Comparison of the stability of thymine tautomers and the interaction of its tautomers with Na+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ in gas and solvent phases

The present study compared the interactions among Na ⁺, K ⁺, Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺, thymine and its tautomers in the gas and solvent phase, an interaction dependent upon the electronic construction of the tautomers. Three types of cation interaction with thymine and its tautomers were observed. In the first one, the metal cations interacted with a lone pair of nitrogen or oxygen of the tautomers. In the second type, there was an interaction among the cations, nitrogen and oxygen at the same time; the last one was that of cations with the electron density of thymine π-system, where the cations were perpendicular to the ring of thymine. The interaction of metals cation with tautomers was studied in the gas and solvent phases; a comparison was then made between interactions in two phases. The interaction energy for all complexes indicated the stability of complexes, an energy which was higher in Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ compared with Na⁺ and K⁺. Concerning K⁺ and Na⁺, the stability of all complexes of tautomers was greater than that of thymine complexes; however, the stability of certain Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ complexes was lower than the complexes of thymine.     

An electrochemical sensor based on Pt nanoparticles decorated over-oxidized polypyrrole/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite for simultaneous determination of two neurotransmitters dopamine and 5-Hydroxy tryptamine in the presence of ascorbic acid

Abstract

In this study, the Pt nanoparticles/over-oxidized polypyrrole nanofiber/reduced graphene oxide (Pt NPs/OPPy/RGO) nanocomposite was electrochemically synthesized and used to modify a glassy carbon electrode. To confirm the Surface morphology and characterization of the nanocomposite, field emission scanning microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, FT-IR, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used. Simultaneous determination of these species showed one linear response 0.1–250.0?μM and two linear responses 0.5–10.0?μM and 10.0–470.0?μM, with detection limits 42?nM and 106?nM (S/N?=?3) for DA and 5-HT, respectively. Finally, the analytical application of this modified electrode was investigated in the human blood plasma.     

Double-Shelled C@MoS2 Structures Preloaded with Sulfur: An Additive Reservoir for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes

The growth of Li dendrites hinders the practical application of lithium metal anodes (LMAs). In this work, a hollow nanostructure, based on hierarchical MoS₂ coated hollow carbon particles preloaded with sulfur (C@MoS₂/S), was designed to modify the LMA. The C@MoS₂ hollow nanostructures serve as a good scaffold for repeated Li plating/stripping. More importantly, the encapsulated sulfur could gradually release lithium polysulfides during the Li plating/stripping, acting as an effective additive to promote the formation of a mosaic solid electrolyte interphase layer embedded with crystalline hybrid lithium-based components. These two factors together effectively suppress the growth of Li dendrites. The as-modified LMA shows a high Coulombic efficiency of 98 % over 500 cycles at the current density of 1 mA cm⁻². When matched with a LiFePO₄ cathode, the assembled full cell displays a highly improved cycle life of 300 cycles, implying the feasibility of the proposed LMA.     

Catalytically Active Hollow Fiber Membranes with Enzyme-Embedded Metal–Organic Framework Coating

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are suitable enzyme immobilization matrices. Reported here is the in situ biomineralization of glucose oxidase (GOD) into MOF crystals (ZIF-8) by interfacial crystallization. This method is effective for the selective coating of porous polyethersulfone microfiltration hollow fibers on the shell side in a straightforward one-step process. MOF layers with a thickness of 8 μm were synthesized, and fluorescence microscopy and a colorimetric protein assay revealed the successful inclusion of GOD into the ZIF-8 layer with an enzyme concentration of 29±3 μg cm⁻². Enzymatic activity tests revealed that 50 % of the enzyme activity is preserved. Continuous enzymatic reactions, by the permeation of β-d -glucose through the GOD@ZIF-8 membranes, showed a 50 % increased activity compared to batch experiments, emphasizing the importance of the convective transport of educts and products to and from the enzymatic active centers.     

