New symmetric azomethinic dimer: the influence of structural heterogeneity on the liquid crystalline behaviour

The paper deals with the study of the thermotropic liquid crystalline properties of a new azomethinic symmetric dimer and some of its structural heterogeneous mixtures with one of its reagents. Their thermotropic behaviour was monitored by polarised light microscopy, differential scanning microscopy and variable temperature X-ray diffraction measurements. The influence of the structural heterogeneity on the mesomorphic behaviour was established and some similarities with the mesomorphic behaviour of the polydisperse polymers were underlined.     

煤液化沥青分析表征及结构模型

对从煤液化残渣中萃取出的沥青类物质进行了固体13C-CP/MAS NMR分析、元素分析、红外光谱分析(FT-IR)和光电子能谱(XPS)分析,得到煤液化沥青的芳香结构单元信息及相关结构参数信息。结果表明,煤液化沥青芳香桥碳与周碳之比为0.115,芳香碳原子的存在形式以苯结构为主;脂肪结构多以甲基和环状亚甲基形式存在;氧主要以羰基、酯基的形式存在;氮主要以吡咯的形式存在。利用结构参数和分析表征结果构建了煤液化沥青的大分子结构模型,并运用13C-NMR预测软件ACD/CNMR Predictor计算了煤精制沥青大分子结构模型的13C化学位移。根据计算结果对大分子结构模型进行了修正,获得了与实验谱图吻合较好的大分子结构模型。     

油页岩的~(13)C-NMR特征及FLASHCHAIN热解模拟研究

采用固体13C-NMR核磁共振技术表征了甘肃窑街矿区油页岩的碳骨架结构,分析并计算了油母质团簇化学结构参数,包括团簇平均碳原子数、芳碳原子数、脂碳原子数及芳环数。在热重红外分析仪(TG-FTIR)上进行了油页岩的热解实验,得到了热解产物的生成规律。结合样品的团簇化学结构参数,采用基于油页岩结构的FLASHCHAIN模型模拟其热解产物的生成过程;模拟结果与TG-FITR实验数据符合较好,印证了模型预测的合理性。     

思维导图在结构化学课程教学中的应用与探索*

结合结构化学学科的自身特点以及学生对该学科的认识,探索用思维导图方法辅助结构化学的教学过程,将思维导图应用于结构化学教学中从而有助于学生形成逻辑严密、有机统一的量子理论知识结构体系,并且通过系统的调查问卷分析学生在学习过程中对思维导图的应用情况。     

A structural analysis of ultrathin barrier (In)AlN/GaN heterostructures for GaN-based high-frequency power electronics

Metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is one of the best growth methods for GaN-based materials as well-known. GaN-based materials with very quality are grown the MOCVD, so we used this growth technique to grow InAlN/GaN and AlN/GaN heterostructures in this study. The structural and surface properties of ultrathin barrier AlN/GaN and InAlN/GaN heterostructures are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. Screw, edge, and total dislocation densities for the grown samples have been calculated by using XRD results. The lowest dislocation density is found to be 1.69 × 10⁸ cm⁻² for Sample B with a lattice-matched In_0.17Al_0.83N barrier. The crystal quality of the studied samples is determined using (002) symmetric and (102) asymmetric diffractions of the GaN material. In terms of the surface roughness, although reference sample has a lower value as 0.27 nm of root mean square values (RMS), Sample A with 4-nm AlN barrier layer exhibits the highest rough surface as 1.52 nm of RMS. The structural quality of the studied samples is significantly affected by the barrier layer thickness. The obtained structural properties of the samples are very important for potential applications like high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs).     

同步辐射X射线成像技术在脑成像研究中的应用

脑疾病的诊疗、 探索高级脑功能机制和理解意识本源对脑科学研究具有重要意义. 成像技术在阐明脑科学神经系统结构和功能中发挥了重要作用. 迄今, 核磁共振成像、 光学成像和电子显微镜成像技术已为脑科学研究提供了强有力的手段, 取得了突出的进展. 同步辐射X射线显微成像技术具有高分辨率、 快成像速度和高穿透深度等优点, 是一类与已有技术互补的新型脑成像技术. 本文介绍了核磁共振波谱、 光学显微镜和电子显微镜等成像方法在脑成像领域中的应用, 重点阐述了同步辐射X射线成像的优势以及在脑结构成像和功能成像中的应用. 在此基础上, 展望了同步辐射X射线成像应用于脑科学研究的未来发展方向, 讨论了该技术在绘制人脑联接图谱中的优势及可行性.     

