Synthesis and characterization of biodegradable amphiphilic ABC Y‐shaped miktoarm terpolymer by click chemistry for drug delivery

Biodegradable amphiphilic ABC Y‐shaped triblock copolymer (MPBC) containing PEG, PBLA, and PCL segments was synthesized via the combination of enzymatic ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of epsilon‐caprolactone, ROP of BLA‐N‐carboxyanhydride and click chemistry, where PEG, PBLA, and PCL are poly(ethylene glycol), poly(benzyl‐l ‐aspartate), and polycaprolactone, respectively. Propynylamine was employed as ROP initiator for the preparation of alkynyl‐terminated PBLA and methyloxy‐PEG with hydroxyl and azide groups at the chain‐end was used as enzymatic ROP initiator for synthesis of monoazido‐midfunctionalized block copolymer mPEG‐b‐PCL. The subsequent click reaction led to the formation of Y‐shaped asymmetric heteroarm terpolymer MPBC. The polymer structures were characterized by different analyses. The MPBC terpolymer self‐assembled into micelles and physically encapsulated drug doxorubicin (DOX) to form DOX‐loaded micelles, which showed good stability and slow drug release. In vitro cytotoxicity study indicated that the MPBC micelles were nontoxic and the DOX‐loaded micelles displayed obvious anticancer activity similar to free DOX against HeLa cells. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 3346–3355     

PPh3/I2/HCOOH: An efficient CO source for the synthesis of phthalimides

A straightforward and general method has been developed for the synthesis of phthalimide derivatives from 2-iodobenzamides and PPh₃/I₂/HCOOH in the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd(OAc)₂. The reaction results demonstrate that PPh₃/I₂/HCOOH is a facile, efficient and safe CO source. The whole process is carried out in toluene at 80?°C and furnishes the desired products in good to excellent yields.     

Temperature and pH dual‐sensitive polyaspartamide derivatives for antitumor drug delivery

The pH‐sensitive tertiary amino groups were introduced to synthesize temperature and pH dual‐sensitive degradable polyaspartamide derivatives (phe/DEAE‐g‐PHPA) containing pendant aromatic structures and ionizable tertiary amino groups. The thermo/pH‐responsive behavior of phe/DEAE‐g‐PHPA polymer can be tuned by adjusting the graft copolymer composition. Due to the pH sensitivity of the phe/DEAE‐g‐PHPA‐g‐mPEG polymer with hydrophilic long PEG chain, the micelles and the anticancer drug‐loaded micelles were prepared by a quick pH‐changing method without using toxic organic solvent. The obtained polymeric micelles, paclitaxel‐loaded micelles and doxorubicin‐loaded micelles were stable under physiological conditions. Both the drug‐loaded micelles showed much faster release at pH 5 than at pH 7.4. The doxorubicin‐loaded micelles showed obvious and better anticancer activity against both HepG2 and HeLa cells than free doxorubicin. Thus these nontoxic, dual thermo‐ and pH‐sensitive phe/DEAE‐g‐PHPA‐g‐mPEG micelles may be a promising anticancer drug delivery system. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 879–888     

Amorphous Manganese–Cobalt Nanosheets as Efficient Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER)

Catalysis Surveys from Asia - A facile and efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) to produce hydrogen is very important for future energy. In this paper, amorphous...     

Effect of Mie resonance on photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over dye-sensitized hollow C-TiO_2 nanoshells under visible light irradiation

Light utilization is one of the key factors for the improvement of photocatalytic perfo rmance.He rein,we design C-TiO_2 hollow nanoshells with strong Mie resonance for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in a dye-sensitized system under visible light irradiation(λ≥420 nm).By tuning the inner diameters of hollow nanoshells,the Mie resonance in hollow nanoshells is adjusted for better excitation of dye molecules,which thus greatly enhances the light utilization in visible light region.This work shows the potential of Mie resonance in nanoshells can be an alternative strategy to increase the light utilization for photocatalysis.     

Synthesis of Low Molecular Distribution Dihydric Polybutadiene in the Presence of Triflic Acid

A method is described for the preparation of functional polybutadiene (PB) with hydroxyl groups along the polymer chain. This material can be used directly or as the starting substrate for further polymerization in both academic and industrial processes. We have developed a convenient method to obtain a polymer with a narrow molecular weight distribution and with a known content of hydroxyl groups along the backbone. By controlling the hydroxylation reaction conditions, the appropriate molar ratios of THF, water and acid with the epoxide are 30, 15 and 1.5, respectively. By minimizing the crosslinking reaction, the desired PB was prepared and subsequently characterized.     

