Photoactivity and pH Sensitivity of Methyl Orange Functionalized Poly(Propyleneamine) Dendrimers

Modularizable Liquid-Crystal-Based Open Surfaces Enable Programmable Chemical Transport and Feeding using Liquid Droplets

Droplet-based miniature reactors have attracted interest in both fundamental studies, for the unique reaction kinetics they enable, and applications in bio-diagnosis and material synthesis. However, the precise and automatic feeding of chemicals, important for the delicate reactions in these miniaturized chemical reactors, either requires complex, high-cost microfluidic devices or lacks the capability to maintain a pinning-free droplet movement. Here, the design and synthesis of a new class of liquid crystal (LC)-based open surfaces, which enable a controlled chemical release via a programmable LC phase transition without sacrificing the free transport of the droplets, are reported. It is demonstrated that their intrinsic slipperiness and self-healing properties enable a modularizable assembly of LC surfaces that can be loaded with different chemicals to achieve a wide range of chemical reactions carried out within the droplets, including sequential and parallel chemical reactions, crystal growth, and polymer synthesis. Finally, an LC-based chemical feeding device is developed that can automatically control the release of chemicals to direct the simultaneous differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into endothelial progenitor cells and cardiomyocytes. Overall, these LC surfaces exhibit desirable levels of automation, responsiveness, and controllability for use in miniature droplet carriers and reactors.

Optical Sensing and Imaging of pH Values: Spectroscopies, Materials, and Applications

This is the first comprehensive review on methods and materials for use in optical sensing of pH values and on applications of such sensors. The Review starts with an introduction that contains subsections on the definition of the pH value, a brief look back on optical methods for sensing of pH, on the effects of ionic strength on pH values and pKa values, on the selectivity, sensitivity, precision, dynamic ranges, and temperature dependence of such sensors. Commonly used optical sensing schemes are covered in a next main chapter, with subsections on methods based on absorptiometry, reflectometry, luminescence, refractive index, surface plasmon resonance, photonic crystals, turbidity, mechanical displacement, interferometry, and solvatochromism. This is followed by sections on absorptiometric and luminescent molecular probes for use pH in sensors. Further large sections cover polymeric hosts and supports, and methods for immobilization of indicator dyes. Further and more specific sections summarize the state of the art in materials with dual functionality (indicator and host), nanomaterials, sensors based on upconversion and 2-photon absorption, multiparameter sensors, imaging, and sensors for extreme pH values. A chapter on the many sensing formats has subsections on planar, fiber optic, evanescent wave, refractive index, surface plasmon resonance and holography based sensor designs, and on distributed sensing. Another section summarizes selected applications in areas, such as medicine, biology, oceanography, bioprocess monitoring, corrosion studies, on the use of pH sensors as transducers in biosensors and chemical sensors, and their integration into flow-injection analyzers, microfluidic devices, and lab-on-a-chip systems. An extra section is devoted to current challenges, with subsections on challenges of general nature and those of specific nature. A concluding section gives an outlook on potential future trends and perspectives.

Stimuli-Responsive Supramolecular Coaggregation and Disaggregation of Host-Guest Conjugates Having a Disulfide Linkage

Water-soluble cationic and anionic cyclophanes (1a and 2a, respectively) having a dabsyl group with a cleavable disulfide linkage were synthesized as a host-guest conjugate covalently bound with both host and guest components. Self-inclusion phenomena but not self-aggregation behaviors were observed for each cyclophane in aqueous media. Each cyclophane includes its own dabsyl moiety (guest component) in its macrocyclic cavity (host component) through hydrophobic interaction. When 1 equiv. of cationic 1a was added to an aqueous solution of anionic 2a, however, supramolecular coaggregates formed spontaneously through host-guest complexation. As regard the supramolecular coaggregates, the existence of larger particles was confirmed by DLS measurements and TEM observation. The hydrophobic interaction between the dabsyl moiety and macrocyclic cavity and electrostatic interactions between 1a and 2a play important roles in the supramolecular coaggregate formation. Each cyclophane having a cleavable disulfide linkage was easily transformed to the corresponding thiols by reducing reagents such as DTT, which was confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS. Disaggregation of the supramolecular coaggregates composed of 1a and 2a was successfully performed upon addition of DTT, with release of the thiol derivative of dabsyl. Such disaggregation of the coaggregates was also conducted by other external stimuli such as salts and competitive guests.

FromEtoZand back again: reversible photoisomerisation of an isolated charge-tagged azobenzene

Substituted azobenzenes serve as chromophores and actuators in a wide range of molecular photoswitches.

