From synthesis to applications of biomolecule-protected luminescent gold nanoclusters.

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are a class of novel luminescent nanomaterials that exhibit unique properties of ultra-small size, featuring strong anti-photo-bleaching ability, substantial Stokes shift, good biocompatibility, and low toxicity. Various biomolecules have been developed as templates or ligands to protect AuNCs with enhanced stability and luminescent properties for biomedical applications. In this review, the synthesis of AuNCs based on biomolecules including amino acids, peptides, proteins and DNA are summarized. Owing to the advantages of biomolecule-protected AuNCs, they have been employed extensively for diverse applications. The biological applications, particularly in bioimaging, biosensing, disease therapy and biocatalysis have been described in detail herein. Finally, current challenges and future potential prospects of bio-templated AuNCs in biological research are briefly discussed.

Bimetallic Coordination Polymers: Synthesis and Applications in Biosensing and Biomedicine.

Bimetallic coordination polymers (CPs) have two different metal ions as connecting nodes in their polymer structure. The synthesis methods of bimetallic CPs are mainly categorized into the one-pot method and post-synthesis modifications according to various needs. Compared with monometallic CPs, bimetallic CPs have synergistic effects and excellent properties, such as higher gas adsorption rate, more efficient catalytic properties, stronger luminescent properties, and more stable loading platforms, which have been widely applied in the fields of gas adsorption, catalysis, energy storage as well as conversion, and biosensing. In recent years, the study of bimetallic CPs synergized with cancer drugs and functional nanomaterials for the therapy of cancer has increasingly attracted the attention of scientists. This review presents the research progress of bimetallic CPs in biosensing and biomedicine in the last five years and provides a perspective for their future development.

An Ir(III) cyclometalate-functionalized molecularly imprinted polymer: photophysics, photochemistry and chemosensory applications.

A luminescent trimethylamine (TMA) sensor, PTMA-Ir, has been designed and synthesized through immobilizing a phosphorescent iridium(III) complex on a TMA-imprinted polymer. Detailed study shows that the quenching of phosphorescence of PTMA-Ir can serve as a reporter for the binding of TMA on the imprinting sites, thus providing a sensitive, selective, and rapid detection of TMA in both aqueous solutions and gaseous states. Loading PTMA-Ir on filter paper produced a deposition T-Ir, the phosphorescence of which is quenched within 5 s upon exposure to TMA vapor with detection limits of 9.0 ± 0.1 ppm under argon and 15.0 ± 0.1 ppm in an air atmosphere. This work provided an effective method for establishing an imprinting polymer-immobilized luminescent amine sensor.

Photoredox Catalysis for the Fabrication of Water-Repellent Surfaces with Application for Oil/Water Separation.

Silanization processes with perfluoroalkyl silanes have been demonstrated to be effective in developing advanced materials with many functional properties, including hydrophobicity, water repellency, and self-cleaning properties. However, practical industrial applications of perfluoroalkyl silanes are limited by their extremely high cost. On the basis of our recent work on photoredox catalysis for amidation with perfluoroalkyl iodides, its application for surface chemical modification on filter paper, as an illustrative example, has been developed and evaluated. Before photocatalytic amidation, the surface is functionalized with amine functional groups by silanization with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propylamine. All chemically modified surfaces have been fully characterized by attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and three-dimensional (3D) profiling to confirm the successful silanization and photocatalytic amidation. After surface modification of the filter papers with perfluoroalkanamide, they show high water repellency and hydrophobicity with contact angles over 120°. These filter papers possess high wetting selectivity, which can be used to effectively separate the organic and aqueous biphasic mixtures. The perfluoroalkanamide-modified filter papers can be used for separating organic/aqueous biphasic mixtures over many cycles without lowering the separating efficiency, indicating their reusability and excellent durability.

Visible light photocatalytic cross-coupling and addition reactions of arylalkynes with perfluoroalkyl iodides.

Visible light photocatalytic cross-coupling and addition reactions of arylalkynes with perfluoroalkyl iodides have been developed. Through slight modifications of the reaction conditions, reactions that are selective for the preparation of the C-C coupling product (perfluoroalkyl alkynes) and the addition products (iodo-perfluoroalkyl substituted alkenes) can be achieved. These reactions work well with different types of alkynes and perfluoroalkyl iodides. As the iodide generated from the reaction can serve as a reductant to regenerate the photocatalyst from its oxidized form, no sacrificial electron donor is required.

Electronic Communication in Luminescent Dicyanorhenate-Bridged Homotrinuclear Rhenium(I) Complexes.

A series of cyano-bridged homotrinuclear Re(I) complexes with the general formula of {[Re]'[Re][Re]'}+ {[Re]' = -[ReI(CO)2(LL)(X)]; [Re] = -[(NC)ReI(CO)2(phen)(CN)]-; LL = diimine, diphosphine, or two carbonyl ligands; X = triphenylphosphine or carbonyl ligand} and the corresponding mononuclear complex analogues were synthesized. The structures of most of the trinuclear Re(I) complexes have been determined by X-ray crystallography. The relative orientations of peripheral to central Re(I) units in these structures vary considerably. The photophysical properties of these trinuclear Re(I) complexes have been examined. Except for the trinuclear Re(I) complex with Br2phen ligand, all the other triads display orange to red photoluminescence derived from the 3MLCT [dπ(Re) → π*(phen)] origin of the central Re(I) unit, suggestive of efficient energy transfer between the peripheral chromophores and the central unit. In addition to the efficient energy transfer processes between the Re(I) chromophores in these trinuclear complexes, the ability of the [NC-Re-CN] bridging ligands for electronic coupling between the rhenium metal centers is evidenced by ca. 0.2-0.3 V separation of the two rhenium metal-based oxidation potentials of the chemically equivalent peripheral units.

[1,3-Bis(diphenyl-phosphan-yl)propane-κP,P'](1,10-phenanthroline-κN,N')copper(I) perchlorate.

The title compound, [Cu(C(12)H(8)N(2))(C(27)H(26)P(2))]ClO(4), crystallizes with two Cu(I) complex cations and two perchlorate anions in the asymmetric unit. Each Cu(I) cation is four-coordinated by two P atoms of a 1,3-bis-(diphenyl-phosphan-yl)propane mol-ecule and two N atoms of a 1,10-phenanthroline ligand, with a coordination geometry that can be considered as distorted tetra-hedral. The crystal studied was twinned with a twin ratio of 0.786 (2):0.214 (2).

[µ-1,2-Bis(diphenyl-phosphino)ethane-κP:P']bis-{[1,2-bis-(diphenyl-phosphino)ethane-κP,P']cyanidocopper(I)} methanol disolvate.

The title centrosymmetric complex, [Cu(2)(CN)(2)(C(26)H(24)P(2))(3)]·2CH(3)OH, consists of two five-membered [Cu(dppe)CN] rings [dppe is 1,2-bis-(diphenyl-phosphino)ethane] bridged by one µ(2)-dppe ligand, and two methanol solvent mol-ecules. The angles around the central metal atom indicate that each Cu(I) atom is located in the center of a distorted tetra-hedron. The coordination sphere of each Cu(I) atom is formed by three P atoms from two dppe ligands, and one C atom from the cyanide ligand. The crystal structure is stabilized by O-H⋯N hydrogen bonds, which are formed by the O-H donor group from methanol and the N-atom acceptor from a cyanide ligand.