Influence of Polarity and Activation Energy in Microwave–Assisted Organic Synthesis (MAOS)

The aim of this work was to determine the parameters that have decisive roles in microwave-assisted reactions and to develop a model, using computational chemistry, to predict a priori the type of reactions that can be improved under microwaves. For this purpose, a computational study was carried out on a variety of reactions, which have been reported to be improved under microwave irradiation. This comprises six types of reactions. The outcomes obtained in this study indicate that the most influential parameters are activation energy, enthalpy, and the polarity of all the species that participate. In addition to this, in most cases, slower reacting systems observe a much greater improvement under microwave irradiation. Furthermore, for these reactions, the presence of a polar component in the reaction (solvent, reagent, susceptor, etc.) is necessary for strong coupling with the electromagnetic radiation. We also quantified that an activation energy of 20–30 kcal mol⁻¹ and a polarity (μ) between 7–20 D of the species involved in the process is required to obtain significant improvements under microwave irradiation.     

Synthesis of Small‐Sized,Porous, and Low‐Toxic Magnetite Nanoparticles by Thin POSS Silica Coating

In this communication, we report the synthesis of small‐sized (<10 nm), water‐soluble, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) coated with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), which contain either polyethylene glycol (PEG) or octa(tetramethylammonium) (OctaTMA) as functional groups. The POSS‐coated MNPs exhibit superparamagnetic behavior with saturation magnetic moments (51–53 emu g^?1) comparable to silica‐coated MNPs. They also provide good colloidal stability at different pH and salt concentrations, and low cytotoxicity to MCF‐7 human breast epithelial cells. The relaxivity data and magnetic resonance (MR) phantom images demonstrate the potential application of these MNPs in bioimaging.     

Close‐Packed Two‐Dimensional Silver Nanoparticle Arrays: Quadrupolar and Dipolar Surface Plasmon Resonance Coupling

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) ranging in size from 40 to 100 nm were prepared in high yield by using an improved seed‐mediated method. The homogeneous Ag NPs were used as building blocks for 2D assembled Ag NP arrays by using an oil/water interface. A close‐packed 2D array of Ag NPs was fabricated by using packing molecules (3‐mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane) to control the interparticle spacing. The homogeneous 2D Ag NP array exhibited a strong quadrupolar cooperative plasmon mode resonance and a dipolar red‐shift relative to individual Ag NPs suspended in solution. A well‐arranged 2D Ag NP array was embedded in polydimethylsiloxane film and, with biaxial stretching to control the interparticle distance, concomitant variations of the quadrupolar and dipolar couplings were observed. As the interparticle distance increased, the intensity of the quadrupolar cooperative plasmon mode resonance decreased and dipolar coupling completely disappeared. The local electric field of the 2D Ag NP array was calculated by using finite difference time domain simulation and qualitatively showed agreement with the experimental measurements.     

Plasmon Coupling-Induced Hot Electrons for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

We present the fabrication of core-shell-satellite Au@SiO₂-Pt nanostructures and demonstrate that LSPR excitation of the core Au nanoparticle can induce plasmon coupling effect to initiate photocatalytic hydrogen generation from decomposition of formic acid. Further studies suggest that the plasmon coupling effect induces a strong local electric field between the Au core and Pt nanoparticles on the SiO₂ shell, which enables creation of hot electrons on the non-plasmonic-active Pt nanoparticles to participate hydrogen evolution reaction on the Pt surface. In addition, small SiO₂ shell thickness is required in order to obtain a strong plamon coupling effect and achieve efficient photocatalytic activities for hydrogen generation.     

Ratiometric Detection of microRNA Using Hybridization Chain Reaction and Fluorogenic Silver Nanoclusters

miRNA (miR)-155 is a potential biomarker for breast cancers. We aimed at developing a nanosensor for miR-155 detection by integrating hybridization chain reaction (HCR) and silver nanoclusters (AgNCs). HCR serves as an enzyme-free and isothermal amplification method, whereas AgNCs provide a built-in fluorogenic detection probe that could simplify the downstream analysis. The two components were integrated by adding a nucleation sequence of AgNCs to the hairpin of HCR. The working principle was based on the influence of microenvironment towards the hosted AgNCs, whereby unfolding of hairpin upon HCR has manipulated the distance between the hosted AgNCs and cytosine-rich toehold region of hairpin. As such, the dominant emission of AgNCs changed from red to yellow in the absence and presence of miR-155, enabling a ratiometric measurement of miR with high sensitivity. The limit of detection (LOD) of our HCR-AgNCs nanosensor is 1.13 fM in buffered solution. We have also tested the assay in diluted serum samples, with comparable LOD of 1.58 fM obtained. This shows the great promise of our HCR-AgNCs nanosensor for clinical application.     

Recent Advances of Freestanding Cathodes for Li-S Batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) with high energy density and low cost have been recognized as one of the most promising next-generation energy storage systems. Although it has taken decades of development, the practical application of LSBs has been hindered by several inherent obstacles, particularly the severe shuttle effect and sluggish reaction kinetics in the sulfur cathode. Various strategies have been proposed to address these problems via rational design of electrode materials and configurations. Freestanding sulfur cathode could be a promising strategy to improve the sulfur mass loading at the cathode level and energy density of LSBs. This minireview will briefly summary the recent advances in freestanding cathodes for LSBs. The advantages and disadvantages of various freestanding cathodes are discussed and the prospects for the development of flexible cathodes are envisioned.     