Fabricating Dual-Atom Iron Catalysts for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction: A Heteroatom Modulator Approach

Understanding the thermal aggregation behavior of metal atoms is important for the synthesis of supported metal clusters. Here, derived from a metal–organic framework encapsulating a trinuclear Fe^III₂Fe^II complex (denoted as Fe₃) within the channels, a well-defined nitrogen-doped carbon layer is fabricated as an ideal support for stabilizing the generated iron nanoclusters. Atomic replacement of Fe^II by other metal(II) ions (e.g., Zn^II/Co^II) via synthesizing isostructural trinuclear-complex precursors (Fe₂Zn/Fe₂Co), namely the “heteroatom modulator approach”, is inhibiting the aggregation of Fe atoms toward nanoclusters with formation of a stable iron dimer in an optimal metal–nitrogen moiety, clearly identified by direct transmission electron microscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. The supported iron dimer, serving as cooperative metal–metal site, acts as efficient oxygen evolution catalyst. Our findings offer an atomic insight to guide the future design of ultrasmall metal clusters bearing outstanding catalytic capabilities.     

Highly Specific,Single-step Cancer Cell Isolation with Multi-Aptamer-Mediated Proximity Ligation on Live Cell Membranes

A single-step method for isolation of specific cells based on multiple surface markers will have unique advantages because of its scalability, efficacy, and mildness. Herein, we developed multi-aptamer-mediated proximity ligation method on live cell membranes that leverages a multi-receptor co-recognition design for enhanced specificity, as well as a robust in situ signal amplification design for improved sensitivity of cell isolation. We demonstrated the promising efficacy of our method on differentiating tumor cell subtypes in both cell mixtures and clinical samples. Owing to its simple and fast operation with excellent cell isolation sensitivity and accuracy, this approach will have broad applications in biological science, biomedical engineering, and personalized medicine.     

Synthesis and characterization of VO–vanillin complex immobilized on MCM-41 and its facile catalytic application in the sulfoxidation reaction,and synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones and disulfides in green media

In this work, a vanillin complex is immobilized onto MCM-41 and characterized by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and BET techniques. This supported Schiff base complex was found to be an efficient and recoverable catalyst for the chemoselective oxidation of sulfides into sulfoxides and thiols into their corresponding disulfides (using hydrogen peroxide as a green oxidant) and also a suitable catalyst for the preparation of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives in water at 90°C. Using this protocol, we show that a variety of disulfides, sulfoxides, and 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives can be synthesized in green conditions. The catalyst can be recovered and recycled for further reactions without appreciable loss of catalytic performance.     

Theoretical studies on the influence of metallic cations on ring opening of propylene oxide catalyzed by metal-salen complexes

We studied the ring opening of propylene oxide (PO) by salen-M coordinated OH⁻ group [M = Al(III), Sc(III), Cr(III), Mn(III), Fe(III), Co(II), Co(III), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Ru(III) and Rh(III)]. The results show that the ring-opening energy barriers for M(II) complexes are much lower than those with M(III) complexes in the gas phase, and the barriers correlate linearly with the negative charges on the OH⁻ group and the Fukui function condensed on the OH⁻ group. The nucleophilicity ordering in the gas phase can be rationalized by the ratio of formal positive charges/radius of M cations. Solvent effect greatly increases the barriers of M(II) complexes but slightly changes the results of M(III) ones, making the barriers similar. Analysis indicates that the reaction heats are linearly proportional to the reverse reaction barriers. The relationships established here can be used to estimate the ring-opening barriers and to screen epoxide ring-opening catalysts.     

La掺杂和空位对ZnS磁性和光学性能影响的第一性原理研究

利用密度泛函理论框架下的平面波超软赝势法,通过第一性原理对La掺杂与Zn空位(V_(Zn))及La掺杂与S空位(V_S)共存的ZnS体系的电子结构、磁性机理、形成能及吸收光谱进行了研究.结果表明, La掺杂与空位(V_(Zn)或V_S)的空间位置最近时,掺杂体系的形成能最低,体系最稳定.另外,La掺杂与Zn空位共存时,体系具有磁性,且体系的净磁矩与La原子与Zn空位的相对位置有关;La掺杂与S空位共存时,掺杂体系无磁性,但此时体系的禁带宽度最窄且吸收光谱红移最显著.