Project description:Mechanically flexible single crystals of molecular materials offer potential for a multitude of new directions in advanced materials design. Before the full potential of such materials can be exploited, insight into their mechanisms of action must be better understood. Such insight can be only obtained through synergistic use of advanced experimentation and simulation. We herein report the first detailed mechanistic study of elasto-plastic flexibility in a molecular solid. An atomistic origin for this mechanical behaviour is proposed through a combination of atomic force microscopy, μ-focus synchrotron X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, ab initio simulation, and computed elastic tensors. Our findings suggest that elastic and plastic bending are intimately linked and result from extensions of the same molecular deformations. The proposed mechanism bridges the gap between contested mechanisms, suggesting its applicability as a general mechanism for elastic and plastic bending in organic molecular crystals.
Project description:The organism Acinetobacter sp. RKJ12 is capable of utilizing 2-chloro-4-nitrobenzoic acid (2C4NBA) as a sole source of carbon, nitrogen, and energy. In the degradation of 2C4NBA by strain RKJ12, various metabolites were isolated and identified by a combination of chromatographic, spectroscopic, and enzymatic activities, revealing a novel assimilation pathway involving both oxidative and reductive catabolic mechanisms. The metabolism of 2C4NBA was initiated by oxidative ortho dehalogenation, leading to the formation of 2-hydroxy-4-nitrobenzoic acid (2H4NBA), which subsequently was metabolized into 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,4-DHBA) by a mono-oxygenase with the concomitant release of chloride and nitrite ions. Stoichiometric analysis indicated the consumption of 1 mol O(2) per conversion of 2C4NBA to 2,4-DHBA, ruling out the possibility of two oxidative reactions. Experiments with labeled H(2)(18)O and (18)O(2) indicated the involvement of mono-oxygenase-catalyzed initial hydrolytic dechlorination and oxidative denitration mechanisms. The further degradation of 2,4-DHBA then proceeds via reductive dehydroxylation involving the formation of salicylic acid. In the lower pathway, the organism transformed salicylic acid into catechol, which was mineralized by the ortho ring cleavage catechol-1,2-dioxygenase to cis, cis-muconic acid, ultimately forming tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates. Furthermore, the studies carried out on a 2C4NBA(-) derivative and a 2C4NBA(+) transconjugant demonstrated that the catabolic genes for the 2C4NBA degradation pathway possibly reside on the ?55-kb transmissible plasmid present in RKJ12.
Project description:The structures of the four isomeric compounds of 6-methyl-quinoline with chloro- and nitro-substituted benzoic acids, C7H4ClNO4·C10H9N, namely, 2-chloro-4-nitro-benzoic acid-6-methyl-quinoline (1/1), (I), 2-chloro-5-nitro-benzoic acid-6-methyl-quinoline (1/1), (II), 3-chloro-2-nitro-benzoic acid-6-methyl-quinoline (1/1), (III), and 4-chloro-2-nitro-benzoic acid-6-methyl-quinoline (1/1), (IV), have been determined at 185-190 K. In each compound, the acid and base mol-ecules are linked by a short hydrogen bond between a carboxyl O atom and an N atom of the base. The O⋯N distances are 2.5452 (12), 2.6569 (13), 2.5640 (17) and 2.514 (2) Å, respectively, for compounds (I)-(IV). In the hydrogen-bonded acid-base units of (I), (III) and (IV), the H atoms are each disordered over two positions with O site:N site occupancies of 0.65 (3):0.35 (3), 0.59 (4):0.41 (4) and 0.48 (5):0.52 (5), respectively, for (I), (III) and (IV). The H atom in the hydrogen-bonded unit of (II) is located at the O-atom site. In all of the crystals of (I)-(IV), π-π inter-actions between the quinoline ring system and the benzene ring of the acid mol-ecule are observed. In addition, a π-π inter-action between the benzene rings of adjacent acid mol-ecules and a C-H⋯O hydrogen bond are observed in the crystal of (I), and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and O⋯Cl contacts occur in the crystals of (III) and (IV). These inter-molecular inter-actions connect the acid and base mol-ecules, forming a layer structure parallel to the bc plane in (I), a column along the a-axis direction in (II), a layer parallel to the ab plane in (III) and a three-dimensional network in (IV). Hirshfeld surfaces for the title compounds mapped over d norm and shape index were generated to visualize the weak inter-molecular inter-actions.
