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The synthesis of Au(102)(p-MBA)(44) nanoparticles on a preparative scale in high yield is described. Various analytical methods are shown to give results consistent with the composition and known structure of the particles, showing the preparation is essentially homogeneous, and attesting to the validity of the methods as well. Derivatization of the particles with proteins and DNA is demonstrated, and conditions are described for imaging individual particles by cryo-EM at low electron dose, close to focus, conditions optimal for recording high-resolution details.

Dimensionality is known to play a key role in the solution behavior of nano- and mesoparticles. In particular, the shape and the range of the attractive van der Waals interparticle potential are determined by the number of microscopic versus mesoscopic dimensions. For single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs), where two of the dimensions are nanoscopic and one is mesoscopic, the intertube attraction is relatively short ranged, albeit very steep. The very large attraction (compared to the thermal energy, K(b)T) among long SWNTs leads to aggregation at different levels and constitutes a major barrier for manipulation and utilization of SWNTs. This study demonstrates that it is possible to shape the intertube potential by decorating SWNTs with end-tethered polymers. In good solvent conditions for the polymers, entropic repulsion among the tethered chains generates a free energy barrier that prevents SWNTs from approaching the attractive part of the intertube potential. Consequentially, stable dispersions of individual, well separated SWNTs can be prepared. Investigation of different chain lengths and tethering densities of the polymers as well as the interparticle potentials for nanometric versus mesoscopic particles suggests that polymer-induced steric stabilization provides a generic method for separation of SWNTs from mixtures of colloidal species, as demonstrated experimentally.

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A generic noncovalent approach for dispersing high concentrations of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) in organic as well as aqueous solutions of synthetic block copolymers is presented. It is suggested that a weak, long-ranged entropic repulsion among polymer-decorated tubes acts as a barrier that prevents the tubes from approaching the attractive part of the intertube potential. The method opens a new route for utilization of block copolymers as compatibilizers for SWNT, improving the incorporation of de-agglomerated SWNT into target polymeric matrixes.

Many organisms from a wide variety of taxa produce amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC), despite the fact that it is inherently unstable and relatively soluble in its pure state. These properties also make it difficult to detect and characterize ACC. Raman spectroscopy is a particularly useful method for investigating ACC because the sample can be examined wet, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis can provide detailed information on the short-range order. Other methods for characterizing ACC include infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis (TGA and DTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electron and X-ray diffraction. Because of the difficulties involved, we suspect that ACC is far more widely distributed than is presently known, and a comparison of EXAFS spectra shows that different biogenic ACC phases have different short-range order structures. We also suspect that ACC fulfils many different functions, including as a transient precursor phase during the formation of crystalline calcium carbonate.

Summary The protein density and arrangement of subunits of a complete, 31-protein, RNA polymerase II (pol II) transcription pre-initiation complex (PIC) were determined by cryo-electron microscopy and a combination of chemical cross-linking and mass spectrometry. The PIC showed a marked division in two parts, one containing all the general transcription factors (GTFs), and the other pol II. Promoter DNA was associated only with the GTFs, suspended above the pol II cleft and not in contact with pol II. This structural principle of the PIC underlies its conversion to a transcriptionally active state; the PIC is poised for the formation of a transcription bubble and descent of the DNA into the pol II cleft.