Dimeric Capsules Formed by Tetra‐CMPO Derivatives of (Thia)Calix[4]arenes

Thiacalix[4]arene 2 , calix[4]arene 3 a and its tetraether fixed in the cone conformation 3 b form homo‐ and heterodimeric capsules in apolar solvents, which are held together by a seam of NH???O=P hydrogen bonds between carbamoylmethyl phospine oxide functions attached to their wide rim. Their internal volume of ～370 ų requires the inclusion of a suitable guest. Although neutral molecules such as adamantane (derivatives) or tetraethylammonium cations form kinetically stable complexes (¹H‐ and ³¹P‐time scale), the included solvent is rapidly exchanged. The internal mobility of the included tetraethylammonium cation is distinctly higher (ΔG=42.5 and 49.7 kJ mol^?1 for 3 a and 3 b ) than that for similar capsules of tetraurea calix[4]arenes 1 . Mixtures of 1 with 2 , 3 a , or 3 b contain only the two homodimers but the heterodimerization occurs with the tetraloop tetraurea 6 , which cannot form homodimers. Two dimers with cationic guests ( 2? (C₅H₅)₂Co⁺ ?2 and 3 a? Et₃NH⁺ ? H₂O ?3 a ) were confirmed by single‐crystal X‐ray analysis.     

Inclusion of Carboxyl Function Inside of Cucurbiturils and its Use in Molecular Switches

We have prepared organic guest molecules in which two pyridinium rings are connected through an aromatic/aliphatic bridge bearing a carboxyl group. The supramolecular interactions between these guests and macrocyclic hosts cucurbit[7]uril ( CB7 ) and cucurbit[8]uril ( CB8 ) has been studied. We have demonstrated that the binding modes of the complexes depend on the type of central bridge present in the guest molecules and the size of the macrocycle. We have also showed that the binding mode between cucurbiturils and guests with aromatic bridges is pH independent. On the other hand, a guest containing an aliphatic bridge and CB7 formed a pseudorotaxane, which behaved as a pH‐driven molecular switch.     

Study of the effect of atorvastatin on the interaction between ICAM-1 and CD11b by live-cell single-molecule force spectroscopy

The interaction between the cell adhesion molecule CD11b and its ligand ICAM-1 plays an important role in inflammatory responses in the disease of atherosclerosis. Atorvastatin is a commonly prescribed statin drug which has been considered as one of the most potent therapeutic agents for atherosclerosis due to its lipid-lowering effect. Recently, there is a growing body of evidence that atorvastatin has anti-inflammatory effect. We have applied the advanced method of live-cell single-molecule force spectros...     

Atomic forces for geometry‐dependent point multipole and Gaussian multipole models

In standard treatments of atomic multipole models, interaction energies, total molecular forces, and total molecular torques are given for multipolar interactions between rigid molecules. However, if the molecules are assumed to be flexible, two additional multipolar atomic forces arise because of (1) the transfer of torque between neighboring atoms and (2) the dependence of multipole moment on internal geometry (bond lengths, bond angles, etc.) for geometry‐dependent multipole models. In this study, atomic force expressions for geometry‐dependent multipoles are presented for use in simulations of flexible molecules. The atomic forces are derived by first proposing a new general expression for Wigner function derivatives . The force equations can be applied to electrostatic models based on atomic point multipoles or Gaussian multipole charge density. Hydrogen‐bonded dimers are used to test the intermolecular electrostatic energies and atomic forces calculated by geometry‐dependent multipoles fit to the ab initio electrostatic potential. The electrostatic energies and forces are compared with their reference ab initio values. It is shown that both static and geometry‐dependent multipole models are able to reproduce total molecular forces and torques with respect to ab initio, whereas geometry‐dependent multipoles are needed to reproduce ab initio atomic forces. The expressions for atomic force can be used in simulations of flexible molecules with atomic multipoles. In addition, the results presented in this work should lead to further development of next generation force fields composed of geometry‐dependent multipole models. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

Formation of Metal‐Assisted Stable Double Helices in Dimers of Cyclic Bis‐Tetrapyrroles that Exhibit Spring‐Like Motion

Bidipyrrin‐bridged macrocycles, prepared from Ni^II‐bridged dipyrrin‐based nanorings by intramolecular oxidative biaryl coupling reactions, yielded [2+4]‐type Zn^II‐assisted stable twisted‐ring dimers comprising two double helices. These [2+4]‐type metal complexes can be optically resolved by chiral HPLC and exhibit tunable electronic and optical properties as a result of spring‐like motions. The double helices behave as glue to connect two macrocycles and as the screws of hinges to form thermally responsive synchronized spring systems.     

Magnetic Coupling in Enantiomerically Pure Trinuclear Helicate‐Type Complexes Formed by Hierarchical Self‐Assembly

Based on chiral, enantiomerically pure 7‐[(S)‐phenylethylurea]‐8‐hydroxyquinoline ( 1 ‐H), trinuclear helicate‐type complexes 2 – 5 are formed with divalent transition‐metal cations. X‐ray structural analyses reveal the connection of two monomeric complex units [M( 1 )₃]^? (M=Zn, Mn, Co, Ni) by a central metal ion to form a “dimer”. Due to the enantiopurity of the ligand, the complexes are obtained as pure enantiomers, resulting in pronounced circular dichroism (CD) spectra. Single‐ion effects and intra‐ and intermolecular coupling are observed with dominating ferromagnetic coupling in the case of the cobalt(II) and nickel(II) and dominating antiferromagnetic coupling in the case of the manganese(II) complex.     

Protein–Inorganic Array Construction: Design and Synthesis of the Building Blocks

Herein we describe the design and synthesis of the first series of di‐functional ligands for the directed construction of inorganic‐protein frameworks. The synthesized ligands are composed of a metal‐ion binding moiety (terpyridine‐based) conjugated to an epoxysuccinyl peptide, known to covalently bind active cysteine proteases through the active‐site cysteine. We explore and optimize two different conjugation chemistries between the di‐functionalized metal‐ion ligand and the epoxysuccinyl‐containing peptide moiety: peptide‐bond formation (with limited success) and Cu^I‐catalysed click chemistry (with good results). Further, the complexation of the synthesized ligands with Fe^II and Ni^II ions is investigated: the di‐functional ligands are confirmed to behave similarly to the parent terpyridine. As designed, the peptidic moiety does not interfere with the complexation reaction, in spite of the presence of two triazole rings that result from the click reaction. ES‐MS together with NMR and UV/Vis studies establish the structure, the stoichiometry of the complexation reactions, as well as the conditions under which chemically sensitive peptide‐containing polypyridine ligands can undergo the self‐assembly process. These results establish the versatility of our approach and open the way to the synthesis of di‐functional ligands containing more elaborated polypyridine ligands as well as affinity labels for different enzyme families. As such, this paper is the first step towards the construction of robust supramolecular species that cover a size‐regime and organization level previously unexplored.