Dramatically Enhanced Solubility of Halide-Containing Organometallic Species in Diiodomethane: The Role of Solvent⋅⋅⋅Complex Halogen Bonding

Development of Computational In Silico Model for Nano Lipid Carrier Formulation of Curcumin

The oral delivery system is very important and plays a significant role in increasing the solubility of drugs, which eventually will increase their absorption by the digestive system and enhance the drug bioactivity. This study was conducted to synthesize a novel curcumin nano lipid carrier (NLC) and use it as a drug carrier with the help of computational molecular docking to investigate its solubility in different solid and liquid lipids to choose the optimum lipids candidate for the NLCs formulation and avoid the ordinary methods that consume more time, materials, cost, and efforts during laboratory experiments. The antiviral activity of the formed curcumin-NLC against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) was assessed through a molecular docking study of curcumin's affinity towards the host cell receptors. The novel curcumin drug carrier was synthesized as NLC using a hot and high-pressure homogenization method. Twenty different compositions of the drug carrier (curcumin nano lipid) were synthesized and characterized using different physicochemical techniques such as UV-Vis, FTIR, DSC, XRD, particle size, the zeta potential, and AFM. The in vitro and ex vivo studies were also conducted to test the solubility and the permeability of the 20 curcumin-NLC formulations. The NLC as a drug carrier shows an enormous enhancement in the solubility and permeability of the drug.

Stacking Interactions: A Supramolecular Approach to Upgrade Weak Halogen Bond Donors

The co-crystallization of tetracyanobenzene (TCB) with haloarenes ArX provided six new co-crystals TCB ⋅ ArX (ArX=PhCl, PhBr, 4-MeC6 H4 Cl, 4-MeC6 H4 Br, 4-MeOC6 H4 Cl, 1,2-Br2 C6 H4 ) which were studied by X-ray diffraction. In these systems, the strong collective effect of π⋅⋅⋅π stacking interactions and lone pair-(X)⋅⋅⋅π-hole-(C) bondings between TCB and ArX promote the strength of X⋅⋅⋅Ncyano halogen bonding (HaB). Theoretical studies showed that the stacking interactions affect the σ-hole depth of the haloarenes, thus significantly boosting their ability to function as HaB donors. According to the molecular electrostatic potential calculations, the σ- hole-(Cl) value (1.5 kcal/mol) in the haloarene 4-MeOC6 H4 Cl (featuring an electron-rich arene moiety and exhibiting very poor σ-hole-(Cl) ability) increases significantly in the stacked trimer (TCB)2  ⋅ 4-MeOC6 H4 Cl (12.5 kcal/mol). Theoretical DFT calculations demonstrate the dramatic increase of X⋅⋅⋅Ncyano HaB strength for stacked trimers in comparison with parent unstacked haloarenes.

Azine Steric Hindrances Switch Halogen Bonding to N-Arylation upon Interplay with σ-Hole Donating Haloarenenitriles

An interplay between 4-bromo- and 4-iodo-5-nitrophthalonitriles (XNPN, X=Br or I) and any one of the azines (pyridine 1, 4-dimethylaminopyridine 2, isoquinoline 3, 4-cyanopyridine 4, 2-methylpyridine 5, 2-aminopyridine 6, quinoline 7, 1-methylisoquinoline 8, and 2,2'-bipyridine 9) proceeds differently depending on steric and electronic effects of the heterocycles. Sterically unhindered azines 1-3 underwent N-arylation to give the corresponding azinium salts (characterized by ¹ H and ¹³ C{H} NMR and high-resolution ESI-MS). In contrast, azines 4-9 with sterically hindered N atoms or bearing an electron-withdrawing substituent, form stable co-crystals with XNPN, where two interacting molecules are bound by halogen bonding. In all obtained co-crystals, X⋅⋅⋅N structure-directed halogen bonds were recognized and theoretically evaluated including DFT calculations (PBE0-D3/def2-TZVP level of theory), QTAIM analysis, molecular electrostatic potential surfaces, and noncovalent interaction plot index. Estimated energies of halogen bonding vary from -7.6 kcal/mol (for 6 ⋅ INPN) to -11.4 kcal/mol (5 ⋅ INPN).

Tuning the π-π overlap and charge transport in single crystals of an organic semiconductor via solvation and polymorphism

Polymorphism is a central phenomenon in materials science that often results in important differences of the electronic properties of organic crystals due to slight variations in intermolecular distances and positions. Although a large number of π-conjugated organic compounds can grow as polymorphs, it is necessary to have at disposal a series of several polymorphs of the same molecule to establish clear and predictive structure-property relationships. We report here on the occurrence of two solvates and three polymorphs in single crystalline form of the organic p-type semiconductor 2,2',6,6'-tetraphenyldipyranylidene (DIPO). When grown from chlorobenzene or toluene, the DIPO crystals spontaneously capture solvent molecules to form two pseudopolymorphic 1 : 1 binary solvates. Independently, three solvent-free DIPO polymorphs are obtained either from the vapor phase or from acetonitrile and benzene. Surprisingly, single crystal field-effect transistors (SC-FETs) reveal that the DIPO 1 : 1 binary solvate grown from chlorobenzene possesses a higher hole mobility (1.1 cm² V^-1 s^-1) than the three solvent-free polymorphs (0.02-0.64 cm² V^-1 s^-1). A refined crystallographic analysis combined with a theoretical transport model clearly shows that the higher mobility of the solvate results from an improved π-π overlap. Our observations demonstrate that solvation allows to tune the π-π overlap and transport properties of organic semiconductors by selecting appropriate solvents.

Dihalomethanes as Bent Bifunctional XB/XB-Donating Building Blocks for Construction of Metal-involving Halogen Bonded Hexagons

The dihalomethanes CH₂ X₂ (X=Cl, Br, I) were co-crystallized with the isocyanide complexes trans-[MX^M ₂ (CNC₆ H₄ -4-X^C )₂ ] (M=Pd, Pt; X^M =Br, I; X^C =F, Cl, Br) to give an extended series comprising 15 X-ray structures of isostructural adducts featuring 1D metal-involving hexagon-like arrays. In these structures, CH₂ X₂ behave as bent bifunctional XB/XB-donating building blocks, whereas trans-[MX^M ₂ (CNC₆ H₄ -4-X^C )₂ ] act as a linear XB/XB acceptors. Results of DFT calculations indicate that all XCH₂ -X⋅⋅⋅X^M -M contacts are typical noncovalent interactions with estimated strengths in the range of 1.3-3.2 kcal mol^-1 . A CCDC search reveals that hexagon-like arrays are rather common but previously overlooked structural motives for adducts of trans-bis(halide) complexes and halomethanes.

Four-Center Nodes: Supramolecular Synthons Based on Cyclic Halogen Bonding

The isocyanide trans-[PdBr₂ (CNC₆ H₄ -4-X')₂ ] (X'=Br, I) and nitrile trans-[PtX₂ (NCC₆ H₄ -4-X')₂ ] (X/X'=Cl/Cl, Cl/Br, Br/Cl, Br/Br) complexes exhibit similar structural motif in the solid state, which is determined by hitherto unreported four-center nodes formed by cyclic halogen bonding. Each node is built up by four Type II C-X'⋅⋅⋅X-M halogen-bonding contacts and include one Type I M-X⋅⋅⋅X-M interaction, thus giving the rhombic-like structure. These nodes serve as supramolecular synthons to form 2D layers or double chains of molecules linked by a halogen bond. Results of DFT calculations indicate that all contacts within the nodes are typical noncovalent interactions with the estimated strengths in the range 0.6-2.9 kcal mol^-1 .