Molecular structure and vibrational and chemical shift assignments of 3'-chloro-4-dimethylamino azobenzene by DFT calculations

In the present work, a combined experimental and theoretical study on ground state molecular structure, spectroscopic and nonlinear optical properties of azo compound 3'-chloro-4-dimethlamino azobenzene are reported. The molecular geometry, vibrational wavenumbers and the first order hyperpolarizability of the title compound were calculated with the help of density functional theory computations. The optimized geometric parameters obtained by using DFT (B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)) show good agreement with the experimental data. The vibrational transitions were identified based on the recorded FT-IR spectra in the range of 4000-400cm(-1) for solid state. The (1)H isotropic chemical shifts with respect to TMS were also calculated using the gauge independent atomic orbital (GIAO) method and compared with the experimental data. Using the TD-DFT method, electronic absorption spectra of the title compound have been predicted, and good agreement is determined with the experimental ones. To investigate the NLO properties of the title compound, the polarizability and the first hyperpolarizability were calculated using the density functional B3LYP method with the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. According to results, the title compound exhibits non-zero first hyperpolarizability value revealing second order NLO behavior. In addition, DFT calculations of the title compound, molecular electrostatic potential and frontier molecular orbitals were also performed at 6-311++G(d,p) level of theory.

Memorized chiral arrangement of gemini surfactant assemblies in nanometric hybrid organic–silica helices

The chiral arrangement of non-chiral gemini surfactant molecules induced by enantiomeric tartrate counterions was maintained by hybridization with silica matrices even after the removal of the counterions as chiral sources.

Controllable Phase Separation by Boc-Modified Lipophilic Acid as a Multifunctional Extractant

While phase separation of immiscible liquid-liquid systems has become increasingly significant in diverse areas, the irreversible nature limits their further application in controllable extraction-concentration or capture-release fields. There is a need for the development of simple, efficient and reversible methods for numerous research and industrial extraction and separation applications. We envisioned Boc-modified lipophilic acids as a simple model for such use based on the studies of the multi-phase transitions of Boc-modified supramolecular polymeric systems. Here, we demonstrate that in the presence of Boc-7-aminoheptanoic acid (Boc-7), phase separation occurs in mixtures of miscible organic solvent and water. The separation behavior was confirmed by differential colorimetric development in aqueous and organic phases using methyl orange staining assays. Component substitution experiments verified that the phase separation results from the subtle balance between the aggregation and the solvation forces of Boc-7, and is reversible by adjusting the solution pH. Owing to the intrinsic hydrophobic properties of the organic phase and the hydrogen bonding-forming ability of the carboxyl group of Boc-7, the phase separation system captures and releases Sudan Red, fluorescein, and streptavidin in a controllable manner. Consequently, a reversible and simple phase separation system can be designed as a multifunctional extractant.

Structural and spectroscopic characterizations on the charge-transfer interactions of the second generation poly(propylene amine) dendrimers with iodine and picric acid acceptors

Herein, this study was focused to get a knowledge about the intermolecular charge transfer complexes between the second generation of poly(propylene amine) dendrimer (PPD2) with picric acid (PA) and iodine (I2) as π and σ-acceptors. The charge-transfer interaction of the PPD2 electron donor and the PA acceptor has been studied in CHCl3. The resulted data refereed to the formation of the new CT-complex with the general formula [(PPD2)(PA)4]. The 1:4 stoichiometry of the reaction was discussed upon the on elemental analysis and photometric titration. On the other hand, the 1:3½ iodine-PPD2 heptaiodide (I7(-)) charge-transfer complex has been studied spectrophotometrically in chloroform at room temperature with general formula [(PPD2)](+)I7(-). The electronic absorption bands of 2I2·I3(-) (I7(-)) are observed at 358 and 294 nm. Raman laser spectrum of the brown solid heptaiodide complex has two clearly vibration bands at 155 and 110 cm(-1) due to symmetric stretching νs(II) outer and inner bonds, respectively. The (1)H NMR spectra and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data of PPD2 charge-transfer complexes were discussed.

Functionalization of methyl orange using cationic peptide amphiphile: colorimetric discrimination between ATP and ADP at pH 2.0

A solvatochromic and non-fluorescent acid-base indicator, methyl orange (MO) was applied to colorimetric discrimination between adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and the corresponding diphosphate (ADP) at pH 2.0 in the presence of L-glutamic acid-derived cationic peptide amphiphile 1. This method is based on the fact that the amphiphile 1 can prevent MO from protonation even at pH 2.0. No similar colour change was observed when ADP was added instead of ATP under the same conditions. The effect of the molecular structure of several peptide amphiphiles and dyes was also investigated.

Spectroscopic characterizations and biological studies on newly synthesized Cu(2+) and Zn(2+) complexes of first and second generation dendrimers

The novel Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes of first and second generation poly(propylene amine) dendrimers (PPA), comprising 1,8-naphthalimde units on periphery have been synthesized. These new complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductivity, spectral methods (IR, (1)H NMR and UV-vis spectra) and thermal analysis (TG and DTG) techniques. From elemental analysis as well as thermal studies it has found that the first generation dendrimer behaves as bidentate ligand and forming chelates with 1:2 (ligand:metal) and 1:4 (ligand:metal) stoichiometry for second generation dendrimer. Different kinetic parameters namely activation energy (DeltaE*), enthalpy of activation (DeltaH*), entropy of activation (DeltaS*) and free energy change of activation (DeltaG*) are calculated using Coats-Redfern equation. The antibacterial activity of dendrimers and their complexes was evaluated against some Gram positive and negative bacteria.

