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We demonstrate the first three-input molecular AND logic gate based on three chemical inputs as a direct way of detecting congregations of chemical species. The AND gate operates in water and responds to Na+, H+, and Zn2+ inputs with an enhanced fluorescence signal when pre-set concentration thresholds are exceeded. Future "lab-on-a-molecule" devices could have application in medicine for rapid disease screening.

A novel supramolecular three-input AND logic gate is demonstrated as a 'lab-on-a-molecule' for monitoring the Na(+), pH and pE levels in solution by communicating a fluorescence signal. The fluorescence signal is modulated by three photoinduced electron transfer reactions that are controlled by an unprecedented combination of two cation binding events and one redox reaction.

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The electron-transfer (ET) reduction of two diphenyl-substituted bicyclic endoperoxides was studied in N,N-dimethylformamide by heterogeneous electrochemical techniques. The study provides insight into the structural parameters that affect the reduction mechanism of the O-O bond and dictate the reactivity of distonic radical anions, in addition to evaluating previously unknown thermochemical parameters. Notably, the standard reduction potentials and the bond dissociation energies (BDEs) were evaluated to be -0.55+/-0.15 V and 20+/-3 kcal mol(-1), respectively, the last representing some of the lowest BDEs ever reported. The endoperoxides react by concerted dissociative electron transfer (DET) reduction of the O-O bond yielding a distonic radical-anion intermediate. The reduction of 1,4-diphenyl-2,3-dioxabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-5-ene (1) results in the quantitative formation of 1,4-diphenylcyclohex-2-ene-cis-1,4-diol by an overall two-electron mechanism. In contrast, ET to 1,4-diphenyl-2,3-dioxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (2) yields 1,4-diphenylcyclohexane-cis-1,4-diol as the major product; however, in competition with the second ET from the electrode, the distonic radical anion undergoes a beta-scission fragmentation yielding 1,4-diphenyl-1,4-butanedione radical anion and ethylene in a mechanism involving less than one electron. These observations are rationalized by an unprecedented catalytic radical-anion chain mechanism, the first ever reported for a bicyclic endoperoxide. The product ratios and the efficiency of the catalytic mechanism are dependent on the electrode potential and the concentration of weak non-nucleophilic acid. A thermochemical cycle for calculating the driving force for beta-scission fragmentation is presented, and provides insight into why the fragmentation chemistry of distonic radical anions is different from analogous neutral biradicals.