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Recently, the application of computational tools to the rational design of catalysts has received considerable attention, but progress has been limited by the reliance on databases and because mechanistic data have been almost neglected. Herein, we report a new strategy for catalyst design, designated catalyst-oriented design based on elementary reactions (CODER), which fully utilizes mechanistic data, combines the strengths of computational tools and researcher experience. CODER enabled the development of extremely efficient Pd catalysts for C-N coupling, which markedly improved the efficiency of the synthesis of widely used triarylamine optoelectronic materials by enhancing the turnover numbers (up to 340000) to 1-3 orders of magnitude towards literature values., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

This communication reports novel luminescent rhenium(I)-polypyridine complexes appended with a perylene diimide (PDI) or benzoperylene monoimide (BPMI) moiety through a non-conjugated linker. The photophysical and photochemical properties originating from the interactions of the metal polypyridine and perylene units were exploited to afford new cellular reagents with thiol-sensing capability and excellent photocytotoxic activity., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Although the strain-promoted sydnone-alkyne cycloaddition reaction has been utilized for bioconjugation, its potential applications in bioorthogonal labeling and imaging in live cells have not been explored. This communication reports novel bioorthogonal imaging reagents with environment-sensitive emission properties through the modification of sydnone with cyclometalated iridium(III) polypyridine complexes. These complexes displayed significant emission enhancement and lifetime elongation upon reaction with strained alkyne derivatives, and were utilized to label cyclooctyne-modified proteins and ceramide molecules in live cells. Additionally, the manipulation of the photocytotoxicity of the complexes through the use of a bioorthogonal reagent was demonstrated., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Sialic acids play important roles in mammalian development, cell-cell attachment, and signaling. As cancer cells utilize their overexpressed sialylated antigens to propagate metastases, the development of probes for sialic acids is of high importance. Herein, we report three luminescent cyclometalated iridium(III) bipyridine complexes bearing a phenylboronic acid (PBA) moiety. Spectrophotometric titrations revealed that the PBA complexes displayed higher binding affinity for the most common sialic acid N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) compared with simple sugars that are commonly found on glycoproteins. Notably, cellular imaging and uptake experiments showed that the PBA complexes were able to recognize cellular sialic acid residues, resulting in more efficient uptake than the boronic acid-free analogs. Additionally, one of the PBA complexes was shown to discriminate between cancerous and noncancerous cells., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We report a new class of ruthenium(II) polypyridine complexes functionalized with a nitrone group as phosphorogenic bioorthogonal probes. These complexes were very weakly emissive owing to rapid C=N isomerization of the nitrone moiety, but exhibited significant emission enhancement upon strain-promoted alkyne-nitrone cycloaddition (SPANC) reaction with bicyclo[6.1.0]nonyne (BCN)-modified substrates. The modification of nitrone with a dicationic ruthenium(II) polypyridine unit at the α-C-position and a phenyl ring at the N-position led to remarkably accelerated reaction kinetics, which are substantially greater (up to ≈278 fold) than those of other acyclic nitrone-BCN systems. Interestingly, the complexes achieved specific cell membrane/cytosol staining upon specific labeling of an exogenous substrate, BCN-modified decane (BCN-C10), in live cells. Importantly, the in situ generation of the more lipophilic isoxazoline adduct in the cytoplasm resulted in increased cytotoxicity, highlighting a novel approach to apply the SPANC labeling technique in drug activation., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The use of bioorthogonal probes that display fluorogenic or phosphorogenic properties is advantageous to the labeling and imaging of biomolecules in live cells and organisms. Herein we present the design of three iridium(III) complexes containing a nitrone moiety as novel phosphorogenic bioorthogonal probes. These probes were non-emissive owing to isomerization of the C=N group but showed significant emission enhancement upon cycloaddition reaction with strained cyclooctynes. Interestingly, the connection of the nitrone ligand to the cationic iridium(III) center led to accelerated reaction kinetics. These nitrone complexes were also identified as phosphorogenic bioorthogonal labels and imaging reagents for cyclooctyne-modified proteins. These findings contribute to the development of phosphorogenic bioorthogonal probes and imaging reagents., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The synthesis, characterization, photophysics, lipophilicity, and cellular properties of new phosphorescent ruthenium(II) polypyridine complexes functionalized with a dibenzocyclooctyne (DIBO) or amine moiety [Ru(N^N)2 (L)](PF6 )2 are reported (L=4-(13-N-(3,4:7,8-dibenzocyclooctyne-5-oxycarbonyl) amino-4,7,10-trioxa-tridecanyl-aminocarbonyl-oxy-methyl)-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine bpy-DIBO, N^N=2,2'-bipyridine bpy (1 a), 1,10-phenanthroline phen (2 a); L=4-(13-amino-4,7,10-trioxa-tridecanylaminocarbonyl-oxy-methyl)-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine