Synthesis, structure and thermal stability of fully hydrophobic porphyrin-DNA conjugates

The DNAs modified with tetraphenyl porphyrin at the center of 13mer oligonucleotide were synthesized using phosphoramidite chemistry and automated DNA synthesis. When the porphyrin modified oligonucleotide was annealed with its complementary strand, they formed a standard B-form duplex. The porphyrin moiety intercalated in the duplex, and moderately lowered the thermal stability.     

Novel syntheses of enantiopure hexahydroimidazo[1,5-b]isoquinolines and tetrahydroimidazo[1,5-b]isoquinolin-1(5H)-ones via iminium cation cyclizations

Condensations of chiral diamines 11a-c with benzotriazole and formaldehyde gave benzotriazolyl intermediates 12a-c; similar condensations of alpha-amino-amides 10a-c with benzotriazole and paraformaldehyde gave 14a-c. Subsequent treatment of 12a-c and 14a-c with AlCl(3) led to enantiopure tricyclic 1,2,3,5,10,10a-hexahydroimidazo[1,5-b]isoquinolines 1a-c and 2,3,10,10a-tetrahydroimidazo[1,5-b]isoquinolin-1(5H)-ones 15a-c, respectively, via Lewis acid promoted iminium cation cyclizations.     

Study of radiation-induced polymerization of vinyl monomers adsorbed on inorganic substances. VIII. Polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate adsorbed on aerosil

Aerosil is silica having a purity which is very high compared with that of silica gel and having, unlike silica gel, no micropores. To investigate the effects of impurities and micropores on the radiation-induced polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate adsorbed on silica gel, the radiation-induced polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate adsorbed on Aerosil was carried out. The results of both the styrene–Aerosil 300 system and the methyl methacrylate–Aerosil 300 system were similar to those of the styrene–silica gel and methyl methacrylate–silica gel systems, respectively. This suggests that in the radiation-induced polymerization of both styrene–silica gel and methyl methacrylate–silica gel systems the impurity and the presence of micropores have almost no effects on the reaction mechanism. The effect of aluminum as an impurity was investigated on the styrene–Aerosil MOX 170 system. It was found that aluminum accelerated the cationic polymerization.     

Electronic structures of zinc and palladium tetraazaporphyrin derivatives controlled by fused benzo rings

Zinc and palladium tetracyclic aromatic complexes lying structurally between tetraazaporphyrin (TAP) and phthalocyanine (Pc), that is, monobenzo-, adjacently dibenzo-, oppositely dibenzo-, and tribenzo-fused TAPs, have been prepared, and their electronic structures investigated by electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), fluorescence, phosphorescence, and time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectroscopy, as well as cyclic voltammetry. The last-named indicated that the first oxidation potentials shift to more negative values with increasing number of the fused benzo rings, but also suggested that the first reduction potential apparently has no correlation with the size and symmetry of the pi-conjugated systems. However, this latter behavior is reasonably interpreted by the finding that the effect of the fused benzo rings on destabilization of the LUMO depends on the orbital to which they are fused (i.e., whether it is an egx or egy orbital), since the LUMOs of TAP complexes are degenerate with D4h symmetry. The energy splitting of the LUMOs, that is, DeltaLUMO, was evaluated experimentally for the first time by analyzing the relationship between the first reduction potential and the size and shape of the pi-conjugated system. Electronic absorption and MCD measurements indicate that the lowest excited singlet states are split in the case of the low-symmetry TAP derivatives, although these excited states are degenerate for Pc and TAP with D4h symmetry. These energy splittings DeltaE(SS) correlate well with the DeltaLUMO values. To investigate the electronic structures in the lowest excited triplet state, zero-field splitting (zfs) was analyzed by time-resolved EPR (TREPR) spectroscopy. The energy splitting in the lowest excited triplet state, DeltaE(TT) was quantitatively evaluated from the temperature dependence of the zfs or spin-orbit coupling of the Pd complexes. Consequently, it is demonstrated that DeltaLUMO, DeltaE(SS), and DeltaE(TT) values exhibiting a mutually good relationship can be determined experimentally.     

