Acridone-Based Host Materials for Green Phosphorescent and Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescent OLEDs with Low-Efficiency Roll-Offs

By linking the carbazole unit to the nitrogen atom of acridone through phenyl or pyridyl, two compounds, named 10-(4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)acridin-9(10H)-one (AC-Ph-Cz) and 10-(5-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)pyridin-2-yl)acridin-9(10H)-one (AC-Py-Cz) were designed and synthesized. These two materials, characterized with highly twisted and rigid structure, good thermal stability, and balanced carrier-transporting properties, were employed as host materials for green phosphorescent and thermally activated delayed fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The carbazole group, despite its small contribution to the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) of these two materials, plays an essential role as an intramolecular host in energy delivering and improving the hole transporting ability of these two hosts. The incorporation of the electron-deficient pyridyl group as a linking group slightly improves the electron transporting capability of AC-Py-Cz. The green phosphorescent OLED (PhOLED) based on AC-Py-Cz exhibited excellent device performance with a turn-on voltage of 2.5 V, a maximum power efficiency and an external quantum efficiency (η_ext) of 89.8 lm W⁻¹ and 25.2 %, respectively, benefitting from the better charge-balancing ability of AC-Py-Cz host due to the presence of the pyridyl bridge. More importantly, all the devices based on these two hosts showed low efficiency roll-off at high brightness due to the suppressed non-radiative transition in the emitting layer. In particular, the AC-Py-Cz-hosted green PhOLED exhibited an efficiency roll-off of 1.6 % from the maximum next at a high brightness of 1000 cd m⁻² and a roll-off of 15.9 % at an extremely high brightness of 10000 cd m⁻². This study manifests that acridone-based host materials have great potential in fabricating OLEDs with low efficiency roll-off.     

Lewis酸催化纤维素制乳酸机理研究

Because fossil fuels are continuously depleted, valorization of biomass into valuable liquid products and chemicals is of great significance yet it remains challenging. Among many biomass-derived products, lactic acid is one of the most important renewable monomers for preparing the degradable polymer polylactic acid. The use of raw biomass to produce lactic acid through catalytic conversion is an attractive approach. In this work, the catalytic reaction performance and mechanism of different Lewis acids (Y³⁺, Sc³⁺, and Al³⁺) for the production of lactic acid from cellulose were investigated in detail by isotopic nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry. The production of lactic acid from cellulose includes tandem and competing reactions. The order of catalytic activity for the one-pot conversion of cellulose into lactic acid is as follows: Y³⁺ > Al³⁺ > Sc³⁺. The main tandem reactions involve the hydrolysis of cellulose into glucose, the isomerization of glucose into fructose (the order of catalytic activity, the same below: Y³⁺ > Al³⁺, Y³⁺ > Sc³⁺), the cleavage of fructose via a retro-aldol reaction to glyceraldehyde (GLY) and 1, 3-dihydroxyacetone (DHA) (Sc³⁺ > Y³⁺ > Al³⁺), and the conversion of DHA or GLY to the final product lactic acid (Al³⁺ > Y³⁺ > Sc³⁺). It was found that the process of glucose isomerization to fructose was the key step to the final selectivity of the tandem reaction of cellulose conversion to lactic acid, and it was clarified that the production of lactic acid from DHA underwent a keto-enol (K-E) tautomerization process rather than a classical 1, 2-shift process. First, DHA was transformed into GLY via the isomerization process, then the adjacent hydroxyl group of GLY was removed in the form of water to produce an α, β-unsaturated species. After that, the α, β-unsaturated species underwent K-E tautomerization to generate unsaturated aldehyde-ketone intermediates. Meanwhile, a molecule of water was added to aldehyde-ketone intermediates to obtain a diol product, the hydrogen atom at the methine position was transferred and the lactic acid was finally obtained through the K-E tautomerization process. The in-depth understanding of the reaction mechanism presented in this work will help to design more selective catalysts for cellulose conversion into value-added oxygen-containing small molecule chemicals.      

人参属中药腐解化感作用研究进展

人参、西洋参和三七为人参属近缘物种,形态和化学成分相似,均具有连作障碍的特性。人参属中药连作后,土壤环境逐渐变得不适宜其生长,植株长势变弱易患病,导致生长发育受到抑制,出现严重的根腐病、须根脱落,甚至植株死亡现象。而造成人参属连作障碍的主要原因之一是化感物质的自毒作用,人参残体降解物作为人参化感物质主要来源之一,会导致种子发芽率下降,种苗死亡率升高、根腐病等病害加重,最终造成连作障碍。在人参属中药连作过程中,通过化感物质与土壤交流,也会直接或间接影响土壤理化性质的变化。对人参属中药腐解化感作用的研究进展以及腐解对土壤成分的影响进行综述,以期为人参属中药腐解化感作用及土壤利用的相关研究提供借鉴。     

Z型CdIn2S4/ZnSnO3异质结的构筑及其光催化产氢性能

通过高温煅烧ZnSn(OH)₆前驱体制备了双壳中空立方体结构的ZnSnO₃(ZSO),进而采用水热法将CdIn₂S₄(CIS)纳米晶包裹在ZSO表面,成功制备了CdIn₂S₄/ZnSnO₃(CIS/ZSO)异质催化剂。活性产氢实验结果表明,CIS、ZSO物质的量之比为12%时制备的12% CIS/ZSO具有优异的光催化产氢性能,在3 h内产氢量为1 676.48 μmol·g^-1,分别是ZSO和CIS的12倍和8倍。ZSO光催化析氢反应活性的增强归因于CIS/ZSO异质结构的成功构建,异质界面的形成显著提高了光生电子/空穴对的分离效率,降低了其复合率。通过对电荷转移路径的分析,提出了可能的反应机理。     