bpy-NH2 , N^N=bpy (1 b), phen (2 b)). The strain-promoted alkyne-azide cycloaddition (SPAAC) reaction of the DIBO complexes 1 a and 2 a with benzyl azide were studied. Also, the DIBO complexes 1 a and 2 a can selectively label N-azidoglycans located on the surface of CHO-K1 and A549 cells that were pretreated with 1,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-N-azidoacetyl-D-mannosamine (Ac4 ManNAz). Additionally, the intracellular trafficking and localization of these biomolecules were monitored using laser-scanning confocal microscopy. Interestingly, the biolabeling and cellular uptake efficiency of the DIBO complexes 1 a and 2 a were cell-line dependent, as revealed by flow cytometry and ICP-MS. Furthermore, the complexes showed good biocompatibility toward the Ac4 ManNAz-pretreated cells in the dark, but exhibited photoinduced cytotoxicity due to the generation of singlet oxygen., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We report the development of a series of rhenium(I) polypyridine complexes appended with an electron-rich diaminoaromatic moiety as phosphorogenic sensors for nitric oxide (NO). The diamine complexes [Re(N^N)(CO)3 (py-DA)][PF6 ] (py-DA=3-(N-(2-amino-5-methoxyphenyl)aminomethyl)pyridine; N^N=1,10-phenanthroline (phen) (1 a), 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Me4 -phen) (2 a), 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Ph2 -phen) (3 a)) have been synthesized and characterized. In contrast to common rhenium(I) diimines, these diamine complexes were very weakly emissive due to quenching of the triplet metal-to-ligand charge-transfer ((3) MLCT) emission by the diaminoaromatic moiety through photoinduced electron transfer (PET). Upon treatment with NO, the complexes were converted into the triazole derivatives [Re(N^N)(CO)3 (py-triazole)][PF6 ] (py-triazole=3-((6-methoxybenzotriazol-1-yl)methyl)pyridine; N^N=phen (1 b), Me4 -phen (2 b), Ph2 -phen (3 b)), resulting in significant emission enhancement (I/I0 ≈60). The diamine complexes exhibited high reaction selectivity to NO, and their emission intensity was found to be independent on pH. Also, these complexes were effectively internalized by HeLa cells and RAW264.7 macrophages with negligible cytotoxicity. Additionally, the use of complex 3 a as an intracellular phosphorogenic sensor for NO has been demonstrated., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We present a new class of phosphorescent cyclometalated iridium(III) bipyridyl-phenylenediamine complexes [Ir(N^C)2 (bpy-DA)](PF6 ) (bpy-DA=4-(N-(2-amino-5-methoxyphenyl)aminomethyl)-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine; HN^C=2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyridine (Hdfppy) (1 a), 2-phenylpyridine (Hppy) (2 a), 2-phenylquinoline (Hpq) (3 a), 2-phenylcinchoninic acid methyl ester (Hpqe) (4 a)) and their triazole counterparts [Ir(N^C)2 (bpy-T)](PF6 ) (bpy-T=4-((6-methoxybenzotriazol-1-yl)methyl)-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine; HN^C=Hdfppy (1 b), Hppy (2 b), Hpq (3 b), Hpqe (4 b)). Upon photoexcitation, the diamine complexes exhibited fairly weak green to red phosphorescence under ambient conditions whereas the triazole derivatives emitted strongly. The photophysical properties of complexes 2 a and 2 b have been studied in more detail. Upon protonation, the diamine complex 2 a displayed increased emission intensity, but the emission properties of its triazole counterpart complex 2 b were independent on the pH value of the solution. Also, complex 2 a was found to be readily converted into complex 2 b upon reaction with NO under aerated conditions, resulting in substantial emission enhancement of the solution. The reaction was highly specific toward NO over other reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) as revealed by spectroscopic analyses. The lipophilicity and cellular uptake efficiency of the diamine complexes have been examined and correlated to their molecular structures. Also, cell-based assays showed that these complexes were noncytotoxic toward human cervix epithelioid carcinoma (HeLa) cells (at 10 μM, 4 h, percentage survival ≈80-95%). Additionally, the diamine complexes have been used to visualize intracellular NO generated both exogenously in HeLa cells and endogenously in RAW 264.7 murine macrophages by laser-scanning confocal microscopy., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We report the synthesis, characterization, and photophysical properties of a new class of luminescent cyclometalated iridium(III) polypyridine poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) complexes [Ir(N--C)(2)(N--N)](PF(6)) (HN--C=Hppy (2-phenylpyridine), N--N=bpy-CONH-PEG1 (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine; 1a), bpy-CONH-PEG3 (1b); HN--C=Hpq (2-phenylquinoline), N--N=bpy-CONH-PEG1 (2a), bpy-CONH-PEG3 (2b); HN--C=Hpba (4-(2-pyridyl)benzaldehyde), N--N=bpy-CONH-PEG1 (3)) and their PEG-free counterparts (N--N=bpy-CONH-Et, HN--C=Hppy (1c); HN--C=Hpq (2c)). The cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of these complexes have been investigated by the MTT assay, ICPMS, laser-scanning confocal microscopy, and flow cytometry. The results showed that the complexes supported by the water-soluble PEG can act as biological probes and labels with considerably reduced cytotoxicity. Because the aldehyde groups of complex 3 are reactive toward primary amines, the complex has been utilized as the first luminescent PEGylation reagent. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) have been PEGylated with this complex, and the resulting conjugates have been isolated, purified, and their photophysical properties studied. The DNA-binding and gene-delivery properties of the luminescent PEI conjugate 3-PEI have also been investigated.