Facile synthesis of small crystal ZSM-5 zeolite by acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate

Small crystal zeolites ZSM-5 with sizes of 150–300 nm were synthesized using the colloidal silicate precursors as the silica source created by the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate with tetrapropylammonium bromide as the structure-directing agent within a short crystallization time of 20–35 h. The precursors and final products were detected by XRD, SEM, ICP and DLS. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20776069), Key Natural Science Foundation for Universities of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. 06KJA53012), and Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (Grant No. PCSIRT 0732)     

Research of the relationship of intracellular acidification and apoptosis in Hela cells based on pH nanosensors

In this paper,the relationship of intracellular acidification and apoptosis in Hela cells induced by vin-cristine sulfate has been studied by use of the ratiometric pH nanosensors that have been developed by our group,employing fluorescein isothiocyanate(FITC) doped as the pH-sensitive dye and Tris(2,2'-bipyidyl) dichlororuthenium(II) hexahydrate(RuBpy) doped as reference dye. The pH change of the Hela cells induced by vincristine sulfate has been monitored in vivo,in situ and real time by use of the ratiometric pH nanosensors. The experimental results show that the pH of the apoptotic Hela cells induced by vincristine sulfate has been acidified from 7.11 to 6.51,and the percentage of intra-cellular acidification is correlated with the induced concentration and incubation time of the vincristine sulfate. The further study of the percentage of intracellular acidification and the percentage of apop-tosis of Hela cells at the same time reveals that apoptosis of Hela cells induced by vincristine sulfate is preceded by intracellular acidification. These results would provide theoretical foundation for the therapy of cancer through interfering the pH of cells by use of vincristine sulfate or other anti-cancer drugs.     

DNA-modified electrodes (VII)

Two kinds of DNA-modified electrodes were prepared by covalent and adsorptive immobilization of DNA onto self-assembled monolayers of 2, 2’-dithiodiethanol on gold electrodes and characterized by cyclic voltammetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. The results suggest that the methods are satisfactory for the immobilization of DNA on electrodes. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 39370213; 39770220; 29773034), State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces (Xiamen University), and Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (Grant NO. 96J037).     

Discussions about whether radioactive half life can be changed by mechanic motion

In this essay, some discussions and comments about the paper entitled “Can the decay rate of ³²P be changed by mechanic motion?” (Ding et al., Science in China Series B: Chemistry (Chinese version), 2008, 38(11):1035–1037) are given. It was strongly suggested that its experimental methods, data calculations and conclusion should be reconsidered. After the data were recalculated, the new results supported that the chiral mechanic motion could induce the changes of radioactive half life. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20571085, and 20877099), Fund of the President of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 0521021T04), 2005/2006 USA Li’s Foundation Merit Prize Fund, Fund of Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 065101HM03), and Fund of the Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis of the Institute of High Energy Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. K129)     

A dynamical Lie algebraic mehtod for quantum reactive scattering

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RETRACTED ARTICLE: Microenvironment characterization for a novel biocompatible hybrid carbon-silicon material

The compatible carbon-silicon complex materials originated from precursor diglycerylsilane (DGS) and sugar-modified silane N-(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)gluconamide (GLS) have gained substantial popularity by demonstrating admirable properties to stabilize entrapped biomolecules. The microenvironment inside these materials, especially the distribution of sugar moieties inside the matrix, which is likely the most critical factor determining compatibility of these materials, still remains unclear. To deeply investigate the biocompatibility mechanism of these materials, we have adopted two different preparation routes for these materials by introducing GLS into the starting DGS sol stage, but things are different after the DGS gel is formed. A fluorescence probe rhodamine 6G is introduced herein in the DGS sol to monitor the distribution of GLS moieties, as well as the evolution of the microenvironment inside resulting materials. All in all, the findings demonstrated that the timing of GLS addition plays a critical role in controlling the evolution of the inner structure of materials, suggesting that this factor provides a promising route to tune the properties of the resulting materials. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20876176), Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars by the State Education Ministry, Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (Grant No. 109100), Doctoral Project of Shandong Province (Grant No. 2008BS09013), Research Foundation of Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, CAS (Grant No. KFJJ0506), and Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. Q2007B02)     

Recent developments in intelligent biomedical polymers

Intelligent polymers or stimuli-responsive polymers may exhibit distinct transitions in physical-chemical properties, including conformation, polarity, phase structure and chemical composition in response to changes in environmental stimuli. Due to their unique 'intelligent' characteristics, stimuli-sensitive polymers have found a wide variety of applications in biomedical and nanotechnological fields. This review focuses on the recent developments in biomedical application of intelligent polymer systems, s...     

A novel family of diarylethene-phthalocyanine dyad systems for nondestructive data processing

A novel family of diarylethene (DTE)-phthalocyanine (Pc) dyad systems were designed and synthesized. It was found that the significant change in the extension of the linear π-conjugation of DTE when irradiated by 254 nm UV light directly made the absorption of the Q-band of phthalocyanine decrease. Detecting the absorption changes of the Q-band would not induce the reversible photochromic reaction. Therefore, non-destructive readout was feasible based on the spectral changes of the Q-band when such materials were used as storage media.     

