Charge-transfer hybrids containing covalently bonded polyoxometalates and ferrocenyl units

Two new charge-transfer hybrids with one or two ferrocenyl units covalently attached to a hexamolybdate cluster through an extended pi-conjugated bridge have been prepared using Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions on monoiodo- or diiodo-functionalized cluster substrates in over 60% yields. These hybrids have been characterized by (1)H NMR, FTIR, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and X-ray diffraction. The electronic spectra of these hybrids show a broad absorption tail extending beyond 550 nm, indicating the existence of charge-transfer transition from the ferrocenyl donor to the cluster acceptor. The observation of the clear charge-transfer transition indicates the contribution of charge-transfer resonance to the ground state in both 2a and 2b even though the donor-acceptor separation distance of 11.29 A is rather long, signaling a through-bond charge-transfer nature made possible by the organic pi-conjugated bridge. Cyclic voltammetry studies reveal a one-electron oxidation wave and a one-electron reduction wave for the hybrid with one ferrocenyl unit. For the one with two ferrocenyl units, a lower reduction potential and a two-electron oxidation wave are observed, indicating negligible electronic interactions between the two ferrocenyl units.     

Enatiomeric analysis of simendan by CE with beta-CD as chiral selector compared with CMPA-HPLC

The chiral separation of simendan enantiomers using capillary electrophoresis was studied with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) as chiral selector. The influences of the concentration and pH of borate buffer solution, beta-CD concentration and methanol content in the background electrolyte were investigated. These factors were compared with those in an HPLC with beta-CD as chiral mobile phase additive (CMPA-HPLC). The quantification properties of the developed CE method were examined. A baseline separation of simendan enantiomers was achieved in the background electrolyte of 20 mmol/L borate buffer (pH 11.0) containing 12 mmol/L beta-CD-methanol (50:50 in volume ratio). The CE method is comparable with CMPA-HPLC in chiral resolution, although the optimal pH in CE (11.0) is much higher than that (6.0) in CMPA-HPLC. This chiral CE method is applicable to the quantitative ananlysis and enantiomeric excess value determination of L-simendan.     

An extensive test of 14 scoring functions using the PDBbind refined set of 800 protein-ligand complexes

Fourteen popular scoring functions, i.e., X-Score, DrugScore, five scoring functions in the Sybyl software (D-Score, PMF-Score, G-Score, ChemScore, and F-Score), four scoring functions in the Cerius2 software (LigScore, PLP, PMF, and LUDI), two scoring functions in the GOLD program (GoldScore and ChemScore), and HINT, were tested on the refined set of the PDBbind database, a set of 800 diverse protein-ligand complexes with high-resolution crystal structures and experimentally determined Ki or Kd values. The focus of our study was to assess the ability of these scoring functions to predict binding affinities based on the experimentally determined high-resolution crystal structures of proteins in complex with their ligands. The quantitative correlation between the binding scores produced by each scoring function and the known binding constants of the 800 complexes was computed. X-Score, DrugScore, Sybyl::ChemScore, and Cerius2::PLP provided better correlations than the other scoring functions with standard deviations of 1.8-2.0 log units. These four scoring functions were also found to be robust enough to carry out computation directly on unaltered crystal structures. To examine how well scoring functions predict the binding affinities for ligands bound to the same target protein, the performance of these 14 scoring functions were evaluated on three subsets of protein-ligand complexes from the test set: HIV-1 protease complexes (82 entries), trypsin complexes (45 entries), and carbonic anhydrase II complexes (40 entries). Although the results for the HIV-1 protease subset are less than desirable, several scoring functions are able to satisfactorily predict the binding affinities for the trypsin and the carbonic anhydrase II subsets with standard deviation as low as 1.0 log unit (corresponding to 1.3-1.4 kcal/mol at room temperature). Our results demonstrate the strengths as well as the weaknesses of current scoring functions for binding affinity prediction.     

The interfacial dilational properties of hydrophobically modified associating polyacrylamide studied by the interfacial tension relaxation method at an oil-water interface

