A Silver Monochrome “Concetto spaziale” by Lucio Fontana: A Spectroscopic Non- and Micro-Invasive Investigation of Materials

In several of his artworks, for instance the Venezie cycle, Fontana employed metallic paints; previous investigations on such materials highlighted the use of different synthetic binders and of thick paint layers below the metal one, having different colours to change the visual perception of the metallic surface. In the present work, a monochrome silver “Concetto spaziale” by the Italo–Argentine artist belonging to a private collection recently gifted to the museum of the Church of San Fedele in Milano, Italy, was investigated to deepen the knowledge of this particular group of Fontana’s paintings. The artwork was initially visually inspected in visible and ultraviolet (UV) light. Subsequently, a non-invasive spectroscopic investigation was performed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), reflection Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. A minute fragment of silver-coloured paint was taken from the reverse of the painting, near the cut edge, and examined by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and micro-Fourier-transform Raman (FT-Raman) spectroscopy. The analytical data made it possible to identify the composition of the metallic paint layer and of the underlying dark one, both from the point of view of the pigments and of the binders used, also highlighting the potential of the non-invasive and micro-invasive methods adopted in the investigation.     

Many body effects in the electronic and optical properties of the (1 1 1) surface of diamond

The (1 1 1) face is the cleavage surface of diamond. Understanding its properties is very important for the growing technological interest on the chemistry of diamond surfaces. Within DFT the most stable reconstruction is the Pandey chain model, the atoms on the chain being neither buckled nor dimerised. However this geometry gives rise to a semi metallic band structure in contrast with experimental findings that show the presence of a gap ranging from 0.5 to 2 eV. Here we show that the same equilibrium geometry and thus the same metallic band structure is found relaxing the surface using screened exchange (sX) or Hartree-Fock (HF) functionals. We will discuss in detail how breaking the equivalence of the atoms on the chain affects the band structure and we will show that a buckling would yield a semiconducting surface, but is energetically unfavorable. A semiconducting character can be restored, within the equilibrium geometry, if quasiparticle corrections are carefully included within an iterative GW scheme. The result of the theoretical reflectance anisotropy spectra (RAS) at a DFT-RPA level are also presented and discussed. As expected, a strong anisotropy signal is found at low energies due to transitions between surface states inside the fundamental gap.     

Specific anions effects of on the stability of azurin in ice

This investigation represents a first attempt to gain a quantitative estimate of the effects of the anions sulfate, citrate, acetate, chloride and thiocyanate on the thermodynamic stability (DeltaG degrees) of a model globular protein in ice at -15 degrees C. The method, based on guanidinium chloride denaturation of the azurin mutant C112S from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, distinguishes between the effects of cooling to subfreezing temperatures from those induced specifically by the formation of a solid ice phase. The results confirm that, both in liquid and frozen states, kosmotropes (sulfate, citrate and acetate) increase significantly protein stability, relative to chloride, whereas the chaotrope thiocyanate decreases it. Throughout, their stabilizing efficacy was found to rank according to the Hofmeister series, sulfate>citrate>acetate>chloride>thiocyanate, although the magnitude of Delta(DeltaG degrees) exhibited a distinct sensitivity among the anions to low temperature and to ice formation. In the liquid state, lowering the temperature from +20 to -15 degreesC weakens considerably the stabilizing efficacy of the organic anions citrate and acetate. Among the anions sulfate stands out as the only strong stabilizer at subfreezing temperatures while SCN- becomes an even stronger denaturant. Freezing of the solution in the presence the "neutral" salt NaCl destabilizes the protein, DeltaG degrees progressively decreasing up to 3-4 kcal/mol as the fraction of liquid water in equilibrium with ice (VL) is reduced to less than 1%. Kosmotropes do attenuate the decrease in protein stability in ice although in the case of citrate and acetate, their efficacy diminishes sharply as the liquid fraction shrinks to below 2.7%. On the contrary, sulfate is remarkable for it maintains constantly high the stability of azurin in liquid and frozen solutions, down to the smallest VL (0.5%) examined. Throughout, the reduction in DeltaG degrees caused by the solidification of water correlates with the decrease in the denaturant m value, an indirect indication that protein-ice interactions generally lead to partial unfolding of the native state. It is proposed that binding of the kosmotropes to the ice interface may inhibit protein adsorption to the solid phase and thereby counter the ice perturbation.     

Preparation and characterization of aryl or heteroaryl(3-indolyl)methylium o-benzenedisulfonimides

An initial study has been accomplished into the synthetic feasibility of the preparation of diarylcarbenium salt via the direct coupling of aryl (or heteroaryl) aldehydes and arenes (or heteroaryl analogues) in the presence of a strong organic Br?nsted acid. A number of stabilized aryl or heteroaryl(3-indolyl)carbenium ions, never previously prepared in the solid state, have been isolated in excellent yields as highly stable o-benzenedisulfonimide salts and have been fully characterized. Their purity has been proven by spectroscopic methods and chemical reduction with NaBH(4). An X-ray crystal structure analysis has been performed on one of the products: an azafulvenium species was shown to be the exclusive structure in the solid state.     