Improved molten salt synthesis and structure evolution upon cycling of 0.5Li2MnO3·0.5LiCoO2 in lithium-ion batteries

The Li-rich cathode material Li_1.2Co_0.4Mn_0.4O₂(=0.5Li₂MnO₃·0.5LiCoO₂) was prepared by an improved molten salt method. The effects of sintering temperature and time on the physical and electrochemical properties of Li_1.2Co_0.4Mn_0.4O₂ were investigated. With increasing sintering temperature, excellent crystallinity and a stable structure are obtained, which lead to excellent electrochemical properties. However, the sample sintered at 900 °C has poor performance because its large powder diameter prolongs the transportation length of Li⁺ ions. Higher specific surface areas are obtained when samples are sintered at 850 °C for a shorter time, which leads to more activity and excellent charge/discharge capacity. The evolution of a derivative peak at about 3.0 V in the differential capacity (dQ/dV) curves is observed along with the formation of a spinel-like phase, which is verified by analysis using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope. Therefore, it is a simple and quick method to characterize the structure evolution upon cycling of Li-rich cathode materials by means of analysis of the derivative peak.     

胆碱类低共熔溶剂的物性及应用

作为一种新型的离子液体,胆碱类低共熔溶剂具有相比于其他离子液体更为突出的特点,如低毒、生物可降解、价格低廉等,这些特点使得此类离子液体在绿色化学和工程化学中受到越来越多的关注。本文分析了胆碱类低共熔溶剂的凝固点、熔点、溶解度、黏度、表面张力、电导率等物性随温度、组成、水分等因素的变化及理论预测模型,并介绍了胆碱类低共熔溶剂在润滑、功能材料制备、电化学、有机合成及生物质催化转化等方面的潜在应用。最后就胆碱类低共熔溶剂研究及应用中存在的问题及难点对其前景做出展望。     

纳米Ru-Mn/ZrO2催化剂上苯选择加氢制环己烯

采用共沉淀法制备了一系列不同Mn含量的纳米Ru-Mn催化剂,考察了纳米ZrO₂作分散剂时它们催化苯选择加氢制环己烯的反应性能,并采用X射线衍射、透射电镜、N₂物理吸附、X射线荧光、原子吸收光谱和俄歇电子能谱等手段对催化剂进行了表征.结果表明,Ru-Mn催化剂上Mn以Mn₃O₄存在于Ru的表面上.在加氢过程中,Mn₃O₄可以与浆液中ZnSO₄发生化学反应生成一种难溶性的(Zn(OH)₂)₃(ZnSO₄)(H₂O)₃盐.该盐易化学吸附在Ru催化剂表面上,从而在提高Ru催化剂上环己烯选择性起关键作用.当催化剂中Mn含量为5.4%时,环己烯收率为61.3%,同时具有良好的稳定性和重复使用性能.     

Water‐Dependent Optical Activity Inversion of Chiral DNA–Silica Assemblies

Chirality is widely found in nature and is expressed hierarchically in many organic–inorganic hybrid materials. Optical activity (OA) is the most fundamental attribute of these chiral materials. In this study, we found that the OA of impeller‐like chiral DNA–silica assemblies (CDSAs) was inverted with the addition of water. The state of DNA under dry and wet conditions, and the dual chirality of chiral DNA layers and twisted helical arrays of opposite handedness in CDSAs were considered to exert predominant effects on the OAs. The circular dichroism (CD) responses for the dry CDSAs were mostly attributed to the chiral arrangement of DNA layers, whereas the opposite CD responses for the wet CDSAs primarily originated from twisted helical arrays of DNA molecules. The observed CD signals were a super‐position of the two opposing OA responses. The increase in the longitudinal relation of DNA molecules due to the recovery of a double‐helical structure of DNA in the presence of water was considered to be the reason for the increase in intensity of the CD signals that originated from the twisted helical array, which led to the inversion of OA of the CDSAs. The inversion of the plasmon‐resonance‐based OAs for the chiral‐arranged achiral Ag nanoparticles (NPs) located in the channels of the CDSAs in dry and wet states further confirmed the dual chirality of DNA packing. Such research on DNA assemblies and metal NPs with dual, opposite chirality assists in the understanding of DNA hierarchical chirality in living systems and the creation of macroscopic ordered helical materials and biosensors.