The interfacial dilational viscoelastic properties of hydrophobically associating block copolymer composed of acrylamide (AM) and a low amount of 2-phenoxylethyl acrylate (POEA) (<1.0 mol%) at the octane-water interfaces were studied by means of the interfacial tension relaxation method. The dependencies of interfacial dilational elasticity and viscous component on the dilational frequency were investigated. The interaction of hydrophobically associating block copolymer [P(AM/POEA)] with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) has been explored. The results show that at lower frequency, the dilational elasticity for different concentration copolymer is close to zero; at higher frequency, the dilational elasticity shows no change with increased frequency; At moderate frequency (10(-3)-1 Hz), the dilational elasticity decreased with a decrease in the dilational frequency. The results show that the hydrophobic groups of [P(AM/POEA)] chains can be associated by inter- or intrachain liaisons in water solution. The dilational viscous component for P(AM/POEA) comes forth a different maximum value at different frequencies when the polymer concentration is different. It is generally believed that the dilational viscous component reflects the summation of the various microscopic relaxation processes at and near the interface and different relaxation processes have different characteristic frequencies. The spectrum of dilational viscous component may appear more than once maximum values at different frequencies. The influence of SDS on the limiting dilational elasticity and viscous component for polymer solution was elucidated. For 5000 ppm polymer solution, the limiting dilational elasticity decreased with an increase in SDS concentration. The dilational viscous component passed through a maximum value with a rise in the dilational frequency, which appeared at different frequency when SDS concentration is different; and the higher is the concentration, the lower is the dilational frequency. It can be explained that macromolecules may be substituted by SDS molecules in the interface and the interaction of molecules decrease, which makes the limiting dilational elasticity decrease. For 200 ppm polymer solution, the limiting dilational elasticity increased firstly and then decreased with SDS concentration increasing. This may be explained that the interfacial polymer concentration is so low that SDS molecules absorbed in the interface dominate dilational properties of the interfacial film even at very low SDS concentration. However, SDS molecules can gradually substitute the polymer molecules in the interface with a rise in SDS concentration, which results in the decrease in the limiting dilational elasticity.     

The first regioselective palladium-catalyzed indolization of 2-bromo- or 2-chloroanilines with internal alkynes: a new approach to 2,3-disubstituted indoles

[reaction: see text] The first practical and economical process for synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted indole compounds has been developed with high regioselectivity by palladium-catalyzed indolization of 2-bromo- or chloroanilines and their derivatives with internal alkynes.     

Au nanoparticle micropatterns prepared from self-assembled films

A kind of hybrid multilayer film based on mercaptobenzoic acid-capped Au nanoparticles (MBA-Au-NPs) and photoreactive nitrodiazoresin (NDR) has been fabricated via electrostatic self-assembly. Upon exposure to UV light, the initial ionic bonds between the layers of the film convert into covalent bonds and the film stability toward polar solvents, salt, or surfactant solutions increases significantly. The micropatterned NDR/MBA-Au-NP film with the covalently linked architecture was formed by selecting exposure of the film through a photomask and later developed in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) aqueous solution. The metallic Au-NP micropatterns, furthermore, are produced by sintering the micropatterned NDR/MBA-Au-NP film at 550 degrees C, at which the organic components are removed completely. The well-defined micropatterns were characterized with atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), microscope with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).     

Langmuir monolayers of bent-core molecules

A systematic study of five different, symmetric bent-core liquid crystals in Langmuir thin films at the air/water interface is presented. Both the end chains (siloxane vs hydrocarbon) and the core (more or less amphiphilic) are varied, to allow an exploration of different possible layer structures at the interface. The characterization includes systematic surface pressure isotherms, Brewster angle microscopy, and surface potential measurements. The properties of these layers are strongly dependent on the individual type of molecule: the molecules with amphiphilic end chains lie quite flat on the surface, while the molecules with hydrophobic end chains construct multilayer structures. In both cases, the three-dimensional collapse structure is reversible.     

Study on the Superhydrophilicity of the SiO2-TiO2 Thin Films Prepared by Sol-Gel Method at Room Temperature

Nanoscale SiO₂-TiO₂ composite thin films with the thickness of about 100 nm were prepared by sol-gel method at room temperature in air. The chemical states of the elements on the surface and near the surface were measured by XPS. The results showed that the Ti on/near the surface of the thin films existed not only as TiO₂ but also as Ti₂O₃. Part of the TiO₂ was changed to Ti₂O₃ after UV irradiation. The crystalline structure of the TiO₂ in the SiO₂-TiO₂ thin films was anatase with the crystallite size of 14–20 nm. It was found that the thin film prepared at room temperature in air has good superhydrophilic property and has strong adherence to the substrate.     

Thermochemical and thermal analysis on N-(p-methylphenyl)-N'-(2-pyridyl)urea

Low temperature heat capacities of N-(p-methylphenyl)-N'-(2-pyridyl)urea were determined by adiabatic calorimetry method in the temperature range from 80 to 370 K. It was found that there was not any heat anomaly in this temperature region. Based on the experimental data, some thermodynamic function results were obtained. Thermal stability and decomposition characteristics analysis of N-(p-methylphenyl)-N'-(2-pyridyl)urea were carried out by DSC and TG. The results indicated that N-(p-methylphenyl)-N'-(2-pyridyl)urea started to melt at ca. 426 K (153°C) and the melting peak located at 447.01 K (173.86°C). The melting enthalpy was 204.445 kJ mol^-1 (899.6 J g^-1). The decomposition peak of N-(p-methylphenyl)-N'-(2-pyridyl)urea was found at 499.26 K (226.11°C) from DSC curve. This result was similar with that from TG and DTG experiment, in which the mass loss peak was determined as 500.4 K (227.2°C). This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.