Luminescent Silole Nanoparticles as Chemoselective Sensors for Cr(VI)

Structural, electronic, and optical properties of phosphole-containing π-conjugated oligomers for light-emitting diodes

The purpose of this work is to provide an in-depth interpretation of the optical and electronic properties of a series of phosphole derivatives, including 2,5-diphenylthiooxophosphole (2a), 2-phenyl-5-biphenylthiooxophosphole (3a), 2-phenyl-5-stilbenylthiooxophosphole (4a), 2,5-dithienylthiooxophosphole (2b), 2-thienyl-5-biphenylthiooxophosphole (3b), 2-thienyl-5-stilbenylthiooxophosphole (4b), and dibenzophosphole 1. These thiooxophospholes show great potential for application in OLEDs as efficient red emitters due to the tuning of the optical and electronic properties by the use of various substituents at the 2,5-positions of the phosphole ring. The geometric and electronic structures of the oligomers in the ground state were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and the ab initio HF, whereas the lowest singlet excited states were optimized with ab initio CIS. To assign the absorption and emission peaks observed in the experiment, we computed the energies of the lowest singlet excited states with time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT). All DFT calculations were performed using the B3LYP functional and the 6-31G (d) basis set. The results show that the HOMOs, LUMOs, energy gaps, ionization potentials, and electron affinities for the phosphole derivatives are significantly affected by varying the phosphole ring substituents at the 2,5-positions, which favor the hole and electron injection into OLEDs. The absorption and emission spectra exhibit red shifts to some extent [the absorption spectra: 339.63 (1)<358.65 (2a)<373.77 (3a)<443.89 nm (4a) and 403.03 (3b)<449.11 (2b)<460.19 nm (4b); the emission spectra: 418.42 (1)<513.62 (2a)<556.51 (3a)<642.59 nm (4a) and 568.31 (2b)<631.11 (3b)<647.35 nm (4b)] and the Stokes shifts are unexpectedly large ranging from 78 to 228 nm resulting from a more planar conformation of the excited state for the phosphole derivatives.

Fluorescence enhancements of benzene-cored luminophors by restricted intramolecular rotations: AIE and AIEE effects

Photoluminescence of simple arylbenzenes with ready synthetic accessibility is enhanced by two orders of magnitude through aggregate formation; viscosity and temperature effects indicate that the emission enhancement is due to the restriction of their intramolecular rotations in the solid state.

Tunable aggregation-induced emission of diphenyldibenzofulvenes

Nonemissive fulvenes can be induced to luminesce by aggregate formation, with the crystalline aggregates emitting bluer lights more intensely than their amorphous counterparts.

Fluorescent “light-up” bioprobes based on tetraphenylethylene derivatives with aggregation-induced emission characteristics

Aggregation in poor solvents and complexation with calf thymus DNA and bovine serum albumin turn "on" the fluorescence of tetraphenylethylene derivatives, due to the restriction of intra-molecular rotations of the dyes in the aggregates and complexes.

Binding of chromium(VI) to histones: implications for chromium(VI)-induced genotoxicity

The first evidence has been obtained for Cr(VI) (chromate) binding to isolated calf thymus (CT) histones under physiological conditions (pH 7.4, Cl(-) concentration 152 mM, 310 K). No significant Cr(VI) binding under the same conditions was observed for other extracellular and intracellular proteins, including albumin, apo-transferrin and G-actin, as well as for CT DNA. The mode of Cr(VI) binding to histones was studied by vibrational, electronic and X-ray absorption (X-ray absorption near-edge structure and X-ray absorption fine structure) spectroscopies and molecular mechanics calculations. A proposed binding mechanism includes electrostatic interactions of CrO(4) (2-) with protonated Lys and Arg residues of histones, as well as the formation of hydrogen bonds with the protein backbone. Similarly, Cr(VI) can bind to nuclear localization signals (typically, Lys- and Arg-rich fragments) of other nuclear proteins. Selective binding of Cr(VI) to newly synthesized nuclear proteins (including histones) in the cytoplasm is likely to be responsible for the active transport of Cr(VI) into the nuclei of living cells.

Luminescent oligo(tetraphenyl)silole nanoparticles as chemical sensors for aqueous TNT

Colloidal oligo(tetraphenyl)silole nanoparticles in THF/H2O suspensions show increased luminescence and offer a method to detect TNT in an aqueous environment.