In situ AFM studies on self-assembled monolayers of adsorbed surfactant molecules on well-defined H-terminated Si(111) surfaces in aqueous solutions

The formation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of adsorbed cationic or anionic surfactant molecules on atomically flat H-terminated Si(111) surfaces in aqueous solutions was investigated by in situ AFM measurements, using octyl trimethylammonium chloride (C8TAC), dodecyl trimethylammonium chloride (C12TAC), octadecyl trimethylammonium chloride (C18TAC)) sodium dodecyl sulfate (STS), and sodium tetradecyl sulfate (SDS). The adsorbed surfactant layer with well-ordered molecular arrangement was formed when the Si(111) surface was in contact with 1.0x10(-4) M C18TAC, whereas a slightly roughened layer was formed for 1.0x10(-4) M C8TAC and C12TAC. On the other hand, the addition of alcohols to solutions of 1.0x10(-4) M C8TAC, C12TAC, or SDS improved the molecular arrangement in the adsorbed surfactant layer. Similarly, the addition of a salt, KCl, also improved the molecular arrangement for both the cationic and anionic surfactant layers. Moreover, the adsorbed surfactant layer with a well-ordered structure was formed in a solution of mixed cationic (C12TAC) and anionic (SDS) surfactants, though each surfactant alone did not form the well-ordered layer. These results were all explained by taking into account electrostatic repulsion between ionic head groups of adsorbed surfactant molecules as well as hydrophobic interaction between their alkyl chains, which increases with the increasing chain length, together with the increase in the hydrophobic interaction or the decrease in the electrostatic repulsion by incorporating alcohol molecules into the adsorbed surfactant layer, the decrease in the electrostatic repulsion by increasing the concentration of counterions, and the decrease in the electrostatic repulsion by alternate arrangement of cationic and anionic surfactant molecules. The present results have revealed various factors to form the well-ordered adsorbed surfactant layers on the H-Si(111) surface, which have a possibility of realizing the third generation surfaces with flexible structures and functions easily adaptable to circumstances.     

Square-planar N2S2NiII complexes with an extended pi-conjugated system

The reaction of a mixture of 2-(1-naphthyl)benzothiazoline (HL1) and 2,6-diphenylbenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bisthiazoline (H3L2) with nickel(II) acetate tetrahydrate yielded three kinds of square-planar nickel(II) complexes: one nickel(II) complex with innocent ligands ([Ni(L1)2] (1c)) and two nickel(II) complexes with non-innocent ligands ([Ni(L1-L1)] (1a) and [Ni(L1-L2)] (1b)). The complex 1c has two bidentate-N,S ligands, which are formed via ring opening of HL1. On the other hand, the two complexes 1a and 1b contain a tetradentate-N2S2 ligand, which is created via ring opening of HL1 and H3L2, followed by bond formation between imino carbon atoms. Complexes 1a and 1b show very intense absorptions in the near-infrared (NIR) region, characteristic of square-planar complexes with non-innocent ligands. The third nickel(II) complex having a non-innocent tetradentate-N2S2 ligand ([Ni(L2-L2)] (2)) was prepared from H3L2 and nickel(II) acetate tetrahydrate. The electronic spectrum of 2 exhibits a very intense absorption at 981 nm (epsilon = 3.6 x 10(4) M-1 cm-1), which is significantly red-shifted compared with those of 1a (837 nm and 4.4 x 10(4) M-1 cm-1) and 1b (885 nm and 4.5 x 10(4) M-1 cm-1), indicating the presence of an extended pi delocalization. The reaction of 2,6-bis(3,5-dichlorophenyl)benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bisthiazoline (H3L3) with nickel(II) acetate tetrahydrate also led to the formation of a nickel(II) complex with a non-innocent ligand ([Ni(L3-L3)] (3)). While complex 3 is analogous to 2, its electrical conductivity is much higher than that of 2. The molecular structures of 1b, 1c, 2, and 3 were determined by X-ray crystallography.     

Highly (Z)-selective hydrosilylation of terminal alkynes catalyzed by a diphosphinidenecyclobutene-coordinated ruthenium complex: application to the synthesis of (Z,Z)-bis(2-bromoethenyl)arenes

[reaction: see text] Complex 1 bearing a diphosphinidenecyclobutene ligand (DPCB-OMe) catalyzes highly stereoselective hydrosilylation of diethynylarenes with HSiMe2Ph to afford (Z,Z)-bis(2-silylethenyl)arenes. Treatment of the hydrosilylation products with N-bromosuccinimide causes bromodesilylation in a stereospecific manner, giving (Z,Z)-bis(2-bromoethenyl)arenes in high geometrical purity (>98%).     

