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Kimihisa Yamamoto

Publications and source records attributed to Kimihisa Yamamoto.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Sequential metal ion assembly in cyclic phenylazomethine.

[reaction: see text] Cyclic phenylazomethines with methylene spacers (CPA-M) are obtained by dehydration of diamine with diketone. During the titration of CPA-M 4mer with FeCl(3), we observe two consecutive isosbestic points in the UV-vis spectra. We conclude that complexation occurs in two consecutive steps. Our analysis suggests that the stepwise metal ion assembly is caused by a difference in the basicity of the imine conformers. Metal ion binding first occurs at the Z imines followed by coordination to the E imine. Finally, metal ion assembly in this compound can be controlled electrochemically.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Investigation of a molecular morphology effect on polyphenylazomethine dendrimers; physical properties and metal-assembling processes.

A series of novel dendritic polyphenylazomethines (DPA) with asymmetric morphologies was synthesized. Their physical properties, such as encapsulating effect, molecular dynamics, and metal assembly, are strongly dependent on the entire conformation of the molecules. The most important property is layer-by-layer metal assembly in the dendrimer structure from the core to the outside. Bis- and tris-substituted DPAs of the fourth generation also act as frameworks for stepwise assembly of a metal component (SnCl2), like the fully substituted symmetric DPA. However, extensive investigation of metal assembly in specific DPAs revealed that they do not follow the stepwise process. The molecular density calculated from the experimental hydrodynamic volume indicated that bis- and tris-substituted DPAs with asymmetric morphology still retain a free space similar to that of fully substituted symmetric DPA. The monosubstituted DPA, however, displayed a slightly higher density (smaller space) than the other DPAs. The experimental results suggest a bent conformation of the dendrimer in which the core moiety is folded into the dendron structure. In addition, the molecular dynamics were probed by means of the 1H NMR signals of the porphyrin core. It was demonstrated that the conformation is not fixed at room temperature in solvated DPAs, especially in monosubstituted DPA. A similar observation was for the smaller DPAs (third generations) with asymmetric morphologies. These dendrimers do not follow the stepwise complexation process. The structures of bis- and tris-substituted dendrimers which accurately follow the stepwise process are fixed. These observations provide a new insight into the finely controlled metal-assembly chemistry of dendritic macromolecules, and a rigid and fixed conformation is one of important factors for their unique properties.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

An electric cyclophane: cavity control based on the rotation of a paraphenylene by redox switching.

Although a free rotation around a single bond gives no mechanical output, it has let us imagine a molecular motor. A para-substituted aromatic ring can be regarded as a rotator with the para-rotation axis. When it is incorporated in a wider pi-conjugated system, a quinoidal structure is generated accompanied by oxidation on the substituted groups at the 1,4-position, and the axis is fixed. A paraphenylenediamine was selected as the nanomechanical molecular module capable of locking and releasing the free rotation using an electrode in solution. We inserted the module into a simple molecular system, cyclophane. It was clarified that the cyclophane was able to open and close its cavity in a reversible redox process repeatedly.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Probing stepwise complexation in phenylazomethine dendrimers by a metallo-porphyrin core.

A series of dendritic phenylazomethines (DPA), which have a meso-substituted zinc porphyrin core (DPAGX-ZnP, X = 1-4), were synthesized. Structural studies of these dendrimers were carried out using Tri-SEC (triple detection after size exclusion chromatography), intrinsic viscosity analysis, TEM (tunneling electron microscopy), and molecular modeling calculations by AM1. As a result, a sphere-like structure within a single-nanometer scale (R(h) = 22 A for DPAG4-ZnP) was observed. In addition, encapsulating effects by the DPA shell in the larger dendrimers were confirmed as fundamental properties, based on the UV-vis abosorption spectra, cyclic voltammograms, and 1H NMR spin-lattice relaxation times (T1). The DPAGX-ZnP acts as a multi-metal ion reservoir for SnCl2 and FeCl3. The generation-4 dendrimer (DPAG4-ZnP) can take up to 60 molar amounts of metal complexes around the porphyrin core. A quantitative study of the metal assembling reaction by UV-vis titration revealed stepwise layer-by-layer complexations from the inner imines nearest to the core to the surface. The redox behavior and fluorescence of the zinc porphyrin in these metal-assembled dendrimers also support the stepwise complexation of the metal ion. These analyses suggest that the finely assembled metal complexes in a dendrimer architecture strongly affect the electronic status of the porphyrin core. Results from transient absorption measurements strongly indicate a very fast electron transfer on a subpicosecond time scale between the core and assembled metal complexes.

