Understanding ionic liquids at the molecular level: facts, problems, and controversies

Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with melting points near room temperature (or by convention below 100 degrees C). Recently, their unique materials and solvent properties and the growing interest in a sustainable, "green" chemistry has led to an amazing increase in interest in such salts. A huge number of potential cation and anion families and their many substitution patterns allows the desired properties for specific applications to be selected. Because it is impossible to experimentally investigate even a small fraction of the potential cation-anion combinations, a molecular-based understanding of their properties is crucial. However, the unusual complexity of their intermolecular interactions renders molecular-based interpretations difficult, and gives rise to many controversies, speculations, and even myths about the properties that ILs allegedly possess. Herein the current knowledge about the molecular foundations of IL behavior is discussed.     

Prenatal diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies.

Hemoglobinopathies are the most frequent and severe inherited diseases worldwide. Prenatal diagnosis is an effective way of controlling severe hemoglobin disorders for which effective treatments are not yet available everywhere. It is a multidisciplinary process requiring knowledge of the spectrum of molecular defects and involving laboratory investigations and genetic counseling. Hematological screening for these disorders is simple, rapid, and reliable. Carrier screening in populations at risk and genetic counseling are part of a number of European health programs, offering many couples at risk the chance of having a healthy child. This article describes the current molecular biology techniques for prenatal diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies.     

Mid- and far-infrared spectroscopic studies of the influence of temperature, ultraviolet photolysis and ion irradiation on cosmic-type ices

Infrared (IR) studies of laboratory ices can provide information on the evolution of cosmic-type ices as a function of different simulated space environments involving thermal, ultraviolet (UV), or ion processing. Laboratory radiation experiments can lead to the formation of complex organic molecules. However, because of our lack of knowledge about UV photon and ion fluxes, and exposure lifetimes, it is not certain how well our simulations represent space conditions. Appropriate laboratory experiments are also limited by the absence of knowledge about the composition, density, and temperature of ices in different regions of space. Our current understanding of expected doses due to UV photons and cosmic rays is summarized here, along with an inventory of condensed-phase molecules identified on outer solar system surfaces, comets and interstellar grains. Far-IR spectra of thermally cycled H2O are discussed since these results reflect the dramatic difference between the amorphous and crystalline phases of H2O ice, the most dominant condensed-phase molecule in cosmic ices. A comparison of mid-IR spectra of products in proton-irradiated and UV-photolyzed ices shows that few differences are observed for these two forms of processing for the simple binary mixtures studied to date. IR identification of radiation products and experiments to determine production rates of new molecules in ices during processing are discussed. A new technique for measuring intrinsic IR band strengths of several unstable molecules is presented. An example of our laboratory results applied to Europa observations is included.     

课程思政背景下分析化学辩证元素探索及教学实践

In the university, analytical chemistry is an important basic course for junior college students. There is a variety of dialectical views, rules, and relationships of materialism in analytical chemistry. Fully excavating these dialectical elements and infiltrating them into the classroom teaching process is necessary. This will not only help students deeply understand the subject knowledge, but also cultivate their dialectical thinking mode, establish the correct worldview and scientific methodology. This is conducive to the same resonance frequency between knowledge education and thinking education, and fits the current course ideological and political education. In the present paper, combining many years of teaching practice, the author briefly explains the integration of dialectical elements in analytical chemistry with the corresponding teaching content.     

Bioactive Compounds,Antioxidants, and Health Benefits of Sweet Potato Leaves

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the most important food crops worldwide and its leaves provide a dietary source of nutrients and various bioactive compounds. These constituents of sweet potato leaves (SPL) vary among varieties and play important roles in treating and preventing various diseases. Recently, more attentions in health-promoting benefits have led to several in vitro and in vivo investigations, as well as the identification and quantification of bioactive compounds in SPL. Among them, many new compounds have been reported as the first identified compounds from SPL with their dominant bioactivities. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the bioactive compositions of SPL and their health benefits. Since SPL serve as a potential source of micronutrients and functional compounds, they can be further developed as a sustainable crop for food and medicinal industries.     