The hydrogen sulfate recognition properties of azo-salicylaldehyde schiff base receptors

Azo-salicylaldehyde Schiff base-typed receptors containing an acidic H-bond donor moiety were syn-thesized and characterized. The UV-Vis data indicate that these receptors could act as selective col-orimetric sensors for basic anions and acidic species hydrogen sulfate by different color changes in a water-containing medium. The experiment of Brφnsted acid-base reaction by adding the sodium hy-droxide or perchloric acid revealed that the mechanism of recognition of anions might be deprotona-tion/protonation of the OH fragments by interacting with different anions and that the deprotona-tion/protonation process is fully reversible. The deprotonation/protonation of the receptors is respon-sible for the dramatic color change.     

D-，L-苯丙氨酸诱导非手性菁染料的手性组装

超分子手性与分子自组装是生命体中非常重要和有趣的现象．报道了D,L-苯丙氨酸等氨基酸在氯化钠溶液中通过非共价键相互作用诱导非手性菁染料（Pseudoisocyanine,PIC）J-聚集体超分子手性的形成．实验结果表明,诱导的手性菁染料PIC聚集体发色团在π-π^＊跃迁区域产生了特征的镜像圆二色性,其圆二色信号和强度强烈地依赖于氨基酸的绝对构型、浓度、侧链基团和溶液温度．原子力显微镜照片清楚地表明,^聚集体由相互交联的纳米纤维组成,诱导的圆二色性可能来源于纤维状聚集体的宏观螺旋排列．     

Preparation of polymer-supported hydrated ferric oxide based on Donnan membrane effect and its application for arsenic removal

In the present study a novel technique was proposed to prepare a polymer-supported hydrated ferric oxide (D201-HFO) based on Donnan membrane effect by using a strongly basic anion exchanger D201 as the host material and FeCl3-HCl-NaCl solution as the reaction environment. D201-HFO was found to exhibit higher capacity for arsenic removal than a commercial sorbent Purolite ArsenX. Furthermore, it presents favorable adsorption selectivity for arsenic removal from aqueous solution, as well as satis- factory kinetics. Fixed-bed column experiments showed that arsenic sorption on D201-HFO could re- sult in concentration of this toxic metalloid element below 10 μg/L, which was the new maximum con- centration limit set recently by the European Commission and imposed by the US EPA and China. Also, the spent D201-HFO is amenable to efficient regeneration by NaOH-NaCl solution.     

Direct electrochemistry behavior of Cytochrome c on silicon dioxide nanoparticles-modified electrode

A newfangled direct electrochemistry behavior of Cytochrome c (Cyt c) was found on glassy carbon (GC) electrode modified with the silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles by physical adsorption. A pair of stable and well-defined redox peaks of Cyt c′ quasi-reversible electrochemical reaction were obtained with a heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant of 1.66×10-3 cm/s and a formal potential of 0.069 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) (0.263 V versus NHE) in 0.1 mol/L pH 6.8 PBS. Both the size and the amount of SiO2 nanoparticles could influence the electron transfer between Cyt c and the electrode. Electrostatic interaction which is between the negative nanoparticle surface and positively charged amino acid residues on the Cyt c surface is of importance for the stability and reproducibility toward the direct electron transfer of Cyt c. It is suggested that the modification of SiO2 nanoparticles proposes a novel approach to realize the direct electrochemistry of proteins.     

Synthesis and photochromic properties of WO<Subscript>3</Subscript> powder induced by oxalic acid

Tungsten trioxide powder with the novel morphology was prepared via the hydrothermal method with oxalic acid as the organic inducer, the structure and shape of which were detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and BET. Furthermore, photochromic properties of the as-prepared powder samples were tested by an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer combined with a color difference meter. The corresponding results indicated that the induced product was still hexagonal WO₃, made up of regularly spindle particles with 200–300 nm in length and 30–50 nm in width. The ratio of the length and width was from 4 to 10. Moreover, the special morphology improved its absorptive capacity to the excitation light source, resulting in its high photochromic properties. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50702052) and the Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Material     

Molecular dynamics simulation study on zwitterionic structure to maintain the natural behavior of polyalanine13 in aqueous environment

Molecular dynamics simulations are applied to the initial stage of polyalanine13 conformational transi- tion from α-helix to random coil in aqueous environment and the interaction of polyalanine13 with zwitterionic and hydrophobic surfaces respectively in the same condition. The analysis of secondary structure, hydrogen bonds, RMSD, dihedral distribution, and the degree of adsorption are performed. The results show that zwitterionic structure maintains the natural behavior of polyalanine13 in water to a better extent, which should be an indirect proof of the hypothesis of "maintain of normal structure."     

