Synthesis and Characterization of SiO2/nGO/Fe3O4/SeQDs Nanoparticles as Potential Nanocarriers in Drug Delivery Systems.

Herein, we constructed the branch-shaped SiO2/nano GO (nGO)/Fe3O4/selenium quantum dots (QDs) (SeQDs) nanoparticles (SGF/SeQDs) embodying magnetism, fluorescence, and microwave stimulus response properties to enhance the performance of releasing drugs. The SGF/SeQDs composite was characterized by technologies including powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, etc. In the nanoparticles, the branch-shaped SiO2 provides a large specific surface area, nGO as the dielectric loss-style material promotes microwave-absorbing performance, and the Fe3O4 serves as a magnetic targeting agent and microwave absorber. Integrating nGO and Fe3O4 could further strengthen the microwave absorption of the entire composite; selenium features both fluorescence and anticancer effects. The synthesized nanoparticles as carriers exhibited a branch-like mesoporous sphere of ∼260 nm, a specific surface area of 258.57 m2 g-1, a saturation magnetization of 24.59 emu g-1, and good microwave thermal conversion performance that the temperature was elevated from 25 to 70 °C under microwave irradiation. These physical characteristics, including large pore volume (5.30 nm), high specific surface area, and fibrous morphology, are in favor of loading drugs. Meanwhile, the cumulative etoposide (VP16) loading rate of the nanoparticles reached to 21 wt % after 360 min. The noncovalent interaction between the VP16 and SGF/SeQDs was mainly the hydrogen-bonding effect during the loading process. Furthermore, the drug release rates at 180 min were up to 81.46, 61.92, and 56.84 wt % at pH 4, 5, and 7, respectively. At 25, 37, and 50 °C, the rates of drug release reach 25.40, 56.84, and 65.32 wt %, respectively. After microwave stimulation at pH 7, the rate of releasing drug increased distinctly from 56.84 to 71.74 wt % compared to that of nonmicrowave irradiation. Cytotoxicity tests manifested that the carrier had good biocompatibility. Therefore, the nanoparticles are looking forward to paving one platform for further applications in biomedicine and drug delivery systems.

Dynamic Metal-Iodide Bonds in a Tetracoordinated Cadmium-Based Metal-Organic Framework Boosting Efficient CO2 Cycloaddition under Solvent- and Cocatalyst-Free Conditions.

Due to the inherent thermodynamic stability and kinetic inertness of CO2, heterogeneous catalytic conversion of CO2 to cyclic carbonates often requires harsh operating conditions, high temperature and high pressure, and the addition of cocatalysts. Therefore, the development of efficient heterogeneous catalysts under cocatalyst-free and mild conditions for CO2 conversion has always been a challenge. Herein, an infrequent tetracoordinated Cd-MOF was synthesized and used to catalyze CO2 cycloaddition reactions efficiently without the addition of any cocatalyst, and its catalytic mechanism was systematically investigated through a series of experiments, including fluorescence analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, microcalorimetry, and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Cd-MOF features a 3D supermolecule structure with 1D 11.6 × 7.7 Å2 channels, and the abundant Lewis acid/base and I- sites located in the confined channel boost efficient CO2 conversion with a maximum yield of 98.2% and a turnover number value of 1080.11 at 60 °C and 0.5 MPa, far surpassing most pristine MOF-based catalytic systems. A combined experimental and DFT calculation demonstrates that the exposed Cd(II) Lewis acid sites rapidly participate in coordination to activate the epoxides, and the resulting large steric hindrance facilitates leaving of the coordinated iodide ions in a reversibly dynamic fashion convenient for the rate-determining step ring-opening as a strong nucleophile. Such a pristine MOF catalyst with self-independent catalytic ring-opening overcomes the complicated operation limitation of the traditional cocatalyst-free MOF systems based on encapsulating/postmodifying cocatalysts, providing a whole new strategy for the development of simple, green, and efficient heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 cycloaddition.

