Retraction: Two-step naked-eye detection of lectin by hierarchical organization of soft nanotubes into liquid crystal and gel phases.

Retraction of 'Two-step naked-eye detection of lectin by hierarchical organization of soft nanotubes into liquid crystal and gel phases' by Naohiro Kameta , , 2015, , 6816-6819, https://doi.org/10.1039/C5CC01464F.

Nitroxyl Catalysts for Six-Membered Ring Bromolactonization and Intermolecular Bromoesterification of Alkenes with Carboxylic Acids.

We developed a nitroxyl-catalyzed bromoesterification of alkenes with bromo reagents, which includes a six-membered ring bromolactonization of alkenyl carboxylic acids catalyzed by AZADO as the nitroxyl radical catalyst, and an intermolecular bromoesterification of alkenes with carboxylic acids using NMO as the -oxide catalyst. We also accomplished a remote diastereoselective bromohydroxylation via an AZADO-catalyzed six-membered ring bromolactonization and a subsequent ring cleavage reaction with alkylamines to furnish ε-bromo-δ-hydroxy amides with high diastereoselectivity.

Direct N-Glycofunctionalization of Amides with Glycosyl Trichloroacetimidate by Thiourea/Halogen Bond Donor Co-Catalysis.

Using a halogen bond (XB) donor and Schreiner's thiourea as cooperative catalysts, various amides, including the asparagine residues of several peptides, were directly coupled with glycosyl trichloroacetimidates to give unique N-acylorthoamides in good yields. Synthetic applications of N-acylorthoamides, including rearrangement to the corresponding β-N-glycoside, were also demonstrated.

Electrophilic Activation of Iodonium Ylides by Halogen-Bond-Donor Catalysis for Cross-Enolate Coupling.

The umpolung alkylation of silyl enol ethers with an iodonium(III) ylide proceeds under mild conditions to afford various 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds in high yields in the presence of a halogen-bonding catalyst. Unlike typical transition-metal activation processes of such ylide precursors, which tend to proceed via carbenoid intermediates, experimental and computational studies indicate that halogen bonding (XB) between the XB donor catalyst and the iodonium ylide plays a crucial role in promoting the reaction. The identification of a compatible Bronsted base catalyst enabled the extension of this method to enols generated in situ to give the corresponding adducts in good yields.

Identification of the current path for a conductive molecular wire on a tripodal platform.

We present the chemical synthesis as well as charge transport measurements and calculations for a new tripodal platform based on a rigid 9,9'-spirobifluorene equipped with a phenylene-ethynylene wire. The transport experiments are performed with the help of the low-temperature mechanically controlled break junction technique with gold electrodes. By combining experimental and theoretical investigations of elastic and inelastic charge transport, we show that the current proceeds through the designated molecular wire and identify a binding geometry that is compatible with the experimental observations.

Density-Functional Tight-Binding Combined with the Fragment Molecular Orbital Method.

We developed the energy and its gradient for the self-consistent-charge density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) method, combined with the fragment molecular orbital (FMO) approach, FMO-DFTB, including an optional a posteriori treatment for dispersion interaction, and evaluated its accuracy as well as computational efficiency for a set of representative systems: polypeptides, a DNA segment, and a small protein. The error in the total energy of FMO-DFTB versus full SCC-DFTB was below 1 kcal/mol for the polyalanine system consisting of about 2000 atoms partitioned into fragments containing 2 residues, and the optimized structures had root-mean-square deviations below 0.1 Å.

Poly(benzoquinonyl sulfide) as a High-Energy Organic Cathode for Rechargeable Li and Na Batteries.

In concern of resource sustainability and environmental friendliness, organic electrode materials for rechargeable batteries have attracted increasing attentions in recent years. However, for many researchers, the primary impression on organic cathode materials is the poor cycling stability and low energy density, mainly due to the unfavorable dissolution and low redox potential, respectively. Herein, a novel polymer cathode material, namely poly(benzoquinonyl sulfide) (PBQS) is reported, for either rechargeable Li or Na battery.

Tuning localized transverse surface plasmon resonance in electricity-selected single-wall carbon nanotubes by electrochemical doping.

