Photoinduced relaxation processes in self-assembling complexes from CdSe/ZnS water-soluble nanocrystals and cationic porphyrins

Particular features and quenching mechanisms of exciton luminescence of water-soluble nanocomposites that are formed as a result of the interaction of surface charged semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) CdSe/ZnS (d _CdSe = 2.8 nm) and cationic porphyrins (H₂TMPyrP⁴⁺ and ZnTMPyrP⁴⁺) have been studied theoretically and experimentally. It has been found that, in CdSe/ZnS??Porphyrin conjugates, there occurs long-range inductive resonance electronic excitation energy transfer from surface modified (with thioglycolic or mercaptoundecanoic acid) QDs to porphyrins, which is accompanied by quenching of the exciton luminescence of QDs and an increase in the fluorescence intensity of porphyrin. It has been shown that, when mercaptoundecanoic acid is used as a QD shell, the QD luminescence quenching efficiency by porphyrins follows the F?rster-Galanin theory and depends on the overlap integral between the CdSe/ZnS luminescence band and the absorption spectra of free-base porphyrin H₂TMPyrP⁴⁺ and its metal complex ZnTMPyrP⁴⁺. It has been revealed that, as the QDs ? Zn-porphyrin intercenter distance decreases from 39.1 (mercaptoundecanoic acid) to 30.1), a considerable QD luminescence quenching is observed; however, the energy transfer efficiency substantially decreases, from 55% in the former case to 23% in the latter one. Based on the spectral-luminescent data and quantum-chemical calculations, it has been found that the chemical change of H₂TMPyrP⁴⁺ in the structure of the complex with CdSe/ZnS QDs passivated by thioglycolic or mercaptoundecanoic acid is caused by the formation of a metal complex ZnTMPyrP⁴⁺. Based on calculations of the redox-potentials, it has been concluded that the low luminescence quantum yield of CdSe/ZnS QDs passivated by residues of mercaptocarboxylic acids S^?(CH₂) _n COO^? and its dependence on the number of CH₂ groups are related to the possibility of photoinduced electron transfer from the HOMO of passivating molecules to QDs (QD* ? S^?(CH₂)nCOO^? hole transfer). It has been shown that the quenching of the exciton luminescence of QDs in heterogeneous structures CdSe/ZnS(thioglycolic acid)??ZnTMPyrP⁴⁺, which is complementary to the energy transfer, can be caused by the photoinduced electron transfer that involves the participation of the LUMO of the ZnTMPyrP⁴⁺ molecule (QD* ? ZnTMPyrP⁴⁺).     

Synthesis and characterization of azanonaborane-containing purine derivatives for boron neutron capture therapy

Derivatives of purine, adenine, guanine, and 2,6-diaminopurine linked to the azanonaborane (B₈N cluster) have been prepared, for possible use as powerful agents for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). The synthesis was carried out via a ligand exchange reaction. The exo-NH₂R group of the azanonaborane of the type [(RH₂N)B₈H₁₁NHR] can be exchanged by one hetero-nitrogen atom of the pyrimidine ring, and except for guanine, also by an N atom of the imidazole ring. The identity of the products was confirmed by NMR, elemental analysis, IR, and mass spectrometry. No reaction was found to occur with caffeine and theophylline under the same reaction conditions.      

Synthesis, characterization, and spectrophotometric studies of novel fluorescent arachno decaborane and nonaborane clusters containing aza-distyrylbenzene derivatives

Two aza-analogues of distyrylbenzene namely: 1,4-bis[β-(4-quinolyl)vinyl]benzene (PhQ) and 1,4-bis[β-(4-pyridyl)vinyl]benzene (PhPy) containing arachno-decaborane or arachno-nonaborane clusters have been isolated: 6,9-(PhQ)₂-arachno-B₁₀H₁₂ (1), N,N′-bis[9-Me₂S-arachno-B₁₀H₁₂-6-yl]PhQ (2), 6,9-(PhPy)₂-arachno-B₁₀H₁₂ (3), N,N′-bis[(9-Me₂S)-arachno-B₁₀H₁₂-6-yl]PhPy (4), N,N′-bis[arachno-B₉H₁₃-4-yl]PhQ (5), 4-PhQ-arachno-B₉H₁₃ (6), N,N′-bis[arachno-B₉H₁₃-4-yl]PhPy (7), and 4-PhPy-arachno-B₉H₁₃ (8). These boronated compounds were easily prepared from the displacement reactions of weaker ligand (SMe₂) of bis (dimethyl sulfide) arachno-decaborane(14) {6,9-(Me)₂SB₁₀H₁₂}or dimethyl sulfide-arachno-nonaborane {4-(Me)₂SB₉H₁₃} by the stronger bidentate ligands of PhQ or PhPy in ratio (1:2). The electronic interaction between decaborane or nonaborane arachno-type unit and the bonded pyridine units has been investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy and by AM1 molecular orbital calculations. The resulting compounds undergo trans-cis photoisomerization upon excitation. The connection of boron clusters to PhQ and PhPy led to enhancing of the photoreactivity and decreasing of the fluorescence quantum yield of the products.     

