Intra‐ and intermolecular Se...X (X = Se,O) interactions in selenium‐containing heterocycles: 3‐benzoylimino‐5‐(morpholin‐4‐yl)‐1,2,4‐diselenazole

In the selenium‐containing heterocyclic title compound {systematic name: N‐[5‐(morpholin‐4‐yl)‐3H‐1,2,4‐diselenazol‐3‐ylidene]benzamide}, C₁₃H₁₃N₃O₂Se₂, the five‐membered 1,2,4‐diselenazole ring and the amide group form a planar unit, but the phenyl ring plane is twisted by 22.12 (19)° relative to this plane. The five consecutive N—C bond lengths are all of similar lengths [1.316 (6)–1.358 (6) Å], indicating substantial delocalization along these bonds. The Se...O distance of 2.302 (3) Å, combined with a longer than usual amide C=O bond of 2.252 (5) Å, suggest a significant interaction between the amide O atom and its adjacent Se atom. An analysis of related structures containing an Se—Se...X unit (X = Se, S, O) shows a strong correlation between the Se—Se bond length and the strength of the Se...X interaction. When X = O, the strength of the Se...O interaction also correlates with the carbonyl C=O bond length. Weak intermolecular Se...Se, Se...O, C—H...O, C—H...π and π–π interactions each serve to link the molecules into ribbons or chains, with the C—H...O motif being a double helix, while the combination of all interactions generates the overall three‐dimensional supramolecular framework.     

Polypeptide‐b‐Poly(Phenyl Isocyanide) Hybrid Rod‐Rod Copolymers: One‐Pot Synthesis,Self‐Assembly,and Cell Imaging

Hybrid rod‐rod diblock copolymers, poly(γ‐benzyl L‐glutamate)‐poly(4‐cyano‐benzoic acid 2‐isopropyl‐5‐methyl‐cyclohexyl ester) (PBLG‐PPI), with determined chirality are facilely synthesized through sequential copolymerization of γ‐benzyl‐L‐glutamate N‐carboxyanhydride (BLG‐NCA) and phenyl isocyanide monomers bearing chiral menthyl pendants using a Ni(cod)(bpy) complex as the catalyst in one‐pot. Circular dichroism and absorption spectra reveal that each block of the block copolymers possesses a stable helical conformation with controlled helicity in solution due to the induction of chiral pendants. The two diastereomeric polymers self‐assemble into helical nanofibrils with opposite handedness due to the different chiral induction of the L‐ and D‐menthyl pendants, confirmed by transmission electron micro­scopy (TEM). Deprotection of the benzyl groups of the PBLG segment affords biocompatible amphiphilic diblock copolymers, poly(L‐glutamic acid)‐poly(4‐cyano‐benzoic acid 2‐isopropyl‐5‐methyl‐cyclohexyl ester) (PLGA‐PPI), that can self‐assemble into well‐defined micelles by cosolvent induced aggregation. Very interestingly, a chiral rhodamine chromophores RhB(D) can be selectively encapsulated into the chiral polymeric micelles, which is efficiently internalized into living cells when directly monitored with a confocal microscope. This contribution will be useful for developing novel rod‐rod biocompatible hybrid block copolymers with a controlled helicity, and may also provide unique chiral materials for potential bio‐medical applications.

     

A Chiral Helical Compound Based on Achiral Components

The title compound, [Cu(dpa)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)2]n 1 (H2dpa = diphenic acid and 2,2'- bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine), has been synthesized and its structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal is of orthorhombic, space group P212121 with a = 10.597(4), b = 11.317(4), c = 17.630(7) , V = 2114.3(14) 3, C24H20CuN2O6, Mr = 495.97, Z = 4, Dc = 1.558 g/cm3, μ = 1.079 mm-1, F(000) = 1020, Flack value = 0.052(18), R = 0.0430 and wR = 0.1016 for 3381 observed reflections (I > 2σ(I)). In compound 1, the dpa ligands link metal ions into helical structures in the same direction.     