Localized surface-plasmon resonance affects the optical absorption and scattering of nanosized materials. The intensities and peak energies of the surface plasmons strongly depend on the carrier density; thus, the optical absorption peaks originating from the surface-plasmon resonance can be manipulated by the density of injected carriers. In single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), the correct identification of surface-plasmon resonance modes is of great interest due to their emerging plasmonic and optoelectronic applications.

Photoinduced morphological transformations of soft nanotubes.

In water, synthetic amphiphiles composed of a photoresponsive azobenzene moiety and an oligoglycine hydrogen-bonding moiety selectively self-assembled into nanotubes with solid bilayer membranes. The nanotubes underwent morphological transformations induced by photoisomerization of the azobenzene moiety within the membranes, and the nature of the transformation depended on the number of glycine residues in the oligoglycine moiety (i.e.

Two-step naked-eye detection of lectin by hierarchical organization of soft nanotubes into liquid crystal and gel phases.

Depending on the concentration of a lectin analyte, supramolecular soft nanotubes, bearing recognition sites immobilized on the outer surface through ethylene glycol chains, hierarchically organized into naked-eye-detectable liquid crystals and hydrogels.

Effects of oxygen adsorption on the surface state of epitaxial silicene on Ag(111).

Epitaxial silicene, which is one single layer of silicon atoms packed in a honeycomb structure, demonstrates a strong interaction with the substrate that dramatically affects its electronic structure. The role of electronic coupling in the chemical reactivity between the silicene and the substrate is still unclear so far, which is of great importance for functionalization of silicene layers. Here, we report the reconstructions and hybridized electronic structures of epitaxial 4 × 4 silicene on Ag(111), which are revealed by scanning tunneling microscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

Dynamic pattern formation of liquid crystals using binary self-assembled monolayers on an ITO surface under DC voltage.

There have been numerous studies of liquid crystal (LC) convection using sandwich-type LC cells under AC voltage. In contrast to previous LC convection studies under AC voltage, we propose the use of a binary self-assembled monolayer (SAM) with a redox-active Ru complex and insulating octadecyl phosphonic acid (C18) molecules on an indium tin oxide (ITO) surface as the electrode of sandwich-type LC cells under DC bias voltage. This is because the functionalized molecules immobilized on the ITO surface are expected to control the LC orientation and electrical conduction of LC cells, under an exact DC bias voltage.

Influence of Belousov-Zhabotinsky substrate concentrations on autonomous oscillation of polymer chains with Fe(bpy)3 catalyst.

We studied the effect of initial substrate concentrations in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction on the optical transmittance self-oscillation behavior of a polymer chain consisting of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and a Fe catalyst ([Fe(bpy)3]). The driving force of this transmittance self-oscillation was the solubility difference between the reduced and oxidized states of the [Fe(bpy)3] moiety in the polymer chain. The amplitude of the soluble-insoluble self-oscillation of poly(NIPAAm-co-[Fe(bpy)3]) was significantly smaller than that of poly(NIPAAm-co-[Ru(bpy)3]).

A liquid crystalline chirality balance for vapours.

Chiral discrimination of vapours plays an important role in olfactory perception of biological systems and its realization by artificial sensors has been an intriguing challenge. Here, we report a simple method that tangibly visualizes the chirality of a diverse variety of molecules dissolved from vapours with high sensitivity, by making use of a structural change in a periodic microstructure of a nematic liquid crystal confined in open microchannels. This microstructure is accompanied by a topological line defect of a zigzag form with equal lengths of 'zig' and 'zag.

Hybrid RHF/MP2 geometry optimizations with the effective fragment molecular orbital method.

The frozen domain effective fragment molecular orbital method is extended to allow for the treatment of a single fragment at the MP2 level of theory. The approach is applied to the conversion of chorismate to prephenate by Chorismate Mutase, where the substrate is treated at the MP2 level of theory while the rest of the system is treated at the RHF level. MP2 geometry optimization is found to lower the barrier by up to 3.

Generative force of self-oscillating gel.

We succeeded in measuring the generative force of a self-oscillating polymer gel in an aqueous solution comprising the three substrates of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction (malonic acid, sodium bromate, and nitric acid) under constant temperature. In this study, we developed an apparatus with a microforce sensor for measuring the generative force of small-sized gels (1 mm(3)). The self-oscillating polymer gel directly converts the chemical energy of the BZ reaction into mechanical work.

Self-oscillation of polymer chains with an Fe(bpy)3 catalyst induced by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction.

