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Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board
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Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 17572

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ashok Kakkar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC H3A 0B8, Canada
Interests: nanostructures; soft nanoparticles; macromolecules; dendrimers; miktoarm polymers; telodendrimers; naked nanocarriers; metal nanoparticles; gold nanoshells; iron oxide nanoparticles; nanomedicine; drug delivery; diagnostics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Chemistry at the nanoscale has promised and continues to deliver tools for designing smart technologies in a diverse range of areas. Nanochemistry merges materials science with chemistry, and this combination provides the desired convergent approach for resolving key issues in developing smart nanomaterials. Tremendous efforts have been devoted toward synthesis and acquiring a detailed understanding of the structure–property relationships in these systems. Through an integrated and interdisciplinary theoretical and applied research approach, a diverse range of architectures with varied shapes, sizes, and desired functions can now be assembled. This has significantly contributed toward advances in nanomedicine, information technology, and environmental science, among others.

The Nanochemistry section of Molecules has grown immensely through the dedicated efforts of its Editorial Board Members, who are leading scientists in this multidisciplinary area. The multi-tasking endeavors of these notable scientists are continuing to provide the impetus needed for growth of the field generally and of the Nanochemistry section in particular. Molecules would like to note their contributions through a dedicated Special Issue “Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board”. The idea behind this collection is to bring together and thus highlight the recent contributions to nanochemistry made by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Nanochemistry section of Molecules. This Special Issue will provide an ideal platform to focus attention on important discoveries in the field that will be of great interest to a large audience.

Prof. Dr. Ashok Kakkar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nanostructured materials
  • nanoparticles
  • nanomedicine
  • nanoformulations
  • carbon nanomaterials
  • nano–bio interface
  • magnetic nanoparticles
  • bionanocomposites
  • soft nanoparticles
  • nano-bioengineering
  • DNA nanotechnology
  • nanodevices
  • nanostructures
  • nanoscience
  • nanocrystallography

