Conformationally locked lanthanide chelating tags for convenient pseudocontact shift protein nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Pseudocontact shifts (PCS) generated by lanthanide chelating tags yield valuable restraints for investigating protein structures, dynamics and interactions in solution. In this work, dysprosium-, thulium- and terbium-complexes of eight-fold methylated 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid tags [DOTA-M8-(4R4S)-SSPy] are presented that induce large pseudocontact shifts up to 5.5 ppm and adopt exclusively the square antiprismatic conformation.

Probing the mystery of Liesegang band formation: revealing the origin of self-organized dual-frequency micro and nanoparticle arrays.

Periodic precipitation processes in gels can result in impressive micro- and nanostructured patterns known as periodic precipitation (or Liesegang bands). Under certain conditions, the silver nitrate-chromium(vi) system exhibits the coexistence of two kinds of Liesegang bands with different frequencies. We now present that the two kinds of bands form independently on different time scales and the pH-dependent chromate(vi)-dichromate(vi) equilibrium controls the formation of the precipitates.

A self-assembled, multicomponent water oxidation device.

Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) and drop-cast (DC) films prepared from [Ru(1)3][PF6]2 and Co4POM (1= 4,4'-bis((n)nonyl)-2,2'-bipyridine, Co4POM = K10[Co4(H2O)2(α-PW9O34)2]) have been evaluated as water oxidation catalysts and their electrocatalytic performances are reported; DC films evolve more O2 per unit area than LB films and the catalyst is stable on an FTO surface for ≈500-600 minutes.

Growth of nanoparticles and microparticles by controlled reaction-diffusion processes.

The synthesis of different sizes of nanoparticles and microparticles is important in designing nanostructured materials with various properties. Wet synthesis methods lack the flexibility to create various sizes of particles (particle libraries) using fixed conditions without the repetition of the steps in the method with a new set of parameters. Here, we report a synthesis method based on nucleation and particle growth in the wake of a moving chemical front in a gel matrix.

Monomer, dimer or cyclic helicate? Coordination diversity with hard-soft P,N-donor ligands.

We report the synthesis of copper(I) complexes of three ligands which contain a potential P,N,N,P-metal binding site. Elemental analysis confirms that the bulk products possess a composition of [CuL][PF6] where L = 1, 2 or 3. Electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI MS) provides evidence for speciation in MeCN or MeOH solutions and the formation of both [CuL]+ and [Cu2L2]2+; addition of NaCl to the ESI MS samples aids the observation of dinuclear species as [Cu2L2Cl]+ ions.

Tuning the photophysical properties of cationic iridium(III) complexes containing cyclometallated 1-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-1H-pyrazole through functionalized 2,2'-bipyridine ligands: blue but not blue enough.

Four new heteroleptic iridium(III) complexes in the family [Ir(dfppz)(2)(N^N)](+), where Hdfppz = 1-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-1H-pyrazole and N^N = 6-phenyl-2,2'-bipyridine (1), 4,4'-(di-tert-butyl)-6-phenyl-2,2'-bipyridine (2), 4,4'-(di-tert-butyl)-6,6'-diphenyl-2,2'-bipyridine (3) and 4,4'-bis(dimethylamino)-2,2'-bipyridine (4), have been synthesized as the hexafluoridophosphate salts and fully characterized. Single crystal structures of ligand 3 and the precursor [Ir(2)(dfppz)(4)(μ-Cl)(2)] have been determined, along with the structures of the complexes 4{[Ir(dfppz)(2)(1)][PF(6)]}·3CH(2)Cl(2), [Ir(dfppz)(2)(3)][PF(6)]·CH(2)Cl(2) and [Ir(dfppz)(2)(4)][PF(6)]·CH(2)Cl(2). The role of inter- and intramolecular face-to-face π-stacking in the solid state is discussed.