A three-dimensional vortex microsystem designed and fabricated for controllable mixing

A three-dimensional micromixer is designed and fabricated by using glass-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) hybridized materials. The improvement of the fabrication process makes the micromixer endure much higher flow rate. Based on the self-rotation effect of the fluid, the fast mixing can be achieved. The mixing process is evaluated by connecting the micromixer to a UV-Vis detector. The results show that by adjusting the infuse flow rate, the mixing process can be accurately controlled. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20735002 & 29877019) and the Key Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, China (Grant No. D0520001)     

Quantum dynamics of dissociative adsorption of H2 and D2: The time-dependent wave packet method

A time-dependent quantum wave packet method was used to study the dynamics of dissociative adsorption of H₂ and D₂ on a flat and static surface. The molecule-surface interaction is described using a modified London-Eyring-Polanyi-Sato (LEPS) type potential for the H₂/Ni(100) system. The three-dimensional (3-D) dissociation probabilities were calculated for different initial rovibrational states as a function of initial incident energies. Our results show that the dissociation of the diatomic rotational states whose quantum numbers satisfyj+m = odd is forbidden at low energies for the homonuclear H_z and D₂ due to the selection rule. The effect of the rotational orientation of diatoms on adsorption predicts that the in-plane rotation (m = j) is more favorable for dissociation than the out-of-plane rotation (m = 0). Enhanced dissociation for vibrationally excited molecules and the significant enhancement of the dissociation probability of H2 when compared to D₂ were explained reasonably in terms of quantum mechanical zero-point energies, the tunneling effect and the reflection from an activation barrier. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 19694033) and partially by the Science Foundation for Overseas Chinese Scholars and Students, administered by the State Education Commission of China (Grant No. 1992), by the State Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry of Jilin University at Changchun (Grant No. 98011, and by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. Y96B03022)     

Theoretical studies of the proton transfer behaviors in molecular complexes analogous to catalytic triad of serine protease: Toward understanding the existence and significance of the low-barrier hydrogen-bond in enzymatic catalysis

A representative acetate-(5-methylimidazole)-methanol system has been employed as a model of catalytic triad in serine protease to validate the formation processes of low-barrier H-bonds (LBHB) at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level of theory, and variable H-bonding characters from conventional ones to LBHBs have been represented along with the proceedings of proton transfer. Solvent effect is an important factor in modulation of the existence of an LBHB, where an LBHB (or a conventional H-bond) in the gas phase can be changed into a non-LBHB (an LBHB) upon solvation. The origin of the additional stabilization energy arising from the LBHB may be attributed to the H-bonding energy difference before and after proton transfer because the shared proton can freely move between the proton donor and proton acceptor. Most importantly, the order of magnitude of the stabilization energy depends on the studied systems. Furthermore, the nonexistence of LBHBs in the catalytic triad of serine proteases has been verified in a more sophisticated model treated using the ONIOM method. As a result, only the single proton transfer mechanism in the catalytic triad has been confirmed and the origin of the powerful catalytic efficiency of serine proteases should be attributed to other factors rather than the LBHB. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20633060 & 20573063), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. Y2007B23), the Scientific Research Foundation of Qufu Normal University (Grant Nos. Bsqd2007003 and Bsqd2007008), and the State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces (Xiamen University)     

Properties of meso-tetrakis (4- n -alkanoyloxyphenyl) porphyrin liquid crystal Co and Ni complexes

Six series of meso-tetrakis (4-n-alkanoyloxyphenyl) porphyrin Co and Ni complexes (12 kinds) were reported. Nine of the compounds were found to exhibit liquid crystal properties and display a hexagonal columnar discotic columnar (Col_h) phase. Molecular structure of all synthesized compounds was confirmed by IR, UV, MS, ¹H NIVR, and elemental analysis. These liquid crystalline compounds have been studied by cyclic voltammetry, luminescence, and surface photovoltage spectroscopy. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 59783001), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. Y2006B41), the Foundation of Shandong Provincial Education Department (Grant No. J06A53), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong University of Technology (Grant No. 2004KJM15) and Doctor Foundation of Shandong University of Technology     

The enzyme-amplified amperometric DNA sensor using an electrodeposited polymer redox mediator

A highly sensitive method for the detection of a breast cancer-associated BRCA-1 gene is reported. The detection is based on a classical sandwich-type assay using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a catalytic label and electrodeposited Os^2+/3+ conducting polymer (PAA-PVI-Os) as a redox mediator. Target DNA could be detected by the HRP-catalyzed reduction of H₂O₂, leading to a limit of detection as low as 10 fM. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20725516, 20704043, 20873175 & 20805055), Shanghai Municipal Commission for Science and Technology (Grant Nos. 0752nm021 & 07ZR14136), Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant Nos. 2006CB933000, 2007CB936000 & 2007AA06A406), Ministry of Health (Grant No. 2009ZX10603), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and Shanghai Postdoctoral Scientific Program (Grant No. 07R214160).