A distinctive example of the cooperative interplay of structure and environment in tuning of intramolecular charge transfer in second-order nonlinear optical chromophores

The strongly enhanced cooperative influence of medium polarity and organic structural design on the first hyperpolarizability beta of a novel family of highly polarizable azinium-(CH=CH-thienyl)-dicyanomethanido chromophores 1-3 is described. The dyes can be efficiently synthesized by regioselective protonation/alkylation of the corresponding bidentate anion precursors. Consecutive annelation of the pyridyl ring of 1 (pyridine-->quinoline-->acridine) and medium polarity effects are responsible for an extraordinarily variable range of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), leading to a large set of pi-electron distribution patterns. Accordingly, systems with remarkably different zwitterionic/quinoid character in the ground and excited states present beta values in a broad range, eventually switching from negative to positive. Our investigation is based on a combination of experimental (UV/Vis spectroscopy, multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, and electrooptical absorption measurements) and computational (ab initio) approaches. It is shown that: 1) beta and mubeta are dramatically influenced, even by orders of magnitude, by a complex, non-monotonic interplay of structure and medium action, which in turn affects molecular ICT and bond length alternation (BLA), 2) the computations, validated by different experimental data, are to be recommended as an extremely useful tool in the search for a greatly improved set of molecular nonlinear optical (NLO) responses (in the case of 1-3 they show that such conditions may be attained only in a narrow and limited range of dielectric constants in which the annelation effect operates most efficiently), and 3) the search for the most favorable molecular NLO response of a highly polarizable chromophore both in solution and in solid matrices should simultaneously take into account not only the molecular design supplemented by annelation effects but also the polarity of the medium.     

Influence of a narrow conduction band on a Heisenberg spin system

We consider an idealized model, represented by a Heisenberg spin system, which is influenced by a narrow conduction band via ans-d-exchange interaction. By calculating and decoupling the equation of motion of double-time Green's functions by RPA, we derive the magnon dispersion law. The result is a separation of the spectrum into two magnon bands of different shape, similar to the band structure found by Hubbard in his system. We discuss our result by variation of the system parameters, as there are interactions, polarization, temperature, and external field.     

129I-Mössbauer spectroscopic study of iodide-containing chalcogenide glasses

¹²⁹I-Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to study the short-range order in I-containing chalcogenide glasses. It was found that AsXI glasses, where X=S or Se, are molecular solids composed from molecular units of arsenic iodide and arsenic chalcogenide. The local environment of iodide ions in ternary superionic conducting glasses AgI?Ag₂S?As₂S₃ is similar to that in the crystalline superionic conductor Ag₃SI and differs distinctly from iodide local order in binary vitreous alloys AgI?As₂S₃ and crystalline AgI.¹²⁹I-Mössbauer spectra of all glasses were fitted satisfactory, when a distribution of the electric-quadrupole coupling constant is taken into account.     

SiO2@Fe2O3 core-shell nanoparticles for covalent immobilization and release of sparfloxacin drug

Silica-coated Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticles were synthesized as carriers for the covalent immobilization and release of antimicrobial drug sparfloxacin (SPFX). SPFX-loaded nanoparticles exhibited time-dependent drug release, with no measurable in vitro cytotoxicity, making the drug@nanoparticle conjugates potentially relevant for nanomedicine applications.     

Md-simulation of α-keratin intermediate filaments

In recent years powerful computer systems have become readily accessible to simulate complex chemical problems. Based on the primary structure of the intermediate filament monomer unit of wool, small sequences are selected. Their molecular dynamic behaviour is simulated, in order to investigate the secondary and tertiary structure as well as their stability. The simulations are carried out for a helical segment and a linker segment, selecting the ideal α-helix as start conformation. In vacuum all simulations show an unstable α-helix due to shifts of the intrahelical hydrogen bonds. So a new helical structure with a larger helix diameter is formed. However in simulations with surrounding water the α-helix remains stable throughout the simulation time. Up to now it has not been possible to dectect any fundamental difference in the molecular dynamic behaviour of the helical and the linker segment.     

Modeling of the transition temperature for the helical denaturation of α-keratin intermediate filaments

Simulations of the stability of the secondary and tertiary structure of the α-keratin intermediate filament (IF) monomeric unit of wool are reported. Based on the assumed secondary structure three segments of the primary structure were selected: 1A, L12, and a part of 2B. Starting with an ideal α-helical conformation for each IF-segment, molecular dynamics simulations were carried out on the atomistic level at various temperatures in vaccum using the CFF91 force field. In either simulation the expected destabilization of the helical structure with increasing simulation temperature was observed. By use of different procedures of analysis, transition temperatures for the α-helical denaturation were determined that are significantly higher for the supposedly α-helical segments 1A and 2B than for the linker segment L12. The different stabilities of segments 1A and L12 were further verified through simulations in water environment that show the linker segment to be non-helical at room temperature. The lower transition temperature of segment L12 confirms the expectation that its amino acid sequence leads to increased conformational flexibility. The mobility of the water molecules surrounding the IF-segment is found to be significantly decreased by protein/water interactions.     

Organische Chemie 2002

Die enantioselektive Synthese bleibt zentrales Thema in metallorganischen, metallfreien and bioorganischen Transformationen sowie in der industriellen organischen Chemie. Glanzpunkte zielmolekülorientierter Synthesechemie waren ein Zugang zu C₆₀, die Route zum Diazonamid A und die Totalsynthese von Vinblastin. Mit „Pyrrolysin”︁ wurde die 22. proteinogene Aminosäure entdeckt. Trotz der immer höheren Zahl an Testsubstanzen besteht in der medizinischen Chemie ein Engpass an klinisch erfolgreichen Wirkstoffen.