Progress on phthalocyanine-conjugated Ag and Au nanoparticles: Synthesis,characterization, and photo-physicochemical properties

Phthalocyanine (Pc) complexes are an important class of dyes with numerous (e.g., biological, photophysical, and analytical) applications. Among the methods used to improve the properties of these complexes, one should mention the introduction of different substituents, variation of the central metal ion, ligand exchange, and conjugation to nanomaterials (e.g., carbon-based nanomaterials and metal nanoparticles (NPs)). This work briefly reviews Pc complex conjugation to Ag and Au NPs, highlights the different NP shapes, and discusses the diversity of conjugation approaches. Moreover, the use of UV–Vis spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to characterize Pc-NP hybrids is summarized. The effect of conjugation on Pc photo-physicochemical properties (fluorescence, singlet oxygen generation, triplet state formation, and optical limiting behavior) is discussed, and future perspectives for the synthesis and applications of new hybrids are provided.     

Synthesis of porphyrin-appended terpyridine as a chemosensor for cadmium based on fluorescent enhancement

The design and synthesis of a porphyrin-appended terpyridine, 5-(4-([2,2′:6′,2″]-terpyridin-4-yl-carboxyamidyl)phenyl)-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrin (H₂TPPTPy) and its application as potential fluoroionophore for recognition of metal ions are reported. For preparation of the fluoroionophore, a novel simple strategy with improved total yield has been applied for the synthesis of 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine-4′-carboxylic acid as a ligand. H₂TPPTPy shows chelation-enhanced fluorescence effect with cadmium ion via the interruption of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process, which has been utilized as the basis of the fabrication of the Cd(II)-sensitive fluorescent chemosensor. The analytical performance characteristics of the proposed Cd(II)-sensitive chemosensor were investigated. It shows a linear response toward Cd(II) in the concentration range of 3.2 × 10⁻⁶ to 3.2 × 10⁻⁴ M with a limit of detection of 1.2 × 10⁻⁶ M. The chemosensor shows good selectivity for Cd(II) over a large number of cations, such as alkali, alkali earth and transitional metal ions except Cu(II) and Zn(II). The sensor has been used for determination of Cd(II) in water samples with satisfactory recoveries.     

Ab initio through‐space/bond interaction analysis of the long C–C bonds in Bi(anthracene‐9,10‐dimethylene) photoisomers

The bi(anthracene‐9,10‐dimethylene) photoisomer has remarkably long C–C single bonds. To examine the lengthening of the C–C bond, we propose a novel procedure for quantitatively analyzing orbital interactions in a molecule at the level of the ab initio molecular orbital method. In this procedure, we can cut off the specific through‐space/bond interactions in a molecule by artificially increasing the absolute magnitude of the exponents in a Gaussian function. Then, the spatial orbital interactions were perfectly cut off, and, each term that makes up the total energy, that is, the nuclear–electron attractions, the electron–electron repulsions, and the nuclear–nuclear repulsions cancel each other. Several model molecules of the photoisomer were analyzed by this procedure. It was found that the orbital interaction between the p orbital on the benzene ring and the σ* orbital on the C–C bond in question, σ→σ* electron transfer through π orbital, weakens the C–C bond efficiently when these orbitals were located in the “periplanar” conformation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate under pulsed microwave irradiation

Emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) under pulsed microwave irradiation (PMI) with higher peak pulse power was studied. The effects of various parameters of PMI on the polymerization were analyzed and compared with that under conventional heating (CH) process. The results were summarized, as compared with that under CH, as follows. The amount of initiator used to reach constant conversion reduced by 50% at the same polymerization time; at the same initiator concentration 0.15 and 0.2 wt.%, the polymerization rate increased by 131% and 163%, respectively. The molecular weight of polymer obtained was 1.1-2.0 times larger than that under CH; at the same irradiation energy, the conversion achieved using a lower pulse power was greater than that using a higher pulse power. There seemed to be a factor of the irradiation energy efficiency; in other words, for the monomer conversion, the irradiation energy of low pulse power had a higher efficiency. The conversion achieved using a 3.5 μs pulse width was almost the same as that using a 1.5 μs pulse width. The results indicated that PMI had a significant non-thermal effect on the emulsion polymerization of MMA so as to effectively enhance the polymerization rate. The glass transition temperature (T_g), the polydispersity index (PDI) and the regularity of the polymer obtained using two processes were similar, indicating that the physical properties and microstructure of the polymer were not modified by the use of microwaves.     

Photocurrent generation in multilayer self-assembly films fabricated from water-soluble poly(phenylene vinylene)

A novel, water-soluble, cationic PPV derivative poly[(2,5-bis(3-bromotrimethylammoniopropoxy)-phenylene-1,4-divinylene)-alt-1,4-(2,5-bis(2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)ethoxy))phenylene vinylene] (BH-PPV) has been synthesized by a Heck coupling reaction. Multilayered assemblies of the BH-PPV and the sodium salt of hexa(sulfobutyl)fullerenes (C(60)-HS) were fabricated successfully by an alternate deposition technique. The multilayer structures were studied by UV/Vis spectroscopy, small angle X-ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy. The photoinduced charge transfer property of the self-assembled multilayer film was also measured by a three-electrode cell technique. A steady and rapid cathodic 5.5 microA cm(-2) photocurrent response was measured as the irradiation of the multilayer film was switched on and off. Importantly, the response of on/off cycling is prompt and reproducible. A possible mechanism for the electron-transfer process is proposed.     