You cannot fight the pressure: Structural rearrangements of active pharmaceutical ingredients under magic angle spinning

Although solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a versatile analytical tool to study polymorphs and phase transitions of pharmaceutical molecules and products, this work summarizes examples of spontaneous and unexpected (and unwanted) structural rearrangements and phase transitions (amorphous-to-crystalline and crystalline-to-crystalline) under magic angle spinning (MAS) conditions, some of them clearly being due to the pressure experienced by the samples. It is widely known that such changes can often be detected by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD); here, the capability of solid-state NMR experiments with a special focus on ¹H-¹³C frequency-switched Lee–Goldburg heteronuclear correlation (FSLG HETCOR)/MAS NMR experiments to detect even subtle changes on a molecular level not observable by conventional 1D NMR experiments or XRPD is presented. Furthermore, it is shown that a polymorphic impurity combined with MAS can induce a crystalline-to-crystalline phase transition. This showcases that solid-state NMR is not always noninvasive and such changes upon MAS should be considered in particular when compounds are studied over longer time spans.     

Heavy Alkali Metal Manganate Complexes: Synthesis,Structures and Solvent-Induced Dissociation Effects

Rare examples of heavier alkali metal manganates [{(AM)Mn(CH₂SiMe₃)(N^‘Ar)₂}_∞] (AM=K, Rb, or Cs) [N^‘Ar=N(SiMe₃)(Dipp), where Dipp=2,6-iPr₂-C₆H₃] have been synthesised with the Rb and Cs examples crystallographically characterised. These heaviest manganates crystallise as polymeric zig-zag chains propagated by AM⋅⋅⋅π-arene interactions. Key to their preparation is to avoid Lewis base donor solvents. In contrast, using multidentate nitrogen donors encourages ligand scrambling leading to redistribution of these bimetallic manganate compounds into their corresponding homometallic species as witnessed for the complete Li - Cs series. Adding to the few known crystallographically characterised unsolvated and solvated rubidium and caesium s-block metal amides, six new derivatives ([{AM(N^‘Ar)}_∞], [{AM(N^‘Ar)⋅TMEDA}_∞], and [{AM(N^‘Ar)⋅PMDETA}_∞] where AM=Rb or Cs) have been structurally authenticated. Utilising monodentate diethyl ether as a donor, it was also possible to isolate and crystallographically characterise sodium manganate [(Et₂O)₂Na(ⁿBu)Mn[(N^‘Ar)₂], a monomeric, dinuclear structure prevented from aggregating by two blocking ether ligands bound to sodium.     

Superb thermal stability purple-blue phosphor through synergistic effect of emission compensation and nonradiative transition restriction of Eu2+

Phosphors with outstanding luminescence thermal stability are desirable for high-power phosphor-converted light-emitting diode (pc-LED) lightings. High structural rigidity and large bandgap of phosphor hosts are helpful to suppress nonradiative relaxation of optical centers and realize excellent thermal stability. Unfortunately, few host materials simultaneously possess aforementioned structural features. Herein, we confirm that Sr₃(PO₄)₂ (SPO) phosphate possesses high structural rigidity (Debye temperature, Θ_D = 559 K) and large bandgap (E_g = 8.313 eV) by density functional theory calculations. As expected, Eu²⁺-doped SPO purple-blue phosphors show extraordinary thermal stability. At 150/300 °C, SPO:5%Eu²⁺ presents emission loss of only 4%/8% and a predicated ultrahigh thermal quenching temperature of 973 °C. The most strikingly discoveries here are that thermal-induced emission compensation appears within two distinct Eu²⁺ sites of SPO host. The outstanding thermal stability, on one hand, is attributed to rigid structure and large bandgap of host that inhibits nonradiative relaxation of Eu²⁺ and on the other hand, the emission self-compensation of Eu²⁺. Benefiting from synergistic effect of emission compensation and nonradiative transition restriction of Eu²⁺, as-prepared SPO:5%Eu²⁺ purple-blue phosphor not only presents superior thermal stability but also high internal quantum efficiency of 95.1% and excellent hydrolysis resistant. Some advanced applications are explored including white LED lighting and wide-color-gamut display. Our work provides in-deep insights into structure-property relationships of thermally stable phosphors.     

Recent Advances in Discovery of Lead Structures from Microbial Natural Products: Genomics- and Metabolomics-Guided Acceleration

Natural products (NPs) are evolutionarily optimized as drug-like molecules and remain the most consistently successful source of drugs and drug leads. They offer major opportunities for finding novel lead structures that are active against a broad spectrum of assay targets, particularly those from secondary metabolites of microbial origin. Due to traditional discovery approaches’ limitations relying on untargeted screening methods, there is a growing trend to employ unconventional secondary metabolomics techniques. Aided by the more in-depth understanding of different biosynthetic pathways and the technological advancement in analytical instrumentation, the development of new methodologies provides an alternative that can accelerate discoveries of new lead-structures of natural origin. This present mini-review briefly discusses selected examples regarding advancements in bioinformatics and genomics (focusing on genome mining and metagenomics approaches), as well as bioanalytics (mass-spectrometry) towards the microbial NPs-based drug discovery and development. The selected recent discoveries from 2015 to 2020 are featured herein.