Seiji Shinkai

Bio: Seiji Shinkai is an academic researcher from Kyushu University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Calixarene & Boronic acid. The author has an hindex of 103, co-authored 1158 publications receiving 48059 citations. Previous affiliations of Seiji Shinkai include University of California, Santa Barbara & Sojo University.

Novel Cavity Design Using Calix[n]arene Skeletons: Toward Molecular Recognition and Metal Binding.

Abstract: Calixarenes are macrocyclic molecules, like crown ethers and cyclodextrins.1-7 Calixarenes made up of phenol and methylene units have many conformational isomers because of two possible rotational modes of the phenol unit: the oxygen-through-theannulus rotation and the para-substituent-throughthe-annulus rotation (Figure 1). The conformational isomers thus yielded afford a great number of unique cavities with the different size and the different shape. Recently, a number of strategies have been exploited by which not only the conformation of calix[4]arenes, but also those of calix[6]arenes and calix[8]arenes, can be immobilized. This means that our group can now design various calixarene-based receptors that show high selectivity for guest molecules and metal cations. In this review article, our group describe novel strategies for cavity design using calix[n]arene skeletons, strategies that are intended to allow complexation of specific molecular targets or metal ions.

Saccharide Sensing with Molecular Receptors Based on Boronic Acid

Abstract: The lock-and-key principle of natural systems is based on complex interactions like hydrogen bonding. Many synthetic systems that attempt to mimic natural systems have also used hydrogen bonding as the main binding force and have met with great success in non-hydrogen-bonding solvents that do not compete with the guest for the binding pocket. In contrast, natural systems function in water, a very competitive solvent. Synthetic hydrogen-bonding systems may yet evolve to be successful in water. If this transition can not be made, synthetic answers can nevertheless take inspiration from nature without slavishly following the blue print. This is not an attempt to reinvent the “lock”: a new locking mechanism merely replaces the existing one. The inspiration might be the view of the hydrogen bond as an easily reversible “covalent” bond. Screening the literature we rediscovered boronic acids, which have been known for over 100 years. Conveniently, boronic acids rapidly and reversibly form cyclic esters with diols in basic aqueous media. Saccharides and other related “keys” contain a contiguous array of cyclic alcohols. In this work we hope to demonstrate that saccharide “keys” and boronic acid “locks” can open the door to a new and exciting field of research.

Organic Templates for the Generation of Inorganic Materials

Abstract: Mankind's fascination with shapes and patterns, many examples of which come from nature, has greatly influenced areas such as art and architecture. Science too has long since been interested in the origin of shapes and structures found in nature. Whereas organic chemistry in general, and supramolecular chemistry especially, has been very successful in creating large superstructures of often stunning morphology, inorganic chemistry has lagged behind. Over the last decade, however, researchers in various fields of chemistry have been studying novel methods through which the shape of inorganic materials can be controlled at the micro- or even nanoscopic level. A method that has proven very successful is the formation of inorganic structures under the influence of (bio)organic templates, which has resulted in the generation of a large variety of structured inorganic structures that are currently unattainable through any other method.

Chiral discrimination of monosaccharides using a fluorescent molecular sensor

Abstract: MEANS of distinguishing between enantiomers of a chiral molecule are of critical importance in many areas of analytical chemistry and biotechnology, particularly in drug design and synthesis. In particular, solution-based sensor systems capable of chiral recognition would be of tremendous pharmaceutical value. Here we report the chiral discrimination of D- and L -monosaccharides using a designed receptor molecule that acts as a sensor by virtue of its fluorescent response to binding of the guest species. Our receptor contains boronic acid groups that bind saccharides by covalent interactions; such receptor systems have been much studied previously1–6 for complexation of saccharides, and have an advantage over others based on hydrogen-bonding interactions7–11, for which polar protic solvents such as water can compete with guest binding. Our molecular sensor also incorporates a fluorescent naphthyl moiety; binding of each enantiomer of the monosaccharides alters the fluorescence intensity to differing degrees, enabling them to be distinguished. These water-soluble molecular sensors might form the basis of a quantitative and selective analytical method for saccharides.

Gold nanoparticles: assembly, supramolecular chemistry, quantum-size-related properties, and applications toward biology, catalysis, and nanotechnology.

Abstract: Although gold is the subject of one of the most ancient themes of investigation in science, its renaissance now leads to an exponentially increasing number of publications, especially in the context of emerging nanoscience and nanotechnology with nanoparticles and self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). We will limit the present review to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), also called gold colloids. AuNPs are the most stable metal nanoparticles, and they present fascinating aspects such as their assembly of multiple types involving materials science, the behavior of the individual particles, size-related electronic, magnetic and optical properties (quantum size effect), and their applications to catalysis and biology. Their promises are in these fields as well as in the bottom-up approach of nanotechnology, and they will be key materials and building block in the 21st century. Whereas the extraction of gold started in the 5th millennium B.C. near Varna (Bulgaria) and reached 10 tons per year in Egypt around 1200-1300 B.C. when the marvelous statue of Touthankamon was constructed, it is probable that “soluble” gold appeared around the 5th or 4th century B.C. in Egypt and China. In antiquity, materials were used in an ecological sense for both aesthetic and curative purposes. Colloidal gold was used to make ruby glass 293 Chem. Rev. 2004, 104, 293−346

The Chemistry and Applications of Metal-Organic Frameworks

Abstract: Crystalline metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are formed by reticular synthesis, which creates strong bonds between inorganic and organic units. Careful selection of MOF constituents can yield crystals of ultrahigh porosity and high thermal and chemical stability. These characteristics allow the interior of MOFs to be chemically altered for use in gas separation, gas storage, and catalysis, among other applications. The precision commonly exercised in their chemical modification and the ability to expand their metrics without changing the underlying topology have not been achieved with other solids. MOFs whose chemical composition and shape of building units can be multiply varied within a particular structure already exist and may lead to materials that offer a synergistic combination of properties.

Metal–Organic Framework Materials as Chemical Sensors

Abstract: 1. INTRODUCTION Among the classes of highly porous materials, metalÀorganic frameworks (MOFs) are unparalleled in their degree of tunability and structural diversity as well as their range of chemical and physical properties. MOFs are extended crystalline structures wherein metal cations or clusters of cations (\" nodes \") are connected by multitopic organic \" strut \" or \" linker \" ions or molecules. The variety of metal ions, organic linkers, and structural motifs affords an essentially infinite number of possible combinations. 1 Furthermore, the possibility for postsynthetic modification adds an additional dimension to the synthetic variability. 2 Coupled with the growing library of experimentally determined structures, the potential to computationally predict, with good accuracy, affinities of guests for host frameworks points to the prospect of routinely predesigning frameworks to deliver desired properties. 3,4 MOFs are often compared to zeolites for their large internal surface areas, extensive porosity, and high degree of crystallinity. Correspondingly, MOFs and zeolites have been utilized for many of the same applications