Azo Compounds↗
PubMed2005

Metal-assembling dendrimers with a triarylamine core and their application to a dye-sensitized solar cell.

A series of charge-separable and hole-transporting phenylazomethine dendrimers with a triarylamine core are prepared and evaluated for use as a charge separator in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Triphenylamine with dendric phenylazomethine (TPA-DPA) is prepared by synthesizing up to five generations of dendrons using a convergent method. The resultant dendrimer has a rigid sphere structure similar to globular protein, with a hydrodynamic radius of 2.43 nm. Electrochemical oxidation of the TPA core reveals that the dendron units in the dendrimer have 0.35 of the attenuation factor (beta) in the electron transfer. Complexation of TPA-DPA with SnCl2 proceeds in stepwise fashion from the core to the terminal imine following the basicity gradient among imine groups in each dendron shell. DSSCs prepared by casting these dendrimers onto dye-sensitized TiO2 film exhibited a higher open-circuit voltage than the bare film through the suppression of back electron transfer. The generational growth of dendrons increases the radius of the dendrimer, resulting in a stronger association with I3- and higher open-circuit voltage with an increasing number of generations. Complexation with SnCl2 reduces the resistance of TPA-DPA and improves the fill factor. The energy conversion efficiency of the DSSC prepared using fifth-generation TPA-DPA is 21% higher than that for the bare film and, when complexed with SnCl2, provides a 34% improvement.

Aniline Compounds↗
PubMed2005

Up-converted emission in a series of phenylazomethine dendrimers with a porphyrin core.

The nonlinear optical and time-resolved properties of a series of phenylazomethine-porphyrin dendrimers are reported. The linear optical properties were also investigated, and the efficiency of the energy transfer process was obtained. Measurements were also carried out with the basic building-block molecules. The process of frequency up-converted emission was observed in these porphyrin dendrimers. The mechanism for this effect is investigated and related to the process of "hot-band" absorption in the phenylazomethine-porphyrin system. Time-resolved measurements also suggested efficient intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in these systems. These properties suggest that the porphyrin dendrimers may also have applications in light harvesting of low-frequency photons, as well as in sensors.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Two-point separation in far-field super-resolution fluorescence microscopy based on two-color fluorescence dip spectroscopy, Part I: Experimental evaluation.

The two-point resolution of a novel two-color far-field super-resolution fluorescence microscopy was evaluated by measuring fluorescent beads 100 nm in diameter. This microscopy is based on a combination of two-color fluorescence dip spectroscopy and a phase-modulation technique for a laser beam. By simply introducing two-color laser light, the size of the fluorescent image of a bead was shrunk down to a diameter of 250 nm from the diffraction-limited image with a diameter of 360 nm. For two closely adjacent fluorescent beads with a separation distance of 350 nm, the two-color microscope clearly gave separated fluorescence images, while the conventional one-color fluorescence microscope could not resolve them. It has been proved that our technique breaks Rayleigh's diffraction limit.

Fluorescent Dyes↗
PubMed2004

Efficient synthesis of poly(phenylazomethine) dendrons allowing access to higher generation dendrimers.

We have developed a novel synthetic method of phenylazomethine dendrons that uses 4,4'-methylenedianiline instead of 4,4'-diaminobenzophenone to synthesize the precursor of the phenylazomethine dendron and then oxidized the precursor to the next-generation dendron. For this method, the productivity of the dendrons has been significantly increased. Furthermore, as the synthesis of high-generation dendrons becomes easier, synthesis of DPA G5 was achieved. [structure--see text]

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Fine control of the release and encapsulation of Fe ions in dendrimers through ferritin-like redox switching.

Numerous dendrimers incorporating metal ions or clusters have received much attention as catalytic and drug delivery materials. We expanded the variety of metal ions that complex with DPA through a radial stepwise complexation to create novel organic-inorganic hybrid materials. As one of the most common and significant iron ions, Fe3+ was used. It was confirmed that iron ions, FeCl3, are coordinated to the imine groups of a spherical phenylazomethine dendrimer (DPA) in a stepwise radial fashion, which should make it possible to control the number and location of the Fe3+ ions incorporated into the dendrimers. Iron possesses very interesting properties such as magnetism, redox chemistry, and catalysis and is also one of the essential elements of our body. Here, we show the first successful attempt to control the biomimetic switching of iron ions' release/encapsulation in the dendrimer driven by their redox response of the Fe2+/Fe3+ couple, which might find uses as a drug delivery system.

Azo Compounds↗
PubMed2003

Control of stepwise radial complexation in dendritic polyphenylazomethines.

