Search Results

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
  • Item
    Squalenyl Hydrogen Sulfate Nanoparticles for Simultaneous Delivery of Tobramycin and an Alkylquinolone Quorum Sensing Inhibitor Enable the Eradication of P. aeruginosa Biofilm Infections
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2020) Ho, D.-K.; Murgia, X.; De Rossi, C.; Christmann, R.; Hüfner de Mello Martins, A.G.; Koch, M.; Andreas, A.; Herrmann, J.; Müller, R.; Empting, M.; Hartmann, R.W.; Desmaele, D.; Loretz, B.; Couvreur, P.; Lehr, C.-M.
    Elimination of pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infections is challenging to accomplish with antibiotic therapies, mainly due to resistance mechanisms. Quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) interfering with biofilm formation can thus complement antibiotics. For simultaneous and improved delivery of both active agents to the infection sites, self-assembling nanoparticles of a newly synthesized squalenyl hydrogen sulfate (SqNPs) were prepared. These nanocarriers allowed for remarkably high loading capacities of hydrophilic antibiotic tobramycin (Tob) and a novel lipophilic QSI at 30 % and circa 10 %, respectively. The drug-loaded SqNPs showed improved biofilm penetration and enhanced efficacy in relevant biological barriers (mucin/human tracheal mucus, biofilm), leading to complete eradication of PA biofilms at circa 16-fold lower Tob concentration than Tob alone. This study offers a viable therapy optimization and invigorates the research and development of QSIs for clinical use.
  • Item
    Mixed-ligand lanthanide complexes supported by ditopic bis(imino-methyl)-phenol/calix[4]arene macrocycles: synthesis, structures, and luminescence properties of [Ln2(L2)(MeOH)2] (Ln = La, Eu, Tb, Yb)
    (London : Soc., 2020) Ullmann, Steve; Hahn, Peter; Mini, Parvathy; Tuck, Kellie L.; Kahnt, Axel; Abel, Bernd; Gutierrez Suburu, Matias E.; Strassert, Cristian A.; Kersting, Berthold
    The lanthanide binding ability of a macrocyclic ligand H6L2 comprising two bis(iminomethyl)phenol and two calix[4]arene units has been studied. H6L2 is a ditopic ligand which provides dinuclear neutral complexes of composition [Ln2(L2)(MeOH)2] (Ln = La (1), Eu (2), Tb (3), and Yb (4)) in very good yield. X-ray crystal structure analyses for 2 and 3 show that (L2)6- accommodates two seven coordinated lanthanide ions in a distorted monocapped trigonal prismatic/octahedral coordination environment. UV-vis spectroscopic titrations performed with La3+, Eu3+, Tb3+ and Yb3+ ions in mixed MeOH/CH2Cl2 solution (I = 0.01 M NBu4PF6) reveal that a 2 : 1 (metal : ligand) stoichiometry is present in solution, with log K11 and K21 values ranging from 5.25 to 6.64. The ratio α = K11/K21 of the stepwise formation constants for the mononuclear (L2 + M = ML2, log K11) and the dinuclear complexes (ML2 + M = M2L2, log K21) was found to be invariably smaller than unity indicating that the binding of the first Ln3+ ion augments the binding of the second Ln3+ ion. The present complexes are less luminescent than other seven-coordinated Eu and Tb complexes, which can be traced to vibrational relaxation of excited EuIII and TbIII states by the coligated MeOH and H2O molecules and/or low-lying ligand-to-metal charge-transfer (LMCT) states. © 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
  • Item
    Ligand electronic fine-tuning and its repercussion on the photocatalytic activity and mechanistic pathways of the copper-photocatalysed aza-Henry reaction
    (London : RSC Publ., 2020) Li, Chenfei; Dickson, Robert; Rockstroh, Nils; Rabeah, Jabor; Cordes, David B.; Slawin, Alexandra M.Z.; Hünemörder, Paul; Spannenberg, Anke; Bühl, Michael; Mejía, Esteban; Zysman-Colman, Eli; Kamer, Paul C.J.