Divergent and Chemoselective Transformations of Thioamides with Designed Carbene Equivalents

The reactions of thioamides with ortho-nitro-substituted iodonium ylides proceeded under mild conditions to give enaminones or thiazoles, depending on the iodonium ylide used. This protocol allowed the use of protic solvents, including aqueous solutions, and therefore coupling reactions with complex molecules such as peptides or steroids were possible. A mild and efficient method for the synthesis of various iodonium ylides was established. DFT calculations suggested that the halogen bonding between a thioamide and iodonium ylide was important in this chemoselective coupling reaction. The potential use of enaminones conjugated with pharmaceuticals as prodrugs was also demonstrated.     

Simultaneous accumulation of both skeletal and appendage-based diversities on tandem Ugi/Diels-Alder products

Diversity-oriented organic synthesis (DOS) is a key concept for construction of skeletally diverse small molecule libraries to discover drug-like small molecules. Here, we describe a DOS class to transform a complex 7-oxanorbornene skeleton, which is readily accessible by a tandem Ugi/Diels-Alder reaction, into two heterotricycle skeletons selectively by using tandem ROM/CM/RCM reaction. In the present study, the mode of cyclization is pre-encoded by building blocks used in the complexity-generating tandem Ugi/Diels-Alder reaction. Since variable alkenes can be used in the CM reaction, our approach can be extended to construct both skeleton- and appendage-diverse small molecule libraries.     

Motor protein nano-biomachine powered by self-supplying ATP

A new nano-biomachine has been created from microtubules (MTs) and hetero-bifunctional polymer particles bearing pyruvate kinase, which is propelled on glass surfaces coated with kinesin by use of self-supplying ATP.     

Static and dynamic structures of spherical nonionic surfactant micelles during the disorder-order transition

We have investigated the static and dynamic structures of nonionic surfactant micelles, a C(12)E(8)/water binary system, during the disorder-order transition using small angle x-ray scattering, static light scattering, and dynamic light scattering techniques. In the disordered phase, the micelles have spherical shape and intermicellar interactions are governed by the hard core and weak long ranged attractive potentials. With increase of the micellar concentration, the disordered micelles transform to the three characteristic ordered micellar phases, a hexagonally close packed lattice, a body centered cubic lattice, and an A15 lattice having area-minimizing structure. The stability of these phases is well explained by balance of a close packing rule and a minimal-area rule proposed by Ziherl and Kamien [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3528 (2000)]. The role of hydrodynamic interactions in surfactant micellar solutions was compared with that in hard sphere colloidal particle suspensions.     

Quantum dots-based reverse phase protein microarray

CdSe nanocrystals, also called quantum dots (Qdots) are a novel class of fluorophores, which have a diameter of a few nanometers and possess high quantum yield, tunable emission wavelength and photostability. They are an attractive alternative to conventional fluorescent dyes. Quantum dots can be silanized to be soluble in aqueous solution under biological conditions, and thus be used in bio-detection. In this study, we established a novel Qdot-based technology platform that can perform accurate and reproducible quantification of protein concentration in a crude cell lysate background. Protein lysates have been spiked with a target protein, and a dilution series of the cell lysate with a dynamic range of three orders of magnitude has been used for this proof-of-concept study. The dilution series has been spotted in microarray format, and protein detection has been achieved with a sensitivity that is at least comparable to standard commercial assays, which are based on horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed diaminobenzidine (DAB) chromogenesis. The data obtained through the Qdot method has shown a close linear correlation between relative fluorescence unit and relative protein concentration. The Qdot results are in almost complete agreement with data we obtained with the well-established HRP-DAB colorimetric array (R² = 0.986). This suggests that Qdots can be used for protein quantification in microarray format, using the platform presented here.     

Parallel synthesis of tandem Ugi/Diels-Alder reaction products on a soluble polymer support directed toward split-pool realization of a small molecule library

A series of parallel reactions were carried out for the tandem Ugi/Diels-Alder reaction on our MPEG-O-CH₂- platform. Ninety-six out of a 100 entries were successful to give complex heterotricycles. The stereoselectivity was found not to be influenced by the building blocks used for amine and carboxylic acid components. An unexpected side pathway was found but was suppressed by employing appropriate reaction conditions. The reaction was also performed on solid phase, by which a larger library is potentially realized by employing the split-pool method.