Project description:2-Chloro-4-nitrobenzoic acid (2c4n) is an antiviral agent used for the treatment of HIV infection and to boost the immune response in immune deficiency diseases. In the present study, a series of eight molecular salts of 2c4n with pyridyl and benzoic acid derivatives have been synthesized by a crystal engineering approach and were characterized structurally by various spectroscopic, thermal, and X-ray diffraction techniques. Crystal structures of all synthesized molecular salts were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. In all synthesized molecular salts, the charge-assisted acid···pyridine/amine heterosynthon was found to be the primary supramolecular synthon. The synthesized salts, namely, 2c4n.g and 2c4n.h salts were found to be isostructural. Further, in the current work, the occurrence of weak halogen bonds in the presence of strong hydrogen bonds in the synthesized and in the reported molecular salts/cocrystals of 2c4n has been investigated. A detailed inspection of the crystal structures of salts/cocrystals of 2c4n was carried out to demonstrate the importance of halogen bonds in these crystal structures. It was found that 4 out of 8 synthesized molecular salts and 12 out of 24 reported molecular adducts of 2c4n were found to exhibit halogen bonds in their crystal structures. A similar kind of conformational change was observed for molecular salts exhibiting halogen bonds in their crystal structures; however, the conformations were found to be slightly different in other molecular salts. It was observed that two-point primary supramolecular synthon and stronger intramolecular Cl···O halogen bonds in the molecular adducts of 2c4n are found to be more susceptible to exhibit halogen bonds in their crystal structures. Halogen bond interactions played a vital role in the crystal stabilization of these molecular adducts.
Project description:Mixed crystals composed of 1,2-bis(2-methyl-5-(p-methoxyphenyl)-3-thienyl)perfluorocyclopentene (1a) and 1,2-bis(5-methyl-2-(p-methoxyphenyl)-4-thiazolyl)perfluorocyclopentene (2a) were prepared, and their photochromic as well as light-driven bending performance was studied to reveal how shape changes of individual molecules cause the bending response. 1a and 2a molecules, having similar geometrical structures, randomly mix with each other in a single crystal. The absorption spectra of the closed-ring isomers 1b and 2b were, however, distinctly different. The difference of the spectra made it possible to discriminate the cycloreversion reactions of 1b and 2b in the mixed crystals by irradiation with 750 nm light. The bending response of the mixed crystals by the selective photoisomerization revealed that the local shape change of each molecule is additively linked to the macroscopic deformation of the crystals.
Project description:The purpose of this study was to identify new metal-based anticancer drugs; to this end, we synthesized two new copper(II) complexes, namely [Cu(ncba)4(phen)] (1) and [Cu(ncba)4(bpy)] (2), comprised 4-chloro-3-nitrobenzoic acid as the main ligand. The single-crystal XRD approach was employed to determine the copper(II) complex structures. Binding between these complexes and calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) and human serum albumin (HSA) was explored by electronic absorption, fluorescence spectroscopy, and viscometry. Both complexes intercalatively bound CT-DNA and statically and spontaneously quenched DNA/HSA fluorescence. A CCK-8 assay revealed that complex 1 and complex 2 had substantial antiproliferative influences against human cancer cell lines. Moreover, complex 1 had greater antitumor efficacy than the positive control cisplatin. Flow cytometry assessment of the cell cycle demonstrated that these complexes arrested the HepG2 cell cycle and caused the accumulation of G0/G1-phase cells. The mechanism of cell death was elucidated by flow cytometry-based apoptosis assays. Western blotting revealed that both copper(II) complexes induced apoptosis by regulating the expression of the Bcl-2(Bcl-2, B cell lymphoma 2) protein family.