Entropic and electrostatic effects on the folding free energy of a surface-attached biomolecule: an experimental and theoretical study

Surface-tethered biomolecules play key roles in many biological processes and biotechnologies. However, while the physical consequences of such surface attachment have seen significant theoretical study, to date this issue has seen relatively little experimental investigation. In response we present here a quantitative experimental and theoretical study of the extent to which attachment to a charged-but otherwise apparently inert-surface alters the folding free energy of a simple biomolecule. Specifically, we have measured the folding free energy of a DNA stem loop both in solution and when site-specifically attached to a negatively charged, hydroxylalkane-coated gold surface. We find that whereas surface attachment is destabilizing at low ionic strength, it becomes stabilizing at ionic strengths above ~130 mM. This behavior presumably reflects two competing mechanisms: excluded volume effects, which stabilize the folded conformation by reducing the entropy of the unfolded state, and electrostatics, which, at lower ionic strengths, destabilizes the more compact folded state via repulsion from the negatively charged surface. To test this hypothesis, we have employed existing theories of the electrostatics of surface-bound polyelectrolytes and the entropy of surface-bound polymers to model both effects. Despite lacking any fitted parameters, these theoretical models quantitatively fit our experimental results, suggesting that, for this system, current knowledge of both surface electrostatics and excluded volume effects is reasonably complete and accurate.     

Luminescence techniques and characterization of the morphology of polymer latices 2. Fluorescence lifetime, phosphorescence and fluorescence anisotropy studies

Five poly(n-butyl methacrylate), PBMA, latex dispersions have been prepared, each incorporating a different fluorescent label, via a two-stage seeded emulsion polymerization. The resultant latices contain ca. 35% by weight total solids and are of 80 (+/-10) nm diameter as determined by photon correlation spectrometry. Luminescence spectroscopic techniques, namely fluorescence (and phosphorescence) excited state lifetime measurements in addition to time-resolved anisotropy experiments have provided useful information regarding the morphology, microviscosity and water permeability of the resultant particles. A picture of the PBMA colloid emerges of an interior which is highly viscous and water impermeable in nature. Indeed, the environment is protective enough to sustain room temperature stabilized phosphorescence from both an acenaphthylene and 9-phenanthrylmethyl methacrylate labeled dispersion through simple nitrogen purging of the solutions. However, the current spectroscopic measurements should be viewed with the knowledge that each luminescent label may fashion its own distinctive microenvironment within the latex during polymerization.     

Secologanin,a Biogenetic Key Compound—Synthesis and Biogenesis of the Iridoid and Secoiridoid Glycosides

The monoterpene glycoside secologanin is a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of most indole, cinchona, ipecacuanha, and pyrroloquinoline alkaloids, as well as of simple monoterpene alkaloids. More than a thousand alkaloids are formed from secologanin in vivo; this represents almost a quarter of this large group of natural products. It is also the parent compound of the secoiridoids. Many of the compounds derived from secologanin display a high degree of biological activity and are employed as pharmaceuticals, e.g., the dimeric indole alkaloid leurocristine (vincristine) which is used very successfully in the treatment of acute leukemia. A knowledge of the biosynthesis and biological reactions of secologanin provides a sound basis for the biosynthesis-orientated classification of numerous natural products and the taxonomy of many plants. Secologanin and structurally related substances can be synthesized in a few steps by stereocontrolled photochemical and thermal cycloadditions. Its biomimetic reaction with amines and amino acids yields other natural products and compounds of pharmacological interest.     

Nucleic acids for recognition and catalysis: landmarks, limitations, and looking to the future

Combinatorial selection of nucleic acids has led to the discovery of novel ligands and catalysts that have implications for both chemistry and medicine. In the context of combinatorial chemistry, degenerate syntheses of nucleic acid libraries readily generate as many as 10(15) different molecules in which a small percentage exhibit interesting binding and/or catalytic properties. The primary advantage of nucleic acids is that library coding is an intrinsic property; sequential composition directly determines the activity. At low temperatures, the sequential composition of single stranded nucleic acids governs folding into irregular tertiary structures resulting in interesting activities. At higher temperatures, the same structures are unfolded and decoded by polymerases to reveal sequential information. The use of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) permits amplification and thus enrichment of the selected activity which is then regenerated chemi-enzymatically. Iterative selection and amplification result in one of the highest throughput screens conceivable whereby each molecule encodes its own activity permitting the ultimate in parallel sampling. Finally, sequence information, and by extension the chemical composition, is obtained by simple sequencing techniques obviating the need for mass spectrometric deconvolution, parallel tagging, and/or large volumes needed for viral and cell culture. This review begins with an introduction of general concepts and considerations. The potential for nucleic acids to generate tight-binding ligands is of interest to structural biologists and medicinal chemists. The therapeutic implications to medicine are also touched upon. Since combinatorially selected nucleic acids and antibodies share many conceptual similarities, their respective advantages and limitations are compared. Theoretical and practical limitations for catalyst discovery are discussed along with the use of other chemical and physical approaches to address some current catalytic shortcomings. Finally some future directions are suggested.     

Fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis in the separation, analysis, and sequencing of carbohydrates

Carbohydrate analysis has traditionally been viewed as a specialty science, performed only in a few well-established laboratories using conventional carbohydrate analysis technology (e.g. NMR, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis) combined with the specialized technical training that has been essential for accurate interpretation of the data. This tradition of specialized laboratories is changing, due primarily to an increase in the number of scientists performing routine carbohydrate analysis. As a result, many scientists who are not trained in traditional carbohydrate analytical techniques now need to be able to perform accurate carbohydrate analysis in their own laboratories. This has created a need for technically simple and inexpensive methods of carbohydrate analysis. In this review, we present application vignettes of a technically simple, yet analytically powerful method called fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE). FACE can be used for performing routine oligosaccharide profiling, monosaccharide analysis, and sequencing of a variety of carbohydrates.     

Sorption and Diffusion of Water and Ethanol in Polyethersulfone Hollow Fiber Membranes

Study on solubility and transport phenomena of penetrant in polymer membrane is of significance for appraising separation ability, selecting membrane materials, designing or exploring membrane separation technology. There are many ways, in which the sorption/desorption method is a more acceptable one for its relatively simple procedures and affable conditions, to study the transport properties of penetrant in polymer. As our best knowledge, many experiments and measured data are reported for flat sheet, while no for hollow fiber membrane using sorption/desorption method. In this paper, we hope to appraise the separation ability of hollow fibers through sorption experiments of water and ethanol vapors in fibers by a proposed separation factor in infinite dilution.     

Determination of Ciprofloxacin,Enrofloxacin, and Marbofloxacin in Bovine Urine,Serum, and Milk by Microextraction by a Packed Sorbent Coupled to Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography

This article reports new, easy, and rapid microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS)–ultra high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection for the simultaneous determination in bovine urine, serum, and milk of three antibiotics belonging to the class of the fluoroquinolones, namely ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and marbofloxacin, approved for veterinary and human use (ciprofloxacin). The chromatographic separation of the analytes and all aspects influencing the MEPS performance were optimized for the extraction from the considered biological samples. The optimized procedure required simple sample pretreatment, a short (<8?min) isocratic elution, and provided sufficient sensitivity for the determination of the analytes at trace levels in compliance with current legislation. Limits of quantitation were in the range from 0.002 (ciprofloxacin, urine) to 0.048?μg/mL (enrofloxacin, milk). Recoveries from 79% (enrofloxacin, milk) to 88% (ciprofloxacin, urine/serum) were obtained on spiked samples. The within-day (n?=?6) and between-day (n?=?6 over 3?days) relative standard deviation percentages in bovine urine, serum, and milk samples ranged from 2.2 (ciprofloxacin, urine) to 2.5 (enrofloxacin, serum) and from 3.1 (ciprofloxacin, urine) to 3.7 (enrofloxacin, milk), respectively, and were not concentration dependent. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study describing a fast and simple method for the determination of fluoroquinolones in bovine biological samples.     

联二炔囊泡的光致聚合、热致变色及应用

物理化学实验为各大高校本科化学教学的主干实验课程之一。虽然各高校的物理化学实验内容已十分丰富,但仍然缺乏将不同章节知识点融会贯通以及与学科前沿密切联系的综合型实验内容。我们根据南开大学郭东升教授课题组发表的一篇有关联二炔程序性响应检测胆碱酯酶的工作设计了“联二炔囊泡的光致聚合、热致变色及应用”的物理化学实验,涉及到联二炔缔合胶体的制备、联二炔的紫外光致聚合反应和聚联二炔的热致变色,进而显示其在防伪领域的潜在应用价值。希望通过此实验,使学生对物理化学中的缔合胶体、光化学、热力学、动力学等章节有更深一步的贯通性掌握,并了解自组装、光聚合、变色材料和防伪等相关研究领域的前沿动态。     

