Molecular Dynamics Simulations of a β-Hairpin Fragment of Protein G by Means of Atom-Bond Electronegativity Equalization Method Fused into Molecular Mechanics (ABEEMσπ/MM)

There are some controversial opinions about the origin of folding β‐hairpin stability in aqueous solution. In this study, the structural and dynamic behavior of a 16‐residue β‐hairpin from B1 domain of protein G has been investigated at 280, 300, 350 and 450 K using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations by means of Atom‐Bond Electronegativity Equalization Method Fused into Molecular Mechanics i.e., ABEEMδπ/MM and the explicit ABEEM‐7P water solvent model. In addition, a 300 K simulation of one mutant having the aromatic residues substituted with alanines has been performed. The hydrophobic surface area, hydrophilic surface area and some structural properties have been used to measure the role of the hydrophobic interactions. It is found that the aromatic residues substituted with alanines have shown an evident destabilization of the structure and unfolding started after 1.5 ns. It is also found that the number of the main chain hydrogen bonds have different distributions through three different simulations. All above demonstrate that the hydrophobic interactions and the main chain hydrogen bonds play an important role in the stability of the folding structure of β‐hairpin in solution. Furthermore, through the structural analyses of the β‐hairpin structures from four temperature simulations and the comparison with other MD simulations of β‐hairpin peptides, the new ABEEMδπ force field can reproduce the structural data in good agreement with the experimental data.     

(SrTiO_3)_(1-x)(SrTaO_2N)_x固溶体的制备及光催化性能研究(英文)

通过高温固相反应合成了N掺杂的SrTiO3和(SrTiO3)1-x(SrTaO2N)x固溶体,对其进行了X射线衍射,紫外可见吸收光谱,X射线光电子能谱分析和比表面积的表征。随x由0增大至0.4,固溶体带隙变窄,由3.2eV降至2.3eV,吸收光谱由紫外光区扩展到可见光区。在甲醇溶液(50mLCH3OH+220mLH2O)中进行了光催化分解水产生氢气的反应,在硝酸银溶液(270mL,0.01mol·L-1)中进行了光催化分解水产生氧气的反应,在可见光(λ420nm)照射下,实现了可见光响应的光催化分解水。     

铈锆固溶体的合成及其在CH_4和CO催化燃烧反应中的应用

分别利用固态反应和共沉淀法制备了铈锆固溶体,并以其为载体制备了车用三效催化剂,考察其在CH4和CO催化燃烧反应中的作用.研究发现固态反应法所得固溶体孔分布较宽,热稳定性较差,但表面较多的缺陷位贡献于其较高的储氧性能.而共沉淀法所得样品拥有较高的热稳定性和催化活性.固溶体的还原性质可以通过铈锆比调控.关联催化剂对CH4和CO的催化氧化性能发现,具有较大比表面积、集中孔径分布和较高储氧能力的固溶体显示了较低的催化剂起燃温度和较高的催化活性.     

基于超支化温敏聚合物制备温敏金纳米粒子

通过对不同分子量的超支化聚乙烯亚胺(hyperbranched polyethyleni mine,HPEI)的端基进行部分或完全异丁酰胺(isobutyric amide,IBAm)化,可以制备一系列具有不同低临界溶解温度(Lower Critical SolutionTemperature,LCST)的超支化温敏聚合物HPEI-IBAm。通过离子键或氢键之间的相互作用,所得超支化温敏聚合物可以吸附于柠檬酸钠还原并稳定的14nm的金纳米粒子(AuNP)的表面,从而得到具有温敏性质的金纳米粒子。所得温敏金的LCST都低于其相应的温敏聚合物,其差值在0.8至6℃之间。在pH值为9.18的缓冲溶液中,通过改变所用聚合物的分子量以及异丁酰胺基团的取代度,所得温敏金的LCST可控制在21.7~48.2℃之间。此外,所得温敏金的LCST也是pH值敏感的,通过溶液pH值的改变,所得温敏金的LCST值可以在更宽的范围内调节。增加溶液的碱性,LCST可能变化不大或降低,减小溶液的碱性会使LCST升高,直到消失。在偏酸的条件下,所得金复合物通常发生聚集,变得不稳定。此外,溶液中的盐度对所得温敏金的LCST也有影响,氯化钠和硫酸钠会降低其LCST,尤其是硫酸钠的效果更显著。     

Prediction of aqueous solubilities of solid carboxylic acids with COSMO-RS

The methodology for the prediction of aqueous solubilities of solid organic compounds, and their temperature dependence, based on the Conductor-like Screening Model for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS/COSMOtherm) procedure, is presented and evaluated. The predictive capability of the quantum chemistry based program and the applied methodology was tested on the most common solid carboxylic acids. From the temperature dependence of the solubilities, the mean apparent enthalpies of solution were derived. The results obtained for a set of 27 carboxylic acids, consisting of aromatic carboxylic acids, dicarboxylic acids, as well as hydroxycarboxylic acids, are in good agreement with the experimental solubility data and their dependence with the temperature. The mean apparent enthalpies of solution, although of the same order of magnitude of the experimentally values, seem to be systematically underestimated.     