NO分子宏观气体热力学性质的理论研究

采用量子统计系综理论,研究了基态NO分子宏观气体摩尔熵、摩尔内能、摩尔热容等热力学性质.首先应用课题组前期建立的变分代数法(variational algebraic method, VAM)计算获得了基态NO分子的完全振动能级,得到的VAM振动能级作为振动部分,结合欧拉-麦克劳林渐进展开公式的转动贡献,应用于经典的热力学与统计物理公式中,从而计算得到了1000-5000 K温度范围内NO宏观气体的摩尔内能、摩尔熵和摩尔热容.将不同方法计算得到的摩尔热容结果分别与实验值进行比较,结果表明基于VAM完全振动能级获得的结果优于其他方法获得的理论结果.振动部分采用谐振子模型对无限能级求和计算热力学性质的方法有一定的局限性,应当使用有限的完全振动能级进行统计求和.     

An investigation on the defect structures and spin Hamiltonian parameters for the two orthorhombic Ti3+ centers in ZnWO4

By employing the perturbation formulae of the spin Hamiltonian parameters (SHPs) (g factors g_xx, g_yy, g_zz, hyperfine structure constants A_xx, A_yy, A_zz and superhyperfine parameters A_xx׳, A_yy׳, A_zz׳) for a 3d¹ ion in orthorhombically elongated octahedra and tetrahedra, the defect structures and the experimental EPR spectra are theoretically and systematically investigated for the two orthorhombic Ti³⁺ centers C₁ and C₂ in ZnWO₄. Center C₁ is ascribed to the impurity Ti³⁺ at host W⁶⁺ site associated with two nearest neighbor oxygen vacancies due to charge compensation. The resultant tetrahedral [TiO₄]^5– cluster is determined to undergo the local orthorhombic elongation distortion, characterized by the axial distortion angle Δθ (=θ–θ₀≈–6.84°) of the local impurity-ligand bond angle θ related to θ₀ (≈54.74°) and the perpendicular distortion angle Δε (=ε–ε₀≈2.5°) related to ε₀ (≈45°) of an ideal tetrahedron because of the Jahn–Teller effect. Center C₂ is attributed to Ti³⁺ on Zn²⁺ site, and this octahedral [TiO₆]^9– cluster may experience the local axial elongation ΔZ (≈0.001 Ǻ) and the planar bond angle variation Δφ (≈9.1°) due to the Jahn–Teller effect, resulting in a more regular oxygen octahedron. All the calculated SHPs (i.e., g factors for both centers, the hyperfine structure constants for center C₂ and superhyperfine parameters of next nearest neighbor ligand W for center C₁) show good agreement with the observed values. However, the theoretical results based on the previous assignment of center C₁ as Ti³⁺ on W⁶⁺ site with only one nearest planar oxygen vacancy (i.e., five-fold coordinated octahedral [TiO₅]^7– cluster) show much worse agreement with the experimental data. The defect structures and the SHPs (especially the g anisotropies) are discussed for both centers. The present studies on the superhyperfine parameters of ligand W⁶⁺ for center C₁ would be helpful to further investigations on the superhyperfine interactions of cation ligands which were rather scarcely treated before.     

Could chroman-4-one derivative be a better inhibitor of PTR1? – Reason for the identified disparity in its inhibitory potency in Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major

Most notable Kinetoplastids are of the genus Trypanosoma and Leishmania, affecting several millions of humans in Africa and Latin America. Current therapeutic options are limited by several drawbacks, hence the need to develop more efficacious inhibitors. An investigation to decipher the mechanism behind greater inhibitory potency of a chroman-4-one derivative (compound 1) in Trypanosoma brucei pteridine reductase 1 (TbPTR1) and Leishmania major pteridine reductase 1 (LmPTR1) was performed. Estimation of ΔG_bind revealed that compound 1 had a greater binding affinity in TbPTR1 with a ΔG_bind value of −49.0507 Kcal/mol than −29.2292 Kcal/mol in LmPTR1. The ΔGbind in TbPTR1 were predominantly contributed by “strong” electrostatic energy compared to the “weak” van der Waals in LmPTR1. In addition to this, the NADPH cofactor contributed significantly to the total energy of TbPTR1. A characteristic weak aromatic π interaction common in PTR1 was more prominent in TbPTR1 than LmPTR1. The consistent occurrence of high-affinity conventional hydrogen bond interactions as well as a steady interaction of crucial active site residues like Arg14/Arg17, Ser95/Ser111, Phe97/Phe113 in TbPTR1/LmPTR1 with chroman-4-one moiety equally revealed the important role the moiety played in the activity of compound 1. Overall, the structural and conformational analysis of the active site residues in TbPTR1 revealed them to be more rigid than LmPTR1. This could be the mechanism of interaction TbPTR1 employs in exerting a greater potency than LmPTR1. These findings will further give insight that will be assistive in modifying compound 1 for better potency and the design of novel inhibitors of PTR1.     

Theoretical study on the mechanism for the excited-state double proton transfer process of an asymmetric Schiff base ligand

Excited-state double proton transfer (ESDPT) in the 1-[(2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzylidene)-hydrazonomethyl]-naphthalen-2-ol (HYDRAVH₂) ligand was studied by the density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory method. The analysis of frontier molecular orbitals, infrared spectra, and non-covalent interactions have cross-validated that the asymmetric structure has an influence on the proton transfer, which makes the proton transfer ability of the two hydrogen protons different. The potential energy surfaces in both S₀ and S₁ states were scanned with varying O-H bond lengths. The results of potential energy surface analysis adequately proved that the HYDRAVH₂ can undergo the ESDPT process in the S₁ state and the double proton transfer process is a stepwise proton transfer mechanism. Our work can pave the way towards the design and synthesis of new molecules.