A Luminescent Mg-Metal-Organic Framework for Sustained Release of 5-Fluorouracil: Appropriate Host-Guest Interaction and Satisfied Acid-Base Resistance.

It is important to achieve a moderate sustained release rate for drug delivery, so it is critical to regulate the host-guest interactions for the rational design of a carrier. In this work, a nano-sized biocompatible metal-organic framework (MOF), Mg(H2TBAPy)(H2O)3·C4H8O2 (TDL-Mg), was constructed by employing π-conjugated 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(p-benzoic acid)pyrene (H4TBAPy) as a ligand and used for 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) loading (28.2 wt %) and sustained slow release. TDL-Mg exhibits a 3D supramolecular architecture featuring a 1D rectangle channel with a size of 6.2 × 8.1 Å2 and a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 627 m2·g-1. Channel microenvironment analysis shows that the rigid H2TBAPy2- ligand adopts special torsion to stabilize the channels and offer rich π-binding sites; the partially deprotonated carboxyls not only participate in the formation of strong hydrogen bonds but also create a mild pH buffer environment for biological applications. Suitable host-guest interactions are generated by the synergistic effect of polydirectional hydrogen bonds, multiple π-interactions, and confined channels, which allow 5-FU@TDL-Mg to release 76% of load in 72 h, a medically reasonable rate. Microcalorimetry was used to directly quantify these host-guest interactions with a moderate enthalpy of 22.3 kJ·mol-1, which provides a distinctive thermodynamic interpretation for understanding the relationship between the MOF design and the drug release rate. Additionally, the nano-sized 5-FU@TDL-Mg can be taken up by mouse breast cancer cells (4T1 cells) for imaging based on the dramatic fluorescence change during the release of 5-FU, exhibiting potential applications in biological systems.

The dependence of oxygen sensitivity on the molecular structures of Ir(iii) complexes and their application for photostable and reversible luminescent oxygen sensing.

Three Ir(iii) complexes IrC1, IrC2, and IrC3 substituted with 4-(diphenylamino)phenyl (TPA), 4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl (Cz1), and 9-phenyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl (Cz2) moieties were prepared and fully characterized as phosphorescent emitters. In comparison with Ir(ppy)3, introduction of TPA, Cz1, and Cz2 moieties strongly improved the oxygen sensitivities of IrC1-IrC3. Short-decayed IrC1 with I 0/I 100 of 168.6 and K app SV of 202.2 bar-1 in THF exhibited the highest sensitivity for oxygen. TPA and Cz moieties caused remarkable collision radius variations of the Ir(iii) complexes with 2.13 ± 0.08 for σ IrC1/σ Ir(ppy)3 , 1.24 ± 0.06 for σ IrC2/σ Ir(ppy)3 , and 1.54 ± 0.08 for σ IrC3/σ Ir(ppy)3 . For demonstrating the dependence of oxygen sensitivity on the molecular structure of the oxygen-sensitive probes (OSPs), the delocalization of spin populations (DSPs) has been applied for the first time to confirm the collision radius variations of Ir(iii) complexes. Remarkable DSPs were found on the TPA, Cz1, and Cz2 moieties with the spin population (percentage of the spin population) of 0.23210 (11.61%), 0.08862 (4.43%), and 0.13201 (6.60%), respectively. And strong linear correlations (R 2 = 0.997) between the collision radius variations and spin population on TPA and Cz moieties were apparent. The DSPs could be used to describe the dependence of oxygen sensitivity on the molecular structure of the OSPs. For achieving real-time oxygen sensing, the photostability, oxygen sensing performance, and operational stability of IrC1-IrC3 and Ir(ppy)3 immobilized in ethyl cellulose (EC) were investigated. The IrC1-EC film demonstrated outstanding photostability after 60 min of irradiation and excellent operational stability for continuous oxygen monitoring with no attenuation of the original emission intensity in 4000 s. This study quantified and analyzed the dependence of oxygen sensitivity on the molecular structure of Ir(iii) complexes for the first time and illustrated a feasible approach to achieve high-efficiency sensors for real-time monitoring of oxygen.

