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Over the past decade, graphene/nanomaterial hybrids have gained a great interest in various applications due to their unique optical properties. This work explores lanthanide doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs)/graphene hybrid nanomaterials. Here, core/shell structures comprising β-NaGdF4:Y b3+(20%),Er3+(2%)@NaGdF4 and α-NaGdF4:Y b3+(20%), Er3+(2%)@NaGdF4 with oleate as capping agent were synthesized and characterized. The choice of lanthanide ions (Yb3+ and Er3+) and their concentrations plays an important role to make these nanoparticles undergo two optical processes (upcoversion and downshifting) capable to convert near-infrared excitation to visible and near-infrared emission. In order to make hybrid systems, these nanoparticles were combined with graphene films. The morphology and the optical behavior of the hybrid samples were studied by microscope and hyperspectral imaging. The multi-energy sublevels from the 4f electronic configuration of lanthanides, their long excited state lifetime and the high carrier mobility of the graphene expected to open an exciting possibility of interaction, however, UCNPs/Graphene hybrid nanomaterial exhibits a minimal response when subjected to 980 nm laser illumination.

Nucleic acid therapy holds real promise to offer less severe (lower side effects) as a treatment for life threatening and difficult to treat diseases such as cancer, heart disease or Alzheimer's disease. Theranostic nanomaterials that combine diagnostic imaging and therapeutic delivery, have potential to minimize the amount of time and dosage required for the treatment. This is achieved via delivery of nanoparticles that carry therapeutic payload as well as imaging agents; these agents need to circulate in the body longer due to its (larger) size and selectively accumulate in the tumor regions through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. We have designed novel lanthanide (Gd, Tb or La) containing polymers with oligoethyleneamine and lanthanide chelating units to incorporate DNA binding and imaging agent functionality. Protonable amines along the polymer backbone electrostatically interact with DNA and compact it into a nanoparticle. These nanoparticles can be imaged both in vivo (Gd analogues, magnetic resonance imaging) and intracellularly (Tb chelation, fluorescence spectroscopy). Polymers were synthesized via step-growth polymerization to achieve a degree of polymerization of 18-24 for different analogues with varying amine number (three to six, N3-N6) along the backbone. Dynamic light scattering performed on the polyplexes (polymer-DNA complexes) indicate that they are in nanometer size range (50-80nm). All the polymers used to form polyplexes exhibited low toxicity to cultured human Glioblastoma cells (U-87) and showed variable transfection efficiency dependent on structure, comparable to G4 (sold as Glycofect"), a commercial transfection agent previously developed in our lab. This dissertation describes the first studies by the Reineke lab to monitor polyplex formation and destabilization using lanthanide resonance energy transfer (LRET). Polyplexes were formulated with Tb chelated N5 polymer and tetramethyl rhodamine (TMR) labeled pDNA, which are "LRET pairs". We observed decrease in luminescence intensity of Tb polymer (donor) in close proximity of TMR DNA (acceptor) in an intact polyplex at different N/P ratios. However, upon destabilization of polyplexes by addition of salt or heparin solution, the increase in distance between donor and acceptor resulted in increase in the luminescence intensity of Tb polymer. With the LRET technique, we are able to monitor formation and destabilization of polyplexes by monitoring change in luminescence of the donor chromophore (Tb). Polyplexes formulated with non-paramagnetic analogues (La chelated) of N4, polyethyleneimine (PEI) and G4 were studied using NMR to quantify free vs. bound polymer in a formulation. The amount of free polymer was measured by integrating the broad resonances from nanometer-sized particles (polyplexes) with narrow peaks from free polymer chains. This was supported by using an internal reference method to quantify free polymer amount from known internal reference concentration. We observed an increase in the amount of free polymer with N/P ratio for all three systems and both the methods showed comparable results. / Ph. D.

