Metallophilic (metal-metal) interactions are weak interactions between closed-shell (d10, s2) or pseudo-closed-shell (d8) metal cations. This type of interaction is generally believed to be responsible for various intriguing structures, luminescence, catalysis and magnetism. To gain a better understanding of metallophilic interactions, both experimental and computational investigations have been carried out in this thesis. Chapter 1 gave an up-to-date literature review on the definition, significance, and methods of estimating metallophilic interactions. The disputed nature and strength of metallophilic interactions encouraged us to further understand them. Chapter 2 focused on aurophilic interactions between AuI cations. Aurophilic interactions were observed in the solid state, but not well expressed in solution. Further experimental and computational results suggested that the strength of aurophilic interactions were weaker than electrostatic interactions. The nature of aurophilic interactions arose from orbital interactions rather than dispersion. Chapter 3 presented the study of metallophilic interactions between group 10 metal centres, including PtII-PtII, PdII-PdII and NiII-NiII. A series of cyclometalated square-planar metal complexes with different metals or substituents were prepared. PtII-PtII interactions were found to be stronger than PdII-PdII and NiII-NiII interactions. The dimerization constants of the Pt-containing complexes increased in line with increasing electron-withdrawing ability. Chapter 4 investigated the solvent-induced and thermally dependent colour changes of the Pt-containing complexes synthesised in chapter 3. Metallophilic interactions were proposed to be important in influencing the luminescence properties.

An investigation of luminescent sensing has been presented. Neutral Red, a common pH luminescent sensor, was shown to be an effective carbon dioxide sensor for the first time. Sensing experiments were performed both through fluorometric and fluorescent microscopy studies, giving rise to the possibility of carbon dioxide sensing for biological applications. Neutral Red was benchmarked against the well-established carbon dioxide sensor Pyranine (8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid trisodium salt), HPTS. Neutral Red was shown to have improved response times and higher consistency within the sensing drift compared to HPTS. Trinuclear Au(I) complexes have previously shown to sense metal ions through changes in their luminescent properties. A computational study on d10-d10 interactions, which exist in complexes where Cu+, Ag+, and Au+ are intercalated with [Au(μ-C2,N3-ethylImidazolate)]3 in the form of both half and full sandwich adducts. Binding energies, total density plots, and Morse and Dunham analyses of potential energy surfaces are employed to better understand the metal-metal interactions and the effects of electron correlation, basis set superposition error, and dispersion of metallophilic interactions of the adduct complexes. As metal-metal interactions within these types of complexes become better understood, the tuning of trinuclear Au(I) complexes for luminescent sensing of metals becomes increasingly possible.

Au cours de ce travail, nous avons préparé des clips moléculaires efficaces à partir de dimères de cuivre(I) ou d'or(I) portant des ligands organophosphorés en tirant parti des interactions métallophiles. Dans un premier temps, un complexe de cuivre(I) portant des ligands bis(2-pyridyl)phospholes a été utilisé comme clip moléculaire pour organiser des systèmes pi monotopiques à fonction cyano et portant divers fragments pi-conjugués. Ces dimères formés par assemblage pis'auto-organisent à l'état solide en colonnes pi infinies. Dans un deuxième temps, un complexe d'or(I) portant un ligand biphosphole a été utilisé comme clip moléculaire pour organiser des unités éthynyl[6]helicenes en dimères. Ces dimères ont montré une augmentation des propriétés chiroptiques par rapport au ligand éthynyl[6]helicene libre. Dans un troisième temps, un complexe bimétallique de cuivre(I) portant des ligands 1,1-bis(diphénylphosphino)méthane (dppm) s'est révélé être un clip moléculaire efficace pour la conception d'architectures supramoléculaires auto-assemblées par réaction avec des cyanométallates. Ces dérivés supramoléculaires ont des topologies différentes et sont émissifs dans le domaine visible après excitation dans l'UV. Dans certains cas, ils ont montré des propriétés de luminescence thermochromique intéressantes. / In this work, we have prepared organophosphorated ligands based copper(I) or gold(I) dimers that act as efficient molecular clips thanks to metallophilic interactions. Firstly, a bimetallic copper(I) complex bearing bis(2-pyridyl)phosphole ligands was used as a molecular clip to organize monotopic cyano-capped pi-systems carrying various pi-conjugated fragments into self-assembled pi-stacked dimers. These dimers organized in the solid state within infinite columnar pi-stacks. Secondly, a bimetallic gold(I) complex bearing a biphosphole ligand was used as a molecular clip to organize ethynyl-capped [6]helicene moieties into self-assembled dimers. These dimers showed an enhancement of the chiroptical properties as compared to the free ethynyl[6]helicene ligand. Thirdly, a bimetallic copper(I) complex bearing 1,1-bis(diphenylphosphino)methane (dppm) ligands has revealed a powerful molecular clip to design self-assembled supramolecular architectures by reaction with different cyanometallates. These supramolecular derivatives have different topologies and are emissive in the visible spectrum upon UV excitation and in some cases they showed intriguing thermochromic luminescence properties.