The fourth generation of a dendritic polyphenylazomethine (DPA G4) has 2, 4, 8, and 16 imine groups in the first, second, third, and fourth shells, respectively (total, 30 imine groups). DPA G4 can trap 30 equiv of SnCl(2) molecules, because the imine group is complexed with SnCl(2) at a ratio of 1:1. During addition of 30 equiv of SnCl(2) to DPA G4, four shifts in the isosbestic point were observed in the UV-vis spectra, and the amount of SnCl(2) added in each step is in agreement with the number of imine groups in each shell of DPA G4. This result shows that the complexation of the imine groups in DPA G4 with SnCl(2) occurs stepwise in the order of the first, second, third, and fourth shells. The unique stepwise complexation was also observed in DPA G2 and G3 as two and three shifts of the isosbestic point, respectively. The stepwise complexation was supported by TEM, NMR, and a novel shell-selective reduction (SSR) method for imines. An expansion in the molecular size of DPA G4 by the complexation was revealed by molecular modeling and TEM measurements. The stepwise complexation is caused by the different basicity of the imine groups between the shells, which was supported by the chemical shifts of the peaks attributed to the imine carbons in the (13)C NMR spectra. The gradients in the basicity were controlled by the introduction of electron-withdrawing or -releasing groups to the core of the dendrimers; the core imines were complexed last in DPAs having a 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro or 2,5-dichlorophenyl core due to the low basicity of the core imines. The different complexation pattern was also clearly confirmed by the SSR method.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Novel triarylamine dendrimers as a hole-transport material with a controlled metal-assembling function.

A series of phenylazomethine dendrimers with a triarylamine core (TPA-DPA) were synthesized by dehydration using TiCl4. The complexation of the fourth genereration (G4) TPA-DPA with SnCl2 proceeds in not a random but a stepwise fashion from the core to the terminal imines of the G4 dendrimer. The molecular size of TPA-DPA G4 is larger than that of DPA G4 in THF solution and has a rigid sphere structure like a globular protein. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were fabricated, and the EL performances of the devices using the TPA-DPA-metal complexes as the hole-transport materials are drastically increased (ca. 20 times) by metal complexation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

The first electroresponsive phenylazomethine macrocycles: highly preferential formation and regular molecular packing.

[structure: see text] Highly preferential formation of novel polyphenylazomethine macrocycles was achieved by further addition of TiCl(4) and/or the monomer during the course of the polycondensation. These macrocycles have unique structures based on the (E)/(Z)-conformation of the azomethine bonds, the extremely regular molecular-packing state, and the reversible redox properties by protic acid doping.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Metal assembly in novel dendrimers with porphyrin cores.

A series of phenylazozmethine (DPA) dendrimers with a porphyrin core (PnH2) were synthesized by dehydration using TiCl4 from meso-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)porphyrin and the DPA dendrons. The addition of SnCl2 to a dichloromethane/acetonitrile solution of dendritic cobalt porphyrin resulted in a stepwise spectral change. By using UV-vis spectroscopy to monitor the complexation of the P4CoIIICl until an equimolar amount of SnCl2 has been added, four changes in the position of the isosbestic point were observed during the addition of SnCl2. Titration results suggest that four different complexes are successively formed upon the SnCl2 addition and that the complexation proceeds in, not a random, but a stepwise fashion from the core imines to the terminal imines of P4CoIIICl. The electrochemical study reveals that their dendrimers with Tb ion act as a multielectron mediator in CO2 reduction at high applied potential on the electrode.

Biomimetic Materials↗
PubMed2002

Stepwise radial complexation of imine groups in phenylazomethine dendrimers.

Dendrimers are highly branched organic macromolecules with successive layers or 'generations' of branch units surrounding a central core. Organic-inorganic hybrid versions have also been produced, by trapping metal ions or metal clusters within the voids of the dendrimers. The unusual, tree-like topology endows these nanometre-sized macromolecules with a gradient in branch density from the interior to the exterior, which can give rise to an energy gradient that directs the transfer of charge and energy from the dendrimer periphery to its core. Here we show that tin ions, Sn(2+), complex to the imine groups of a spherical polyphenylazomethine dendrimer in a stepwise fashion. This behaviour reflects a gradient in the electron density associated with the imine groups, with complexation in a more peripheral generation proceeding only after complexation in generations closer to the core has been completed. By attaching an electron-withdrawing group to the dendrimer core, we are able to change the complexation pattern, so that the core imines are complexed last. By further extending this strategy, it should be possible to control the number and location of metal ions incorporated into dendrimer structures, which might find uses as tailored catalysts or building blocks for advanced materials.

Journal Article↗