Biomarkers are biological characteristics that can be observed or measured during disease conditions, and compared to the healthy state. Biomarkers have been used in medical history to study disease progression, to develop drugs, or to predict drug efficacy. However, in complex diseases such as in cancer, biomarkers vary tremendously among patients and disease stages. Cell surface receptors, proteins that are located at the cell surface and deliver external signals into the cell, are a significant group of easily-detectable biomarkers. Along with the detection of particular biomarkers related to a disease, extensive characterization of expression patterns is necessary to optimize their application. Therefore, we designed a technique to imprint or capture the expression pattern of these receptors on silver nanoparticles. We incorporated branched molecules that can simultaneously bind to the target receptors and the nanoparticle surface. To develop the technique, we used melanocortin receptor 1 (MC1R), a receptor present at high levels on the surface of melanoma cells, as a test system. We determined optimum binding of this molecule in an established melanoma cell line, WM-266-4. We also synthesized a labeled molecule that was used to estimate the number of MC1R proteins on these cells. These studies indicate that this might be a promising approach for developing sensitive and cost-effective tools to characterize cell surface receptors in studying complex diseases and cell mechanisms. / MS / Biomarkers are biological characteristics that can be observed or measured during disease conditions, and compared to the healthy state (e.g. grades of fever during infection). Biomarkers have been used in medical history to study disease progression, to develop drugs, or to predict drug efficacy. However, in complex diseases such as in cancer, biomarkers vary tremendously among patients and disease stages. Cell surface receptors, proteins that are located at the cell surface and deliver external signals into the cell, are a significant group of easily-detectable biomarkers. Along with the detection of particular biomarkers related to a disease, extensive characterization of expression patterns is necessary to optimize their application. Therefore, we designed a technique to imprint or capture the expression pattern of these receptors on silver nanoparticles. We incorporated branched molecules that can simultaneously bind to the target receptors and the nanoparticle surface. To develop the technique, we used melanocortin receptor 1 (MC1R), a receptor present at high levels on the surface of melanoma cells, as a test system. We determined optimum binding of this molecule in an established melanoma cell line, WM-266-4. We also synthesized a labeled molecule that was used to estimate the number of MC1R proteins on these cells. These studies indicate that this might be a promising approach for developing sensitive and cost-effective tools to characterize cell surface receptors in studying complex diseases and cell mechanisms.

La conception de molécules pour l’optique non linéaires (ONL) est devenue un centre de recherche de pointe pour les télécommunications, les technologies de l'information et le stockage de données optiques. Les molécules dipolaires substituées par des groupes donneur-accepteur ont été les chromophores les plus étudiés pour l’ONL. Cependant les molécules dipolaires diverses limitations telles que leur transparence optique, leur faible stabilité thermique et leur tendance à adopter un alignement antiparallèle à l'état solide. Récemment, une nouvelle classe de matériaux est apparue basé sur des symétries octupolaire qui ne possède pas de dipôle permanent, pour les applications ONL. Au niveau structural, la structure générique idéale pour des molécules tridimensionnelles avec une distribution de charges octupolaire est un cube avec des charges opposées alternées à chaque angle. À ce jour, aucune molécule représentant le cube vrai (déformé) avec huit charges alternées aux sommets et délocalisation des charges complètes entre les plans supérieurs et inférieurs n’a été décrite. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, des complexes de lanthanides III à partir de phthalocyanines de type ABAB présentant en alternance des groupes donneurs et accepteurs d'électrons ont été synthétisés représentant le premier réel octupole. Ces structures ont été caractérisé par UV-NIR, X-Ray et présentent les plus élevés hyperpolarisabilité quadratique jamais enregistré pour des molécules octupolaires. En outre, ce travail a été étendu à divers type de double-decker de lanthanides homoleptiques non-octupolaire basé sur des phthalocyanines AB3, A4, B4, T4. Il a été observé que ces complexes présentent aussi des mesures d’hyperpolarisabilité quadratique élevés, mais inferieur a celles trouvé pour la série de complexes Ln (ABAB)2 octupolaire, comme prévu. / The design of nonlinear optical (NLO) molecules has become a focus of current research in telecommunications, information technologies and optical data storage. Donor-acceptor substituted dipolar