STRUCTURE, MOLECULAR WEIGHT AND BIOACTIVITIES OF (1→3)-β-D- GLUCANS AND ITS SULFATED DERIVATIVES FROM FOUR KINDS OF LENTINUS EDODES

Lentinan samples, (1→3)-β-D-glucans containing 4.6-15.2 wt% proteins, coded as L-I1, L-I2, L-I3 and L-I4 (L-I)were isolated from four kinds of Lentinus edodes. These glucans were treated with acetone to remove the protein in order to obtain free protein glucans coded as LNP-I1, LNP-I2, LNP-I3 and LNP-I4 (LNP-I). The free-protein polysaccharides were sulfated to give derivatives (S-LNP-I) with degree of substitution (DS) from 0.4-0.8. The structural features and weight- average molecular weight (Mw) of the samples were investigated by using infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis,13C-NMR, size exclusion chromatography combined with laser light scattering (SEC-LLS) and viscometry. The effects of structure and conformation of the polysaccharides on antitumor activities were assayed in vivo (Sarcoma 180 solid tumors)and in vitro (Sarcoma 180, HL-60, MCF-7 and Vero tumors). The results indicated that the predominant species of the samples L-I and LNP-I in 0.2 mol/L NaCl aqueous solution existed as triple-helical chains with high rigidity and in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as single-flexible chains. Interestingly, the antitumor activities of LNP-I are lower than those of the native glucans (L-I), whereas their sulfated derivatives have higher inhibition ratio against Sarcoma 180 than LNP-I. The results reveal that the binding of protein, sulfated modification and the triple helix conformation are important factors in the enhancement of the antitumor activities of polysaccharides on the whole.     

Geometric Hermite interpolation by spatial Pythagorean-hodograph cubics

It is shown that, depending upon the orientation of the end tangents t₀,t₁ relative to the end point displacement vector p=p₁–p₀, the problem of G¹ Hermite interpolation by PH cubic segments may admit zero, one, or two distinct solutions. For cases where two interpolants exist, the bending energy may be used to select among them. In cases where no solution exists, we determine the minimal adjustment of one end tangent that permits a spatial PH cubic Hermite interpolant. The problem of assigning tangents to a sequence of points p₀,...,p_n in R³, compatible with a G¹ piecewise-PH-cubic spline interpolating those points, is also briefly addressed. The performance of these methods, in terms of overall smoothness and shape-preservation properties of the resulting curves, is illustrated by a selection of computed examples.     

Sequence and Structure of Peptoid Oligomers Can Tune the Photoluminescence of an Embedded Ruthenium Dye

The understanding of structure–function relationships within synthetic biomimetic systems is a fundamental challenge in chemistry. Herein we report the direct correlation between the structure of short peptoid ligands—N-substituted glycine oligomers incorporating 2,2′-bipyridine groups—varied in their monomer sequence, and the photoluminescence of Ru^II centers coordinated by these ligands. Based on circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy we demonstrate that while helical peptoids do not affect the fluorescence of the embedded Ru^II chromophore, unstructured peptoids lead to its significant decay. Transmittance electron microscopy (TEM) revealed significant differences in the arrangements of metal-bound helical versus unstructured peptoids, suggesting that only the latter can have through-space interactions with the ruthenium dye leading to its quenching. High-resolution TEM enabled the remarkable direct imaging of singular ruthenium-bound peptoids and bundles, supporting our explanation for structure-depended quenching. Moreover, this correlation allowed us to fine-tune the luminescence properties of the complexes simply by modifying the sequence of their peptoid ligands. Finally, we also describe the chiral properties of these Ru–peptoids and demonstrate that remote chiral induction from the peptoids backbone to the ruthenium center is only possible when the peptoids are both chiral and helical.     

