A fluorescent paramagnetic Mn metal-organic framework based on semi-rigid pyrene tetra-carboxylic acid: sensing of solvent polarity and explosive nitroaromatics.

An Mn metal-organic framework (Mn-MOF), Mn-L, based on a pyrene-tetraacid linker (H4 L), displays a respectable fluorescence quantum yield of 8.3% in spite of the presence of the paramagnetic metal ions, due presumably to fixation of the metal ions in geometries that do not allow complete energy/charge-transfer quenching. Remarkably, the porous Mn-L MOF with ∼25% solvent-accessible volume exhibits a heretofore unprecedented solvent-dependent fluorescence emission maximum, permitting its use as a probe of solvent polarity; the emission maxima in different solvents correlate excellently with Reichardt's solvent polarity parameter (E T (N)). Further, the applicability of Mn-L to the sensing of nitroaromatics via fluorescence quenching is demonstrated; the detection limit for TNT is shown to be 125 p.p.m. The results bring out the fact that MOFs based on paramagnetic metal ions can indeed find application when the quenching mechanisms are attenuated by certain geometries of the organic linkers of the MOF.

Single crystal-to-single crystal site-selective postsynthetic metal exchange in a Zn-MOF based on semi-rigid tricarboxylic acid and access to bimetallic MOFs.

The metal ions in a neutral Zn-MOF constructed from tritopic triacid H3 L with inherent concave features, rigid core, and peripheral flexibility are found to exist in two distinct SBUs, that is, 0D and 1D. This has allowed site-selective postsynthetic metal exchange (PSME) to be investigated and reactivities of the metal ions in two different environments in coordination polymers to be contrasted for the first time. Site-selective transmetalation of Zn ions in the discrete environment is shown to occur in a single crystal-to-single crystal (SCSC) fashion, with metal ions such as Fe(3+) , Ru(3+) , Cu(2+) , Co(2+) , etc., whereas those that are part of 1D SBU sustain structural integrity, leading to novel bimetallic MOFs, which are inaccessible by conventional approaches. To the best of our knowledge, site-selective postsynthetic exchange of an intraframework metal ion in a MOF that contains metal ions in discrete as well as polymeric SBUs is heretofore unprecedented.

Mobility in the structure of E.coli recQ helicase upon substrate binding as seen from molecular dynamics simulations.

RecQ helicases feature multiple domains in their structure, of which the helicase domain, the RecQ-Ct domain and the HRDC domains are well conserved among the SF2 helicases. The helicase domain and the RecQ-Ct domain constitute the catalytic core of the enzyme. The domain interfaces are the DNA binding sites which display significant conformational changes in our molecular dynamics simulation studies. The preferred conformational states of the DNA bound and unbound forms of RecQ appear to be quite different from each other. DNA binding induces inter-domain flexibility leading to hinge mobility between the domains. The divergence in the dynamics of the two structures is caused by changes in the interactions at the domain interface, which seems to propagate along the whole protein structure. This could be essential in ssDNA binding after strand separation, as well as aiding translocation of the RecQ protein like an inch-worm.