Synthetic strategies tailoring colours in multichromophoric organic nanostructures

There has never been a time when colour did not fascinate humanity, inspiring an unceasing manufacturing of a kaleidoscopic variety of dyes and pigments that brought about great revolutions in art, cosmetics, fashion, and our lifestyle as a whole. Over the centuries these tints evolved from raw earths to molecular masterpieces devised by expert chemists whose properties are now being exploited far beyond traditional applications. Mimicking Nature, a timely challenge, regards the preparation of innovative and highly efficient multi-coloured architectures structured at the molecular and nanoscopic scale with specific light-absorbing and light-emitting properties. This tutorial review provides an overview on the chemical strategies developed to engineer and customise these ingenious coloured nanostructures tackling the current performance of organic matter in cutting edge technological sectors, such as solar energy conversion

Coverage-controlled polymorphism of H-bonded networks on Au(111)

We report on the self-assembly of a conformational flexible organic compound on Au(111) using scanning tunneling microscopy and low-energy electron diffraction measurements. We observed different conformers of the compound upon adsorption on the reconstructed Au(111) surface. Increasing the molecular coverage enhanced the lateral pressure, that is, parallel to the surface, favoring a coverage-controlled transition from a supramolecular network displaying only one molecular organization, into a polymorphic array with two coexisting arrangements. Our results give insights into the role of substrate-induced conformational changes on the formation of polymorphic supramolecular networks

Photoreduction of anthracenes catalyzed by peri ‐xanthenoxanthene: a scalable and sustainable Birch‐type alternative

The typical Birch reduction transforms arenes into cyclohexa‐1,4‐dienes by using alkali metals, an alcohol as a proton source, and an amine as solvent. Capitalizing on the strong photoreductive properties of peri‐xanthenoxanthene (PXX), herein we report the photocatalyzed “Birch‐type” reduction of acenes by employing visible blue light irradiation at room temperature in the presence of air. Upon excitation at 405 or 460 nm in the presence of a mixture of N, N‐diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA) and trifluoromethanesulfonimide (HNTf2) in DMSO, PXX photocatalyzes the selective reduction of full‐carbon acene derivatives (24–75 %). Immobilization of PXX onto polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) beads (PXX‐PDMS) allowed the use of the catalyst in heterogeneous batch reactions, giving 9‐phenyl‐9,10‐dihydroanthracene in high yield (68 %). The catalyst could easily be recovered and reused, with no notable drop in performance observed after five reaction cycles. Integration of the PXX‐PDMS beads into a microreactor enabled the reduction of acenes under continuous‐flow conditions, thereby validating the sustainability and scalability of this heterogeneous‐phase approach

Self-organised luminescent materials templated by carbon nanotubes scaffolds

The core of this doctoral dissertation concerns the application of the concepts of self-assembly and self-organization for the preparation of highly luminescent materials obtained upon controlled and directed functionalisation of CNTs with luminescent lanthanide complexes (LnCs). Particularly, both confinement within the hollow cavity of CNTs and exohedral decoration have been pursued, allowing efficient preparation of performing luminescent hybrids. Finally from the work accomplished aiming at the development of novel emissive CNT-templated materials, two side projects stemmed, which will also be considered during this dissertation. The first regards the preparation of an azobenzene (AB) based supramolecular polymer employed for the photo-resposive solubilisation of multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs). The latter, describes the synthesis of pyridyl-CNT depolluting agents, able to supramolecularly aggregate if challenged with cationic divalent metal species (M2+).(DOCSC02) -- FUNDP, 201

Research data supporting "Graphitic and oxidised high pressure high temperature (HPHT) nanodiamonds induce differential biological responses in breast cancer cell lines"

All data supporting the publication of "Graphitic and oxidised high pressure high temperature (HPHT) nanodiamonds induce differential biological responses in breast cancer cell lines"This work was funded by the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability through a pump prime funding award. B. W. acknowledges support of the Oliver Gatty Studentship. S. B. is supported by CRUK (C47594/A16267, C14303/A17197) and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG-630729). H. K. acknowledges support from St John's College, Cambridge University. L. M. and M. D. V. acknowledge support from the European Union Horizon 2020 programme (MSCA IF 702435 – Supra-CNT). The authors would like to thank Hajime Shinohara and Dr Siân Dutton for access to the Vecstar furnace. The ANOVA data analysis for this paper was generated using the Real Statistics Resource Pack software (Release 5.0). Equipment was provided by the EPSRC Cambridge NanoDTC, EP/G037221/1

Graphitic and oxidised high pressure high temperature (HPHT) nanodiamonds induce differential biological responses in breast cancer cell lines.

Nanodiamonds have demonstrated potential as powerful sensors in biomedicine, however, their translation into routine use requires a comprehensive understanding of their effect on the biological system being interrogated. Under normal fabrication processes, nanodiamonds are produced with a graphitic carbon shell, but are often oxidized in order to modify their surface chemistry for targeting to specific cellular compartments. Here, we assessed the biological impact of this purification process, considering cellular proliferation, uptake, and oxidative stress for graphitic and oxidized nanodiamond surfaces. We show for the first time that oxidized nanodiamonds possess improved biocompatibility compared to graphitic nanodiamonds in breast cancer cell lines, with graphitic nanodiamonds inducing higher levels of oxidative stress despite lower uptake

Breakable mesoporous silica nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery

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