After about three decades of development, the polyol process is now widely recognized and practised as a unique soft chemical method for the preparation of a large variety of nanoparticles which can be used in important technological fields. It offers many advantages: low cost, ease of use and, very importantly, already proven scalability for industrial applications. Among the different classes of inorganic nanoparticles which can be prepared in liquid polyols, metals were the first reported. This review aims to give a comprehensive account of the strategies used to prepare monometallic nanoparticles and multimetallic materials with tailored size and shape. As regards monometallic materials, while the preparation of noble as well as ferromagnetic metals is now clearly established, the scope of the polyol process has been extended to the preparation of more electropositive metals, such as post-transition metals and semi-metals. The potential of this method is also clearly displayed for the preparation of alloys, intermetallics and core–shell nanostructures with a very large diversity of compositions and architectures.

The polyol process: a unique method for easy access to metal nanoparticles with tailored sizes, shapes and compositions.

Our knowledge regarding the influence of nanoparticles on brain function in vivo during normal or hyperthermic conditions is still lacking Few reports indicate that when nanoparticles enter into the central nervous system (CNS) they may induce neurotoxicity On the other hand, nanoparticle-induced drug delivery to the brain enhances neurorepair processes Thus, it is likely that the inclusion of nanoparticles in body fluid compartments alters the normal brain function and/or its response to additional stress, eg, hyperthermia New data from our laboratory show that nanoparticles derived from metals (eg, Cu, Ag or Al, approximately 50-60nm) are capable of inducing brain dysfunction in normal animals and aggravating the brain pathology caused by whole-body hyperthermia (WBH) Thus, normal animals treated with nanoparticles (for 1 week) exhibited mild cognitive impairment and cellular alterations in the brain Subjection of these nanoparticle-treated rats to WBH resulted in profound cognitive and motor deficits, exacerbation of blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, edema formation and brain pathology compared with naive animals These novel observations suggest that nanoparticles enhance brain pathology and cognitive dysfunction in hyperthermia The possible mechanisms of nanoparticle-induced exacerbation of brain damage in WBH and its functional significance in relation to our current knowledge are discussed in this review

Nanoparticles aggravate heat stress induced cognitive deficits, blood-brain barrier disruption, edema formation and brain pathology.

Advances in acyclic compartmental ligands and related complexes

Spectral characterization, cyclic voltammetry, morphology, biological activities and DNA cleaving studies of amino acid Schiff base metal(II) complexes

Magnetic switchable maleonitriledithiolate (mnt) complexes were studied by density functional theory. The calculations were performed for anion dimers of [RBzPyR‘][Ni(mnt)2] (RBzPyR‘ = derivatives of benzylpyridinium) to elucidate magnetostructural correlations and the nature of the weak intermolecular chemical bonding. The calculated results showed that the spin delocalization, favored by the eclipsed stacking and the shorter interlayer distance, was responsible for the diamagnetic character of [1-benzyl-4-aminopyridinium][Ni(mnt)2] at low temperature. The weak antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interactions were also reproduced for [1-benzyl-4-aminopyridinium][Ni(mnt)2] and [1-(4‘-fluorobenzyl)pyridinium][Ni(mnt)2] at high temperature, respectively. The natural bond orbital analysis suggested that the cooperative effect of the weak intermolecular bondings may be the intrinsic driving force resulting in the switchable property, which is essentially similar to those in organic radicals exhibiting magneti...

Theoretical studies on the magnetic switching controlled by stacking patterns of bis(maleonitriledithiolato) nickelate(III) dimers.

Complicated magnetic behavior in one-dimensional nickel(III) chain complex [1-(4′-cyanobenzyl)pyridinium][Ni(mnt)2](mnt2−=maleonitriledithiolate)

An ion-pair complex [FBzPyNH2][Ni(mnt)2] {[FBzPyNH2]+ = [1-(4′-fluorobenzyl)-4-amino]pyridinium and mnt2− = maleonitriledithiolate} has been obtained by I2 oxidation of the corresponding dianion complex. It forms a wellsegregated stacking column structure in the solid state, and exhibits antiferromagnetic ordering below 2.5 K. It is the first complex in this series of complexes containing a maleonitriledithiolate dianion that exhibits metamagnetism. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003)

Yuan-Gen Yao

Papers

Complicated magnetic behavior in one-dimensional nickel(III) chain complex [1-(4′-cyanobenzyl)pyridinium][Ni(mnt)2](mnt2−=maleonitriledithiolate)

The First One‐Dimensional Molecular Material Featuring Maleonitriledithiolate as a Subunit Exhibiting Metamagnetic‐Like Behavior

Synthesis and characterization of copper(II) Schiff base complexes derived from salicylaldehyde and glycylglycylglycine

Structural, morphological, and magnetic study of nanocrystalline cobalt-nickel-copper particles

Spontaneous magnetization in [1-(4-cyanobenzyl)pyridinium][Pt (mnt) 2 ]: synthesis, crystal structure and magnetic property