Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the western world. In order to treat various types of cancer, platinum-based drugs are most widely employed as metal-containing chemotherapeutic agents. However, their clinical usage is hindered by toxic side effects, and by the emergence of drug resistance. Our focus was to replace platinum with less toxic metal like tin which can give better alternatives for cancer treatment. The major aim of our study was to synthesize novel organotin polyethers (Sn-O) which can be used to combat cancer. Preliminary results from our laboratory using organotin polyethers, that were synthesized by varying the structure of diols showed growth inhibition in Balb-3T3 cells. This study directly led us to hypothesize the two structural windows, first by changing the distance between diol and second, by presence of unsaturation in diols, the biological activity of organotin polyethers (Sn-O) can be enhanced significantly. Different series of polymeric compounds were synthesized based upon these two structural windows and the formation of products was validated using standard techniques like infrared spectroscopy (IR), light scattering photometer, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The synthesized polymers arrested the growth of cancer cell lines including bone, prostate, colon, breast, pancreas and lung cancer derived cell lines in vitro. In number of instances where chemotherapeutic index values of two and greater were found that these polymers are significantly more active against cancer cells than non-cancerous cells in culture. / These results support the starting premise that the polymers may exhibit cancer cell selectivity. In general, it was found that the presence of unsaturation increased the probability that the polyether would inhibit the growth of various cancer cell lines. Further, in some cases, polyethers with short distances between the oxygen atoms showed a superior ability to inhibit the growth of various cancer cell lines in comparison to those with longer distances between the oxygen atoms. These results provide a framework for the discovery of novel cancer therapeutics. / by Girish Vallabhbhai Barot. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The design, synthesis, characterization, and applications of annulated bis(imidazolium) salts are described. New synthetic methodologies have been developed that allow access to a broad structural range of bis(imidazolium) salts. Initial studies focused on thee use of bis(imidazolium) salts as comonomers in the formation of mainchain organometallic polymers. Two distinct polymer scaffolds were synthesized, one featuring metal(II)dihalides in the main-chain, and the other featuring a chelated metal center. Ultimately, polymerizations were conducted under ambient atmosphere, proceeded in excellent overall yield, and provided main-chain organometallic polymers comprising Ni(II), Pd(II), and Pt(II) with molecular weights up to 106 Da. Departing polymer studies, focus was shifted toward the study of the physical and photophysical properties of the bis(imidazolium) salts. In few synthetic manipulations, a series of highly photoluminescent bis(imidazolium) salts were prepared whose substituents enable emission in solution, in the solid-state, and, uniquely, as free-flowing liquids. Importantly, these materials display excellent physical properties, such as low glass-transition temperatures (< 0 °C) and high thermal stabilities (> 300 °C). In addition, the bis(imidazolium) platform enabled access to two new fluorescent ionic liquid crystals, demonstrating an ability to also control mesomorphic properties of these materials. Further investigations were conducted regarding the photophysical properties of bis(imidazolium) salts. Focus was placed upon absorption and emission wavelength tunability, solvatochromism, red-edge excitation, and chemical stability. Through functional group modulation, the [lambda]em were varied from 329 -- 561 nm with [Phi]fs up to 0.91. Both the absorption and emission characteristics were found to display strong solventdependencies which were found to be strongly influenced by the nature of the bis(imidazolium) core. The red-edge effect was investigated for a series of bis(imidazolium) salts and was found to be similar between Br and BF4 salts, but distinctly different when MeSO4 anions were incorporated. The stability of an amphiphilic BBI was quantified in aqueous solutions of varying pH and > 85% of the emission intensity was retained after 2 h at pH levels of 3 -- 9.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wyoming, 2005. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on March 10, 2008). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide)s (PEPO) are a recently identified subset of an important macromolecular series which includes industrially important high performance thermoplastics, such as the polysulfones, e.g. UDEL@ and polyether ketones, e.g. PEEK@, PEKK@, etc. The PEPO materials show an elevated glass transition temperature, high thermal and oxidative stability, improved solubility, and increased flame resistance. It has been demonstrated that a variety of metal salts including metals such as iron, zinc, cobalt, and copper, can be complexed at a molecular level with the phosphoryl group in films of these polymers producing novel transparent metal/polymer "composites". A procedure for obtaining homogeneous films from solutions of the metal halide complexed polymers has been developed. FTIR experiments as well as Tl phosphorus (31 P) NMR measurements were conducted to demonstrate the existance of metal complexation in the solid state. The effect of the chemical composition of the chain, type of metal salt, molar concentration of the metal salt, and heating cycle were investigated and found to influence properties of the films such as solubility, glass transition temperature, thermal stability, and storage mexiulus. Additionally, linear poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide)s were reduced to different extents to the corresponding phosphine containing polymers. Properties such as intrinsic One of these phosphine polymers was subsequently used in the generation of a rhodium catalyst for the hydroformylation of octene-l. The utilization of polymer-supported catalysts has important advantages such as catalyst recovery and the ease of separation of the product. The catalyst activity of the polymeric rhodium complex was studied as a function of reaction time as well as ligand to rhodium ratio. For a phosphorus/rhodium ratio of two these heterogeneous catalysts suffer in tenns of reaction rate in relation to their homogeneous counterparts. However, at phosphorus/rhodium ratios of approximately eight the reaction is almost quantitative after three hours, and the selectivity is greatly improved over that of monomeric homogeneous catalysts for the same P/Rh ratio. / Master of Science

