Synthesis of NNN Chiral Ruthenium Complexes and Their Cytotoxicity Studies.

The synthesis and characterization of chiral pincer-ruthenium complexes of the type (R2NNN)RuCl2 (PPh3) (R = 3-methylbutyl and 3,3-dimethylbutyl) is reported here. The cytotoxicity studies of these complexes were studied and compared with the corresponding activity of achiral complexes. The cytotoxic effect of pincer-ruthenium complexes on human dermal fibroblasts and human tongue carcinoma cells assessed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay displayed an inhibition of normal and cancer cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level measurement, lactate dehydrogenase assay, DNA fragmentation, and necrosis studies revealed that treatment with pincer-ruthenium complexes induced a redox imbalance in SAS cells by upregulating ROS generation and caused necrotic cell death by disrupting the cellular membrane integrity.

Selective and high yield transformation of glycerol to lactic acid using NNN pincer ruthenium catalysts.

The conversion of glycerol selectively to lactic acid has been accomplished in high yields (ca. 90%) by using a NNN pincer-Ru catalyst. DFT explains the role of the Ru-P bond and sterics in favoring the catalysis.

The Z' = 12 superstructure of Λ-cobalt(III) sepulchrate trinitrate governed by C-H...O hydrogen bonds.

Λ-Cobalt(III) sepulchrate trinitrate crystallizes in P6322 with Z = 2 (Z' = 1/6) at room temperature. Slabs perpendicular to the hexagonal axis comprise molecules Co(sepulchrate) alternating with nitrate groups A and B. Coordinated by six sepulchrate molecules, highly disordered nitrate groups C are accommodated between the slabs. Here we report the fully ordered, low-temperature crystal structure of Co(sep)(NO3)3. It is found to be a high-Z' structure with Z' = 12 of the 12-fold 6a_{h}\times\sqrt{3}b_{h}\times c_{h} superstructure with monoclinic symmetry P21 (c unique). Correlations between structural parameters are effectively removed by refinements within the superspace approach. Superstructure formation is governed by a densification of the packing in conjunction with ordering of nitrate group C, the latter assuming different orientations for each of the Z' = 12 independent copies in the superstructure. The Co(sep) moiety exhibits small structural variations over its 12 independent copies, while orientations of nitrate groups A and B vary less than the orientations of the nitrate group C do. Molecular packing in the superstructure is found to be determined by short C-H...H-C contacts, with H...H distances of 2.2-2.3 Å, and by short C-H...O contacts, with H...O distances down to 2.2 Å. These contacts presumably represent weak C-H...O hydrogen bonds, but in any case they prevent further densification of the structure and strengthening of weak N-H...O hydrogen bonds with observed H...O distances of 2.4-2.6 Å.

Electron densities by the maximum entropy method (MEM) for various types of prior densities: a case study on three amino acids and a tripeptide.

Dynamic model densities according to Mondal et al. [(2012), Acta Cryst. A68, 568-581] are presented for independent atom models (IAM), IAMs after high-order refinements (IAM-HO), invariom (INV) models and multipole (MP) models of α-glycine, DL-serine, L-alanine and Ala-Tyr-Ala at T ≃ 20 K. Each dynamic model density is used as prior in the calculation of electron density according to the maximum entropy method (MEM). We show that at the bond-critical points (BCPs) of covalent C-C and C-N bonds the IAM-HO and INV priors produce reliable MEM density maps, including reliable values for the density and its Laplacian. The agreement between these MEM density maps and dynamic MP density maps is less good for polar C-O bonds, which is explained by the large spread of values of topological descriptors of C-O bonds in static MP densities. The density and Laplacian at BCPs of hydrogen bonds have similar values in MEM density maps obtained with all four kinds of prior densities. This feature is related to the smaller spatial variation of the densities in these regions, as expressed by small magnitudes of the Laplacians and the densities. It is concluded that the use of the IAM-HO prior instead of the IAM prior leads to improved MEM density maps. This observation shows interesting parallels to MP refinements, where the use of the IAM-HO as an initial model is the accepted procedure for solving MP parameters. A deconvolution of thermal motion and static density that is better than the deconvolution of the IAM appears to be necessary in order to arrive at the best MP models as well as at the best MEM densities.

Experimental dynamic electron densities of multipole models at different temperatures.

It is shown that the dynamic electron density corresponding to a structure model can be computed by inverse Fourier transform of accurately calculated structure factors, employing the method of fast Fourier transform. Maps free of series-termination effects are obtained for resolutions better than 0.04 Šin direct space, corresponding to resolutions larger than 6 Å(-1) in reciprocal space. Multipole (MP) models of α-glycine and D,L-serine at different temperatures have been determined by refinement against X-ray diffraction data obtained from the scientific literature. The successful construction of dynamic electron densities is demonstrated by their topological properties, which indicate local maxima and bond-critical points (BCPs) at positions expected on the basis of the corresponding static electron densities, while non-atomic maxima have not been found. Density values near atomic maxima are much smaller in dynamic than in static electron densities. Static and low-temperature (∼20 K) dynamic electron-density maps are found to be surprisingly similar in the low-density regions. Especially at BCPs, values of the ∼20 K dynamic density maps are only slightly smaller than values of the corresponding static density maps. The major effect of these zero-point vibrations is a modification of the second derivatives of the density, which is most pronounced for values at the BCPs of polar C-O bonds. Nevertheless, dynamic MP electron densities provide an estimate of reasonable accuracy for the topological properties at BCPs of the corresponding static electron densities. The difference between static and dynamic electron densities increases with increasing temperature. These differences might provide information on temperature-dependent molecular or solid-state properties like chemical stability and reactivity. In regions of still lower densities, like in hydrogen bonds, static and dynamic electron densities have similar appearances within the complete range of temperatures that have been considered (20-298 K), providing similar values of both the density and its Laplacian at BCPs in static and dynamic electron densities at all temperatures.