Enhanced Four-Electron Oxygen Reduction Selectivity of Clamp-Shaped Cobalt(II) Porphyrin(2.1.2.1) Complexes

The molecular structure, electrochemistry, spectroelectrochemistry and electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) features of two Co^II porphyrin(2.1.2.1) complexes bearing Ph or F₅Ph groups at the two meso-positions of the macrocycle are examined. Single crystal X-ray analysis reveal a highly bent, nonplanar macrocyclic conformation of the complex resulting in clamp-shaped molecular structures. Cyclic voltammetry paired with UV/Vis spectroelectrochemistry in PhCN/0.1 M TBAP suggest that the first electron addition corresponds to a macrocyclic-centered reduction while spectral changes observed during the first oxidation are consistent with a metal-centered Co^II/Co^III process. The activity of the clamp-shaped complexes towards heterogeneous ORR in 0.1 M KOH show selectivity towards the 4e⁻ ORR pathway giving H₂O. DFT first-principle calculations on the porphyrin catalyst indicates a lower overpotential for 4e⁻ ORR as compared to the 2e⁻ pathway, consistent with experimental data.     

A Petrochemical-Free Route to Superelastic Hierarchical Cellulose Aerogel

Cellulose aerogels are plagued by intermolecular hydrogen bond-induced structural plasticity, otherwise rely on chemicals modification to extend service life. Here, we demonstrate a petrochemical-free strategy to fabricate superelastic cellulose aerogels by designing hierarchical structures at multi scales. Oriented channels consolidate the whole architecture. Porous walls of dehydrated cellulose derived from thermal etching not only exhibit decreased rigidity and stickiness, but also guide the microscopic deformation and mitigate localized large strain, preventing structural collapse. The aerogels show exceptional stability, including temperature-invariant elasticity, fatigue resistance (∼5 % plastic deformation after 10⁵ cycles), high angular recovery speed (1475.4° s⁻¹), outperforming most cellulose-based aerogels. This benign strategy retains the biosafety of biomass and provides an alternative filter material for health-related applications, such as face masks and air purification.     

Precise Epitope Organization with Self-adjuvant Framework Nucleic Acid for Efficient COVID-19 Peptide Vaccine Construction

Peptide vaccines have advantages in easy fabrication and high safety, but their effectiveness is hampered by the poor immunogenicity of the epitopes themselves. Herein, we constructed a series of framework nucleic acids (FNAs) with regulated rigidity and size to precisely organize epitopes in order to reveal the influence of epitope spacing and carrier rigidity on the efficiency of peptide vaccines. We found that assembling epitopes on rigid tetrahedral FNAs (tFNAs) with the appropriate size could efficiently enhance their immunogenicity. Further, by integrating epitopes from SARS-CoV-2 on preferred tFNAs, we constructed a COVID-19 peptide vaccine which could induce high titers of IgG against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and increase the ratio of memory B and T cells in mice. Considering the good biocompatibility of tFNAs, our research provides a new idea for developing efficient peptide vaccines against viruses and possibly other diseases.     

Tetrabutylammonium Halides as Selectively Bifunctional Catalysts Enabling the Syntheses of Recyclable High Molecular Weight Salicylic Acid-Based Copolyesters

To synthesize high molecular weight poly(phenolic ester) via a living ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic phenolic ester monomers remains a critical challenge due to serious transesterification and back-biting reactions. Both phenolic ester bonds in monomer and polymer chains are highly active, and it is difficult so far to distinguish them. In this work, an unprecedented selectively bifunctional catalytic system of tetra-n-butylammonium chloride (TBACl) was discovered to mediate the syntheses of high molecular weight salicylic acid-based copolyesters via a living ROP of salicylate cyclic esters (for poly(salicylic methyl glycolide) (PSMG), M_n=361.8 kg/mol, Ð<1.30). Compared to previous catalysis systems, the side reactions were suppressed remarkably in this catalysis system because phenolic ester bond in monomer can be selectively cleaved over that in polymer chains during ROP progress. Mechanistic studies reveal that the halide anion and alkyl-quaternaryammonium cation work synergistically, where the alkyl-quaternaryammonium cation moiety interacts with the carbonyl group of substrates via non-classical hydrogen bonding. Moreover, these salicylic acid-based copolyesters can be recycled to dimeric monomer under solution condition, and can be recycled to original monomeric monomers without catalyst under sublimation condition.     

Palladium-Catalyzed Branch- and Z-Selective Allylic C−H Amination with Aromatic Amines

Allylamines are important building blocks in the synthesis of bioactive compounds. The direct coupling of allylic C−H bonds and commonly available amines is a major synthetic challenge. An allylic C−H amination of 1,4-dienes has been accomplished by palladium catalysis. With aromatic amines, branch-selective allylic aminations are favored to generate thermodynamically unstable Z-allylamines. In addition, more basic aliphatic cyclic amines can also engage in the reaction, but linear dienyl allylic amines are the major products.