New rhodamine B-based chromo-fluorogenic probes for highly selective detection of aluminium(iii) ions and their application in living cell imaging.

Two rhodamine B-based fluorescent probes, BOS1 and BOS2, were designed and synthesized with good yields via the condensation reactions between the o-diaminobenzene modified rhodamine core structure (RBO) and salicylaldehyde derivatives. Both the probes exhibited remarkable absorbance-on and fluorescence-on responses to Al3+ over other metal ions in ethanol-water (1 : 9, v/v) medium via the rhodamine ring-opening approach, which can be used for "naked-eye" Al3+ detection over a broad pH range (5-9). The fluorescence intensities of the probes were linear with the Al3+ ion concentration, resulting in a low limit of detection of 1.839 µM (BOS1) and 1.374 µM (BOS2) for Al3+. In addition, the MTT assays and cell imaging experiments of Al3+ in SGC-7901 living cells demonstrated that the probes had negligible cytotoxicity, and were cell permeable and suitable for sensing Al3+ in biological systems.

Fine-Tuning of the Coordination Environment To Regulate the Magnetic Behavior in Solvent/Anion-Dependent DyIII Compounds: Synthesis, Structure, Magnetism, and Ab Initio Calculations.

It is crucial to understand and elucidate the self-assembly mechanism in solution systems for the construction of DyIII-based single-molecule magnets (SMMs). Herein, through fine-tuning of the anion and solvent, we prepared three nine-coordinate mononuclear dysprosium compounds, [Dy(2,3'-pcad)(NO3)2(CH3OH)2] (1), [Dy(2,3'-Hpcad)2(H2O)3]·3Cl·5H2O (2), and [Dy(2,3'-pcad)(NO3)(H2O)4]·NO3·H2O (3) [2,3'-Hpcad = N3-(2-pyridoyl)-3-pyridinecarboxamidrazone]. The reactions of formation for 1-3 are in situ thermodynamically monitored by isothermal titration calorimetry. Magnetic data analysis reveals that 2 shows SMM behavior under a zero direct-current (dc) field, whereas 1 and 3 exhibit distinct slow magnetic relaxation processes upon a 1200 Oe dc field. To deeply understand the different magnetic behaviors, the magnetic anisotropy of 1-3 has been systematically studied by ab initio calculations, which is consistent with the experimental observations. Moreover, the semiconductor behaviors of 1-3 have been investigated by experimental measurements of UV-vis spectroscopy.

A new polymorph of 5,5'-(ethane-1,2-di-yl)bis-(1H-tetra-zole).

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(4)H(6)N(8), contains a quarter of the mol-ecule, which possesses a crystallographically imposed centre of symmetry with all non-H atoms situated on a mirror plane. The crystal packing exhibits inter-molecular N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking inter-actions between the tetra-zole rings of adjacent mol-ecules [centroid-centroid distance = 3.4402 (10) Å].

2-(5-Amino-2H-tetra-zol-2-yl)acetic acid.

In the title mol-ecule, C(3)H(5)N(5)O(2), the tetra-zole ring and carboxyl group form a dihedral angle of 82.25 (14)°. In the crystal, adjacent mol-ecules are linked through O-H⋯N, N-H⋯O and N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds into layers parallel to the bc plane.

Hexaaqua-magnesium(II) bis-{5-[3-(1H-tetra-zol-5-yl)phen-yl]tetra-zolide} tetra-hydrate.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Mg(H(2)O)(6)](C(8)H(5)N(8))(2)·4H(2)O, contains one half of the centrosymmetric dication, one anion and two water mol-ecules. The Mg(II) ion is coordinated by six water mol-ecules in a slightly distorted octa-hedral geometry. In the anion, the two five-membered heterocycles are twisted from the central benzene ring by 4.34 (11) and 3.20 (10)°. In the crystal, O-H⋯N, O-H⋯O and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate a three-dimensional network.