The unusual stability of H-bonded complexes in solvent caused by greater solvation energy of complex compared to those of isolated fragments

Here, the effect of solvent on the stability of non-covalent complexes, was studied. These complexes were from previously published S22, S66, and X40 datasets, which include hydrogen-, halogen- and dispersion-bonded complexes. It was shown that the charge transfer in the complex determines whether the complex is stabilized or destabilized in solvent.     

Manipulating Host-Guest Charge Transfer of a Water-Soluble Double-Cavity Cyclophane for NIR-II Photothermal Therapy

Water-soluble small organic photothermal agents (PTAs) over NIR-II biowindow (1000–1350 nm) are highly desirable, but the rarity greatly limits their applications. Based on a water-soluble double-cavity cyclophane GBox-4⁴⁺ , we report a class of host–guest charge transfer (CT) complexes as structurally uniform PTAs for NIR-II photothermal therapy. As a result of its high electron-deficiency, GBox-4⁴⁺ can bind different electron-rich planar guests with a 1 : 2 host/guest stoichiometry to readily tune the CT absorption band that extends to the NIR-II region. When using a diaminofluorene guest substituted with an oligoethylene glycol chain, the host–guest system realized both good biocompatibility and enhanced photothermal conversion at 1064 nm, and was then exploited as a high-efficiency NIR-II PTA for cancer cell and bacterial ablation. This work broadens the potential applications of host–guest cyclophane systems and provides a new access to bio-friendly NIR-II photoabsorbers with well-defined structures.     

Activation-induced layered structure in NiCoAl by atomic modulation for energy storage application

The surface activation of alloys favors their electrochemical interactions, ion diffusivity, and the rapid kinetics of ions and electrons, leading to the formation of self-supported layered double hydroxides (LDHs) in them. However, the formation of LDHs at different depths in the alloy upon activation, their electronic/atomic structures, and their electrochemical charge storage mechanism, have not been thoroughly explored. Herein, Ni ion-substituted CoAl alloys are prepared by arc melting and activated by KOH electrolyte, which is responsible for the modulation of the atomic configuration as confirmed by XRD. Raman depth mapping demonstrates how the LDHs vary with depth upon activation and that the octahedral and tetrahedral symmetry sites of CoO and Co₃O₄ are responsible for the formation of the layered structures of CoOOH and Co(OH)₂, respectively. The activated Ni₁₀Co₈₅Al₅ has a superior volumetric capacitance of 4.15 F/cm³ at 0.5 mA/g, which is 38.6 times that of an unactivated one, and excellent cyclic stability up to 5000 cycles, and a voltage of 0.54 V generated from a fabricated supercapacitor cell. X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) analysis indicates greater charge transfer by Co than by Ni and the modulation of the local atomic structures facilitates electrochemical charge storage in Ni₁₀Co₈₅Al₅. This work presents an easy route for the development of advanced LDHs, and the mechanism of electrochemical charge storage in them.     

Infection Microenvironment-Sensitive Photothermal Nanotherapeutic Platform to Inhibit Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can induce multiple inflammations. The biofilm formed by MRSA is resistant to a variety of antibiotics and is extremely difficult to cure, which seriously threatens human health. Herein, a nanoparticle encapsulating berberine with polypyrrole core and pH-sensitive shell to provide chemo-photothermal dual therapy for MRSA infection is reported. By integrating photothermal agent polypyrrole, berberine, acid-degradable crosslinker, and acid-induced charge reversal polymer, the nanoparticle exhibited highly efficient MRSA infection treatment. In normal uninfected areas and bloodstream, nanoparticles showed negatively charged, demonstrating high biocompatibility and excellent hemocompatibility. However, once arriving at the MRSA infection site, the nanoparticle can penetrate and accumulate in the biofilm within 2 h. Simultaneously, berberine can be released into biofilm rapidly. Under the combined effect of photothermal response and berberine inhibition, 88.7% of the biofilm is removed at 1000 µg mL⁻¹. Moreover, the nanoparticles have an excellent inhibitory effect on biofilm formation, the biofilm inhibition capacity can reach up to 90.3%. Taken together, this pH-tunable nanoparticle can be employed as a new generation treatment strategy to fight against the fast-growing MRSA infection.     

氮硫共掺杂TiO_2的光电荷分离效应及其光催化性能研究

以硫脲为掺杂剂,采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了氮硫共掺杂TiO2(N,S-TiO2)。用比表面孔隙仪(BET)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)、紫外-可见漫反射(UV-Vis DRS)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)对制备的光催化剂进行了表征,用表面光电压仪(SPS)和捕获剂研究了光催化剂的光生电荷分离效应。以甲基橙为模拟污染物,在模拟自然光照射下考察了样品的光催化性能。结果表明:硫脲/Ti的摩尔比为30%所制备氮硫共掺杂TiO2具有较高的光催化活性,光催化活性是纯TiO2的5倍。氮硫共掺杂使TiO2具有更高的比表面和光生电荷分离效应,从而有利于提高光催化活性。     

