The liquid crystalline chiral nitroxide biradical (S,S,S,S)-3 synthesized has shown much larger 'positive magneto-LC effects' in the chiral nematic (N*) phase than the monoradical (S,S)-1.

A unique superparamagnetic‐like behavior and a large “positive magneto‐LC effect” were observed in the solid phases and the hexagonal columnar (Colh) liquid crystalline (LC) phase, respectively, of novel achiral non‐π‐delocalized nitroxide diradical compounds (R,S)‐1, which showed polymorphism in the solid phases (solids I and II). The SQUID magnetization measurement revealed that (1) (R,S)‐1 containing a small amount of racemic diastereomers (R*,R*)‐1 possessed an unusual and large temperature‐independent magnetic susceptibility (χTIM>0) component in the original nanocrystalline solid I that was responsible for the observed superparamagnetic‐like behavior under low magnetic fields and did not arise from the contamination by extrinsic magnetic metal or metal ion impurities, besides ordinary temperature‐dependent paramagnetic susceptibility (χpara>0) and temperature‐independent diamagnetic susceptibility (χdia<0) components, (2) a large increase in molar magnetic susceptibility (χM) (positive magneto‐LC effect) that occurred at the solid I‐to‐liquid crystal transition upon heating was preserved as an additional χTIM increase in the resulting polymorphic nanocrystalline solid II by cooling, and (3) such unique magnetic phenomena were induced by thermal processing for (R,S)‐1 or by adding a small amount of (R*,R*)‐1 to (R,S)‐1 as the impurity.

With a view to developing a theranostic nanomedicine for targeted drug delivery systems visible by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, robust metal-free magnetic nanoemulsions (mean particle size less than 20 nm) consisting of a biocompatible surfactant and hydrophobic, low molecular weight 2,2,5-trimethyl-5-(4-alkoxy)phenylpyrrolidine-N-oxyl radicals were prepared in pH 7.4 phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The structure of the nanoemulsions was characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering and small-angle neutron-scattering measurements. The nanoemulsions showed high colloidal stability, low cytotoxicity, enough reduction resistance to excess ascorbic acid, and sufficient contrast enhancement in the proton longitudinal relaxation time (T ) weighted MR images in PBS in vitro (and preliminarily in vivo). Furthermore, the hydrophobic anticancer drug paclitaxel could be encapsulated inside the nanoparticles, and the resulting paclitaxel-loaded nanoemulsions were efficiently incorporated into HeLa cells to suppress cell growth.

An optically active amphiphilic nitroxide radical compound [(S,S,R)-], which contains a paramagnetic (2S,5S)-2,5-dimethyl-2,5-diphenylpyrrolidine-N-oxyl radical group fixed in the inner position together with a hydrophobic long alkyl chain and a hydrophilic (R)-alanine residue in the opposite terminal positions, was found to serve as a low-molecular-weight gelator in H2O to give rise to a spin-labelled physical hydrogel. Characterization of the hydrogel was performed by microscopic (SEM, TEM and AFM) techniques, XRD and SAXS measurements, and IR, UV and CD spectroscopies. The gel-sol transition temperature was determined by EPR spectral line-width (ΔHpp) analysis. Measurement of the temperature dependence of relative paramagnetic susceptibility (χrel) for the hydrogel and sol phases was achieved by means of the double-integration of VT-EPR spectra.

Metal-free magnetic mixed micelles (mean diameter: < 20 nm) were prepared by mixing the biocompatible non-ionic surfactant Tween 80 and the non-toxic, hydrophobic pyrrolidine-N-oxyl radicals bearing a d-glucosamine unit in pH 7.4 phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The time-course stability and in vitro magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast ability of the mixed micelles was found to depend on the length of the alkyl chain in the nitroxide radicals. It was also confirmed that the mixed micelles exhibited no toxicity in vivo and in vitro and high stability in the presence of a large excess of ascorbic acid. The in vivo MRI experiment revealed that one of these mixed micelles showed much higher contrast enhancement in the proton longitudinal relaxation time (T1) weighted images than other magnetic mixed micelles that we have reported previously. Thus, the magnetic mixed micelles presented here are expected to serve as a promising contrast agent for theranostic nanomedicines, such as MRI-visible targeted drug delivery carriers.