Malaria, caused by the apicomplexan parasite Plasmodium, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. This study has focused on the role of the spleen in the control of the blood stage of infection. Three aspects have been examined specifically: the effect of infection on the architecture of the spleen, the role of the spleen in parasite clearance and the formation of B cell memory. Firstly, the effect of infection on the splenic microarchitecture was examined. An essential component of the splenic architecture is the marginal zone (MZ), an area of the spleen that separates the reticuloendothelial red pulp of the spleen from the lymphoid white pulp compartment. Two unique populations of macrophages are found in the marginal zone: marginal zone macrophages (MZM) and marginal metallophilic macrophages (MMM). In the current study, parasitised red blood cells (pRBC) as well as normal RBC located to the MZ thirty minutes after intravenous injection and formed close associations with both MMM and MZM. Eight days after infection, at the time of peak parasitemia, a complete loss of both MMM and MZM was observed. Assays to detect cell death revealed that the loss of both MMM and MZM appeared to occur as a result of apoptosis. The apoptosis was not induced by up regulation of the inflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor or interferon-γ and could not be blocked by over expression of the apoptosis inhibitor Bcl2. Significantly, MMM were retained in the absence of CD8+ T cells implicating CD8+ T cells in the loss of MMM. Finally, infection of CD95-/- mice demonstrated that CD95/CD95-ligand (Fas/Fas-ligand) interactions were responsible for some of the CD8+ T cell-mediated loss of MMM. These data provide evidence for a novel interaction between MMM and CD8+ T cellsfollowing infection with Plasmodium. Secondly, the role of the spleen in the control of parasitemia and disease was monitored with an emphasis on determining the role of splenic macrophage populations (MMM, MZM and red pulp macrophages [RPM]) in parasite clearance. A clodronate liposome-mediated macrophage depletion technique was used, and caused a complete loss of all three macrophage sub-populations, as well as 50% of splenic dendritic cells, within 24 hours of administration. Each of the macrophage populations, as well as splenic DC, demonstrated different repopulation kinetics following their depletion from the spleen and these kinetics were utilised to examine each cell population in isolation. RPM depleted mice had significantly higher peak parasitemias than the controls. This peak returned to the level observed in undepleted control animals only after the repopulation of RPM was complete, suggesting that RPM play a role in the control of peak parasitemia following infection. Neither MMM nor MZM played a role in the control of parasitemia. The role of non-splenic macrophages and splenic dendritic cells also was investigated and shown to be insignificant in the absence of splenic macrophages. Finally, the role of RPM in mice immune to infection was investigated and their role shown to be dispensable, with immune mice clearing parasitemia efficiently in the absence of RPM. RPM therefore are important for the innate control of infection with P. chabaudi but are dispensible once adaptive immunity is established. Finally, the role of the spleen in the development of parasite-specific B cell memory was examined. Initial studies demonstrated that germinal centre (GC) development was compromised following infection with P. chabaudi, with an involution of B cell follicles noted early in infection. Adoptive transfer of memory B cells from immunised to naïve mice demonstrated that some protection was conferred on recipient mice by parasite-specific memory B cells. But, the memory B cells could not protect the host from developing parasitemia and did not produce significant amounts of parasite-specific immunoglobulin within seven days of challenge infection. Memory B cells could not be detected ten weeks after infection, indicating that the development, or survival, of parasite-specific memory B cells was compromised. The development of bystander memory B cells was not affected by infection. Finally, long-lived plasma cells were shown to develop in response to infection, although re-exposure of the cells to parasites in the form of recrudescent parasitemia resulted in their loss. This study therefore has identified a defect in the development of long-term, B cell-mediated, protection against infection with P. chabaudi. Each of these factors has significant implications for the understanding of how the spleen contributes to the control of infection with Plasmodium and potential applications for the further development of malaria vaccines and treatment regimens.