Epitaxial growth of highly symmetrical branched noble metal-semiconductor heterostructures with efficient plasmon-induced hot-electron transfer.

Epitaxial growth is one of the most commonly used strategies to precisely tailor heterostructures with well-defined compositions, morphologies, crystal phases, and interfaces for various applications. However, as epitaxial growth requires a small interfacial lattice mismatch between the components, it remains a challenge for the epitaxial synthesis of heterostructures constructed by materials with large lattice mismatch and/or different chemical bonding, especially the noble metal-semiconductor heterostructures. Here, we develop a noble metal-seeded epitaxial growth strategy to prepare highly symmetrical noble metal-semiconductor branched heterostructures with desired spatial configurations, i.e., twenty CdS (or CdSe) nanorods epitaxially grown on twenty exposed (111) facets of Ag icosahedral nanocrystal, albeit a large lattice mismatch (more than 40%). Importantly, a high quantum yield (QY) of plasmon-induced hot-electron transferred from Ag to CdS was observed in epitaxial Ag-CdS icosapods (18.1%). This work demonstrates that epitaxial growth can be achieved in heterostructures composed of materials with large lattice mismatches. The constructed epitaxial noble metal-semiconductor interfaces could be an ideal platform for investigating the role of interfaces in various physicochemical processes.

Amine Hole Scavengers Facilitate Both Electron and Hole Transfer in a Nanocrystal/Molecular Hybrid Photocatalyst.

A well-known catalyst, fac-Re(4,4'-R2-bpy)(CO)3Cl (bpy = bipyridine; R = COOH) (ReC0A), has been widely studied for CO2 reduction; however, its photocatalytic performance is limited due to its narrow absorption range. Quantum dots (QDs) are efficient light harvesters that offer several advantages, including size tunability and broad absorption in the solar spectrum. Therefore, photoinduced CO2 reduction over a broad range of the solar spectrum could be enabled by ReC0A catalysts heterogenized on QDs. Here, we investigate interfacial electron transfer from Cd3P2 QDs to ReC0A complexes covalently bound on the QD surface, induced by photoexcitation of the QD. We explore the effect of triethylamine, a sacrificial hole scavenger incorporated to replenish the QD with electrons. Through combined transient absorption spectroscopic and computational studies, we demonstrate that electron transfer from Cd3P2 to ReC0A can be enhanced by a factor of ∼4 upon addition of triethylamine. We hypothesize that the rate enhancement is a result of triethylamine possibly altering the energetics of the Cd3P2-ReC0A system by interacting with the quantum dot surface, deprotonation of the quantum dot, and preferential solvation, resulting in a shift of the conduction band edge to more negative potentials. We also observe the rate enhancement in other QD-electron acceptor systems. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into hole scavenger-quantum dot interactions and how they may influence photoinduced interfacial electron transfer processes.

Robust Binding of Disulfide-Substituted Rhenium Bipyridyl Complexes for CO2 Reduction on Gold Electrodes.

Heterogenization of homogenous catalysts on electrode surfaces provides a valuable approach for characterization of catalytic processes in operando conditions using surface selective spectroelectrochemistry methods. Ligand design plays a central role in the attachment mode and the resulting functionality of the heterogenized catalyst as determined by the orientation of the catalyst relative to the surface and the nature of specific interactions that modulate the redox properties under the heterogeneous electrode conditions. Here, we introduce new [Re(L)(CO)3Cl] catalysts for CO2 reduction with sulfur-based anchoring groups on a bipyridyl ligand, where L = 3,3'-disulfide-2,2'-bipyridine (SSbpy) and 3,3'-thio-2,2'-bipyridine (Sbpy). Spectroscopic and electrochemical analysis complemented by computational modeling at the density functional theory level identify the complex [Re(SSbpy)(CO)3Cl] as a multi-electron acceptor that combines the redox properties of both the rhenium tricarbonyl core and the disulfide functional group on the bipyridyl ligand. The first reduction at -0.85 V (vs. SCE) involves a two-electron process that breaks the disulfide bond, activating it for surface attachment. The heterogenized complex exhibits robust anchoring on gold surfaces, as probed by vibrational sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. The binding configuration is normal to the surface, exposing the active site to the CO2 substrate in solution. The attachment mode is thus particularly suitable for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction.

Intracellular rebinding of transition-state analogues provides extended in vivo inhibition lifetimes on human purine nucleoside phosphorylase.

Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) is part of the human purine salvage pathway. Its deficiency triggers apoptosis of activated T-cells, making it a target for T-cell proliferative disorders. Transition-state analogues of PNP bind with picomolar (pm) dissociation constants. Tight-binding PNP inhibitors show exceptionally long lifetimes on the target enzyme. We solve the mechanism of the target residence time by comparing functional off-rates in vitro and in vivo We report in vitro PNP-inhibitor dissociation rates (t½) from 3 to 31 min for seven Immucillins with dissociation constants of 115 to 6 pm Treatment of human erythrocytes with DADMe-Immucillin-H (DADMe-ImmH, 22 pm) causes complete inhibition of PNP. Loss of [14C]DADMe-ImmH from erythrocytes during multiple washes is slow and biphasic, resulting from inhibitor release and rebinding to PNP catalytic sites. The slow phase gave a t½ of 84 h. Loss of [14C]DADMe-ImmH from erythrocytes in the presence of excess unlabeled DADMe-ImmH increased to a t½ of 1.6 h by preventing rebinding. Thus, in human erythrocytes, rebinding of DADMe-ImmH is 50-fold more likely than diffusional loss of the inhibitor from the erythrocyte. Humans treated with a single oral dose of DADMe-ImmH in phase 1 clinical trials exhibit regain of PNP activity with a t½ of 59 days, corresponding to the erythropoiesis rate in humans. Thus, the PNP catalytic site recapture of DADMe-ImmH is highly favored in vivo We conclude that transition-state analogues with picomolar dissociation constants exhibit long lifetimes on their targets in vivo because the probability of the target enzyme recapturing inhibitor molecules is greater than diffusional loss to the extracellular space.