pK(a) values and geometries of secondary and tertiary amines complexed to boronic acids-implications for sensor design

[structure in text] The pK(a) values and the geometries of secondary and tertiary amines adjacent to boronic acids were determined using potentiometric and (11)B NMR titrations. The studies showed that the secondary ammonium ion has a pK(a) similar to that of the tertiary ammonium species, which leads to the formation of tetrahedral boron centers at pH values above approximately 5.5. Therefore, secondary amines as well as tertiary amines, when placed proximal to boron centers, can be used to create tetrahedral boronic acids at neutral pH for diol complexation.     

N‐(4‐Bi­phenyl­yl)­urea

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C₁₃H₁₂N₂O, N—H(anti)?O hydrogen bonds produce the so‐called urea α‐network and the N—H(syn) donor forms an unconventional N—H?π hydrogen bond.     

Gas sorption and luminescence properties of a terbium(III)-phosphine oxide coordination material with two-dimensional pore topology

The structure, stability, gas sorption properties and luminescence behaviour of a new lanthanide-phosphine oxide coordination material are reported. The polymer PCM-15 is based on Tb(III) and tris(p-carboxylated) triphenylphosphine oxide and has a 5,5-connected net topology. It exhibits an infinite three-dimensional structure that incorporates an open, two-dimensional pore structure. The material is thermally robust and remains crystalline under high vacuum at 150 °C. When desolvated, the solid has a CO(2) BET surface area of 1187 m(2) g(-1) and shows the highest reported uptake of both O(2) and H(2) at 77 K and 1 bar for a lanthanide-based coordination polymer. Isolated Tb(III) centres in the as-synthesized polymer exhibit moderate photoluminescence. However, upon removal of coordinated OH(2) ligands, the luminescence intensity was found to approximately double; this process was reversible. Thus, the Tb(III) centre was used as a probe to detect directly the desolvation and resolvation of the polymer.     

Synthesis and crystal structure of (η5-C5H5)2Ti(NH(2,4-(C$${\equiv}$$CSiMe3)2C6H3))2

The crystal structure of the bis-amido complex of Ti(IV) (η⁵-C₅H₅)₂Ti(NH(2,4-(C CSiMe₃)₂C₆H₃))₂ is reported. This complex was prepared in 52% yield from the reaction of (η⁵-C₅H₅)₂TiCl₂ with two equivalents of LiNH(2,4-(C CSiMe₃)₂C₆H₃) (prepared in situ in THF at −78^∘C). The substituted aniline H₂N(2,4-(C CSiMe₃)₂C₆H₃) was prepared in 70% yield from the reaction of 2,4-dibromoaniline with Me₃SiC CH using conventional Pd/Cu coupling methodology. The molecular structure of (η⁵-C₅H₅)₂Ti(NH(2,4-(C CSiMe₃)₂C₆H₃))₂ (monoclinic, space group C2/c, Z = 4, a = 29.7523(5) Å, b = 9.5339(2) Å, c = 15.8864(3) Å, β = 93.022(1)^∘ features a titanium (IV) center with a distorted tetrahedral geometry which lies on a crystallographic twofold axis. The amido units are arranged so that steric interactions are minimized. The Ti– N distance is 2.016(2) Å.     

A Schiff base expanded porphyrin macrocycle that acts as a versatile binucleating ligand for late first-row transition metals

The coordination chemistry of the Schiff base polypyrrolic octaaza macrocycle 1 toward late first-row transition metals was investigated. Binuclear complexes with the divalent cations Ni(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) and with the monovalent cation Cu(I) were prepared and characterized. Air oxidation of the Cu(I) ions in the latter complex to their divalent oxidation state resulted in a change in the coordination mode relative to the macrocycle.     

Influence of ground-state conformations on the intramolecular amidofuran Diels-Alder reaction

[reaction: see text] Various factors that influence the rate of the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of amidofurans were investigated with density functional theory calculations using the Becke3LYP/6-31G* model. Conformational effects imposed by the placement of a carbonyl group within the tether, combined with a rotational bias about the C(2)-N bond, account for the observed rate differences in the thermal chemistry of these amidofurans.     

Thermodynamic analysis of receptors based on guanidinium/boronic acid groups for the complexation of carboxylates, alpha-hydroxycarboxylates, and diols: driving force for binding and cooperativity

The thermodynamics of guanidinium and boronic acid interactions with carboxylates, alpha-hydroxycarboxylates, and diols were studied by determination of the binding constants of a variety of different guests to four different hosts (7-10). Each host contains a different combination of guanidinium groups and boronic acids. The guests included molecules with carboxylate and/or diol moieties, such as citrate, tartrate, and fructose, among others. The Gibbs free energies of binding were determined by UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, by use of indicator displacement assays. The receptor based on three guanidinium groups (7) was selective for the tricarboxylate guest. The receptors that incorporated boronic acids (8-10) had higher affinities for guests that included alpha-hydroxycarboxylate and catechol moieties over guests containing only carboxylates or alkanediols. Isothermal titration calorimetry revealed the enthalpic and entropic contributions to the Gibbs free energies of binding. The binding of citrate and tartrate was investigated with hosts 7-10, for which all the binding events were exothermic, with positive entropy. Because of the selectivity of hosts 8-10, a simple boronic acid (14) was also investigated and determined to be selective for alpha-hydroxycarboxylates and catechols over amino acids and alkanediols. Further, the cooperativity of 8 and 9 in binding tartrate was also investigated, revealing little or no cooperativity with 8, but negative cooperativity with 9. A linear entropy/enthalpy compensation relationship for all the hosts 7-10, 14, and the carboxylate-/diol-containing guests was also obtained. This relationship indicates that increasing enthalpy of binding is offset by similar losses in entropy for molecular recognition involving guanidinium and boronic acid groups.     

New poly(d-glucaramidoamine)s induce DNA nanoparticle formation and efficient gene delivery into mammalian cells

In this report, four new poly(d-glucaramidoamine)s (1-4) have been designed to lower the toxicity of conventional polymeric nucleic acid delivery vehicles by incorporating a carbohydrate comonomer within a polyethylenimine (PEI)-like backbone. Polymers 1-4 were synthesized via polycondensation of esterified d-glucaric acid and four different amine-containing comonomers [diethylenetriamine (1), triethylenetetramine (2), tetraethylenepentamine (3), and pentaethylenehexamine (4)] in methanol. Viscometry and NMR studies suggest that the polymers are mostly linear (for 1-4, the alpha value in the Mark-Houwink-Sakurada equation = 0.6-0.7), thus indicating that polymerization occurs predominantly through the primary amines with a low degree of branching off the secondary amines. Results of gel electrophoresis shift assays show that polymers 1-4 bind pDNA at N/P ratios of 5, 3, 2, and 2, respectively. Also, dynamic light scattering and TEM experiments indicate that 1-4 compact DNA into nanoparticles (polyplexes) between 140 and 440 nm at an N/P ratio of 30. Furthermore, polyplexes formed with 1-4 deliver pDNA (plasmid DNA) containing the firefly luciferase reporter gene to BHK-21 cells in a nontoxic and highly efficient manner (as determined by luciferase gene expression). In particular, polymer 4 reveals very high delivery efficiency (equivalent to linear PEI). This result may be due in part to the "proton sponge" hypothesis proposed by Behr et al. Polymers containing amines that are protonated in the endosomal pH range (between about 7.4-5.0) reveal enhanced gene delivery profiles.