Project description:Although many examples of mechanically flexible crystals are currently known, their utility in all-flexible devices is not yet adequately demonstrated, despite their immense potential for fabricating high performance flexible devices. Here, we report two alkylated diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) semiconducting single crystals, one of which displays impressive elastic mechanical flexibility whilst the other is brittle. Using the single crystal structures and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we show that the methylated diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP-diMe) crystals, with dominant π-stacking interactions and large contributions from dispersive interactions, are superior in terms of their stress tolerance and field-effect mobility (μ FET) when compared to the brittle crystals of the ethylated diketopyrrolopyrrole derivative (DPP-diEt). Periodic dispersion-corrected DFT calculations revealed that upon the application of 3% uniaxial strain along the crystal growth (a)-axis, the elastically flexible DPP-diMe crystal displays a soft energy barrier of only 0.23 kJ mol-1 while the brittle DPP-diEt crystal displays a significantly larger energy barrier of 3.42 kJ mol-1, in both cases relative to the energy of the strain-free crystal. Such energy-structure-function correlations are currently lacking in the growing literature on mechanically compliant molecular crystals and have the potential to support a deeper understanding of the mechanism of mechanical bending. The field effect transistors (FETs) made of flexible substrates using elastic microcrystals of DPP-diMe retained μ FET (from 0.019 cm2 V-1 s-1 to 0.014 cm2 V-1 s-1) more efficiently even after 40 bending cycles when compared to the brittle microcrystals of DPP-diEt which showed a significant drop in μ FET just after 10 bending cycles. Our results not only provide valuable insights into the bending mechanism, but also demonstrate the untapped potential of mechanically flexible semiconducting crystals for designing all flexible durable field-effect transistor devices.
Project description:Carboxylic acids, amides and imides are key organic systems which provide understanding of molecular recognition and binding phenomena important in biological and pharmaceutical settings. In this context, studies of their mutual interactions and compatibility through co-crystallization may pave the way for greater understanding and new applications of their combinations. Extensive co-crystallization studies are available for carboxylic acid/amide combinations, but only a few examples of carboxylic acid/imide co-crystals are currently observed in the literature. The non-formation of co-crystals for carboxylic acid/imide combinations has previously been rationalized, based on steric and computed stability factors. In the light of the growing awareness of eutectic mixtures as an alternative outcome in co-crystallization experiments, the nature of various benzoic acid/cyclic imide combinations is established in this paper. Since an additional functional group can provide sites for new intermolecular inter-actions and, potentially, promote supramolecular growth into a co-crystal, benzoic acids decorated with one or more hydroxyl groups have been systematically screened for co-crystallization with one unsaturated and two saturated cyclic imides. The facile formation of an abundant number of hydroxybenzoic acid/cyclic carboximide co-crystals is reported, including polymorphic and variable stoichiometry co-crystals. In the cases where co-crystals did not form, the combinations are shown invariably to result in eutectics. The presence or absence and geometric disposition of hydroxyl functionality on benzoic acid is thus found to drive the formation of co-crystals or eutectics for the studied carboxylic acid/imide combinations.
Project description:Etravirine is a drug used alongside other medication in the treatment of HIV and is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. It is a BCS class IV drug, having low solubility and high permeability (Drugbank, https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB06414) [1]. As a result, large doses of the drug are required for treatment. Two pills have to be taken twice a day, making it a "pill burden" (Intelence, http://www.intelence.com/hcp/dosing/administration-options) [2]. Therefore, attempts of co-crystallizing Etravirine are attractive as the solubility of the drug tends to increase in this solid form (Schultheiss and Newman, 2009) [3]. In this study Etravirine co-crystals were synthesized in the molar ratios 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 with L-tartaric acid as the co-former. Both slow evaporation and physical mixture was performed to mix the components. DSC values of final products are presented as well as FTIR spectra to observe the altered intermolecular interactions. A chemical stability test was performed after seven days using area under curve data from an HPLC instrument.
Project description:The present work reports two novel pharmaceutical co-crystals; 2:1 isoniazid-glutaric acid (INHGA) and 2:1 pyrazinamide-glutaric acid (PGA). Isoniazid and pyrazinamide are key first-line drugs used for the treatment of tuberculosis. The co-crystals were produced via solid-state and solvent assisted grinding methods. Thermal characteristics of the samples were obtained using the differential scanning calorimetry, hot stage microscopy, and thermogravimetric analyses. The morphology of the powder samples by scanning electron microscopy, structural analysis by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and powder X-rays diffraction ensured co-crystal formation. Thermal analyses confirmed the co-crystals with new melting transitions ranging between their respective starting materials. Unique morphologies of the co-crystal particles were clear in SEM micrographs. The formation of intermolecular interactions with the co-crystal former was confirmed by the FT-IR spectral band shifting and was supported by distinct PXRD patterns of co-crystals thereby authenticating the successful co-crystal formation. In vitro solubility evaluation of the synthesized co-crystals by HPLC suggested a remarkable increase in solubility of both INH and PZA in their respective co-crystals.