Neutral penta- and hexacoordinate silicon(IV) complexes containing two bidentate ligands derived from the alpha-amino acids (S)-alanine, (S)-phenylalanine, and (S)-tert-leucine.

The neutral hexacoordinate silicon(IV) complex 6 (SiO(2)N(4) skeleton) and the neutral pentacoordinate silicon(IV) complexes 7-11 (SiO(2)N(2)C skeletons) were synthesized from Si(NCO)(4) and RSi(NCO)(3) (R = Me, Ph), respectively. The compounds were structurally characterized by solid-state NMR spectroscopy (6-11), solution NMR spectroscopy (6 and 10), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (8 and 11 were studied as the solvates 8 x CH(3)CN and 11 x C(5)H(12) x 0.5 CH(3)CN, respectively). The silicon(IV) complexes 6 (octahedral Si-coordination polyhedron) and 7-11 (trigonal-bipyramidal Si-coordination polyhedra) each contain two bidentate ligands derived from an alpha-amino acid: (S)-alanine, (S)-phenylalanine, or (S)-tert-leucine. The deprotonated amino acids act as monoanionic (6) or as mono- and dianionic ligands (7-11). The experimental investigations were complemented by computational studies of the stereoisomers of 6 and 7.

Raman, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, and DFT calculations: a powerful approach for the identification and characterization of 5-fluorouracil anticarcinogenic drug species.

The normal Raman and SERS spectra of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in water solution and attached to a biological artificial model (a silver colloid) at different pH values were recorded and discussed. The DFT calculation results helped us to establish for the first time the most stable resonance structure for each of the tautomeric forms (i.e., two enol and two enolate forms) and to interpret the Raman and SERS spectra. At alkaline pH, both deprotonated forms of 5-FU were found to be present in solution and to adsorb on the Ag surface in a perpendicular orientation or an orientation not significantly tilted from the surface normal. The N3-deprotonated form seems to be the dominant tautomer in the adsorbed state, more probably attached through the O7 atom. At acid pH values, the N3-deprotonated form was again found to be the mainly chemisorbed species adopting a similar orientation. The combination of these two approaches (i.e., the theoretical and experimental one) proved to be a viable candidate for inclusion in a rapid, sensitive biological method of detecting and studying such essential anticarcinogenic species or biological threats in different conditions.