Extended Multicomponent Reactions with Indole Aldehydes: Access to Unprecedented Polyheterocyclic Scaffolds, Ligands of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor.

The participation of reactants undergoing a polarity inversion along a multicomponent reaction allows the continuation of the transformation with productive domino processes. Thus, indole aldehydes in Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé reactions lead to an initial adduct which spontaneously triggers a series of events leading to the discovery of novel reaction pathways together with direct access to a variety of linked, fused, and bridged polyheterocyclic scaffolds. Indole 3- and 4-carbaldehydes with suitable isocyanides and aminoazines afford fused adducts through oxidative Pictet-Spengler processes, whereas indole 2-carbaldehyde yields linked indolocarbazoles under mild conditions, and a bridged macrocycle at high temperature. These novel structures are potent activators of the human aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling pathway.

Demonstration of electron diffraction from membrane protein crystals grown in a lipidic mesophase after lamella preparation by focused ion beam milling at cryogenic temperatures.

Electron crystallography of sub-micrometre-sized 3D protein crystals has emerged recently as a valuable field of structural biology. In meso crystallization methods, utilizing lipidic mesophases, particularly lipidic cubic phases (LCPs), can produce high-quality 3D crystals of membrane proteins (MPs). A major step towards realizing 3D electron crystallography of MP crystals, grown in meso, is to demonstrate electron diffraction from such crystals. The first task is to remove the viscous and sticky lipidic matrix that surrounds the crystals without damaging the crystals. Additionally, the crystals have to be thin enough to let electrons traverse them without significant multiple scattering. In the present work, the concept that focused ion beam milling at cryogenic temperatures (cryo-FIB milling) can be used to remove excess host lipidic mesophase matrix is experimentally verified, and then the crystals are thinned to a thickness suitable for electron diffraction. In this study, bacteriorhodopsin (BR) crystals grown in a lipidic cubic mesophase of monoolein were used as a model system. LCP from a part of a hexagon-shaped plate-like BR crystal (∼10 µm in thickness and ∼70 µm in the longest dimension), which was flash-frozen in liquid nitro-gen, was milled away with a gallium FIB under cryogenic conditions, and a part of the crystal itself was thinned into a ∼210 nm-thick lamella with the ion beam. The frozen sample was then transferred into an electron cryo-microscope, and a nanovolume of ∼1400 × 1400 × 210 nm of the BR lamella was exposed to 200 kV electrons at a fluence of ∼0.06 e Å-2. The resulting electron diffraction peaks were detected beyond 2.7 Šresolution (with an average peak height to background ratio of >2) by a CMOS-based Ceta 16M camera. The results demonstrate that cryo-FIB milling produces high-quality lamellae from crystals grown in lipidic mesophases and pave the way for 3D electron crystallography on crystals grown or embedded in highly viscous media.

Morphology Control in AgCu Nanoalloy Synthesis by Molecular Cu(I) Precursors.

As nanoparticle preparation methods employing bottom-up procedures rely on the use of molecular precursors, the chemical composition and bonding of these precursors have a decisive effect on nanoparticle formation and their resulting morphology and properties. We synthesized the Cu(I) complexes [Cu(PPh3)2(bea)] (1, bea = benzoate) and [Cu(PPh3)3(Hphta)] (2, phta = phthalate) by reducing the corresponding Cu(II) mono- and dicarboxylates with triphenylphosphine. We characterized 1 and 2 by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, elemental analyses, infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry and obtained complete information about their structures in the solid state and in solution. Also, we examined their thermal stability in oleylamine and determined their decomposition temperatures to be used as the minimal reaction temperature in metal nanoparticle synthesis. The complexes 1 and 2 differ in the number of reducing PPh3 ligands and the strength of carboxylate bonding to the Cu(I) center. Therefore, we employed them in combination with [Ag(NH2C12H25)2]NO3 as molecular precursors in the solvothermal hot injection synthesis of AgCu nanoalloys in oleylamine and demonstrated their influence on the elemental distribution, phase composition, particle size distribution, shape, morphology, and optical properties of the resulting nanoparticles. The nanoalloy particles from the benzoate complex 1 were oblate and polydisperse and exhibited two surface plasmons at 393 and 569 nm, which is caused by their Janus-type structure. The nanoparticles prepared from the phthalate complex 2 were round and monodisperse and exhibited one plasmon at 413 nm, as they formed an AgCu solid solution with a random distribution of the elements in a particle.

Alumazene Reactivity with Quinolinols - Addition and Substitution Reactions on the Al3N3 Ring.

Molecular structures of two compounds obtained in reactions of alumazene [DippNAlMe]3 (1, Dipp = 2,6-i-Pr2C6H3) with substituted quinolinols have been elucidated by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Quinolin-8-ol (Hq) provides a dinuclear complex [(DippNH)2Al2Me2(q)2] (2) with a central Al2O2 ring and five-coordinate Al atoms. The compound 2×THF crystallizes in the orthorhombic Pbca space group. The molecular structure of a mononuclear complex [(DippNH)Al(Meq)2] (3) obtained in the reaction of 1 with 2-methylquinolin-8-ol (HMeq) possesses a five-coordinate Al center. The structure was solved in a triclinic cell P-1. The dinuclear complex 2 can be considered as a model product of alcohol addition on the formal Al-N double bond, while the mononuclear complex 3 represents subsequent reaction of remaining Al-Me moiety with proton. Both complexes 2 and 3 are highly luminescent showing emission around 500 nm in solid state.

Supramolecular Storage and Controlled Photorelease of an Oxidizing Agent using a Bambusuril Macrocycle.