Cubic Polyhedral Oligomeric SilSesquioxanes (POSS) of general formula Si₈O₁₂R₈ (R = alkenyl, alkoxy, aryl, hydrogen...) have found applications in various fields ranging from biology to chemistry. Besides the advantage of presenting the characteristic dendritic globular shape at low generation, these three-dimensional molecules, easily modified by organic or inorganic reactions, quickly exhibit multiple end groups at their periphery, thus featuring attractive properties in catalysis and photoluminescence applications. Various dendritic POSS containing diphenylphosphine moieties at their periphery have been used in the methoxycarbonylation of ethene. Those with a -CH₂CH₂- spacer between the silicon and the phosphorus atoms (G0-8ethylPPh₂ and G1-16ethylPPh₂) only produce methyl propanoate whilst a similar dendrimer with a -CH₂- spacer between Si and P (G1-16methylPPh₂) gives only copolymer. The effect of the molecular architecture is discussed in comparison with the selectivities observed when using small molecule analogues. A wide range of non dendritic monodentate phosphines has also been studied in this reaction showing that low steric bulk and high electron density favours polyketone formation. The poorly active, monodentate SemiEsphos phosphine has been turned into an active ligand for rhodium catalysed vinyl acetate hydroformylation by attachment to the periphery of a Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane. Whilst some of these dendritic ligands have shown activity, others precipitated upon mixing with the rhodium precursor. Modelling studies correlating the experimental facts have shown that the former are more compact and rigid in comparison to the latter, which are more flexible and hence more prone to monodentate binding to rhodium and cross-linking. Grubbs cross metathesis has been used to functionalize octavinylsilsesquioxane with fluorescent vinylbiphenyl modified chromophores to design new hybrid organic-inorganic nanomaterials. Those macromolecules have been characterized by NMR, microanalyses, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and photoluminescence. This last method was shown to be an interesting tool in the analysis of the purity of the cube derivatives. Reduction of the peripheral 4`-vinylbiphenyl-3,5-dicarbaldehyde groups on a Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) with NaBH₄ or LiAlH₄ activates the fluorescence of this macromolecule by turning the aldehydic functions into primary alcohols providing novel optical sensors for reducing environments.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline materials with metal ions covalently bonded to organic ligands. The ligands act as spacers often creating a porous structure with very high pore volume and surface area. MOFs are known for their robust structures, high porosity, and different chemical functionalities and are considered for applications in adsorptions, separations, catalysis and gas storage. This work focuses on the synthesis of new MOFs using copper compounds. Different types of carboxylate ligands were used for the synthesis. Two new copper-organic frameworks, [Cu3(pyz)(btc)] (1), and [(Cu3(btc))•xH2O] (2) (btc= benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate, pyz= pyrazine) have been synthesized using hydro/solvothermal methods and have been characterized using X-ray diffraction, IR, TGA, fluorescence and CHN analysis.

This thesis begins with a brief analysis of the synthetic methodologies utilized in polymer science. A conclusion is drawn inferring that upper limits in molecular design are inevitable, arising as a direct consequence of the predominance of covalent strategies in the field. To address these concerns, the universal polymer backbone (UPB) concept has been hypothesized. A UPB has been defined as any copolymer, side-chain functionalized with multiple recognition elements that are individually capable of forming strong, directional, and reversible non-covalent bonds. Non-covalent functionalization of these scaffolds can lead to the formation of a multitude of new polymer structures, each stemming from a single parent or universal polymer backbone. To prepare such a UPB, isomerically pure exo-norbornene esters containing either a PdII SCS pincer complex or a diaminopyridine residue were synthesized, polymerized, and copolymerized via ROMP. All polymerizations were living under mild reaction conditions. Kinetic studies showed that the kp values are highly dependent upon the isomeric purity but completely independent of the terminal recognition units. Non-covalent functionalization of these copolymers was accomplished via 1) directed self-assembly, 2) multi-step self- assembly, and 3) one-step orthogonal self-assembly. This system shows complete specificity of each recognition motif for its complementary unit with no observable changes in the association constant upon functionalization. To explore potential applications of this UPB concept, random terpolymers possessing high concentrations of pendant alkyl chains and small amounts of recognition units were synthesized. Non-covalent crosslinking using a directed functionalization strategy resulted in dramatic increases in solution viscosities for metal crosslinked polymers with only minor changes in viscosity for hydrogen bonding motifs. The crosslinked materials were further functionalized via self-assembly by employing the second recognition motif, which gave rise to functionalized materials with tailored crosslinks. This non-covalent crosslinking/functionalization strategy could allow for rapid and tunable materials synthesis by overcoming many difficulties inherent to the preparation of covalently crosslinked polymers. Finally, the current status of the UPB concept is reviewed and methodological extensions of the concept are suggested. Evaluation of how UPBs may be used to optimize materials and their potential use in fabricating unique electro-optical materials, sensors, and drug delivery vesicles are explored.

