TY - JOUR A1 - Kole, Goutam Kumar A1 - Košćak, Marta A1 - Amar, Anissa A1 - Majhen, Dragomira A1 - Božinović, Ksenija A1 - Brkljaca, Zlatko A1 - Ferger, Matthias A1 - Michail, Evripidis A1 - Lorenzen, Sabine A1 - Friedrich, Alexandra A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Moos, Michael A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Boucekkine, Abdou A1 - Lambert, Christoph A1 - Halet, Jean‐François A1 - Piantanida, Ivo A1 - Müller‐Buschbaum, Klaus A1 - Marder, Todd B. T1 - Methyl Viologens of Bis‐(4’‐Pyridylethynyl)Arenes – Structures, Photophysical and Electrochemical Studies, and their Potential Application in Biology JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - A series of bis‐(4’‐pyridylethynyl)arenes (arene=benzene, tetrafluorobenzene, and anthracene) were synthesized and their bis‐N‐methylpyridinium compounds were investigated as a class of π‐extended methyl viologens. Their structures were determined by single crystal X‐ray diffraction, and their photophysical and electrochemical properties (cyclic voltammetry), as well as their interactions with DNA/RNA were investigated. The dications showed bathochromic shifts in emission compared to the neutral compounds. The neutral compounds showed very small Stokes shifts, which are a little larger for the dications. All of the compounds showed very short fluorescence lifetimes (<4 ns). The neutral compound with an anthracene core has a quantum yield of almost unity. With stronger acceptors, the analogous bis‐N‐methylpyridinium compound showed a larger two‐photon absorption cross‐section than its neutral precursor. All of the dicationic compounds interact with DNA/RNA; while the compounds with benzene and tetrafluorobenzene cores bind in the grooves, the one with an anthracene core intercalates as a consequence of its large, condensed aromatic linker moiety, and it aggregates within the polynucleotide when in excess over DNA/RNA. Moreover, all cationic compounds showed highly specific CD spectra upon binding to ds‐DNA/RNA, attributed to the rare case of forcing the planar, achiral molecule into a chiral rotamer, and negligible toxicity toward human cell lines at ≤10 μM concentrations. The anthracene‐analogue exhibited intracellular accumulation within lysosomes, preventing its interaction with cellular DNA/RNA. However, cytotoxicity was evident at 1 μM concentration upon exposure to light, due to singlet oxygen generation within cells. These multi‐faceted features, in combination with its two‐photon absorption properties, suggest it to be a promising lead compound for development of novel light‐activated theranostic agents. KW - cell imaging KW - DNA/RNA binding KW - methyl viologen KW - singlet oxygen KW - two-photon absorption Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-287126 VL - 28 IS - 40 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hattori, Yohei A1 - Michail, Evripidis A1 - Schmiedel, Alexander A1 - Moos, Michael A1 - Holzapfel, Marco A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Müller, Ulrich A1 - Pflaum, Jens A1 - Lambert, Christoph T1 - Luminescent Mono-, Di-, and Tri-radicals: Bridging Polychlorinated Triarylmethyl Radicals by Triarylamines and Triarylboranes JF - Chemistry - A European Journal N2 - Up to three polychlorinated pyridyldiphenylmethyl radicals bridged by a triphenylamine carrying electron withdrawing (CN), neutral (Me), or donating (OMe) groups were synthesized and analogous radicals bridged by tris(2,6‐dimethylphenyl)borane were prepared for comparison. All compounds were as stable as common closed‐shell organic compounds and showed significant fluorescence upon excitation. Electronic, magnetic, absorption, and emission properties were examined in detail, and experimental results were interpreted using DFT calculations. Oxidation potentials, absorption and emission energies could be tuned depending on the electron density of the bridges. The triphenylamine bridges mediated intramolecular weak antiferromagnetic interactions between the radical spins, and the energy difference between the high spin and low spin states was determined by temperature dependent ESR spectroscopy and DFT calculations. The fluorescent properties of all radicals were examined in detail and revealed no difference for high and low spin states which facilitates application of these dyes in two‐photon absorption spectroscopy and OLED devices. KW - density functional calculations KW - fluorescence KW - NIR OLED KW - radical KW - two-photon absorption Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-208162 VL - 25 IS - 68 ER -