Pyrone Diels–Alder Routes to Indolines and Hydroindolines: Syntheses of Gracilamine,Mesembrine, and Δ7‐Mesembrenone

Although the Diels–Alder reaction has long been utilized for the preparation of numerous heterocycles, opportunities to extend its power remain. Herein, we detail a simple, modular, and robust approach that combines various amines regioselectively with 4,6‐dichloropyrone to create substrates which, under appropriate conditions, can directly deliver varied indolines and hydroindolines through [4+2] cycloadditions with substitution patterns difficult to access otherwise. As an initial demonstration of the power of the strategy, several different natural products have been obtained either formally or by direct total synthesis, with efforts toward one of these—the complex amaryllidaceae alkaloid gracilamine—affording the shortest route to date in terms of linear step count.     

Facile preparation,spectral property and application of Ag/ZnO nanocomposites

Research on Chemical Intermediates - In this paper, a one-pot and sustainable method for the preparation of Ag/ZnO nanocomposites in green polyethylene glycol-200 (PEG-200) was reported with silver...     

Differentiating parts of Cinnamomum cassia using LC‐qTOF‐MS in conjunction with principal component analysis

Cinnamon bark (Rou Gui in Chinese), cinnamon twig (Gui Zhi) and shaved cinnamon bark (Gui Sin) have been widely used as spices and in traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. On‐going issues related to quality and authenticity necessitate the development of analytical methods capable of providing an objective evaluation of samples. In this study, chemical fingerprints of cinnamon bark, cinnamon twigs and shaved cinnamon bark were established using liquid chromatography quadruple time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry in conjunction with principal component analysis (PCA). From 125 samples of cinnamon, we identified the following eight compounds and their the detection ratios: coumarin, cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl alcohol, cinnamic acid, 2‐hydroxycinnamaldehyde, 2‐hydroxycinnamic acid, 2‐methoxycinnamaldehyde and 4‐methoxycinnamaldehyde. Of these, 4‐methoxycinnamaldehyde presented the largest variations in detection ratio, making up 64.0, 97.4 and 50.0% in cinnamon bark, cinnamon twig, and shaved cinnamon bark, respectively. The quantities of cinnamyl alcohol, coumarin and cinnamaldehyde also varied between the three parts of the plant. Chemical fingerprints of the three cinnamon samples were established using principal component analysis, the results of which indicate that cinnamon bark and shaved cinnamon bark could be easily differentiated, despite a marked similarity in outward appearance. Cinnamon twig was also shown to depart from the other clusters. The proposed method provides a fast and efficient means of identifying cinnamon herbs for quality control purposes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flexible and stretchable electrodes for next generation polymer electronics: a review

Transparent conductive electrodes play a significant role in the fabrication and development of optoelectronic devices. As next generation optoelectronic devices tend towards mobile and wearable devices, the added attribute of flexibility or stretchability for these electrodes becomes increasingly important. However, mechanical requirements aside, transparent conductive electrodes must still retain high transparency and conductivity, with the metrics for these parameters being compared to the standard, indium tin oxide. In the search to replace indium tin oxide, two materials that have risen to the forefront are carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires due to their high transparency, conductivity, mechanical compliance, and ease of fabrication. This review highlights recent innovations made by our group in electrodes utilizing carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires, in addition to the use of these electrodes in discrete devices and integrated systems.     

Improving imprinted shape cavities of molecularly imprinted sol–gel host matrix with minimal relaxation for sensing of creatinine

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology - Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) is of great attention in biomimetic recognition systems due to its selective molecular recognition towards any guest...