Metal‐Doped Nitrogenated Carbon as an Efficient Catalyst for Direct CO2 Electroreduction to CO and Hydrocarbons

This study explores the kinetics, mechanism, and active sites of the CO₂ electroreduction reaction (CO2RR) to syngas and hydrocarbons on a class of functionalized solid carbon‐based catalysts. Commercial carbon blacks were functionalized with nitrogen and Fe and/or Mn ions using pyrolysis and acid leaching. The resulting solid powder catalysts were found to be active and highly CO selective electrocatalysts in the electroreduction of CO₂ to CO/H₂ mixtures outperforming a low‐area polycrystalline gold benchmark. Unspecific with respect to the nature of the metal, CO production is believed to occur on nitrogen functionalities in competition with hydrogen evolution. Evidence is provided that sufficiently strong interaction between CO and the metal enables the protonation of CO and the formation of hydrocarbons. Our results highlight a promising new class of low‐cost, abundant electrocatalysts for synthetic fuel production from CO₂.     

Syntheses,Structures, and Luminescent Properties of d10 Coordination Polymers with 2‐(4‐Carboxyphenyl)‐imidazo[4, 5‐f]‐1, 10‐phenanthroline and 1, 3‐Benzenedicarboxylate Derivatives

Four Zn^II/Cd^II coordination polymers (CPs) based on 2‐(4‐carboxy‐phenyl)imidazo[4, 5‐f]‐1, 10‐phenanthroline (HNCP) and different derivatives of 5‐R‐1, 3‐benzenedicarboxylate (5‐R‐1, 3‐BDC) (R = NO₂, H, OH), [Zn(HNCP)(5‐NO₂‐1, 3‐BDC)]_n ( 1 ), [Cd(HNCP)(5‐NO₂‐1, 3‐BDC)]_n ( 2 ), [Zn(HNCP)(1, 3‐BDC)(H₂O)₂]_n ( 3 ), and {[Zn(HNCP)(5‐OH‐1, 3‐BDC)(H₂O) · H₂O}_n ( 4 ) were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Compounds 1 – 4 were determined by elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy, and single‐crystal and powder X‐ray diffraction. Compounds 1 and 2 are isomorphous, presenting a 4‐connected uninodal (4, 4)‐sql 2D framework with threefold interpenetration, which are further extended into the three‐dimensional (3D) supramolecular architecture through π ··· π stacking interactions between the aryl rings of 5‐NO₂‐1, 3‐BDC. Compared to compound 1 , 3 is obtained by using different reaction temperatures and metal‐ligand ratios, generating a 3D framework with –ABAB– fashion via π ··· π stacking interactions. Compound 4 is a 1D chain, which is further extended into a 3D supramolecular net by hydrogen bonds and π ··· π stacking interactions. The thermogravimetric and fluorescence properties of 1 – 4 were also explored.     

Syntheses,Structures, and Magnetic Properties of Two Cobalt(II) Metal‐Organic Frameworks Based on Y‐shaped 3,5,4′‐Azobenzenetricarboxylic Acid and Different N‐donor Ligands

Two metal‐organic frameworks, [Co₂(ABTC)(bimh)(OH)] · 2H₂O ( 1 ) and [Co₃(ABTC)₂(dimb)₄]_n ( 2 ) [H₃ABTC = 3,4′,5‐azobenzenetricarboxylic acid, bimh = 1,1′‐(1,4‐hexanediy)bis(imidazole), dimb = 1,4‐bis(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)benzene], were prepared under solvothermal conditions and structurally characterized. Complex 1 demonstrates a complicated 3D (3,8)‐connected tfz‐d net with (4³)₂(4⁶.6¹⁷.8⁵) topology. The framework of 2 can be classified as a rare 3D (3,6,6)‐connected net with the Schäfli symbol of (4.6²)₂(4².6¹⁰.8³)(4⁴.6¹⁰.8), and exhibits an intriguing self‐penetrating motif. Meanwhile, the thermal stabilities and magnetic properties for 1 and 2 were also probed.     

A pH-activatable and aniline-substituted photosensitizer for near-infrared cancer theranostics

This work reports a newly designed pH-activatable and aniline-substituted aza-boron-dipyrromethene as a trifunctional photosensitizer to achieve highly selective tumor imaging, efficient photodynamic therapy (PDT) and therapeutic self-monitoring through encapsulation in a cRGD-functionalized nanomicelle. The diethylaminophenyl is introduced in to the structure for pH-activatable near-infrared fluorescence and singlet oxygen (¹O₂) generation, and bromophenyl is imported to increase the ¹O₂ generation efficiency upon pH activation by virtue of its heavy atom effect. After encapsulation, the nanoprobe can target α_vβ₃ integrin-rich tumor cells via cRGD and is activated by physiologically acidic pH for cancer discrimination and PDT. The fascinating advantage of the nanoprobe is near-infrared implementation beyond 800 nm, which significantly improves the imaging sensitivity and increases the penetration depth of the PDT. By monitoring the fluorescence decrease in the tumor region after PDT, the therapeutic efficacy is demonstrated in situ and in real time, which provides a valuable and convenient self-feedback function for PDT efficacy tracking. Therefore, this rationally designed and carefully engineered nanoprobe offers a new paradigm for precise tumor theranostics and may provide novel opportunities for future clinical cancer treatment.     

