A stable and true-blue emissive hexacoordinate Si(IV) N-heterocyclic carbene complex and its use in organic light-emitting diodes.

A neutral hexacoordinate Si(IV) complex containing two tridentate N-heterocyclic carbene ligands is synthesised and characterized by X-ray crystallography, optical spectroscopy, electrochemistry and computational methods. The stable compound exhibits remarkable deep-blue photoluminescence particularly in the solid state, which enables its use as an electroluminescent material in organic light-emitting diodes.

Highly Efficient Solar-Light-Driven Photodegradation of Metronidazole by Nickel Hexacyanoferrate Nanocubes Showing Enhanced Catalytic Performances.

Environmental pollution is a complex problem that threatens the health and life of animal and plant ecosystems on the planet. In this respect, the scientific community faces increasingly challenging tasks in designing novel materials with beneficial properties to address this issue. This study describes a simple yet effective synthetic protocol to obtain nickel hexacyanoferrate (Ni-HCF) nanocubes as a suitable photocatalyst, which can enable an efficient photodegradation of hazardous anthropogenic organic contaminants in water, such as antibiotics.

Electrochemical detection of miRNA using commercial and hand-made screen-printed electrodes: liquid biopsy for cancer management as case of study.

The growth of liquid biopsy, i. e., the possibility of obtaining health information by analysing circulating species (nucleic acids, cells, proteins, and vesicles) in peripheric biofluids, is pushing the field of sensors and biosensors beyond the limit to provide decentralised solutions for nonspecialists.

Point-of-Care Testing for the Detection of MicroRNAs: Towards Liquid Biopsy on a Chip.

Point-of-care (PoC) testing is revolutionizing the healthcare sector improving patient care in daily hospital practice and allowing reaching even remote geographical areas. In the frame of cancer management, the design and validation of PoC enabling the non-invasive, rapid detection of cancer markers is urgently required to implement liquid biopsy in clinical practice. Therefore, focusing on stable blood-based markers with high-specificity, such as microRNAs, is of crucial importance.

Binuclear Copper(I) Complexes for Near-Infrared Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells.

Two binuclear heteroleptic Cu complexes, namely Cu-NIR1 and Cu-NIR2, bearing rigid chelating diphosphines and π-conjugated 2,5-di(pyridin-2-yl)thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole as the bis-bidentate ligand are presented. The proposed dinuclearization strategy yields a large bathochromic shift of the emission when compared to the mononuclear counterparts (M1-M2) and enables shifting luminescence into the near-infrared (NIR) region in both solution and solid state, showing emission maximum at ca. 750 and 712 nm, respectively.

Bicyclic peptide-based assay for uPA cancer biomarker.

The use of synthetic bioreceptors to develop biosensing platforms has been recently gaining momentum. This case study compares the performance of a biosensing platform for the human biomarker urokinase-type plasminogen activator (h-uPA) when using two bicyclic peptides (P and P) with different affinities for the target protein. The bioreceptors P and P were immobilized on magnetic microbeads and tested within a sandwich-type affinity electrochemical assay.

Advanced Electrochemical and Opto-Electrochemical Biosensors for Quantitative Analysis of Disease Markers and Viruses.

Instrumental laboratory methods for biochemical and chemical analyses have reached a high level of reliability with excellent sensitivity and specificity [...

The Role of Peptides in the Design of Electrochemical Biosensors for Clinical Diagnostics.

Peptides represent a promising class of biorecognition elements that can be coupled to electrochemical transducers. The benefits lie mainly in their stability and selectivity toward a target analyte. Furthermore, they can be synthesized rather easily and modified with specific functional groups, thus making them suitable for the development of novel architectures for biosensing platforms, as well as alternative labelling tools.

An SPR investigation into the therapeutic drug monitoring of the anticancer drug imatinib with selective aptamers operating in human plasma.

The anticancer drug imatinib is often involved in therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) studies aimed at improving the treatment of several forms of leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). To further implement the TDM of imatinib in clinical practice, we developed a detection assay by using an ssDNA aptamer, which demonstrated excellent selectivity and was not affected by interference from the components of human plasma samples. The efficient binding of imatinib to the aptamer was demonstrated by means of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis, which allowed the development of a quantitative assay in the concentration range between 400 and 6000 ng mL (0.