The oxidizing ability of peroxodisulfate upon complexation inside the Bambusuril macrocycle cavity is inhibited. This dianionic agent can be released on demand from its stable 1:1 complex in water (log Ka =6.9 m-1 ) by addition of a more strongly bound anion, such as iodide (log Ka =7.1 m-1 ), which can also be delivered in situ upon irradiation from a 4-hydroxyphenacyl iodide derivative with spatial and temporal precision. The oxidizing properties of peroxodisulfate ions liberated from the complex recover and can take part in subsequent chemical transformations.

New Adamantane-like Silicophosphate Cage and Its Reactivity toward Tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane.

The condensation reaction between Ph2Si(OC(O)CH3)2 and OP(OSiMe3)3 leads to elimination of CH3C(O)OSiMe3 and the formation of the new silicophosphate cage molecule Ph12Si6P4O16 (1) with an adamantane-like core possessing four terminal P═O moieties and six O-SiPh2-O bridging groups. Compound 1 was further reacted with the Lewis acid B(C6F5)3. We observed adduct formation by coordination through the P═O→B bonds and isolated and structurally characterized two new molecules. In the first of them, the adamantane-like cage is preserved and three phosphoryl oxygen atoms coordinate to boranes, forming Ph12Si6O16P4·3B(C6F5)3 (2); the remaining P═O group is inverted toward the cage center pointing along a C3 molecular axis. The molecule is chiral, and the compound 2 crystallizes as a conglomerate of homochiral crystals. Enantiomers 2M and 2P were both structurally characterized. The second adduct resulted from an unexpected reorganization of the Si-O-P linkages in the adamantane cage during the reaction of 1 with 4 equiv of B(C6F5)3. The bis-adduct Ph6Si3O8P2·2B(C6F5)3 (3) was formed with an inorganic core representing half of the parent molecule 1.

Modulation of Bambusuril Anion Affinity in Water.

Neutral and negatively charged anion receptors functioning in pure water are rare in supramolecular chemistry. Moreover, studies on adjusting the affinity of such receptors toward anions in water are absent from the literature. Two new bambusurils, 1 a and 2 a, were prepared to demonstrate that the affinity of bambusurils towards anions can be altered by the length of carboxyalkyl groups attached to the macrocycles. The stability of the bambusuril complexes was further controlled by the pH value. The crystal structure of bambusuril 1 a was described, in which two carboxyalkyl arms fold into the macrocycle cavity, thus forming the intramolecular self-inclusion complex.

Bambusuril as a One-Electron Donor for Photoinduced Electron Transfer to Methyl Viologen in Mixed Crystals.

Methyl viologen hexafluorophosphate (MV2+·2PF6-) and dodecamethylbambus[6]uril (BU6) form crystals in which the layers of viologen dications alternate with those of a 1:2 supramolecular complex of BU6 and PF6-. This arrangement allows for a one-electron reduction of MV2+ ions upon UV irradiation to form MV+• radical cations within the crystal structure with half-lives of several hours in air. The mechanism of this photoinduced electron transfer in the solid state and the origin of the long-lived charge-separated state were studied by steady-state and transient spectroscopies, cyclic voltammetry, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Our experiments are supported by quantum-chemical calculations showing that BU6 acts as a reductant. In addition, analogous photochemical behavior is also demonstrated on other MV2+/BU6 crystals containing either BF4- or Br- counterions.

A Cucurbituril Derivative That Exhibits Cation-Modulated Self-Assembly.

Cucurbiturils are the most potent artificial receptors known for many organic molecules in water. However, little is known about their supramolecular chemistry in organic solvents. Here we present a new cucurbituril derivative, 1, and investigate its supramolecular properties in methanol. The macrocycle resembles a five-membered cucurbituril in which four glycoluril units are replaced with propanediurea. Macrocycle 1 can bind to one cation such as potassium or anilinium via each of its opposed portals. The stability of these complexes in methanol at nanomolar concentrations exceeds that of complexes between metal cations and crown ethers. Moreover, macrocycle 1 forms a self-assembled tetrameric aggregate in the solid state and in methanol. The tetramer is stabilized by the addition of up to 1 equiv of a cation but is fully disassembled in the presence of 2 equiv of the cation. Cations can thus be used to tune the aggregation of 1 in solution.

N,N'-Bis(4-methyl-phen-yl)-N''-(2,2,2-trichloro-acet-yl)phospho-ric triamide.

The P atom in the title compound, C(16)H(17)Cl(3)N(3)O(2)P, is bonded in a distorted tetra-hedral geometry with the phosphoryl and carbonyl groups anti with respect to one another. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked through (N-H)(2)⋯O(=P) and N-H⋯O(=C) hydrogen bonds into chains along [001]. The phosphoryl O atom acts as a double hydrogen-bond acceptor.

Diphenyl (isopropyl-amido)-phosphate.

The P atom in the title compound, C15H18NO3P, is in a distorted tetra-hedral P(O)(O)2N environment; the bond angles at P are in the range 98.16 (6)-115.82 (6)°. In the crystal, adjacent mol-ecules are linked via N-H⋯O=P hydrogen bonds into a chain running parallel to the b axis. The methyl groups are disordered over two sets of sites in a 0.677 (14):0.323 (14) ratio. The crystal studied was a non-merohedral twin with a refined minor component of 22.31 (4)%.

N,N-Dibenzyl-O,O'-dimethyl thio-phosphate.

The P atom in the title compound, C(16)H(20)NO(2)PS, is bonded in a distorted tetra-hedral P(S)(O)(2)N environment with the bond angles at the P atom in the range 99.37 (7) to 115.68 (5)°. The angles at the amido N atom (with bond-angle sum of 357.8°) confirm its sp(2) character. The C-O-P bond angles are 119.78 (11) and 119.39 (12)°.