A Jocic-type approach for a practical and scalable synthesis of pyrrolonaphthoxazepine (PNOX)-based potent proapoptotic agents

We developed a Jocic-type protocol for the construction of the pyrrolonaphthoxazepine (PNOX) core. After an initial investigation based on the isolation of a trichloromethyl carbinol derivative, we shifted our attention towards a multicomponent single-step protocol. Screening of a variety of bases and solvents led to the identification of the optimum conditions for the preparation of the key α-aryloxy carboxylic acids to undergo intramolecular cyclization. The novel chemical route significantly improved overall yields for the preparation of PNOX-based compounds and was successfully extended to the preparation of 1,4-benzoxazinone-based templates.     

Gold catalysed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of arenediazonium o-benzenedisulfonimides

Arenediazonium o-benzenedisulfonimides have been used as efficient electrophilic partners in Au(I) catalysed Suzuki coupling reactions. The synthetic protocol is general, easy and produced either biaryls or heteroaryl arenes in good yields (51 positive examples, average yield 80%). o-Benzenedisulfonimide was recovered at the end of the reactions and was reused to prepare the starting salts for further reactions. Mechanistic insights suggest that the o-benzenedisulfonimide anion act as an electron transfer agent and promotes a catalytic cycle which does not require the presence of photocatalysts or external oxidants.     

Rossinone-related meroterpenes from the Antarctic ascidian Aplidium fuegiense

The chemical analysis of the ascidian Aplidium fuegiense resulted in the isolation of three novel meroterpenoids 2–4, structurally related to the main co-occurring known rossinone B (1). The structures of the new compounds were determined by interpretation of spectroscopic data. Compounds 1–4 were found to be selectively localized in the viscera of the ascidian.     

A combination of water and microwave irradiation promotes the catalyst-free addition of pyrroles and indoles to nitroalkenes

A combination of water and microwave irradiation was used for the first time to perform a catalyst-free nitro-Michael addition of pyrroles and indoles. Under superheated conditions, the water trends to ionize by changing its chemical and physical properties. Therefore, we performed a new green-protocol using the water either as environmentally no harm solvent or as catalyst. The reaction success is independent from the kind of pyrrole, indole or nitroalkenes rapidly affording the corresponding adducts and giving excellent yields.     

Ferrocene-containing carbohydrate dendrimers

Aliphatic amines, incorporating one or three (branched) acylated beta-D-glucopyranosyl residues, were coupled with the acid chloride of ferrocenecarboxylic acid and with the diacid chloride of 1,1'-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid to afford four dendrimer-type, carbohydrate-coated ferrocene derivatives in good yields (54-92%). Deprotection of the peracylated beta-D-glucopyranosyl residues was achieved quantitatively by using Zemplén conditions, affording four water-soluble ferrocene derivatives. When only one of the two cyclopentadienyl rings of the ferrocene unit is substituted, strong complexes are formed with beta-cyclodextrin in H2O, as demonstrated by liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS), 1H NMR spectroscopy, electrochemical measurements, and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Molecular dynamics calculations showed that the unsubstituted cyclopentadienyl ring is inserted through the cavity of the toroidal host in these complexes. The electrochemical behavior of the protected and deprotected ferrocene-containing dendrimers was investigated in acetonitrile and water, respectively. The diffusion coefficient decreases with increasing molecular weight of the compound. The potential for oxidation of the ferrocene core, the rate constant of heterogeneous electron transfer, and the rate constant for the energy-transfer reaction with the luminescent excited state of the [Ru(bpy)3]2+ complex (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) are strongly affected by the number (one or two) of substituents and by the number (one or three) of carbohydrate branches present in the substituents. These effects are assigned to shielding of the ferrocene core by the dendritic branches. Electrochemical evidence for the existence of different conformers for one of the dendrimers in aqueous solution was obtained.     

Electrochemical detection of miRNA-222 by use of a magnetic bead-based bioassay

MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are naturally occurring small RNAs (approximately 22 nucleotides in length) that have critical functions in a variety of biological processes, including tumorigenesis. They are an important target for detection technology for future medical diagnostics. In this paper we report an electrochemical method for miRNA detection based on paramagnetic beads and enzyme amplification. In particular, miR 222 was chosen as model sequence, because of its involvement in brain, lung, and liver cancers. The proposed bioassay is based on biotinylated DNA capture probes immobilized on streptavidin-coated paramagnetic beads. Total RNA was extracted from the cell sample, enriched for small RNA, biotinylated, and then hybridized with the capture probe on the beads. The beads were then incubated with streptavidin–alkaline phosphatase and exposed to the appropriate enzymatic substrate. The product of the enzymatic reaction was electrochemically monitored. The assay was finally tested with a compact microfluidic device which enables multiplexed analysis of eight different samples with a detection limit of 7 pmol L^?1 and RSD?=?15 %. RNA samples from non-small-cell lung cancer and glioblastoma cell lines were also analyzed.