    A family of six structurally related heteroleptic copper(i) complexes of the form of [Cu(N^N)(P^P)]+ bearing a 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline diimine (N^N) ligand and a series of electronically tunable xantphos (P^P) ligands have been synthesized and their optoelectronic properties characterized. The reactivity of these complexes in the copper-photocatalyzed aza-Henry reaction of N-phenyltetrahydroisoquinoline was evaluated, while the related excited state kinetics were comprehensively studied. By subtlety changing the electron-donating properties of the P^P ligands with negligible structural differences, we could tailor the photoredox properties and relate them to the reactivity. Moreover, depending on the exited-state redox potential of the catalysts, the preferred mechanism can shift between reductive quenching, energy transfer and oxidative quenching pathways. A combined study of the structural modulation of copper(i) photocatalysts, optoelectronic properties and photocatalytic reactivity resulted in a clearer understanding of both the rational design of the photocatalyst and the complexity of competing photoinduced electron and energy transfer mechanisms. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
  • Item
    Azapeptide activity-based probes for the SARS-CoV-2 main protease enable visualization of inhibition in infected cells
    (Cambridge : RSC, 2023) Vanhoutte, Roeland; Barniol-Xicota, Marta; Chiu, Winston; Vangeel, Laura; Jochmans, Dirk; De Jonghe, Steven; Zidane, Hadeer; Barr, Haim M.; London, Nir; Neyts, Johan; Verhelst, Steven H. L.
    The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the vulnerability of the modern, global society. With expected waves of future infections by SARS-CoV-2, treatment options for infected individuals will be crucial in order to decrease mortality and hospitalizations. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease is a validated drug target, for which the first inhibitor has been approved for use in patients. To facilitate future work on this drug target, we designed a solid-phase synthesis route towards azapeptide activity-based probes that are capped with a cysteine-reactive electrophile for covalent modification of the active site of Mpro. This design led to the most potent ABP for Mpro and one of the most potent inhibitors reported thus far. We demonstrate that this ABP can be used to visualize Mpro activity and target engagement by drugs in infected cells.
  • Item
    General and selective synthesis of primary amines using Ni-based homogeneous catalysts
    (Cambridge : RSC, 2020) Murugesan, Kathiravan; Wei, Zhihong; Chandrashekhar, Vishwas G.; Jiao, Haijun; Beller, Matthias; Jagadeesh, Rajenahally V.
    The development of base metal catalysts for industrially relevant amination and hydrogenation reactions by applying abundant and atom economical reagents continues to be important for the cost-effective and sustainable synthesis of amines which represent highly essential chemicals. In particular, the synthesis of primary amines is of central importance because these compounds serve as key precursors and central intermediates to produce value-added fine and bulk chemicals as well as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and materials. Here we report a Ni-triphos complex as the first Ni-based homogeneous catalyst for both reductive amination of carbonyl compounds with ammonia and hydrogenation of nitroarenes to prepare all kinds of primary amines. Remarkably, this Ni-complex enabled the synthesis of functionalized and structurally diverse benzylic, heterocyclic and aliphatic linear and branched primary amines as well as aromatic primary amines starting from inexpensive and easily accessible carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) and nitroarenes using ammonia and molecular hydrogen. This Ni-catalyzed reductive amination methodology has been applied for the amination of more complex pharmaceuticals and steroid derivatives. Detailed DFT computations have been performed for the Ni-triphos based reductive amination reaction, and they revealed that the overall reaction has an inner-sphere mechanism with H2metathesis as the rate-determining step. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020.