Structural effects on surface and micellar properties of alkanediyl-alpha, omega-bis(sodium N-acyl-beta-alaninate) gemini surfactants

A study of the equilibrium surface properties (in water and in the presence of 0.01 M NaCl) of a novel series of anionic gemini surfactants, alkanediyl-alpha,omega-bis(sodium N-acyl-beta-alaninates), is described. Parameters studied include cmc (critical micelle concentration), C20 (required to reduce the surface tension of the solvent by 20 mN/m), gamma(cmc) (the surface tension at the cmc), Gamma(max) (the maximum surface excess concentration at the air/aqueous solution interface), Amin (the minimum area per surfactant molecule at the air/water interface), and the cmc/C20 ratio (a measure of the tendency to form micelles relative to adsorb at the air/water interface). The geminis with a spacer consisting of two methylene groups show premicellar self-aggregation, both in water and in 0.01 M NaCl, when the N-acyl group contains more than 12 carbon atoms; geminis with a spacer consisting of four methylene groups show no premicellar aggregation even when the N-acyl group contains 16 carbon atoms. For the acyl chain lengths where premicellar aggregation does not occur, the values of the cmc of the geminis with a two-methylene spacer are lower than those for the corresponding analogous geminis with a four-methylene spacer. The premicellar formation for the geminis with a two-methylene spacer is due to the short-chain linkage. The geminis show little or no break in their specific conductance-surfactant molar concentration plots and an increase in the pH at the cmc. This is attributed to protonation of the carboxylate group and strong Na+ release during micellization.     

Spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and molecular orbital calculations of metal-free tetraazaporphyrin, -chlorin, -bacteriochlorin, and -isobacteriochlorin

Metal-free tetraazachlorin (TAC), -bacteriochlorin (TAB), and -isobacteriochlorin (TAiB) were characterized by electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), fluorescence, and time-resolved ESR (TR-ESR) spectroscopy, and by cyclic voltammetry. The results are compared with those of metal-free tetraazaporphyrin (TAP). The potential difference DeltaE between the first oxidation and reduction couples decreases in the order TAP>TAiB>TAC>TAB. The splitting of both the Q and Soret bands decreases in the order TAB>TAC>TAP>TAiB. Corresponding to the split absorption bands, MCD spectra show a minus-to-plus pattern with increasing energy in both the Q and Soret regions, which suggests that the energy difference between the HOMO and second HOMO is larger than that between the LUMO and second LUMO. These spectroscopic properties and redox potentials were reproduced by molecular orbital calculations using the ZINDO/S Hamiltonian. The fluorescence quantum yields of the reduced species are much smaller than that of TAP. The zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters D and E of the excited triplet states (T1) of these species decrease and increase, respectively, on going from TAP to TAC and further to TAB. The D and E values of TAiB are larger than those of the other species. The results are supported by the absence of interaction between the spin over reduced pyrrole moieties of the HOMO and over the LUMO, and by calculations of ZFS under a half-point-charge approximation.     

Study of radiation-induced polymerization of vinyl monomers adsorbed on inorganic substances. X. Influence of H2O on the styrene–silica gel system

To elucidate the reaction mechanism of radiation-induced polymerization of the styrene—silica gel system, the influence of H₂O as adsorbed water and inhibitor of cationic polymerization was investigated by two methods. Monomer conversion decreased as H₂O increased. In general, percent grafting decreased as H₂O increased, but the presence of a small amount of H₂O increased the percent grafting. Grafting at 16 Mrad has a maximum value at a water content of about 0.2%. This seems to be due to two effects of H₂O: percent grafting increases due to restraint of cationic polymerization by H₂O, but the percent grafting decreases due to adsorption water which interrupts the contact of styrene with silica gel. In GPC spectra, the low molecular weight peaks of both graft polymers and homopolymers decreased when H₂O was added. The GPC results suggest that the number of positive holes which initiate cationic polymerization is very large.     

Synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles with mesoporous anatase wall and high photocatalytic activity

Mesoporous titanium dioxide nanosized powder with high specific surface area and anatase wall was synthesized via hydrothermal process by using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant-directing agent and pore-forming agent. The resulting materials were characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption, FESEM, TEM, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The as-synthesized mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles have mean diameter of 17.6 nm with mean pore size of 2.1 nm. The specific surface area of the as-synthesized mesoporous nanosized TiO2 exceeded 430 m2/g and that of the samples after calcination at 600 degrees C still have 221.9 m2/g. The mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles show significant activities on the oxidation of Rhodamine B (RB). The large surface area, small crystalline size, and well-crystallized anatase mesostructure can explain the high photocatalytic activity of mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles calcined at 400 degrees C.     

Preparation of novel,high‐modulus,swollen‐ or jungle‐gym‐type polyimide gels end‐crosslinked with 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenyl)benzene

A novel preparation approach for high‐performance polyimide gels that are swollen or have a jungle‐gym‐type structure is proposed. A new rigid and symmetric trifunctional amine, 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenyl)benzene (TAPB), was synthesized as a crosslinker. Three different kinds of amic acid oligomers derived from pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA), p‐phenylenediamine (PDA), and 4,4′‐oxydianiline (ODA) were end‐crosslinked with TAPB at a high temperature to make polyimide networks with different structures. Transparent polyimide gels were obtained from the ODPA–ODA/TAPB series with high compression moduli of about 1 MPa at their equilibrium swollen states in N‐methylpyrrolidone. Microscopic phase separation occurred during the gelation–imidization process when polyimide networks were generated from PMDA–PDA/TAPB and PMDA–ODA/TAPB. After these opaque polyimide networks were dried, a jungle‐gym‐like structure was obtained for the PMDA–PDA/TAPB and PMDA–ODA/TAPB series; that is, there was a high void content inside the networks (up to 70%) and little volume shrinkage. These polyimide networks did not expand but absorbed the solvent and showed moduli as high as those of solids. Therefore, using the highly rigid crosslinker TAPB combined with the flexible monomers ODPA and ODA and the rigid monomers PMDA and PDA, we prepared swollen, high‐performance polyimide gels and jungle‐gym‐type polyimide networks, respectively. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2501–2512, 2002     

Density functional study of the sigma and pi bond activation at the Pd=X (X = Sn, Si, C) bonds of the (H2PC2H4PH2)Pd=XH2 complexes. Is the bond cleavage homolytic or heterolytic?

The mechanism for the activation of the sigma bonds, the O-H of H2O, C-H of CH4, and the H-H of H2, and the pi bonds, the C[triple bond]C of C2H2, C=C of C2H4, and the C=O of HCHO, at the Pd=X (X = Sn, Si, C) bonds of the model complexes (H2PC2H4PH2)Pd=XH2 5 has been theoretically investigated using a density functional method (B3LYP). The reaction is significantly affected by the electronic nature of the Pd=X bond, and the mechanism is changed depending on the atom X. The activation of the O-H bond with the lone pair electron is heterolytic at the Pd=X (X = Sn, Si) bonds, while it is homolytic at the Pd=C bond. The C-H and H-H bonds without the lone pair electron are also heterolytically activated at the Pd=X bonds independent of the atom X, where the hydrogen is extracted as a proton by the Pd atom in the case of X = Sn, Si and by the C atom in the case of X=C because the nucleophile is switched between the Pd and X atoms depending on the atom X. In contrast, the pi bond activation of C[triple bond]C and C=C at the Pd=Sn bond proceeds homolytically, and is accompanied by the rotation of the (H2PC2H4PH2)Pd group around the Pd-Sn axis to successfully complete the reaction by both the electron donation from the pi orbital to Sn p orbital and the back-donation from the Pd dpi orbital to the pi orbital. On the other hand, the activation of the C=O pi bond with the lone pair electron at the Pd=Sn bond has two reaction pathways: one is homolytic with the rotation of the (H2PC2H4PH2)Pd group and the other is heterolytic without the rotation. The role of the ligands controlling the activation mechanism, which is heterolytic or homolytic, is discussed.