A neutron powder diffraction study of the helimagnetic structure of TlCo2Se2−xSx

The magnetic layer structure of TlCo₂Se_2−xS_x has been thoroughly re-investigated with neutron powder diffraction. The cobalt magnetic moments are ferromagnetically arranged within the layers, but the interlayer coupling differs profoundly with varying composition (x): the spins in TlCo₂Se₂ form a helix along the c-axis with a turning-angle of ∼119° at 1.4 K. This kind of helical structure prevails for 0≤x≤1.5 with a gradual decrease of the angle with increasing sulphur content, down to 34°, showing an almost linear relationship with the interlayer distance of Co-Co. For x≥1.75 the interlayer coupling changes to ferromagnetic. Unexpectedly, two helices were found to coexist at x=0.5 and x=1.0. The interaction between adjacent cobalt layers is there characterized by an incommensurate angle (106°, resp., 73°) together with a commensurate angle of 90°. The magnetic structures have been refined as two magnetic phases, each having a characteristic wave vector. A tentative model where the symmetry of the structure and the interlayer distance compete is considered for explaining the simultaneous occurrence of the two kinds of diffraction profile satellites.     

Partially coherent vortex beams propagating through slant atmospheric turbulence and coherence vortex evolution

Using the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle and the quadratic approximation of the phase structure function, and taking the Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) vortex beam as a typical example of partially coherent vortex beams, the explicit expressions for the cross-spectral density function and average intensity of GSM vortex beams with topological charge m=+1 propagating through slant atmospheric turbulence are derived, and used to study the propagation properties of GSM vortex beams in atmospheric turbulence along a slant path and evolution behavior of coherence vortices. It is shown that the spreading of GSM vortex beams along a horizontal path is larger than that along a slant path in the long atmospheric propagation. The propagation through horizontal atmospheric turbulence can be treated as a special case of the altitude-independent structure constant. The position of coherence vortices in slant atmospheric turbulence does not coincide with that in horizontal atmospheric turbulence, and the dependence of position of coherence vortices on the zenith angle, wavelength and reference point is illustrated by numerical examples. A comparison with the previous work is also made.     

部分相干光在大气湍流中斜程传输路径上的展宽与漂移

基于Andrews和Philips经典漂移方差模型,利用部分相干高斯-谢尔光束在大气湍流中斜程传输的光束扩展半径,推导出考虑外尺度情况时部分相干高斯-谢尔光束斜程情况下的漂移方差表达式,应用随高度变化的大气结构常量模型进行数值计算,对比分析了部分相干光和完全相干光在大气湍流中的展宽和漂移特性.结果表明:相同的传输条件下,部分相干光比完全相干光的光束扩展更迅速,受湍流的影响也更小;初始半径越大,接收机高度越高,光束的扩展效应越小;随着传输距离的增大,光束的质心漂移方差随光束初始半径的增大而减小,不同相干性的光束漂移方差变化很小;完全相干光的光束漂移受波长的影响较小,而部分相干光的波长越长,漂移越明显.     

Chiral Fibers Formation Upon Assembly of Tetraphenylalanine Peptide Conjugated to a PNA Dimer

Self-assembly of biomolecules such as peptides, nucleic acids or their analogues affords supramolecular objects, exhibiting structures and physical properties dependent on the amino-acid or nucleobase composition. Conjugation of the peptide diphenylalanine (FF) to peptide nucleic acids triggers formation of self-assembled structures, mainly stabilized by interactions between FF. In this work we report formation of homogeneous chiral fibers upon self-assembly of the hybrid composed of the tetraphenylalanine peptide (4F) conjugated to the PNA dimer adenine-thymine (at). In this case nucleobases seem to play a key role in determining the morphology and chirality of the fibers. When the PNA “at” is replaced by guanine-cytosine dimer “gc”, disordered structures are observed. Spectroscopic characterization of the self-assembled hybrids, along with AFM and SEM studies is reported. Finally, a structural model consistent with the experimental evidence has also been obtained, showing how the building blocks of 4Fat arrange to give helical fibers.