Two cyclometalated Pt(ii) complexes showing reversible phosphorescence switching due to grinding-induced destruction and crystallization-induced formation of supramolecular dimer structure

Two Pt(ii) complexes 1 and 2 reveal similar supramolecular dimer structure, in which two [Pt(dfppy/ppy)(pbdtmi)]+ cations connect each other through the π⋯π stacking interaction. Thus these complexes show reversible phosphorescence switching by grinding and crystallization with toluene.

Resonant nano-dimer metasurface for ultra-thin a-Si:H solar cells

Low-cost hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells (a-Si:H) can perform better and be more competitive by including nanostructures. An optimized nano-dimer structure embedded in close contact with the back electrode of an aSi:H ultra-thin solar cells can enhance the deliverable short-circuit current up to 27.5 %. This enhancement is the result of an increase in the absorption at the active layer, that is the product of an efficient scattering from the nanostructure. From our calculations, the nano-dimer structure must be made out of a high-index of refraction material, like GaP. The evaluation of the scattering and absorption cross section of the structure supports the calculated enhancement in short-circuit current, that is always accompanied by a decrease in the total reflectance of the cell, which is reduced by about 50 %.

The Ras Dimer Structure

Oncogenic mutated Ras is a key player in cancer, but despite intense and expensive approaches its catalytic center seems undruggable. The Ras dimer interface is a possible alternative drug target. Dimerization at the membrane affects cell growth signal transduction. <i>In vivo</i> studies indicate that preventing dimerization of oncogenic mutated Ras inhibits uncontrolled cell growth. Conventional computational drug-screening approaches require a precise atomic dimer model as input to successfully access drug candidates. However, the proposed dimer structural models are controversial. Here, we provide a clear-cut experimentally validated N-Ras dimer structural model. We incorporated unnatural amino acids into Ras to enable the binding of labels at multiple positions via click chemistry. This labeling allowed for the determination of multiple distances of the membrane-bound Ras-dimer measured by fluorescence and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. In combination with protein-protein docking and biomolecular simulations we identified key residues for dimerization. Site‑directed mutations of these residues prevent dimer formation in our experiments, proving our dimer model to be correct. The presented dimer structure enables now computational drug-screening studies exploiting the Ras dimer interface as alternative drug target.

The Ras Dimer Structure

Oncogenic mutated Ras is a key player in cancer, but despite intense and expensive approaches its catalytic center seems undruggable. The Ras dimer interface is a possible alternative drug target. Dimerization at the membrane affects cell growth signal transduction. <i>In vivo</i> studies indicate that preventing dimerization of oncogenic mutated Ras inhibits uncontrolled cell growth. Conventional computational drug-screening approaches require a precise atomic dimer model as input to successfully access drug candidates. However, the proposed dimer structural models are controversial. Here, we provide a clear-cut experimentally validated N-Ras dimer structural model. We incorporated unnatural amino acids into Ras to enable the binding of labels at multiple positions via click chemistry. This labeling allowed for the determination of multiple distances of the membrane-bound Ras-dimer measured by fluorescence and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. In combination with protein-protein docking and biomolecular simulations we identified key residues for dimerization. Site‑directed mutations of these residues prevent dimer formation in our experiments, proving our dimer model to be correct. The presented dimer structure enables now computational drug-screening studies exploiting the Ras dimer interface as alternative drug target.

The reduced cohesion of homoconfigurational 1,2-diols

Homochiral encounters of vicinal diols are blocked from relaxing to the heterochiral global minimum dimer structure in supersonic jet expansions.

Dimer structure as topological pinning center in a superconducting sample

Solving the Ginzburg-Landau equations, we analyzed the vortex matter in a superconducting square with a Dimer structure of circular pinning centers generated by a pulsed heat source in presence of an applied magnetic field. We numerically solved the Ginzburg-Landau equations in order to describe the effect of the temperature of the circular defects on the Abrikosov state of the sample. The pulsed laser produced a variation of the temperature in each defect. It is shown that an anomalous vortex-anti-vortex state (A-aV) appears spontaneously at higher magnetic fields. This could be due to the breaking of the symmetry of the sample by the inclusion of the thermal defects