molecules have been the most investigated NLO chromophores. Dipolar molecules, however, have several limitations such as low optical transparency, low thermal stability and their strong tendency to adopt anti-parallel packing in the solid state. Recently, a new class of materials based on octupolar symmetries, which lack permanent dipole moments, has been proposed for NLO applications. At a structural level, it can be shown that the basic template for 3D octupolar molecules comes to a cube with alternating charges at the corners such as donor and acceptor substituent. Despite all the various structures reported, it is worth noting that no molecules actually representing the “real” octupolar cube have been obtained so far. In this thesis, we showed that the real octupolar cube can be demonstrated by lanthanide III complexes based on ABAB type phthalocyanine featuring alternating electron donor and electron acceptor groups. These structures are characterized by UV-NIR, X-Ray and exhibit highest quadratic hyperpolarizability ever reported for an octupolar molecule. Moreover, this work was extended to nonoctupolar lanthanide homoleptic double-decker complexes based on AB3, A4, B4, T4 type phthalocyanines. It was observed that these molecules present a quite large quadratic hyperpolarizability too, but smaller than the one obtained for the Ln(ABAB)2 series, as expected. / Doğrusal olmayan optic (NLO) özellik gösteren moleküllerin tasarımı telekomünikasyon, bilgi teknolojileri ve optic very depolama alanlarında güncel bir araştırma konusudur. Alıcı-verici grup bağlı iki kutuplu moleküller en çok araştırılmış NLO malzemeleridirler. Ancak, iki kutuplu moleküllerin düşük optic şeffaflık, düşük termal kararlılık ve katı halde parallel olmayan yığılmaları gibi çeşitli sınırlamaları vardır. Son zamanlarda, kalıcı dipol momentleri olmayan octupolar simetriye dayalı, yeni bir malzeme sınıfı NLO uygulamaları için ileri sürülmüştür. Yapısal olarak bu 3D octupolar moleküller için temel şablon, köşelerinde alıcı verici grupları içeren bir olarak gösterilir. Yapılan tüm çalışmalara ragmen, bugüne kadar gerçek küpü temsil edebilen bir yapı elde edilememiştir. Bu tezde, biz bu octupolar küpün electron alıcı ve verici grupları içeren ABAB tipi halkalı yapıya dayalı lantanid kompleksleri ile ortaya konabilecğini gösterdik. Bu yapılar UV-NIR ve X-Ray ile yapıları aydınlatıldı ve bugüne kadarki en yüksek 2. dereceden NLO değerleri elde edildi. Ayrıca, bu çalışma, çeşitli octupole olmayan AB3, A4, B4 ve T4 tipi lantanit çift katlı ftalosiyaninler sentezlenerek genişletildi. Ve oktupol olmayan moleküllerin 2. Dereceden NLO değerleri oldukça büyük ama beklendiği gibi oktupol Ln(ABAB)2 daha küçük olduğu gözlendi.

Nesta tese são descritas as preparações e caraterizações dos compostos de trifluorometanossulfonatos de Ln(III) com o ligante ε-caprolactama. Os compostos apresentaram a seguinte estequiometria: a) Ln(C6H11NO)8 (CF3SO3)3: Ln= La, Ce ,Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu. b) Ln(C6H11NO)7 (CF3SO3)3: Ln= Gd, Tb, Dy, Yb, Lu. Medidas de condutividade em acetonitrila indicaram a existência de eletrólitos 1:1, atribuídos a formação de pares iônicos. A coordenação do ligante ε-caprolactama com o metal central ocorre através do oxigênio do grupo carbonila, fato que foi interpretado pelo deslocamento da νCO para regiões de menor energia, comparada com a banda do ligante livre. Os modos vibracionais do ânion CF3SO3-, os estiramentos νasSO3, νsSO3 e a deformação δsSO3 não se desdobram, exceto δasSO3, sugerindo-nos que estes não estão coordenados aos Ln(III). Este aspecto foi confirmado no caso da estrutura do monocristal do Pr(III), obtida por raios-X pelo método do monocristal. Verificou-se também a existência de seis tipos de estruturas cristalinas através de difratogramas de raios-X pelo método do pó. Os espectros de absorção na região do visível do composto de Nd(III) no estado sólido, nos sugerem um envolvimento não cúbico em torno do íon metálico e que a ligação é de caráter iônico. O espectro de emissão do Eu(III) nos sugere que a microsimetria ao redor do Eu(III) corresponde a D2d distorcida para C2v e a intensidade do parâmetro de intensidade Ω(λ=2), obtida experimentalmente para o complexo de Eu(III) e os compostos de lantanídeos(III):La, Ce, Gd, Y e Lu, dopados com Eu(III), nos sugerem a influência do acoplamento dinâmico na transição eletrônica 5D0 → 7F2 do Eu(III), que obedece à regra de seleção ΔJ=2. Também observa-se a inexistência do efeito antena no espectro de excitação do Eu(III). O estudo térmico, por curvas TG e DTG para os compostos de adição, nos mostram a formação dos resíduos LnF3 e LnOF à temperatura aproximada de 900°C. Determinaram-se os parâmetros cinéticos, tanto teoricamente como experimentalmente, da perda de moléculas de água correspondente à primeira etapa da desidratação dos sais de trifluorometanossulfonatos de lantanideos(III) eneaidratados, sob condições isotérmicas. Estes resultados foram obtidos a partir de modelos matemáticos existentes na literatura e com uma expressão matemática que foi derivada neste