铁脂质体/水分配系数测定及影响因素考察

基于PAF-301分子模型通过Li 掺杂或B取代等模式设计了几种新型多孔芳香骨架(PAFs)材料, 采用量子力学和分子力学方法对新材料的储氢性能进行研究. 由量子力学计算得到了不同分子片段与H₂之间的结合能, 并结合DDEC方法计算了各分子片段的原子电荷分布. 利用巨正则蒙特卡洛(GCMC)模拟方法计算了77和298 K下H₂在不同PAFs材料中的吸附平衡性质. 结果表明, H₂直接与苯环的结合能较低, 但掺杂Li 原子能够提高H₂与六元环的结合能, 同时Li 原子体现出较高的正电性质, B原子取代苯环中的两个C原子后, 使得原有C原子电负性增强; 77 K下PAF-301Li 具有最高的储氢性能, 而PAF-C₄B₂H₄-Li₂-Si 和PAF-C₄B₂H₄-Li₂-Ge体现出较好的常温储氢性能, 各种材料的常温储氢性能远低于其低温储氢性能. 通过77 K下H₂在PAFs材料中的等位能面分布和吸附平衡质心密度分布对H₂在PAFs 材料中的优先吸附位置进行分析, 发现在PAF-301 和PAF-301Li 骨架中, 由于中心能量较低的等位能区域范围较宽, H₂在其中存在四个明显的吸附高密度分布区域, 而其它三种PAFs晶胞中心能量较低的等位能区域范围较窄, 使得H₂在其中只存在两个明显的吸附高密度分布区域.     

利用基于Gouy-Chapman模型的离子有效电荷定量表征离子特异性效应

离子特异性效应在固-液界面反应中是普遍存在的. 近期研究指出, 在较低电解质浓度的某些体系中, 离子特异性效应可能并非来源于色散力、经典诱导力、离子半径或水合半径的大小等, 而是界面附近强电场中的离子极化作用. 这种作用可使界面附近的吸附态反号离子被强烈极化(高达经典极化的10⁴倍). 强烈极化的结果将导致离子在界面附近受到的库仑力远远超过离子电荷所能产生的库仑力, 这体现在离子的有效电荷将远大于离子的实际电荷. 因此胶体体系中基于这种强极化的离子有效电荷可以用来定量表征离子特异性效应的强度. 本研究在蒙脱石-胡敏酸混合悬液凝聚过程中发现了Na⁺、K⁺、Ca²⁺、Cu²⁺四种离子的离子特异性效应, 提出了基于激光散射技术测定离子有效电荷的方法, 并成功获得了被强烈极化后的离子有效电荷数值. 实验测得的Na⁺、K⁺、Ca²⁺、Cu²⁺四种离子的有效电荷值分别为: Z_{Na(effective)}=1.46, Z_K(effective)=1.86, Z_{Ca(effective)}=3.92, Z_{Cu(effective)}=6.48.该结果表明: (1) 离子在强电场中的极化将大大提高离子的有效电荷, 从而极大地增强离子所受的库仑作用力;(2) 离子的电子层数越多, 离子极化越强烈, 离子的有效电荷增加越多.     

Structure and further fragmentation of significant [a3 + Na − H]+ ions from sodium‐cationized peptides

A good understanding of gas‐phase fragmentation chemistry of peptides is important for accurate protein identification. Additional product ions obtained by sodiated peptides can provide useful sequence information supplementary to protonated peptides and improve protein identification. In this work, we first demonstrate that the sodiated a₃ ions are abundant in the tandem mass spectra of sodium‐cationized peptides although observations of a₃ ions have rarely been reported in protonated peptides. Quantum chemical calculations combined with tandem mass spectrometry are used to investigate this phenomenon by using a model tetrapeptide GGAG. Our results reveal that the most stable [a₃ + Na ? H]⁺ ion is present as a bidentate linear structure in which the sodium cation coordinates to the two backbone carbonyl oxygen atoms. Due to structural inflexibility, further fragmentation of the [a₃ + Na ? H]⁺ ion needs to overcome several relatively high energetic barriers to form [b₂ + Na ? H]⁺ ion with a diketopiperazine structure. As a result, low abundance of [b₂ + Na ? H]⁺ ion is detected at relatively high collision energy. In addition, our computational data also indicate that the common oxazolone pathway to generate [b₂ + Na ? H]⁺ from the [a₃ + Na ? H]⁺ ion is unlikely. The present work provides a mechanistic insight into how a sodium ion affects the fragmentation behaviors of peptides. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Probing Bis‐FeIV MauG: Experimental Evidence for the Long‐Range Charge‐Resonance Model

The biosynthesis of tryptophan tryptophylquinone, a protein‐derived cofactor, involves a long‐range reaction mediated by a bis‐Fe^IV intermediate of a diheme enzyme, MauG. Recently, a unique charge‐resonance (CR) phenomenon was discovered in this intermediate, and a biological, long‐distance CR model was proposed. This model suggests that the chemical nature of the bis‐Fe^IV species is not as simple as it appears; rather, it is composed of a collection of resonance structures in a dynamic equilibrium. Here, we experimentally evaluated the proposed CR model by introducing small molecules to, and measuring the temperature dependence of, bis‐Fe^IV MauG. Spectroscopic evidence was presented to demonstrate that the selected compounds increase the decay rate of the bis‐Fe^IV species by disrupting the equilibrium of the resonance structures that constitutes the proposed CR model. The results support this new CR model and bring a fresh concept to the classical CR theory.