No description available.

Les solides hybrides poreux ou les « MOFs » sont l'une des classes les plus récentes de polymères de coordination poreux cristallins. En raison de la variété de leur structure et leur composition, Ils sont actuellement considérés comme des candidats prometteurs dans divers domaines (le stockage de gaz, la séparation des fluides, la catalyse, la biomédecine…). Cependant, la littérature sur l'activité photocatalytique de ces solides n’a commencé à s’exploser que très récemment, bien que l’utilisation de ces matériaux comme photocatalyseurs hétérogènes soit avantageux en comparaison avec les semi-conducteurs classiques. Compte tenu des propriétés photocatalytiques bien établies de TiO2, il semble logique de se concentrer sur le titane(IV) pour la conception de nouveaux MOFs pour de telles applications. Néanmoins, en raison de la difficulté de contrôler la réactivité de cet ion métallique en solution (en particulier hors des conditions très acides), très peu de MOFs à base de titane ont été décrits, parmi les MOFs nombreux connus dans la littérature. Ainsi, l'obtention de solides cristallins à base de titane dans l'eau et en milieu basique reste un défi majeur dans ce domaine. Dans nos travaux, certaines stratégies ont été suivies afin de bénéficier des avantages de l’utilisation des cations Ti4+ et parallèlement confronter leurs limitations en se focalisant sur l'exploration de la chimie de ces cations (alcoxydes de titane, complexes et oxo-clusters) avec divers ligands polytopiques, en particulier les dérivés hydroxycarboxylates et polycatécholates pour la conception de nouveaux solides hybrides poreux stables à base de titane. Ces ligands présentent des avantages importants par rapport aux carboxylates purs, tels que la diversité structurale potentiellement plus élevée, les liaisons Ti-O plus fortes conduisant à une stabilité chimique améliorée en milieu basique, et une large absorption dans le visible assurée par un transfert de charge ligand-métal. D'autre part, l'utilisation des complexes moléculaires ou des oxo-clusters de titane sera une opportunité prometteuse dans le but de contrôler l'hydrolyse spontanée et la réactivité élevée des ions Ti4+. En privilégiant la synthèse solvo- et hydrothermale à l'aide du « système haut-débit », ces stratégies ont conduit à l’obtention de nouveaux solides cristallins (composés moléculaires et polymériques 1D /2D /3D). La synthèse, la caractérisation structurale au travers de la combinaison de différentes techniques (diffraction des rayons X, analyse thermogravimétrique, spectroscopie IR, RMN du solide, mesure de sorption...), l'étude de certaines propriétés et l’étude préliminaire de l’activité photocatalytique (production de dihydrogène de l’eau) de ces nouveaux solides seront ainsi discutées dans ce manuscrit. / Crystalline Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs are one of the most recent classes of crystalline porous coordination polymers. Due to the variety of their structure and composition, they are currently considered as promising candidates in various domains (gas storage, fluid separation, catalysis, biomedicine…). However, the literature on the photocatalytic activity of these solids has exploded only very recently, although the many advantages of using these materials as heterogeneous photocatalysts in comparison with classical semiconductors. Considering the well-established photocatalytic properties of TiO2, it seems logical to focus on titanium in order to design new MOFs for such applications. Nevertheless, because of the difficulty in controlling the reactivity of these ions in solution (especially out of the very acidic conditions), very few crystalline titanium-based MOFs have been described, among the numerous MOFs known in the literature. Thus, obtaining titanium-based MOFs in water and basic medium remains a big challenge. In our work, some strategies has been followed in order to benefice from the advantages of the titanium ions and at the same time confront their limitations by focusing on the exploration of the chemistry of Ti4+ ions (titanium alkoxides, complexes and oxo-clusters) with various polytopic ligands, especially hydroxycarboxylate and polycatecholate derivatives in order to design new stable titanium-based MOFs. Such ligands provide important advantages in comparison with pure carboxylates, such as a potentially higher structural diversity, stronger Ti-O bonds leading to an enhanced chemical stability in basic medium, and a strong absorption in the visible range ensured by ligand to metal charge transfer. On the other hand, the use of titanium molecular complexes or oxo-clusters will be a promising opportunity in order to control the spontaneous hydrolysis and the high activity of Ti4+ ions. By privileging the solvo- and hydrothermal synthesis using the «high-throughput system», these strategies lead to obtain new crystalline solids (molecular and 1D/2D/3D polymeric compounds). The synthesis, the structural characterization by a combination of different technics (X-ray diffraction, TGA analysis, IR spectroscopy, Solid State NMR, sorption measurement…), the study of some properties and the preliminary photocatalytic experiments (water splitting reaction) of these new solids will be discussed in this manuscript.