In situ activation and monitoring of the evolution of the intracellular caspase family

The evolution of the intracellular caspase family is crucial in cell apoptosis. To evaluate this process, a universal platform of in situ activation and monitoring of the evolution of intracellular caspase is designed. Using well-known gold nanostructure as a model of both nanocarrier and matter inducing the cell apoptosis for photothermal therapy, a nanoprobe is prepared by assembly of two kinds of dye-labelled peptides specific to upstream caspase-9 and downstream caspase-3 as the signal switch, and folic acid as a targeting moiety. The energy transfer from dyes to the gold nanocarrier at two surface plasmon resonance absorption wavelengths leads to their fluorescence quenching. Upon endocytosis of the nanoprobe to perform the therapy against cancer cells, the peptides are successively cleaved by intracellular caspase activation with the evolution from upstream to downstream, which lights up the fluorescence of the dyes sequentially, and can be used to quantify both caspase-9 and caspase-3 activities in cancer cells and to monitor their evolution in living mice. The recovered fluorescence could also be used to assess therapeutic efficiency. This work provides a novel powerful tool for studying the evolution of the intracellular caspase family and elucidating the biological roles of caspases in cancer cell apoptosis.     

Expeditious Synthesis of Enantiopure,Orthogonally Protected Bis‐α‐Amino Acids (OPBAAs) and their Use in a Study of Nod1 Stimulation

A convenient approach towards the synthesis of orthogonally protected chiral bis‐α‐amino acids (OPBAAs) is described. The key transformations include: (1) a highly stereoselective conjugation (alkylation) of the Schöllkopf bis‐lactim ethers and oxazolidinyl alkyl halides to build a backbone skeleton; and (2) our orthogonal protection strategy. A series of enantiopure OPBAAs bearing a variety of alkyl chain as a spacer; two stereogenic centers; and three protecting groups were prepared as examples. These versatile molecules were applied to the synthesis of biologically interesting di‐ or tri‐peptide analogues, including chiral iE‐meso‐DAP and A‐iE‐meso‐DAP, for the study of Nod1 activation in the innate immune response.     

Study on the Synthesis of (Z)-2-(5-Amino-1,2,4-thiadizol-3-yl)-2-(methoxyimino)acetic Acid

Russian Journal of Organic Chemistry - (Z)-2-(5-Amino-1,2,4-thiadiazole-3-yl)-2-(methoxyimino)acetic acid, an important intermediate prod­uct in the synthesis of Ceftobiprole, was prepared...     

Preparation of N-Aryl Anthranilic Acid Drugs by Modified Ullmann Coupling Reaction in Ionic Liquids

Russian Journal of Organic Chemistry - N-Aryl anthranilic acid drugs have been synthesized by a simple, environmentally friendly, low-cost, and high-yielding modified Ullmann coupling reaction...     

KIT-6负载CeO2催化CO2和甲醇合成碳酸二甲酯

采用不同老化温度(80、100、120和150℃)合成了一系列KIT-6载体,并通过浸渍法制备了相应的CeO_2/KIT-6催化剂。结合X射线衍射、N_2物理吸附、NH_3程序升温脱附、CO_2程序升温脱附、透射电子显微镜、傅里叶变换红外光谱和X射线光电子能谱等表征结果,详细考察了老化温度对KIT-6结构以及CeO_2/KIT-6催化剂直接催化CO_2和甲醇合成碳酸二甲酯(DMC)反应活性的影响。结果表明,不同老化温度下制备的KIT-6均保持其独特的三维孔道结构。随着老化温度升高,KIT-6比表面积先增大后减小,当老化温度为100℃时,KIT-6比表面积达到最大(683 m~2·g~(-1))。KIT-6较高的比表面积有利于提高CeO_2分散度,进而提高暴露的活性位点数量,催化活性随催化剂表面中等碱/酸性吸附位数量和Ce~(3+)含量的增加而逐渐提高。其中,CeO_2/100-KIT-6催化剂中CeO_2颗粒尺寸最小(5.9 nm),暴露的活性位数量最高,催化活性最佳。随后,考察了反应温度和压力对CeO_2/100-KIT-6催化活性的影响。随着反应温度提高,催化活性先升高后降低,当反应温度为140℃时,催化活性最高;且催化活性随反应压力的提高而逐渐增加。在反应温度为140℃、压力为6.8 MPa条件下,催化剂经6次循环后,DMC收率由15 mmol·g_(CeO_2)~(-1)逐渐降低至2.8 mmol·g_(CeO_2)~(-1),原因归结为反应过程中CeO_2纳米颗粒发生团聚,使暴露出的活性位数量减少。