trabalho. / The preparation and characterization of compounds of trifluoromethanessulfonates with ε-caprolactam are described in this thesis. The compounds presented the following stoichiometries : a) Ln(C6H11NO)8 (CF3SO3)3: Ln= La, Ce ,Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu. b) Ln(C6H11NO)7 (CF3SO3)3: Ln= Gd, Tb, Oy, Yb, Lu. The coordination of the ε-caprolactam with the central metal ions occurs through the carbonyl oxygen. This fact was interpreted by the shift of νCO to lower frequencies in relation to the free ligand. The vibrational modes νasSO3, νsSO3 and deformation δsO3, except for δasSO3, are not splitted, suggesting that the CF3SO3- anions are not coordinated. This aspect was further confirmed in the structure of the Pr(III) compound obtained by x-ray crystallography. The existence of six types of crystalline structures was verified by x-ray powder patterns. The absorption visible spectrum of the Nd(III) compound in the solid state, suggest both the existence of a non-cubic site around the central ion and the ionic character of the bonds. The emission spectrum of Eu(III), suggest that the symmetry is D2d distorted towards C2v The experimental intensity parameter Ω2 obtained for the Eu(III) complex and the compounds of lanthanides(III): La, Ce, Gd, Y and Lu dopped with Eu(III) suggests the influence of the mechanic dynamic coupling in the electronic transition 5Do → 7F2 that obey the selection rule ΔJ=2. The excitation spectrum of Eu(III) compound indicate the inexistence of the antenna effect. The TG and DTG curves of the addition compounds show their thermic behaviour the formation of LnF3 and LnOF as residues at temperatures of 900°C could be identified. The kinetic parameters of the water loss corresponding to the first stage of the dehydration of the lanthanide(III) trifluomethanesulfonate eneahydrated under isotermic conditions were determined both theoretically and experimentally. These results were obtained from mathematical model offered in the literature and a mathematical expression is derived in this work.

Nesta tese são descritas as preparações e caraterizações dos compostos de trifluorometanossulfonatos de Ln(III) com o ligante ε-caprolactama. Os compostos apresentaram a seguinte estequiometria: a) Ln(C6H11NO)8 (CF3SO3)3: Ln= La, Ce ,Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu. b) Ln(C6H11NO)7 (CF3SO3)3: Ln= Gd, Tb, Dy, Yb, Lu. Medidas de condutividade em acetonitrila indicaram a existência de eletrólitos 1:1, atribuídos a formação de pares iônicos. A coordenação do ligante ε-caprolactama com o metal central ocorre através do oxigênio do grupo carbonila, fato que foi interpretado pelo deslocamento da νCO para regiões de menor energia, comparada com a banda do ligante livre. Os modos vibracionais do ânion CF3SO3-, os estiramentos νasSO3, νsSO3 e a deformação δsSO3 não se desdobram, exceto δasSO3, sugerindo-nos que estes não estão coordenados aos Ln(III). Este aspecto foi confirmado no caso da estrutura do monocristal do Pr(III), obtida por raios-X pelo método do monocristal. Verificou-se também a existência de seis tipos de estruturas cristalinas através de difratogramas de raios-X pelo método do pó. Os espectros de absorção na região do visível do composto de Nd(III) no estado sólido, nos sugerem um envolvimento não cúbico em torno do íon metálico e que a ligação é de caráter iônico. O espectro de emissão do Eu(III) nos sugere que a microsimetria ao redor do Eu(III) corresponde a D2d distorcida para C2v e a intensidade do parâmetro de intensidade Ω(λ=2), obtida experimentalmente para o complexo de Eu(III) e os compostos de lantanídeos(III):La, Ce, Gd, Y e Lu, dopados com Eu(III), nos sugerem a influência do acoplamento dinâmico na transição eletrônica 5D0 → 7F2 do Eu(III), que obedece à regra de seleção ΔJ=2. Também observa-se a inexistência do efeito antena no espectro de excitação do Eu(III). O estudo térmico, por curvas TG e DTG para os compostos de adição, nos mostram a formação dos resíduos LnF3 e LnOF à temperatura aproximada de 900°C. Determinaram-se os parâmetros cinéticos, tanto teoricamente como experimentalmente, da perda de moléculas de água correspondente à primeira etapa da desidratação dos sais de trifluorometanossulfonatos de lantanideos(III) eneaidratados, sob condições isotérmicas. Estes resultados foram obtidos a partir de modelos matemáticos existentes na literatura e com uma expressão matemática que foi derivada neste trabalho. / The preparation and characterization of compounds of trifluoromethanessulfonates with ε-caprolactam are described in this thesis. The compounds presented the following stoichiometries : a) Ln(C6H11NO)8 (CF3SO3)3: Ln= La, Ce ,Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu. b) Ln(C6H11NO)7 (CF3SO3)3: Ln= Gd, Tb, Oy, Yb, Lu. The coordination of the ε-caprolactam with the central metal ions occurs through the carbonyl oxygen. This fact was interpreted by the shift of νCO to lower frequencies in relation to the free ligand. The vibrational modes νasSO3, νsSO3 and deformation δsO3, except for δasSO3, are not splitted, suggesting that the