Convenient synthesis and properties of polypropyleneimine dendrimer-functionalized polymer nanoparticles

A simple synthesis of polymer core-dendrimer shell nanoparticles (NPs) in the 15-20-nm-diameter range is presented. Amine-terminated polypropyleneimine (PPI) dendrimers DAB-dendri-(NH(2))(4) and DAB-dendri-(NH(2))(16) (DAB4 and DAB16) are covalently attached to the surface of primary polystyrene-based NPs bearing reactive chlorobenzyl groups produced by microemulsion polymerization in the presence of a cationic surfactant. The grafting readily proceeds under mild conditions and leads to translucent aqueous suspensions of core-shell-type NPs with a high density of peripheral amine groups that have been characterized relative to their size and chemical composition. The dendritic shell acts as a protective ionizable outer layer and provides an improvement of the colloidal stability in neutral and acidic media. The metal-binding capacity of the PPI dendrimers is retained, and spectrophotometric titrations show that the dendrimer-grafted NPs can trap a large number of Cu(2+) ions (more than 900 Cu per NP-DAB16). These properties make them potentially valuable templates for the elaboration of hybrid nanomaterials. The reactivity of the external amine groups is used to link covalently azobenzene chromophores (disperse Red 1 residues) through aza-Michael addition in aqueous suspension. This simple method gives access to colored NPs with high dye contents in the outer layer (up to 1000-1500 dye molecules per NP), which indicates that dendrimer-functionalized NPs are valuable building blocks for the construction of multifunctional nanomaterials.

Fluorescence Study on the Interaction of Bovine Serum Albumin with P-Aminoazobenzene

In this paper, the interaction between p-aminoazobenzene (PAAB) and BSA was investigated mainly by fluorescence quenching spectra, circular dichroism (CD) and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra under simulative physiological conditions. It was proved that the fluorescence quenching of BSA by PAAB was mainly a result of the formation of a PAAB-BSA complex. The modified Stern-Volmer quenching constant K(a) and the corresponding thermodynamic parameters DeltaH, DeltaG and DeltaS at different temperatures were calculated. The results indicated that van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds were the predominant intermolecular forces in stabilizing the complex. The distance r=4.33 nm between the donor (BSA) and acceptor (PAAB) was obtained according to Förster's non-radioactive energy transfer theory. The synchronous fluorescence, CD and three-dimensional fluorescence spectral results showed that the hydrophobicity of amino acid residues increased and the losing of alpha-helix content (from 63.57 to 51.83%) in the presence of PAAB. These revealed that the microenvironment and conformation of BSA were changed in the binding reaction.

Synthesis of polyamines via hydroaminomethylation of alkenes with urea—a new, effective and versatile route to dendrons and dendritic core molecules

Polyamines, structurally related to putrescines and spermidines, are easily obtainable via hydroaminomethylation of methylallylphthalimide with primary or secondary amines. In addition, hydroaminomethylation of monoolefins with urea as a synthetic equivalent for ammonia, in contrast to other methods (e.g. the alkylation of ammonia or ammonium salts), allows selective synthesis of symmetric tertiary amines. By combining both methods dendrons and dendrimer cores are conveniently obtained.

Photochemical and photophysical properties of a poly(propylene amine) dendrimer functionalised with E-stilbene units

A second generation poly(propylene amine) dendrimer functionalized at the periphery with eight E-stilbene and eight 4-tert-butylbenzenesulfonyl units has been prepared. The absorption spectrum, fluorescence spectrum and decay, E<==>Z photoisomerization, and photocyclization of the Z-isomer of the stilbene units have been investigated in air equilibrated acetonitrile solutions. For comparison purposes, a reference compound of the peripheral dendrimer units, namely 4-tert-butyl-N-propyl-N-(4-styryl-benzyl)-benzenesulfonamide, has also been studied. The quantum yield of the E-->Z photoisomerization reaction (0.30) and the fluorescence quantum yield of the E isomer (0.014) are substantially smaller for the units appended to the dendrimer compared to those of the reference compound (0.50 and 0.046, respectively). The presence of a red tail and the biexponential decay of the emission band of the dendrimer indicate formation of excimers between the stilbene units appended at the poly(propylene amine) dendritic structure. Under the experimental conditions used (lambda(exc)= 313 nm), a Z/E photostationary state (around 9 : 1 for both reference compound and dendrimer ) is reached in the time scale of minutes. On continuing irradiation, other photoreactions take place in the time scale of hours: the stilbene moiety of compound undergoes photocyclization to phenanthrene (quantum yield 0.015), whereas in dendrimer photocyclization to phenanthrene is accompanied by other processes, including a photoreaction involving the internal amine groups.