Core-shell cylinder (CSC) nanotemplates comprising mussel-inspired catechol-containing triblock copolymers for silver nanoparticle arrays and ion conductive channels.

Catechol moieties, which are found in mussel-adhesive proteins, allow the interaction of various kinds of materials that results in substantial adhesion to a wide variety of materials and in the reduction of metal ions to solid metals. Various types of catechol-containing polymers mimicking adhesion and reduction properties have been reported, however, due to its reactivity to a wide variety of functional groups, only a few reports about the formation of block and sequence controlled copolymers containing catechol groups. This is the first report about the synthesis of triblock copolymers containing catechol groups by reversible-addition fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization.

Mutational effects on O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase from hyperthermophile: contribution of ion-pair network to protein thermostability.

Ion pairs have been considered to be general stabilizing factors in hyperthermophilic proteins, but the present experimental data cannot fully explain how ion pairs and ion-pair networks contribute to the stability. In this paper, we show experimental evidence that not all of the internal ion pairs contribute to the thermal and thermodynamic stability, using O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase from Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1 (Tk-MGMT) as a model protein. Of three mutants in which an inter-helical ion pair was disrupted, only one mutant (E93A) was shown to be destabilized.

Tuning of Charge Density Wave Strengths by Competition between Electron-Phonon Interaction of Pd(II)-Pd(IV) Mixed-Valence States and Electron Correlation of Ni(III) States in Quasi-One-Dimensional Bromo-Bridged Ni-Pd Mixed-Metal MX Chain Compounds Ni(1)(-)(x)()Pd(x)()(chxn)(2)Br(3).

A series of single crystals of quasi-one-dimensional bromo-bridged Ni-Pd mixed-metal MX chain compounds Ni(1)(-)(x)()Pd(x)()(chxn)(2)Br(3) (chxn = 1(R),2(R)-diaminocyclohexane) have been obtained by electrochemical oxidation methods of the mixed methanol solutions of parent Ni(II) complex [Ni(chxn)(2)]Br(2) and Pd(II) complex [Pd(chxn)(2)]Br(2) with various mixing ratios. To investigate the competition between the electron correlation of the Ni(III) states (or spin density wave states) and the electron-phonon interaction of the Pd(II)-Pd(IV) mixed-valence states (or charge density wave states) in the Ni-Pd mixed-metal compounds, IR, Raman, ESR, XP, and Auger spectra have been measured. The IR, resonance Raman, XP, and Auger spectra show that the Pd(II)-Pd(IV) mixed-valence states are influenced and gradually approach the Pd(III) states with the increase of the Ni(III) components.

Tuning of Spin Density Wave Strengths in Quasi-One-Dimensional Halogen-Bridged Ni(III) Complexes with Strong Electron Correlations, [Ni(III)(chxn)(2)X]Y(2).

A series of quasi-one-dimensional halogen-bridged Ni(III) complexes, [Ni(chxn)(2)X]Y(2) (chxn = 1R,2R-diaminocyclohexane; X = Cl, Br, and mixed halides; Y = Cl, Br, mixed halides, NO(3), BF(4), and ClO(4)) have been synthesized in order to investigate the effect of the bridging halogens and counteranions on their crystal, electronic structures, and moreover the spin density wave strengths. In the crystal structures, the [Ni(chxn)(2)] moieties are symmetrically bridged by halogen ions, forming linear-chain Ni(III)-X-Ni(III) structures. The hydrogen bonds between the aminohydrogens of chxn and the counteranions are constructed not only along the chains but also over the chains, forming the two-dimensional hydrogen-bond networks.