Effects of incorporation of azido moieties into the hydrophobic core of coiled coil peptides.

The secondary structure of the coiled coil peptides was regulated by altering the azido content at the hydrophobic core. These peptides were further investigated to form higher-order assemblies presumably via azido-mediated interactions.

Role of grafted alkoxybenzylidene ligand in silica-supported Hoveyda-Grubbs-type catalysts.

Using both circulating flow and batch reaction systems, we explored the role of immobilized alkoxybenzylidene ligands in capturing and stabilizing active ruthenium species. The bidentate ligands turned out to considerably affect reaction rate, catalyst decomposition, leaching and recycling. It was also observed that the dynamic release-return catalytic pathway worked more efficiently in a batch system leading to less catalyst decomposition and leaching.

MCF-supported boronic acids as efficient catalysts for direct amide condensation of carboxylic acids and amines.

For efficient direct amide condensations, a new class of catalysts are developed by immobilizing boronic acids on mesocellular siliceous foam. Associated with their large pores, the microenvironments surrounding the immobilized active species greatly influence the catalytic activity. The fluoroalkyl moieties on the silica surface significantly enhance the catalytic performance along with easy recovery and reuse. This approach proposes a potential way to optimize various types of silica-supported catalysts.

Highly selective macrocycle formations by metathesis catalysts fixated in nanopores.

Ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts immobilized on mesocellular siliceous foam (MCF) bearing large nanopores proved highly efficient and selective for macrocyclic ring-closing metathesis (RCM). Kinetic studies revealed that the homogeneous counterpart exhibited far higher activity that accounted for more oligomerization pathways and resulted in less macrocyclization products. Meanwhile, the immobilized catalysts showed lower conversion rates leading to higher yields of macrocyclic products in a given reaction time, with conversion rates and yields dependent upon pore size, catalyst loading density, and linker length. The macrocycle formations via RCM were accelerated by increasing the pore size and decreasing the catalyst loading density while retaining the comparably high yield. The catalysts immobilized on MCF, of which silica surface is rigid and pores are relatively large, showed high conversion rates and yields compared with an analogue immobilized on TentaGel resins, of which backbone becomes flexible upon swelling in the reaction medium. It is noteworthy that the selectivity for the macrocyclic RCM can be significantly improved by tuning the catalyst initiation rates via immobilization onto the support materials in which well-defined three-dimentional network of large nanopores are deployed.

Magnetic nanoparticles entrapped in siliceous mesocellular foam: a new catalyst support.

γ-Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticles were formed inside the cage-like pores of mesocellular foam (MCF). These magnetic nanoparticles showed a uniform size distribution that could be easily controlled by the MCF pore size, as well as by the hydrocarbon chain length used for MCF surface modification. Throughout the entrapment process, the pore structure and surface area of the MCF remained intact. The resulting magnetic MCF facilitated the immobilization of biocatalysts, homogeneous catalysts, and nanoclusters. Moreover, the MCF allowed for facile catalyst recovery by using a simple magnet. The supported catalysts exhibited excellent catalytic efficiencies that were comparable to their homogeneous counterparts.