We successfully synthesized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) covalently bonded to a Fe(bpy)3 catalyst moiety for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the polymer chain in the oxidized state had a slightly greater than that in the reduced state. This resulted in the polymer undergoing soluble-insoluble self-oscillation induced by the BZ reaction at constant temperatures.

Switching the BZ reaction with a strong-acid-free gel.

In the present study, a novel gel with a semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN) that undergo the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction without the addition of a strong acid (HNO3 or H2SO4) was developed. The required concentrations of the BZ substrates, sodium bromate (NaBrO3) and malonic acid (MA), under these conditions were higher than under the normal BZ reaction conditions, involving the addition of a strong acid. The period of the BZ reaction with the novel gel (semi-IPN BZ gel) decreased with increasing concentrations of NaBrO3 and MA.

Universal medium-range order of amorphous metal oxides.

We propose that the structure of amorphous metal oxides can be regarded as a dual-dense-random-packing structure, which is a superposition of the dense random packing of metal atoms and that of oxygen atoms. Our ab initio molecular dynamics simulations show that the medium-range order of amorphous HfO2, ZrO2, TiO2, In2O3, Ga2O3, Al2O3, and Cu2O is characterized by the pentagonal-bipyramid arrangement of metal atoms and that of oxygen atoms, and prove the validity of our dual-random-sphere-packing model. In other words, we find that the pentagonal medium-range order is universal independent of type of metal oxide.

Direct observation of periodic swelling and collapse of polymer chain induced by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction.

By utilizing a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), we directly observed the self-oscillating behavior of a polymer chain induced by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. We succeeded in measuring self-oscillations of the resonance frequency (Δf) and dissipation (ΔD), which originate in the self-oscillating behavior of the polymer chain on a gold surface induced by the BZ reaction. We synthesized a self-oscillating polymer chain with Ru as the catalyst of the BZ reaction and a chemical adsorption site, so as to directly observe its periodic swelling and collapse on the gold surface.

Thermoelectric efficiency of organometallic complex wires via quantum resonance effect and long-range electric transport property.

Superior long-range electric transport has been observed in several organometallic wires. Here, we discuss the role of the metal center in the electric transport and examine the possibility of high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) by controlling the quantum resonance effects. We examined a few metal center (and metal-free) terpyridine-based complexes by first-principles calculations and clarified the role of the metals in determining the transport properties.

Control of self-assembled morphology and molecular packing of asymmetric glycolipids by association/dissociation with poly(thiopheneboronic acid).

The molecular packing and self-assembled morphologies of asymmetric bolaamphiphiles, N-(2-aminoethyl)-N'-(β-d-glucopyranosyl)alkanediamide [1(n), n = 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, and 20], were precisely controlled by association/dissociation with poly(thiopheneboronic acid) (PTB). Differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy revealed that the starting film of 1(n) associated with 1 equiv of the boronic acid moiety of PTB, (Film-1(n)PTB), had antiparallel molecular packing of 1(n) moiety within the monolayer membranes. However, the molecular packing of the starting film that contained 0.

Photoresponse enhancement by mixing of an alcohol-soluble C60 derivative into a ruthenium complex monolayer.

We have investigated the effect of mixing an alcohol-soluble C60 derivative into a self-assembled monolayer (SAM), which consisted of a redox-active Ru-complex with multipoint anchoring groups, on an indium tin oxide surface. Angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the mixed SAM revealed that the C60 derivative was well incorporated into the redox-active Ru-complex SAM. In addition, some of the C60 derivatives were present on the mixed SAM surface.

Control of molecular orientations of poly(3-hexylthiophene) on self-assembled monolayers: molecular dynamics simulations.

We theoretically investigate the energetically favorable orientation of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) using molecular dynamics simulations. The effects of different kinds of SAMs are studied by examining a CH3-terminated SAM with a hydrophobic surface and an NH2-terminated SAM with a hydrophilic surface. We also investigate dynamic behavior of the systems with limited numbers of P3HT molecules on the SAM surfaces.

Origin of attraction in chalgogen-nitrogen interaction of 1,2,5-chalcogenadiazole dimers.

Intermolecular interaction in the 1,2,5-chalcogenadiazole dimers was studied by ab initio molecular orbital calculations. Estimated CCSD(T) interaction energies for the thia-, selena- and tellura-diazole dimers are -3.14, -5.