Synthesis of Glycodendrimers with Antiviral and Antibacterial Activity.

Glycodendrimers are an important class of synthetic macromolecules that can be used to mimic many structural and functional features of cell-surface glycoconjugates. Their carbohydrate moieties perform key important functions in bacterial and viral infections, often regulated by carbohydrate-protein interactions. Several studies have shown that the molecular structure, valency and spatial organisation of carbohydrate epitopes in glycoconjugates are key factors in the specificity and avidity of carbohydrate-protein interactions. Choosing the right glycodendrimers almost always helps to interfere with such interactions and blocks bacterial or viral adhesion and entry into host cells as an effective strategy to inhibit bacterial or viral infections. Herein, the state of the art in the design and synthesis of glycodendrimers employed for the development of anti-adhesion therapy against bacterial and viral infections is described.

The use of lanthanide luminescence as a reporter in the solid state: Desymmetrization of the prochiral layers of γ-zirconium phosphate/phosphonate and circularly polarized luminescence.

Solid-state CPL measurements were performed for the first time on hybrid, laminar materials based on γ-ZrP pillared with organic diphosphonates. Ad hoc optically pure diphosphonates were synthesized and the luminescence properties of their complexation with Tb(III) were verified in solution. CD and CPL measurements showed that the bistriazolylpyridine chromophores bonded to the metal provided an effective chiral environment that produced significant signals. In the case of the γ-ZrP-derived materials, experimental evidence and simple molecular modeling hinted to the occurrence of supramolecular chirality in the particles, induced by the intrinsic dissymmetry of the organic diphosphonates or by the intercalation of chiral species such as 1-phenethylamine. Chirality at the supramolecular level was revealed in the solid state by the CPL signals measured from reporter Tb(III) ions intercalated in the hybrid matrix.

Photovoltaic activity of layered zirconium phosphates containing covalently grafted ruthenium tris(bipyridyl) and diquat phosphonates as electron donor/acceptor sites.

Two layered zirconium phosphates containing Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) mono- or diphosphonates and diquat, {Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)[]/ZrP/DQ(++)} and Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)[]/ZrP/DQ(++), covalently attached to the phosphate layers exhibit notable photovoltaic response (the maximum V(OC), J(SC), and FF were 0.093 V, 16.8 microA cm(-2) and 0.33, respectively). The photocurrent spectra indicate that the photovoltaic response is due predominantly to direct photoexcitation of gamma-ZrP host, Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) and diquat acting as hole and electron traps, respectively, for the charge separated state of the semiconductor.

Synthesis of novel macrocyclic lanthanide chelates derived from bis-pyrazolylpyridine.

[structure: see text] New macrocyclic chelates based on bis-pyrazolylpyridine and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid are synthesized, and the remarkable luminescence properties of their lanthanide chelates are reported.

Lanthanide complexes of polycarboxylate-bearing dipyrazolylpyridine ligands with near-unity luminescence quantum yields: the effect of pyridine substitution.

The title complexes displayed a marked dependence of their luminescence properties upon pyridine substitution. The ligand with the 4-carbamoyl-substituted pyridine showed a long-lived luminescence of near-unity quantum yield for Tb3- and quite reasonable values for Eu3+, Sm3+ and Dy3-, thus making it an excellent candidate for a luminescent probe to be attached to biomolecules by a peptide-like linkage.