyl sulfoxides: the first examples and a new approach to 3-substituted cycloalk-2-enones

The thermal decomposition of 3-(α-trimethylsilyl)alkyl substituted 2-(phenylsulfinyl)cycloalkanones occurs via the γ-sila-Pummerer reaction, affording 3-substituted cycloalk-2-enones and unstable trimethylsilyl benzenesulfenate as an elimination by-product. The starting γ-silyl substituted cycloalkanoyl sulfoxides were obtained through the conjugate addition reaction of nucleophilic reagents to 2-(phenylsulfinyl)cycloalk-2-enones. The tandem conjugate addition/γ-sila-Pummerer reaction investigated here provides a new route to 3-substituted cycloalk-2-enones.     

Polarization model for poorly-organized interfacial water: hydration forces between silica surfaces

The main goal of this paper is to review the theoretical models which can be used to describe the interactions between silica surfaces and to show that a model proposed earlier by the authors (the polarization model), which accounts concomitantly for double layer and hydration forces, can be adapted to explain recent experiments in this direction. When the water molecules near the interface were considered to have an ice-like structure, a strong coupling between the double layer and hydration forces (described by the correlation length between neighboring dipoles, lambda(m)) generates long range interactions, larger than the experimentally determined interactions between silica surfaces. Arguments are brought that a gel layer is likely to be formed on the surface of silica, which, by generating disorder in the interfacial water layers, can decrease strongly the value of lambda(m). Since the prediction of lambda(m) involves a choice for the microscopic structure of water, which is often unknown, the polarization model is also presented here as a phenomenological theory, in which lambda(m) is used as a fitting parameter. Two extreme cases are considered. In one of them, the water molecules near the interface are considered to have an ice-like structure, whereas in the other they are considered randomly distributed. In the first case, the dipole correlation length lambda(m)=14.9 Angstrom. In the second limiting case, lambda(m) can be of the order of 1 Angstrom. It is shown that, for lambda(m)=4 Angstrom, a more than qualitative agreement with the experiment could be obtained, for reasonable values of the parameters involved (e.g. surface dipole strength and density, dipole location, surface charge).     

SAW hydrogen gas sensor based on WO3 and Pd nanostructures

Bi-layer nanostructures of WO₃ (～100 nm and 150 nm) with a very thin film of palladium (Pd～10 nm) on the top, have been studied for hydrogen gas-sensing application at ～700C and medium hydrogen concentrations (1 – 4%) in air. The structures were obtained by vacuum deposition (first the WO₃ and then the Pd film) onto a LiNbO₃ Y- cut Z-propagating substrate and were tested by means of Surface Acoustic Wave method in a three channel delay line configuration. Very repeatable results have been observed for these two nanostructures with changes in frequency on the level of 500 to 1800 Hz for hydrogen concentration from 1 to 4 % in air. The absolute response value depends on the WO₃ film thickness and hydrogen gas concentration and is greater for the nanostructure with a thicker WO₃ film.     

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.     

Ab initio calculation of the potential energy surface for the large-amplitude bending and symmetric stretching vibration in the electronic ground state of XeF2

A two-dimensional symmetric stretching-bending potential surface for the electronic ground state of the XeF₂ molecule has been computed by means of self-consistent field and multi-reference configuration interaction methods. At the correlated level of treatment it is found that the linear nuclear arrangement of XeF₂ with XeF bond distances close to 200 pm corresponds only to a local minimum on the potential energy surface separated from the dissociation products Xe + 2F by a high energy barrier. The results of a vibrational analysis study enable a reliable reproduction and interpretation of available experimental data concerning the infrared spectrum of the molecule.     

α-phosphoryl sulfoxides. X. A general synthesis of optically active α-chlorovinyl sulfoxides

A general and efficient synthesis of enantiomeric α-chlorovinyl p-tolyl sulfoxides 1 using (+)-(S)_C(S)_S-α-chloro-α-dimethoxyphosphorylmethyl p-tolyl sulfoxide as a key substrate for the Horner-Wittig reaction with carbonyl compounds is described. The ratio of geometrical isomers of 1 was determined and briefly investigated. The X-ray diffraction structures of (Z)-1-chloro-1-p-tolylsulfinyl-2-phenyl-ethene and (Z)-1-chloro-1-p-tolylsulfinyl-2-(2-thienyl)-ethene are reported.     

Observation of an Unusual Molecular Switching Device. The Position of One 1,2-Dimethylimidazole Switched "On" or "Off" the Rotation of the Other 1,2-Dimethylimidazole in cis,cis,cis-Ru(II)Cl(2)(Me(2)SO)(2)(1,2-dimethylimidazole)(2)

Some cis,cis,cis-RuX(2)(Me(2)SO)(2)(1,2-Me(2)Im)L complexes [L = 1,2-Me(2)Im (1,2-dimethylimidazole) or Me(3)Bzm (1,5,6-trimethylbenzimidazole), X = Cl or Br, and Me(2)SO = S-bonded DMSO] have been synthesized and their rotamers studied in CDCl(3). From 2D NMR data, cis,cis,cis-RuCl(2)(Me(2)SO)(2)(1,2-Me(2)Im)(Me(3)Bzm) has 1,2-Me(2)Im in position "a" (cis to both Me(2)SO's and cis to "b") and Me(3)Bzm in position "b" (trans to one Me(2)SO and cis to the other). There are two stable atropisomers [head-to-tail (HT, 84%) and head-to-head (HH, 16%), defining the aromatic H of Ru-N-C-H as head for both ligands]. Me(3)Bzm has the same orientation in both atropisomers. In this orientation, the unfavorable interligand steric interactions of Me(3)Bzm with the Me(2)SO and 1,2-Me(2)Im ligands appear to be countered by favorable electrostatic attraction between the delta+ N(2)CH moiety of Me(3)Bzm and the delta- cis Cl ligands. The 1,2-Me(2)Im lacks a delta+ N(2)CH group, and its orientation is dominated by steric effects of the 2-Me group. The NMR spectrum of cis,cis,cis-RuCl(2)(Me(2)SO)(2)(1,2-Me(2)Im)(2) is consistent with four rotamers in restricted rotation about both Ru-N bonds: two HH and two HT. 2D NMR techniques (NOESY and ROESY) afforded complete proton signal assignments. The ligand disposition could be assessed from the large chemical shift dispersion of some 1,2-Me(2)Im ligand signals (Delta 0.86-1.52 ppm) arising from cis-1,2-Me(2)Im shielding modulated by deshielding influences of the cis halides. The relative stability of the four rotamers correlates best with steric interactions between the 2-Me groups and the Me(2)SO ligands. The most favorable conformer (46%) is the HH rotamer with both 2-Me groups pointing away from the Me(2)SO ligands. The least favorable conformer (14%) was also HH, but the methyl groups in this case point toward the Me(2)SO ligands. In the HT conformers of intermediate stability ( approximately 20%), one 2-Me group is toward and the other is away from the Me(2)SO ligands. The exchange cross-peaks in the 2D spectra are unusually informative about the dynamic processes in solution; the spectra provide evidence that the rotamers interchange in a definite pattern of succession. Thus, all conceivable exchange pathways are not available. 1,2-Me(2)Im "b" can rotate regardless of the orientation of 1,2-Me(2)Im "a". 1,2-Me(2)Im "a" can rotate only when "b" has the orientation with its 2-Me group directed away from "a". Thus, 1,2-Me(2)Im "b" can switch 1,2-Me(2)Im "a" rotation on or off.