CF3SO3- anions are not coordinated. This aspect was further confirmed in the structure of the Pr(III) compound obtained by x-ray crystallography. The existence of six types of crystalline structures was verified by x-ray powder patterns. The absorption visible spectrum of the Nd(III) compound in the solid state, suggest both the existence of a non-cubic site around the central ion and the ionic character of the bonds. The emission spectrum of Eu(III), suggest that the symmetry is D2d distorted towards C2v The experimental intensity parameter Ω2 obtained for the Eu(III) complex and the compounds of lanthanides(III): La, Ce, Gd, Y and Lu dopped with Eu(III) suggests the influence of the mechanic dynamic coupling in the electronic transition 5Do → 7F2 that obey the selection rule ΔJ=2. The excitation spectrum of Eu(III) compound indicate the inexistence of the antenna effect. The TG and DTG curves of the addition compounds show their thermic behaviour the formation of LnF3 and LnOF as residues at temperatures of 900°C could be identified. The kinetic parameters of the water loss corresponding to the first stage of the dehydration of the lanthanide(III) trifluomethanesulfonate eneahydrated under isotermic conditions were determined both theoretically and experimentally. These results were obtained from mathematical model offered in the literature and a mathematical expression is derived in this work.

L’avènement des nanotechnologies engendre une exposition accrue de l’homme aux nanomatériaux, représentant un risque d’un genre nouveau. A cet égard un grand nombre de recherches porte sur l’étude de leur toxicité. Néanmoins, les questions de dégradation et transformation des nanoparticules dans l’organisme sont encore peu abordées. Des études effectuées au laboratoire ont montré qu’après injection de nanoparticules d’oxyde de fer in vivo, celles-ci sont confinées dans les lysosomes où elles sont dégradées. Une partie de mes travaux de thèse se sont concentrés sur une voie possible de métabolisation des produits de dégradation issus de nanoparticules d’oxydes de fer par l’intermédiaire d’une protéine intervenant dans le métabolisme du fer, la ferritine. Nous avons élaboré plusieurs stratégies afin de détecter et de suivre le transfert de métaux vers la ferritine. Ces travaux ont permis de mettre en évidence un processus de prise en charge des produits de dégradation des nanoparticules d’oxyde de fer à l’échelle moléculaire. Une seconde partie de mes travaux ont été consacré au suivi des produits issus de la dégradation des nanoparticules d’oxyde de fer à l’échelle de l’organisme. La haute concentration endogène en fer rendant impossible ce suivi, une stratégie consistant à marquer les nanoparticules de fer avec un isotope du fer, le 57Fe, a permis de suivre les dynamiques de circulation des produits de dégradation in vivo sur une période de six mois. Nous avons également effectué un double marquage des nanoparticules, du cœur inorganique ainsi que de leur enrobage afin de caractériser leur intégrité in vivo / With the advent of nanotechnology, the exposure of humans to nanomaterials increased, representing a risk of a new kind. Although the potential toxicity of such nanomaterials is extensively studied, their long term fate, biotransformation and degradation in the organism are still poorly understood. It was demonstrated earlier in the laboratory, that after intravenous injection, iron oxide nanoparticles undergo local intracellular degradation within lysosomes. In this context, we are interested in the fate of by products from iron oxide nanoparticles. Part of my thesis has focused on a possible pathway for metabolizing these degradation products through a protein involved in iron metabolism, the ferritin. We first studied, in solution, the degradation processes of iron oxide nanoparticles in the presence of these proteins as well as the iron transfer processes from nanoparticles to ferritin. The difficulty is the high concentration of endogenous iron which makes impossible to demonstrate these in vivo transfers. Thus, we have developed a strategy, using doped iron oxide nanoparticles with a scarce element in the organism, to track these phenomena in vivo. This work highlighted a possible mechanism of biological recycling, remediation and detoxification of nanoparticles mediated by endogenous proteins at the molecular scale. A second part of my work was devoted to develop a multi-scale method to study the life cycle of metal oxide nanoparticles and their by products in organism. The main challenge is to differentiate iron stemming from the nanoparticles from the endogenous iron. This specific tracking problem is routinely encountered in geochemical studies and solved by labelling the target material with minor stable isotopes. Therefore, iron oxide nanoparticles enriched in the minor stable isotope 57Fe were synthetized and injected intravenously in mice to follow dynamic circulations of iron oxide nanoparticles and their byproducts. We have also labelled the coating to track the nanoparticles integrity in mice over a period of six month