One‐pot direct synthesis of fluorescent polyaniline‐porphyrin macrospheres from porphyrin

Porphyrins are very important chromophores as sensitizer in solar cell. Hole and electron transport layers are being used as an important layer to move the electrons and holes away from the sensitizer molecule to electrodes. In this work, a simple process has been developed for the synthesis of one layer combination of sensitizer and hole transport, that is, polyaniline‐porphyrin (PANI‐TPPS₄) system as a bulk heterojunction. Macrospheres of fluorescent PANI‐TPPS₄ materials were synthesized by one‐pot as well as two step processes directly from porphyrin for the first time. The advantage of this process is no need to isolate sulfonated porphyrin (TPPS₄), which is a difficult process. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Validity of the quantum regression theorem for resonance fluorescence in a photonic crystal

Correlation functions of a driven two‐level system embedded in a photonic crystal are analyzed. The spectral density of the photonic bands near a gap makes this system non‐Markovian. The equations of motion for two‐time correlations are derived by two different methods, the quantum regression theorem and the fluctuation dissipation theorem, and found to be the same.     

LR12‐peptide quantitation in whole blood by RP‐HPLC and intrinsic fluorescence detection: Validation and pharmacokinetic study

A simple, sensitive, selective and robust HPLC method based on intrinsic fluorescence detection was developed for the quantitation of a dodecapeptide (designated as LR12), inhibitor of Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid cells‐1, in rat whole blood. Sample treatment was optimized using protein precipitation and solid‐phase extraction. Chromatographic separation was carried out in a gradient mode using a core–shell C₁₈ column (150 × 4.6 mm, 3.6 μm) with mobile phases of acetonitrile and water containing trifluoroacetic acid at 1.0 mL/min. The method was validated using methodology described by the US Food and Drug Administration guidelines for bioanalytical methods. Linearity was demonstrated within the 50–500 ng/mL range and the lower limit of quantitation was 50 ng/mL. Finally, a preliminary pharmacokinetic study after intraperitoneal injection of LR12 in rats was conducted to evaluate both LR12 monomer and its corresponding disulfide dimer, the main product of degradation. Beyond the fact that this paper describes the first fully validated method for LR12 analysis in blood samples, the approach followed here to optimize pre‐analytical steps could be beneficial to develop HPLC and/or MS methods for other pharmaceutical peptides.     

Point‐to‐Plane Nonhomogeneous Electric‐Field‐Induced Simultaneous Formation of Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs) and Lipid Tubes

It is well‐known that homogeneous electric fields can be used to generate giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). Herein we report an interesting phenomenon of formation of GUVs and lipid tubes simultaneously using a nonhomogeneous electric field generated by point‐to‐plane electrodes. The underlying mechanism was analyzed using finite element analysis. The two forces play main roles, that is, the pulling force (F) to drag GUVs into lipid tubes induced by fluid flow, and the critical force (Fc) to prevent GUVs from deforming into lipid tubes induced by electric fields. In the center area underneath the needle electrode, the GUVs were found because F is less than Fc in that region, whereas in the edge area the lipid tubes were obtained because F is larger than Fc. The diffusion coefficient of lipid in the tubes was found to be 4.45 μm² s^?1 using a fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) technique. The method demonstrated here is superior to conventional GUV or lipid tube fabrication methods, and has great potential in cell mimic or hollow material fabrication using GUVs and tubes as templates.     

Monosaccharides as Versatile Units for Water‐Soluble Supramolecular Polymers

We introduce monosaccharides as versatile water‐soluble units to compatibilise supramolecular polymers based on the benzene‐1,3,5‐tricarboxamide (BTA) moiety with water. A library of monosaccharide‐based BTAs is evaluated, varying the length of the alkyl chain (hexyl, octyl, decyl and dodecyl) separating the BTA and saccharide units, as well as the saccharide units (α‐glucose, β‐glucose, α‐mannose and α‐galactose). In all cases, the monosaccharides impart excellent water compatibility. The length of the alkyl chain is the determining factor to obtain either long, one‐dimensional supramolecular polymers (dodecyl spacer), small aggregates (decyl spacer) or molecularly dissolved (octyl and hexyl) BTAs in water. For the BTAs comprising a dodecyl spacer, our results suggest that a cooperative self‐assembly process is operative and that the introduction of different monosaccharides does not significantly change the self‐ assembly behaviour. Finally, we investigate the potential of post‐assembly functionalisation of the formed supramolecular polymers by taking advantage of dynamic covalent bond formation between the monosaccharides and benzoxaboroles. We observe that the supramolecular polymers readily react with a fluorescent benzoxaborole derivative permitting imaging of these dynamic complexes by confocal fluorescence microscopy.     

N‐(2‐Ethylhexyl)carbazole: A New Fluorophore Highly Suitable as a Monomolecular Liquid Scintillator

The synthesis, photophysical properties, and applications in scintillation counting of N‐(2‐ethylhexyl)carbazole (EHCz) are reported. This molecule displays all of the required characteristics for an efficient liquid scintillator (emission wavelength, scintillation yield), and can be used without any extra fluorophores. Thus, its scintillation properties are discussed, as well as its fast neutron/gamma discrimination. For the latter application, the material is compared with the traditional liquid scintillator BC‐501 A, and other liquid fluorescent molecules classically used as scintillation solvents, such as xylene, pseudocumene (PC), linear alkylbenzenes (LAB), diisopropylnaphthalene (DIN), 1‐methylnaphthalene (1‐MeNapht), and 4‐isopropylbiphenyl (iPrBiph). For the first time, an excimeric form of a molecule has been advantageously used in scintillation counting. A moderate discrimination between fast neutrons and gamma rays was observed in bulk EHCz, with an apparent neutron/gamma discrimination potential half of that of BC‐501 A.     

Off-resonant activation of optical emission

Recent reports have identified a three-wave optically parametric mechanism for the active enhancement of fluorescence using off-resonant radiation. In this Letter it is shown by numerical simulation that the output of a laser system optically pumped just below threshold, can be strongly enhanced by this mechanism, using an ancillary beam of moderate intensity. The electrodynamics and kinetics of the nonlinear optical mechanism are analyzed, model calculations performed, and the output is illustrated graphically. The response demonstrates a novel method for achieving all-optical transistor action.