No abstract

A transfer printing method for fabricating organic electronics onto flexible substrates has been developed. The method relies primarily on differential adhesion for the transfer of a printable layer from a transfer substrate to a device substrate. The works of adhesion and cohesion for successful printing are discussed and developed for a model organic thin-film transistor device consisting of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate, gold (Au) gate and source/drain electrodes, a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) [or poly(4-vinylphenol)] dielectric layer, and a pentacene (Pn) organic semiconductor layer. The device components are sequentially printed onto the PET device substrate with no mixed processing steps performed on the device substrate. Optimum printing conditions for the Pn layer were determined to be 600psi and 120°C for 3min. A set of devices with a PMMA dielectric layer was measured as a function of channel length and exhibited a contact resistance corrected mobility of 0.237cm2∕Vs. This is larger than the mobility measured for a control device consisting of Pn thermally deposited onto the thermally oxidized surface of a silicon substrate (SiO2∕Si) with e-beam deposited Au top source/drain contacts. The structure of transfer printed Pn films was also investigated using x-ray diffraction. The basal spacing correlation length for a 50nm Pn film printed at 600psi and 120°C for 3min onto a PMMA surface showed a 35% increase as compared to an unprinted film on a thermally oxidized silicon substrate. The crystalline size was seen to correlate with the mobility as a function of printing conditions.

A new series of phosphodiesterase-9 (PDE9) inhibitors that contain a scaffold of 6-amino-pyrazolopyrimidinone have been discovered by a combination of structure-based design and computational docking. This procedure significantly saved load of chemical synthesis and is an effective method for the discovery of inhibitors. The best compound 28 has an IC50 of 21 nM and 3.3 µM respectively for PDE9 and PDE5, and about three orders of magnitude of selectivity against other PDE families. The crystal structure of the PDE9 catalytic domain in complex with 28 has been determined and shows a hydrogen bond between 28 and Tyr424. This hydrogen bond may account for the 860-fold selectivity of 28 against PDE1B, in comparison with about 30-fold selectivity of BAY73-6691. Thus, our studies suggest that Tyr424, a unique residue of PDE8 and PDE9, is a potential target for improvement of selectivity of PDE9 inhibitors.

Phosphodiesterase 9 (PDE9) inhibitors have been studied as potential therapeutics for treatment of diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Here we report a potent PDE9 inhibitor 3r that has an IC50 of 0.6 nM and >150-fold selectivity over other PDEs. The HepG2 cell-based assay shows that 3r inhibits the mRNA expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucose 6-phosphatase. These activities of 3r, together with the reasonable pharmacokinetic properties and no acute toxicity at 1200 mg/kg dosage, suggest its potential as a hypoglycemic agent. The crystal structure of PDE9-3r reveals significantly different conformation and hydrogen bonding pattern of 3r from those of previously published 28s. Both 3r and 28s form a hydrogen bond with Tyr424, a unique PDE9 residue (except for PDE8), but 3r shows an additional hydrogen bond with Ala452. This structure information might be useful for design of PDE9 inhibitors.