Incorporation of Thiol-Stabilized CdTe Nanoclusters into Langmuir-Blodgett Films

The methods of incorporating thiol-stabilized CdTe nanoclusters into mono- and multilayer films produced by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique on the basis of anionic (behenic acid) and cationic (octadecyltrinonylammonium (ODTNA) iodide) surfactants were investigated. Pressure-area isotherms, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), FTIR, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV/Vis spectroscopy give evidence on the incorporation of the nanoclusters in LB films. The limiting surface area of the behenic acid monolayer increases with a simultaneous decrease of the film strength. The optical absorption of the films obtained through the incorporation of the clusters acquires the features of CdTe nanocrystals. The noticeable difference in the deposition process was observed for the two types of stabilizing ligands (thioglycerol and mercaptoethanol) used for the CdTe clusters. The bonding of the CdTe clusters with the carboxylic group of behenic acid monolayer is established for the thioglycerol-stabilized clusters.     

Patterns of the adsorption of bovine serum albumin on carboxymethyl dextran and carboxymethyl cellulose films

Patterns of the adsorption of bovine serum albumin on carboxymethyl dextran and carboxymethyl cellulose films are studied by means of microcontact printing, atomic force microscopy, and quartz crystal microbalance. It is shown that both the charge of polysaccharide macromolecules and the technique for deposition of their films onto the surface (via adsorption from a solution or covalent cross-linking) are factors that determine the degree of nonspecific adsorption of the protein on such films.     

Electrochemistry of bismuth interlayers in (Bi2)m(Bi2Te3)n superlattice

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Selective electrochemical transformations of bismuth interlayers in (Bi2)m(Bi2Te3)n superlattices can be of interest as a means of thermoelectric materials...     

Effect of bovine serum albumin on the structure and properties of Langmuir Blodgett films based phosphocholine and cholesterol

Mono- and bilayer Langmuir-Blodgett films based on phosphocholine and cholesterol and prepared by horizontal and vertical deposition are investigated by atomic force microscopy. It was found that bovine serum albumin (BSA) included at the stage of film formation. At the same time, isolation has a considerable effect on their structure. It was shown that the globular formation of nanostructures with heights of 4–7 nm occurs as a result of transferring lipids to a hydrophobic surface from a subphase containing BSA, indicating the reorganization of monolayers during protein isolation and inclusion in its composition.     

Amphiphilic allylation of arylidene-1,3-oxazol-5(4H)-one using bis-π-allylpalladium complexes: an approach to synthesis of cyclohexyl and cyclohexenyl α-amino acids

An efficient method for synthesis of cyclohexyl and cyclohexenyl α-amino acids via palladium-catalyzed three-component assemblies followed by ring-closing metathesis (RCM) is described. The present catalytic reaction is successfully extended to substituted benzylidene azlactones 2a-j RCH=(1,3-oxazole): R = alkyl or aryl. The amphiphilic bis-allylation of these substrates has been achieved by replacing toxic allylstannanes with allyltrifluoroborate and the reaction proceeded smoothly to afford the corresponding 1,7-diene derivatives 3a-j in acceptable to good yields. RCM of the resulting octadienes using the first generation Grubbs catalyst gave easy access to stereodefined substituted cyclohexene derivatives 7-11 in high yields. Acid hydrolysis of the oxazolone ring of 7-10 gave protected amino acids 12-16. Debenzoylation of 13 and 15 afforded 1-amino-6-aryl-cyclohex-3-enecarboxylic acids 17 and 18 in excellent yields, respectively. Moreover, catalytic reduction of 13 gave the corresponding cyclohexane derivative 19 which could be debenzoylated to give 1-amino-2-phenylcyclohexene-1-carboxylic acid (20). The structures of compounds 9, 12 and 13 were confirmed by X-ray structural analysis. It is an excellent method for creating a wide range of cyclic α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids.     

Local modification of the silicon surface with protein molecules

Adsorption of bovine serum albumin, horse radish peroxidase, and green fluorescent protein on the hydrophilic silicon surface was studied. The possibility of preparing microstructured one-, two-, and three-component films on the solid surface by combining the methods of microcontact printing and self-arrangement of proteins from solution was demonstrated.