Analysis of Early Medieval Glass Beads – The Raw Materials to Produce Green, Orange and Brown Colours

 Monochrome coloured glass beads of the Merovingians (5^th–7^th cent. AD) have been examined by different analytical methods. The elemental composition of a large number of mostly unprepared beads have been measured non-destructively by X-ray fluorescence analysis. After subtracting the content of the colouring oxides of the glass beads and normalising the residual values to 100% an identical soda-lime-glass matrix was obtained. X-ray diffraction was used for the identification of the crystalline colouring and opacifying pigments (SnO₂, Cu, Cu₂O, PbSnO₃), and scanning electron microscopy as well as electron probe microanalysis were applied to study the microstructure and the composition of white, brown, green, orange and yellow coloured glass beads. Oxidised metals, alloys (lead, copper, bronze, brass and mixtures of them) and iron smelting slag have been identified as raw materials to colour the soda-lime-glass.     

SinH/SinH-(n=3～8)的结构和电子亲合能的研究

选用四种不同的密度泛函理论方法(B3LYP，B3P86，BLYP，BP86)，在全电子的双ξ加极化加弥散函数基组(DZP )下，对SinH／SinH^-(n=3～8)体系进行研究，获得它们的基态结构和电子亲合能。预测Si3H／Si3H^-,Si4H／Si4H^-,Si5H／Si5H^-,Si6H／Si6H^-，Si7H／Si7H^-和Si8H／Si8H^-的基态结构分别为C2v(^2B2)／C2v(1^A1)氢桥结构，Cs(^2A’)／C(^1A’)，C2v(^2B2)／C2v(^1A1)，C2v(^2B2或^2B1)／C4v(^1A1)，C5v(^2A1)／C5v(^1A1)和C5(^2A‘‘)／C3v(^1A1)。在电子亲合能方面，B3LYP方法预测的电子亲合能是最可靠的，预测Si3H，Si4H，Si5H，Si6H，Si7H和Si8H的电子亲合能分别为2．56，2．59，2．84，2．86，3．19和3．14eV。     

Reactions of substituted furo[3,2-<Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis>]pyrrole-5-carboxhydrazides and their biological activity

The reactions of substituted furo[3,2-b]pyrrole-5-carboxhydrazides 1 with 5-arylfuran-2-carboxaldehydes 2, 4,5-disubstituted furan-2-carboxaldehydes 3 and thiophene-2-carboxaldehyde 4 has been studied. The advantage of microwave irradiation on some of these reactions was reflected in the reduced reaction time and increased yields. Reactions of 1 with 4-substituted 1,3-oxazol-5(4H)-ones 11 led to diacylhydrazines 13 or to imidazole derivatives 14 depending on the temperature. 1,2,4-Triazole-3-thione 17 was synthesized by two-step reaction of 1 with phenylisothiocyanate and subsequent base-catalyzed cyclization of thiosemicarbazide 16. The effects of hydrazones 5–10 on inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport in spinach chloroplasts and chlorophyll content in the antialgal suspensions of Chlorella vulgaris were investigated.     

Design of photoactivated DNA oxidizing agents: synthesis and study of photophysical properties and DNA interactions of novel viologen-linked acridines

A new series of photoactivated DNA oxidizing agents in which an acridine moiety is covalently linked to viologen by an alkylidene spacer was synthesized, and their photophysical properties and interactions with DNA, including DNA cleaving properties, were investigated. The fluorescence quantum yields of the viologen-linked acridines were found to be lower than that of the model compound 9-methylacridine (MA). The changes in free energy for the electron transfer reactions were found to be favorable, and the fluorescence quenching observed in these systems is explained by an electron transfer mechanism. Intramolecular electron transfer rate constants were calculated from the observed fluorescence quantum yields and singlet lifetime of MA and are in the range from 1.06x10(10) s(-1) for 1 a (n=1) to 6x10(8) s(-1) for 1 c (n=11), that is, the rate decreases with increasing spacer length. Nanosecond laser flash photolysis of these systems in aqueous solutions showed no transient absorption, but in the presence of guanosine or calf thymus DNA, transient absorption due to the reduced viologen radical cation was observed. Studies on DNA binding demonstrated that the viologen-linked acridines bind effectively to DNA in both intercalative and electrostatic modes. Results of PM2 DNA cleavage studies indicate that, on photoexcitation, these molecules induce DNA damage that is sensitive to formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase. These viologen-linked acridines are quite stable in aqueous solutions and oxidize DNA efficiently and hence can be useful as photoactivated DNA-cleaving agents which function purely by the co-sensitization mechanism.     

A computational study of the LiH dimer

A theoretical study of the properties of the linear LiH dimer was undertaken. In this dimer, an unusual type of hydrogen bonding (termed "inverse" hydrogen bonding by some authors), which involves the hydrogen bonded molecule acting as an electron donor (rather than as a proton donor), is exhibited. The optimized geometry, dipole moment, interaction energy, atomic charges, harmonic vibrational frequencies, and frequency shifts for the dimer are computed at the SCF, MP2, and QCISD levels of theory using mainly a 6-31++G(d,p) basis set. We also examined the relative stability of the mono-deuterated isotopomers of linear (LiH)(2), i.e., Li-H...Li-D and Li-D...Li-H. Analysis of the normal vibrational modes, changes in the partial atomic charges, and changes in the vibrational frequencies of LiH on complexation were used to gain insight into the bonding and properties of the linear LiH dimer and its isotopomers.