Bio- and Biomimetic Receptors for Electrochemical Sensing of Heavy Metal Ions.

Heavy metals ions (HMI), if not properly handled, used and disposed, are a hazard for the ecosystem and pose serious risks for human health. They are counted among the most common environmental pollutants, mainly originating from anthropogenic sources, such as agricultural, industrial and/or domestic effluents, atmospheric emissions, etc. To face this issue, it is necessary not only to determine the origin, distribution and the concentration of HMI but also to rapidly (possibly in real-time) monitor their concentration levels in situ.

Phosphorescent Cationic Heterodinuclear Ir /M Complexes (M=Cu , Au ) with a Hybrid Janus-Type N-Heterocyclic Carbene Bridge.

A novel class of phosphorescent cationic heterobimetallic Ir /M complexes, where M =Cu (4) and Au (5), is reported. The two metal centers are connected by the hybrid bridging 1,3-dimesityl-5-acetylimidazol-2-ylidene-4-olate (IMesAcac) ligand that combines both a chelating acetylacetonato-like and a monodentate N-heterocyclic carbene site coordinated onto an Ir and a M center, respectively. Complexes 4 and 5 have been prepared straightforwardly by a stepwise site-selective metalation with the zwitterionic [(IPr)M (IMesAcac)] metalloproligand (IPr=1,3-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-2H-imidazol-2-ylidene) and they have been fully characterized by spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational investigation.

Photophysics, Electrochemistry and Efficient Electrochemiluminescence of Trigonal Truxene-Core Dyes.

We synthesized and characterized a series of dyes built from a spirofluorene or truxene core. The quadrupolar spirofluorene system is the initial building unit for the design and preparation of more complex star-shaped dyes consisting of a truxene core bearing three di- or triphenylamine moieties with or without a thiophene connector. Their photophysical, electrochemical, and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) properties were first investigated in solution.

ELISA assay employing epitope-specific monoclonal antibodies to quantify circulating HER2 with potential application in monitoring cancer patients undergoing therapy with trastuzumab.

Circulating HER2 extracellular domain (HER2 ECD) levels were proposed as a surrogate for HER2 tissue expression to monitor breast cancer patients for early relapse or responses to standard or HER2-targeted therapies, such as the monoclonal antibody (mAb) trastuzumab. Currently, available commercial ELISA assays for HER2 ECD rely on antibodies recognizing undisclosed or unknown epitopes. In this work, two ELISA assays employing MGR2 and MGR3 epitope-specific mAbs for HER2 ECD were developed and validated, showing good assay precision and linearity of the dose-response signal within the dynamic range of 0.

Red-emitting neutral rhenium(i) complexes bearing a pyridyl pyridoannelated N-heterocyclic carbene.

Two novel rhenium(i) tricarbonyl complexes of general formula fac-[Re(N^C:)(CO)X] are herein presented, where N^C: is the pyridoannelated N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) arising from 2-(2-pyridinyl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium hexafluorophosphate proligand, namely [pyipy]PF, and X being Cl and Br. The synthetic pathway is a one-pot reaction that starts from the azolium salt as the NHC source and [Re(CO)X] to yield the desired charge-neutral fac-[Re(pyipy)(CO)X] complexes (1-2). Both complexes were thoroughly characterized by spectroscopic, electrochemical, theoretical investigation as well as X-ray diffraction analysis.

A fast method for the detection of irinotecan in plasma samples by combining solid phase extraction and differential pulse voltammetry.

In this paper, a fast method for the detection of irinotecan (CPT-11) in plasma samples was investigated. CPT-11 is widely used in a number of chemotherapeutic treatments of several solid tumors. The method is based on the combination of a solid phase extraction and an electrochemical detection step.

The Fundamentals of Real-Time Surface Plasmon Resonance/Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence.

We report the integration of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), cyclic voltammetry and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) responses to survey the interfacial adsorption and energy transfer processes involved in ECL on a plasmonic substrate. It was observed that a Tween 80/tripropylamine nonionic layer formed on the gold electrode of the SPR sensor, while enhancing the ECL emission process, affects the electron transfer process to the luminophore, Ru(bpy) , which in turn has an impact on the plasmon resonance. Concomitantly, the surface plasmon modulated the ECL intensity, which decreased by about 40 %, due to an interaction between the excited state of Ru(bpy) and the plasmon.

