SERS detection and boron delivery to cancer cells using carborane labelled nanoparticles.

Water-soluble carborane functionalized nanoparticles also co-functionalized with targeting antibodies have been prepared. We demonstrate tumour cell targeting with anti-EGFR antibodies and delivery of a high concentration of boron using SERS imaging. This suggests these materials have a therapeutic potential in addition to multimodal imaging capabilities.

Ethyl 6-methyl-4-[2-(4,4,5,5-tetra-methyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)thio-phen-3-yl]-2-thioxo-1,2,3,4-tetra-hydro-pyrimidine-5-carboxyl-ate.

A new Biginelli compound, C(18)H(25)BN(2)O(4)S(2), containing a boronate ester group was synthesized from a lithium bromide-catalysed reaction. The compound crystallizes with two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit that differ mainly in the conformation of the ester functionality. The crystal structure is stabilized by inter-molecular N-H⋯O and N-H⋯S hydrogen bonds involving the 3,4-dihydro-pyrimidine-2(1H)-thione NH groups as donors and the carbonyl O and thio-phene S atoms as acceptors.