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 8835 KiB  
Article
Facile Synthesis of Stable Cerium Dioxide Sols in Nonpolar Solvents
by Alexander E. Baranchikov, Mikhail I. Razumov, Svetlana V. Kameneva, Madina M. Sozarukova, Tatiana S. Beshkareva, Arina D. Filippova, Daniil A. Kozlov, Olga S. Ivanova, Alexander B. Shcherbakov and Vladimir K. Ivanov
Molecules 2022, 27(15), 5028; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27155028 - 07 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2344
Abstract
A method is proposed for the preparation of stable sols of nanocrystalline cerium dioxide in nonpolar solvents, based on surface modification of CeO2 nanoparticles obtained by thermal hydrolysis of concentrated aqueous solutions of ammonium cerium(IV) nitrate with residues of 2-ethylhexanoic and octanoic [...] Read more.
A method is proposed for the preparation of stable sols of nanocrystalline cerium dioxide in nonpolar solvents, based on surface modification of CeO2 nanoparticles obtained by thermal hydrolysis of concentrated aqueous solutions of ammonium cerium(IV) nitrate with residues of 2-ethylhexanoic and octanoic acids. The synthesis was carried out at temperatures below 100 °C and did not require the use of expensive and toxic reagents. An assessment of the radical-scavenging properties of the obtained sols using the superoxide anion-radical neutralization model revealed that they demonstrate notable antioxidant activity. The results obtained indicate the potential of the nanoscale cerium dioxide sols in nonpolar solvents to be used for creating nanobiomaterials possessing antioxidant properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board)
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15 pages, 6003 KiB  
Article
Dark-Field Microscopic Study of Cellular Uptake of Carbon Nanodots: Nuclear Penetrability
by Wendi Zhang, Zuowei Ji, Zheng Zeng, Anitha Jayapalan, Bhawna Bagra, Alex Sheardy, Peng He, Dennis R. LaJeunesse and Jianjun Wei
Molecules 2022, 27(8), 2437; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27082437 - 09 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2415
Abstract
Carbon nanodots are fascinating candidates for the field of biomedicine, in applications such as bioimaging and drug delivery. However, the nuclear penetrability and process are rarely studied and lack understanding, which limits their applications for drug carriers, single-molecule detection and live cell imaging. [...] Read more.
Carbon nanodots are fascinating candidates for the field of biomedicine, in applications such as bioimaging and drug delivery. However, the nuclear penetrability and process are rarely studied and lack understanding, which limits their applications for drug carriers, single-molecule detection and live cell imaging. In this study, we attempt to examine the uptake of CNDs in cells with a focus on the potential nuclear penetrability using enhanced dark-field microscopy (EDFM) associated with hyperspectral imaging (HSI) to quantitatively determine the light scattering signals of CNDs in the cells. The effects of both CND incubation time and concentration are investigated, and plausible nuclear penetration involving the nuclear pore complex (NPC) is discussed. The experimental results and an analytical model demonstrate that the CNDs’ uptake proceeds by a concentration-dependent three-stage behavior and saturates at a CND incubation concentration larger than 750 µg/mL, with a half-saturated concentration of 479 μg/mL. These findings would potentially help the development of CNDs’ utilization in drug carriers, live cell imaging and other biomedical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board)
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11 pages, 3324 KiB  
Article
Fullerenes against COVID-19: Repurposing C60 and C70 to Clog the Active Site of SARS-CoV-2 Protease
by Tainah Dorina Marforio, Edoardo Jun Mattioli, Francesco Zerbetto and Matteo Calvaresi
Molecules 2022, 27(6), 1916; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27061916 - 16 Mar 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2807
Abstract
The persistency of COVID-19 in the world and the continuous rise of its variants demand new treatments to complement vaccines. Computational chemistry can assist in the identification of moieties able to lead to new drugs to fight the disease. Fullerenes and carbon nanomaterials [...] Read more.
The persistency of COVID-19 in the world and the continuous rise of its variants demand new treatments to complement vaccines. Computational chemistry can assist in the identification of moieties able to lead to new drugs to fight the disease. Fullerenes and carbon nanomaterials can interact with proteins and are considered promising antiviral agents. Here, we propose the possibility to repurpose fullerenes to clog the active site of the SARS-CoV-2 protease, Mpro. Through the use of docking, molecular dynamics, and energy decomposition techniques, it is shown that C60 has a substantial binding energy to the main protease of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Mpro, higher than masitinib, a known inhibitor of the protein. Furthermore, we suggest the use of C70 as an innovative scaffold for the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. At odds with masitinib, both C60 and C70 interact more strongly with SARS-CoV-2 Mpro when different protonation states of the catalytic dyad are considered. The binding of fullerenes to Mpro is due to shape complementarity, i.e., vdW interactions, and is aspecific. As such, it is not sensitive to mutations that can eliminate or invert the charges of the amino acids composing the binding pocket. Fullerenic cages should therefore be more effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus than the available inhibitors such as masinitib, where the electrostatic term plays a crucial role in the binding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board)
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15 pages, 2754 KiB  
Article
Kinetics and Energetics of Intramolecular Electron Transfer in Single-Point Labeled TUPS-Cytochrome c Derivatives
by Petro Khoroshyy, Katalin Tenger, Rita V. Chertkova, Olga V. Bocharova, Mikhail P. Kirpichnikov, Natalia Borovok, Géza I. Groma, Dmitry A. Dolgikh, Alexander B. Kotlyar and László Zimányi
Molecules 2021, 26(22), 6976; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26226976 - 18 Nov 2021
Viewed by 1679
Abstract
Electron transfer within and between proteins is a fundamental biological phenomenon, in which efficiency depends on several physical parameters. We have engineered a number of horse heart cytochrome c single-point mutants with cysteine substitutions at various positions of the protein surface. To these [...] Read more.
Electron transfer within and between proteins is a fundamental biological phenomenon, in which efficiency depends on several physical parameters. We have engineered a number of horse heart cytochrome c single-point mutants with cysteine substitutions at various positions of the protein surface. To these cysteines, as well as to several native lysine side chains, the photoinduced redox label 8-thiouredopyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate (TUPS) was covalently attached. The long-lived, low potential triplet excited state of TUPS, generated with high quantum efficiency, serves as an electron donor to the oxidized heme c. The rates of the forward (from the label to the heme) and the reverse (from the reduced heme back to the oxidized label) electron transfer reactions were obtained from multichannel and single wavelength flash photolysis absorption kinetic experiments. The electronic coupling term and the reorganization energy for electron transfer in this system were estimated from temperature-dependent experiments and compared with calculated parameters using the crystal and the solution NMR structure of the protein. These results together with the observation of multiexponential kinetics strongly support earlier conclusions that the flexible arm connecting TUPS to the protein allows several shortcut routes for the electron involving through space jumps between the label and the protein surface. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board)
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Review