Electro-electrodialysis of HI–I2–H2O mixture using radiation-grafted polymer electrolyte membranes

In the thermochemical water-splitting iodine–sulfur process for hydrogen production, new polymer electrolyte membranes were applied in an electro-membrane process (electro-electrodialysis, EED) to increase the HI molality of HIx solution (HI + I₂ + H₂O mixture) to be over quasi-azeotropic. Radiation grafting of a styrene monomer into a poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) base film and subsequent sulfonation provided electrolyte membranes that had ion exchange capacities (IECs) of 1.1–1.6 mmol/g. With the EED of the HIx solutions using [HI] = [I₂] = 10 mol/kg at 40 °C the transport number of protons, ratio of permeated quantities of water to the protons, and current efficiency all appeared to depend on the IEC of the resulting membranes. When compared to Nafion, the self-made membranes exhibited lower electric cell resistance, and thereby decreasing up to 32% of the overall energy required in the concentration operation.     

Closed-packed lattice model for polymer solution systems considering the chain length dependence effect: Correlating LLE,VLE, and gel swelling behaviors using identical interaction energy parameters

We propose a new Helmholtz energy of mixing equation following the original Flory–Huggins (F–H) closed-packed lattice model. Also, to overcome F–H mean-field approximation, we introduce new universal constants to consider chain length dependence of polymer in solvent and consider specific interactions to describe strongly interacting polymer systems. Our proposed model successfully describes liquid–liquid equilibria (LLE) for binary polymer–solvent systems using identical interaction parameters which do not depend on the polymer molecular weight. We also describe vapor–liquid equilibria (VLE) for polymer/solvent systems and swelling equilibria of thermosensitive hydrogel systems using the same energy parameters obtained from LLE calculations.     

Solvent effect of ionic liquids on the distribution constant of 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone and its nickel(II) and copper(II) chelates and the evaluation of the solvent properties based on the regular solution theory

Distribution constants of 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (Htta) and its Ni(II)and Cu(II) chelates between 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (C_nmimTf₂N; n = 4, 6, and 8) as ionic liquid (IL) and an aqueous phase were determined. The enol fraction of Htta in ILs was spectrophotometrically measured to calculate the distribution constant of the enol form (K_D,HE) of Htta. The K_D,HE values in ILs were evaluated by comparing those in various molecular solvents such as alkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorohydrocarbons, ethers, ketones, and esters previously reported on the basis of the regular solution theory (RST). It was elucidated that the IL solutions of Htta (enol) can be taken as apparently regular solutions as expected in the organic solvents. On the other hand, the effect of ILs on the distribution constant of metal(II) chelates (K_D,M) was fairly complicated. The Cu(tta)₂-IL solutions behaved like the alkane and aromatic hydrocarbon solutions but the Ni(tta)₂-IL (C₄mimTf₂N) like ether and ketone solutions. In the Ni(II) case, some specific interactions between the Ni(II) chelate and IL was suggested. Finally, the solubility parameters of ILs were calculated using K_D,HE by RST and were in good agreement with the literature values obtained by the enthalpy of vaporization.     

Electrochemical Assay to Quantify the Hydroxyl Radical Scavenging Activity of Medicinal Plant Extracts

A new electrochemical assay has been developed which is based on quantifying the attack of OH^. radicals on a self‐assembled thiol monolayer on electrodes in the presence and absence of antioxidants. The OH^. radicals were produced in Fenton solutions. The radical scavengers diminish the concentration of the OH^. radicals in the Fenton solution, and the extent of thiol layer destruction is monitored with the help of a redox probe in solution, the signal of which is only generated at SAM‐free electrode surface. The results of the electrochemical assay were compared with those of the standard DPPH^. assay. In case of each plant extract, an excellent linear correlation was observed between the radical scavenging activity and the concentration of plant extracts; however, the scavenging properties of different plants strongly differ in the electrochemical and the DPPH^. assay. Since the proposed new method probes the reactivity of radical scavengers towards OH^., one of the most important reactive oxygen radicals in tissues, it is supposed to provide much more relevant information than the DPPH^. or other assays.