Determination of trace elements in natural waters by the d.c. argon plasma,multielement atomic emission spectrometer (DCP-MAES) technique

The capabilities and limitations of a commercial direct current argon plasma, multielement atomic emission spectrometric (DCP-MAES) technique for the determination of 18 common elements in water have been evaluated. The results demonstrate that the unit offers acceptable capabilities with respect to selectivity, sensitivity, accuracy, speed, and economy for the determination of many of the elements investigated. Interferences in the determinations of those elements subject to stray light due to the presence of calcium and (or) magnesium can often be compensated for by use of a simple linear correction procedure. A comparison of two-electrode and three-electrode d.c. argon plasma systems has shown that the latter offer advantages such as improved stability and lower background. A comparison with results published for a system based on excitation in an inductively coupled plasma has indicated that the present system offers comparable analytical capabilities for several of the elements investigated.     

Nanostructure Engineering by Simple Tuning of Lipid Combinations

Structural morphology is the key parameter for efficacy of nanomedicine. To date, lipid‐based nanomaterial has been the most widely used material in nanomedicine and many other biomedical applications. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has not been an in‐depth or systematic investigation of the structure–function relationship of lipid‐based nanostructures. In this report, we investigated the formulation of novel lipid‐based nanostructures via simple tuning of lipid combinations. To prove this concept, we used a combination of various ratios of simple and common phospholipids with different chain lengths (14‐carbon chain DMPC: 6‐carbon chain DHPC) to find out whether a myriad of novel lipid nanostructures could be obtained. Interestingly, many combinations resulted in distinct lipid nanostructures. Drug encapsulation tests confirmed that they are able to load large amounts of drugs for biological application. In vivo anti‐tumor efficacy revealed that certain lipid nanostructures possessed superior tumor retardation effects.     

Determination of the chemical forms of trace metals in natural waters, with special reference to copper, lead, cadmium and zinc

Methods used to differentiate between the various chemical forms of a metal in a natural water are critically reviewed. The methods range from simple procedures which discriminate between weakly and strongly complexed forms of the metal, to comprehensive analytical schemes which can determine as many as seven species of each metal. The many problems involved in this exacting area of trace analysis are discussed in detail.     

Nanocomposite Incorporating V2O5 Nanowires and Gold Nanoparticles for Mimicking an Enzyme Cascade Reaction and Its Application in the Detection of Biomolecules

Artificial enzyme mimics are a current research interest, and many nanomaterials have been found to display enzyme‐mimicking activity. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have not hitherto been any reports on the use of pure nanomaterials to construct a system capable of mimicking an enzyme cascade reaction. Herein, we describe the construction of a novel nanocomposite consisting of V₂O₅ nanowires and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) through a simple and facile chemical method, in which V₂O₅ and AuNPs possess intrinsic peroxidase and glucose oxidase (GOx)‐like activity, respectively. Results suggest that this material can mimic the enzyme cascade reaction of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and GOx. Based on this mechanism, a direct and selective colorimetric method for the detection of glucose has been successfully designed. Because single‐strand and double‐strand DNA (ssDNA and dsDNA) have different deactivating effects on the GOx‐like activity of AuNPs, the sensing of target complementary DNA can also be realized and disease‐associated single‐nucleotide polymorphism of DNA can be easily distinguished. Our study opens a new avenue for the use of nanomaterials in enzyme mimetics, and holds promise for the further exploration of nanomaterials in creating alternative catalytic systems to natural enzymes.     

从知识到智慧:自然美和科学美的统一——"魅丽印象·化学"通识教育课程设计理念和实践探索

在现代多元化社会和知识高速更新的大数据时代背景下,作为超越专业技能训练的通识核心课程更加关注人性教育和智慧发展,并赋予学生在毕业后漫长职业生涯中终生受益的高层次思考问题方法。如何将这种教育理念融入课程体系并设计合理的课堂教学模式是当今高等教育面临的重要问题。本文以面向人文社会科学专业本科生的"魅丽印象·化学"课程为例,从课程定位、教学内容、教学方式、课外实践、学习评价等方面,创新教学理念和实施策略,探讨培养学生自主学习能力、驾驭知识能力以及探索新领域能力的有效途径,在美的感受和体验中,通过理解、想象和逻辑思维认识潜藏在自然美中的科学概念、原理和规律,领悟大自然所呈现的和谐、简单、对称和新奇的科学美。