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21 pages, 6323 KiB  
Review
Self-Assembly of Cyclodextrin-Coated Nanoparticles:Fabrication of Functional Nanostructures for Sensing and Delivery
by Busra Cengiz, Tugce Nihal Gevrek, Laura Chambre and Amitav Sanyal
Molecules 2023, 28(3), 1076; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031076 - 20 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2324
Abstract
In recent years, the bottom-up approach has emerged as a powerful tool in the fabrication of functional nanomaterials through the self-assembly of nanoscale building blocks. The cues embedded at the molecular level provide a handle to control and direct the assembly of nano-objects [...] Read more.
In recent years, the bottom-up approach has emerged as a powerful tool in the fabrication of functional nanomaterials through the self-assembly of nanoscale building blocks. The cues embedded at the molecular level provide a handle to control and direct the assembly of nano-objects to construct higher-order structures. Molecular recognition among the building blocks can assist their precise positioning in a predetermined manner to yield nano- and microstructures that may be difficult to obtain otherwise. A well-orchestrated combination of top-down fabrication and directed self-assembly-based bottom-up approach enables the realization of functional nanomaterial-based devices. Among the various available molecular recognition-based “host–guest” combinations, cyclodextrin-mediated interactions possess an attractive attribute that the interaction is driven in aqueous environments, such as in biological systems. Over the past decade, cyclodextrin-based specific host–guest interactions have been exploited to design and construct structural and functional nanomaterials based on cyclodextrin-coated metal nanoparticles. The focus of this review is to highlight recent advances in the self-assembly of cyclodextrin-coated metal nanoparticles driven by the specific host–guest interaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board)
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21 pages, 1294 KiB  
Review
Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Fibers
by Lizbeth Zamora-Mendoza, Esteban Guamba, Karla Miño, Maria Paula Romero, Anghy Levoyer, José F. Alvarez-Barreto, António Machado and Frank Alexis
Molecules 2022, 27(22), 7999; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27227999 - 18 Nov 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5189
Abstract
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI), or nosocomial infections, are a global health and economic problem in developed and developing countries, particularly for immunocompromised patients in their intensive care units (ICUs) and surgical site hospital areas. Recurrent pathogens in HAIs prevail over antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as [...] Read more.
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI), or nosocomial infections, are a global health and economic problem in developed and developing countries, particularly for immunocompromised patients in their intensive care units (ICUs) and surgical site hospital areas. Recurrent pathogens in HAIs prevail over antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For this reason, natural antibacterial mechanisms are a viable alternative for HAI treatment. Natural fibers can inhibit bacterial growth, which can be considered a great advantage in these applications. Moreover, these fibers have been reported to be biocompatible and biodegradable, essential features for biomedical materials to avoid complications due to infections and significant immune responses. Consequently, tissue engineering, medical textiles, orthopedics, and dental implants, as well as cosmetics, are fields currently expanding the use of plant fibers. In this review, we will discuss the source of natural fibers with antimicrobial properties, antimicrobial mechanisms, and their biomedical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanochemistry Today: Feature Papers from the Editorial Board)
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