Practical fluorimetric assay for the detection of anticancer drug SN-38 in human plasma.

The implementation of therapeutic drug monitoring in the routine clinical practice in oncology is mainly limited by the lack of therapeutic indexes for the majority of the anticancer drugs, and by the absence of suitable analytical tools, which can accurately quantify in real time the concentration of the administered drugs and their relevant metabolites in biological fluids. In this work, a simple and efficient fluorimetric determination of SN-38, the active metabolite of the anticancer drug irinotecan, was developed and applied to human plasma samples. The intrinsic fluorescence of SN-38 allowed its quantification in the range 10-500 ng mL with a LOQ of 5.

Solid state electrochemiluminescence from homogeneous and patterned monolayers of bifunctional spirobifluorene.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) generated by a monolayer of a spirobifluorene derivative covalently bound onto an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate is reported for the first time. Our approach allows the efficient preparation homogeneous and patterned substrates through micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC), and opens novel scenarios for multicolour ECL applications.

Enzyme-Based Electrochemical Biosensor for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Anticancer Drug Irinotecan.

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is the clinical practice of measuring pharmaceutical drug concentrations in patients' biofluids at designated intervals, thus allowing a close and timely control of their dosage. To date, TDM in oncology can only be performed by trained personnel in centralized laboratories and core facilities employing conventional analytical techniques (e.g.

Biosensing Technologies for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.

Background And Rationale: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is the clinical practice of measuring pharmaceutical drug concentrations in patients' biofluids at designated intervals to allow a close and timely control of their dosage. This practice allows for rapid medical intervention in case of toxicity-related issues and/or adjustment of dosage to better fit the therapeutic demand. Currently, TDM is performed in centralized laboratories employing instruments, such as immunoassay analyzers and mass spectrometers that can be run only by trained personnel.

Polylysine-grafted Au nanoclusters: birth and growth of a healthy surface-plasmon-resonance-like band.

Poly(amino acid)-coated gold nanoparticles hold promise in biomedical applications, particularly because they combine the unique physicochemical properties of the gold core, excellent biocompatibility, and easy functionalization of the poly(amino acid)-capping shell. Here we report a novel method for the preparation of robust hybrid core-shell nanosystems consisting of a Au cluster and a densely grafted polylysine layer. Linear polylysine chains were grown by direct -carboxyanhydride (NCA) polymerization onto ligands capping the gold nanocluster.

From Blue to Green: Fine-Tuning of Photoluminescence and Electrochemiluminescence in Bifunctional Organic Dyes.

We describe the synthesis, computational analysis, photophysics, electrochemistry and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of a series of compounds formed of two triphenylamines linked by a fluorene or spirobifluorene bridge. The phenylamine moieties were modified at the para-position of the two external rings by electron-withdrawing or electron-donating substituents. These modifications allowed for fine-tuning of the photoluminescence (PL) and ECL emission from blue to green, with an overall wavelength span of 73 (PL) and 67 (ECL) nm, respectively.

Photophysics and Electrochemiluminescence of Bright Cyclometalated Ir(III) Complexes in Aqueous Solutions.

A family of neutral bis-cyclometalated iridium complexes [Ir(C^N)2(LX)] has been investigated as ECL labels under immunoassay conditions. Among them, the complex based on phenylphenanthridine (pphent) as the C^N ligand, exhibits outstanding performance and it is a candidate to substitute the commercially available Ru-based label in diagnostics.

Sterically hindered luminescent Pt(II) -phosphite complexes for electroluminescent devices.

Pt(II) complexes with one bulky, sterically demanding, tertiary phosphite ancillary ligand and a coordinating chromophore are herein presented. The phosphite ligand, tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) acts as a bidentate ligand coordinating the platinum ion through the central phosphorus atom and a cyclometalating carbon atom of one of the substituents. The two free phenoxy moieties lie above and below the coordination plane, leading to steric hindrance that avoids aggregation and provides solubility in organic solvents.