  • Item
    Ultra-small cobalt nanoparticles from molecularly-defined Co-salen complexes for catalytic synthesis of amines
    (Cambridge : RSC, 2020) Senthamarai, Thirusangumurugan; Chandrashekhar, Vishwas G.; Gawande, Manoj B.; Kalevaru, Narayana V.; Zbořil, Radek; Kamer, Paul C.J.; Jagadeesh, Rajenahally V.; Beller, Matthias
    We report the synthesis of in situ generated cobalt nanoparticles from molecularly defined complexes as efficient and selective catalysts for reductive amination reactions. In the presence of ammonia and hydrogen, cobalt-salen complexes such as cobalt(ii)-N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-1,2-phenylenediamine produce ultra-small (2-4 nm) cobalt-nanoparticles embedded in a carbon-nitrogen framework. The resulting materials constitute stable, reusable and magnetically separable catalysts, which enable the synthesis of linear and branched benzylic, heterocyclic and aliphatic primary amines from carbonyl compounds and ammonia. The isolated nanoparticles also represent excellent catalysts for the synthesis of primary, secondary as well as tertiary amines including biologically relevant N-methyl amines. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
  • Item
    CpCo(i) precatalysts for [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions : Synthesis and reactivity
    (London : RSC Publ., 2020) Fischer, Fabian; Pientka, Tobias; Jiao, Haijun; Spannenberg, Anke; Hapke, Marko
    The efficient synthesis and structural characterisation of a series of novel CpCo(i)-olefin-phosphite/phosphoramidite complexes and their evaluation in catalytic cyclotrimerisation reactions are reported. The protocol for precatalyst synthesis is widely applicable to different P-containing ligands, especially phosphites and phosphoramidites, as well as acyclic and cyclic olefins. A selection of the prepared complexes was investigated towards their catalytic performance in [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions of diynes and nitriles, as well as triynes. While revealing significant differences in reactivity, the most reactive precatalysts work even already at 75 °C. One of these precatalysts also proved its potential in exemplary (co)cyclotrimerisations towards functionalised pyridines and benzenes. The energetics of complex formation and exemplary ligand exchange with a substrate diyne were elucidated by theoretical calculations and compared with the catalytic reactivity. © 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
  • Item
    Substrate Developments for the Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis of Graphene
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2020) Shi, Q.; Tokarska, K.; Ta, H.Q.; Yang, X.; Liu, Y.; Ullah, S.; Liu, L.; Trzebicka, B.; Bachmatiuk, A.; Sun, J.; Fu, L.; Liu, Z.; Rümmeli, M.H.
    Since the isolation of graphene and numerous demonstrations of its unique properties, the expectations for this material to be implemented in many future commercial applications have been enormous. However, to date, challenges still remain. One of the key challenges is the fabrication of graphene in a manner that satisfies processing requirements. While transfer of graphene can be used, this tends to damage or contaminate it, which degrades its performance. Hence, there is an important drive to grow graphene directly over a number of technologically important materials, viz., different substrate materials, so as to avoid the need for transfer. One of the more successful approaches to synthesis graphene is chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which is well established. Historically, transition metal substrates are used due to their catalytic properties. However, in recent years this has developed to include many nonmetal substrate systems. Moreover, both solid and molten substrate forms have also been demonstrated. In addition, the current trend to progress flexible devices has spurred interest in graphene growth directly over flexible materials surfaces. All these aspects are presented in this review which presents the developments in available substrates for graphene fabrication by CVD, with a focus primarily on large area graphene.
  • Item
    Hollow Au@TiO2 porous electrospun nanofibers for catalytic applications
    (Cambridge : RSC, 2020) Kumar, Labeesh; Singh, Sajan; Horechyy, Andriy; Formanek, Petr; Hübner, René; Albrecht, Victoria; Weißpflog, Janek; Schwarz, Simona; Puneet, Puhup; Nandan, Bhanu
    Catalytically active porous and hollow titania nanofibers encapsulating gold nanoparticles were fabricated using a combination of sol-gel chemistry and coaxial electrospinning technique. We report the fabrication of catalytically active porous and hollow titania nanofibers encapsulating gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using a combination of sol-gel chemistry and coaxial electrospinning technique. The coaxial electrospinning involved the use of a mixture of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and titania sol as the shell forming component, whereas a mixture of poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) and pre-synthesized AuNPs constituted the core forming component. The core-shell nanofibers were calcined stepwise up to 600 °C which resulted in decomposition and removal of the organic constituents of the nanofibers. This led to the formation of porous and hollow titania nanofibers, where the catalytic AuNPs were embedded in the inner wall of the titania shell. The catalytic activity of the prepared Au@TiO2 porous nanofibers was investigated using a model reaction of catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol and Congo red dye in the presence of NaBH4. The Au@TiO2 porous and hollow nanofibers exhibited excellent catalytic activity and recyclability, and the morphology of the nanofibers remained intact after repeated usage. The presented approach could be a promising route for immobilizing various nanosized catalysts in hollow titania supports for the design of stable catalytic systems where the added photocatalytic activity of titania could further be of significance. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.