An Endoplasmic Reticulum Targeting Type I Photosensitizer for Effective Photodynamic Therapy against Hypoxic Tumor Cells

Organelle-targeted type I photodynamic therapy (PDT) shows great potential to overcome the hypoxic microenvironment in solid tumors. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an indispensable organelle in cells with important biological functions. When the ER is damaged due to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the accumulation of misfolded proteins will interfere with ER homeostasis, resulting in ER stress. Here, an ER-targeted benzophenothiazine-based photosensitizer NBS-ER was presented. ER targeting modification significantly reduced the dark toxicity and improved phototoxicity index (PI). NBS-ER could effectively produce O₂⁻⋅ with near-infrared irradiation, making its phototoxicity under hypoxia close to that under normoxia. Meanwhile, the photoinduced ROS triggered ER stress and induced apoptosis. In addition, NBS-ER possessed excellent photodynamic therapeutic effect in 4T1-tumor-bearing mice.     

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.     

Acidity Modification of ZSM-5 for Methane Conversion in Co-feeding Method with MTA Reaction

Acidity plays a vital role in methane conversion by co-feeding method, which is one of the best strategies to improve the utilization and gentle the reaction conditions of methane. In this work, Zn, Ni, Mo, La, Ga, Fe and Co-impregnated ZSM-5 zeolites have been prepared with the same substitutions to variate the acidities and tested in co-aromatization of methanol with methane. It is demonstrated that the new medium-strong acid sites formed by metal and strong acid sites are the key role to activate methane in co-reaction. Zn-modified ZSM-5 catalyst is preferred to exhibit the best methane conversion of 12%, whose aromatic selectivity increases from 27.2% to 52.2% compared with that of HZSM-5. Besides, the addition of methane further improves the production of high-valued aromatics compared with methanol to aromatics (MTA) reaction.     

Calculation of the anharmonic effect on the main reactions referring to ethylbenzene combustion mechanism

About 11 reactions related to ethylbenzene are studied in this paper using transition state theory. The YL method proposed by Yao and Lin is utilized to calculate the anharmonic and the harmonic rate constants in these reaction processes in the temperature range of 300–4,000 K, energy diagram and the temperature dependence of the rate coefficients are also presented. The calculations indicate that the harmonic rate constants are larger than the anharmonic rate constants in most cases. Especially, there is a temperature junction between the high and low relationship between the anharmonic and harmonic rate constants in several reactions. Furthermore, the calculated values are in good agreement with other theoretical ones within the allowable error. Finally, the kinetic parameters and the thermodynamic parameters are calculated. To sum up, it can be concluded that the anharmonic effect in these reactions is very significant and cannot be ignored.     

Fine Pore-Structure Engineering by Ligand Conformational Control of Naphthalene Diimide-Based Semiconducting Porous Coordination Polymers for Efficient Chemiresistive Gas Sensing

Exploring new porous coordination polymers (PCPs) that have tunable structure and conductivity is attractive but remains challenging. Herein, fine pore structure engineering by ligand conformation control of naphthalene diimide (NDI)-based semiconducting PCPs with π stacking-dependent conductivity tunability is achieved. The π stacking distances and ligand conformation in these isoreticular PCPs were modulated by employing metal centers with different coordination geometries. As a result, three conjugated PCPs (Co−pyNDI, Ni−pyNDI, and Zn−pyNDI) with varying pore structure and conductivity were obtained. Their crystal structures were determined by three-dimensional electron diffraction. The through-space charge transfer and tunable pore structure in these PCPs result in modulated selectivity and sensitivity in gas sensing. Zn−pyNDI can serve as a room-temperature operable chemiresistive sensor selective to acetone.     

High Power- and Energy-Density Supercapacitors through the Chlorine Respiration Mechanism

Supercapacitor represents an important electrical energy storage technology with high-power performance and superior cyclability. However, currently commercialized supercapacitors still suffer limited energy densities. Here we report an unprecedentedly respiring supercapacitor with chlorine gas iteratively re-inspires in porous carbon materials, that improves the energy density by orders of magnitude. Both electrochemical results and theoretical calculations show that porous carbon with pore size around 3 nm delivers the best chlorine evolution and adsorption performance. The respiring supercapacitor with multi-wall carbon nanotube as the cathode and NaTi₂(PO₄)₃ as the anode can store specific energy of 33 Wh kg⁻¹ with negligible capacity loss over 30 000 cycles. The energy density can be further improved to 53 Wh kg⁻¹ by replacing NaTi₂(PO₄)₃ with zinc anode. Furthermore, thanks to the extraordinary reaction kinetics of chlorine gas, this respiring supercapacitor performs an extremely high-power density of 50 000 W kg⁻¹.     

CoMn@NC催化5-羟甲基糠醛常压氧化为2, 5-呋喃二甲酸二甲酯

Dimethyl furan-2, 5-dicarboxylate (DMFDCA) is a valuable biomass-derived chemical that is an ideal alternative to fossil-derived terephthalic acid as a monomer for polymers. The one-step oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to DMFDCA is of practical significance. It not only shortens the reaction pathway but also avoids the separation process of intermediates; thus, reducing cost. In this work, non-noble bimetallic catalysts supported on N-doped porous carbon (CoMn@NC) were synthesized via a one-step co-pyrolysis procedure using different pyrolysis temperatures and proportions of metal precursors and additives. We employed the prepared CoMn@NC catalysts in the aerobic oxidation of HMF under mild reaction conditions to obtain DMFDCA. High-yield DMFDCA was obtained by screening the prepared catalysts and optimizing the reaction conditions, including the strength and amount of the base, as well as the reaction temperature. The optimized yield of DMFDCA was 85% over the Co₃Mn₂@NC-800 catalyst after 12 h at 50 ℃ using ambient-pressure oxygen. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were determined using a variety of characterization techniques, the factors affecting the performance of each catalyst were investigated, and the relationship between the physicochemical properties and performance of the prepared catalysts was elucidated. A porous structure with a high surface area had a positive effect on mass transfer efficiency. Cobalt nanoparticles (NPs) and atomically dispersed Mn were coordinated to N-doped carbon to form M―N_x (where M = Co or Mn). Based on the Mott-Schottky effect, there was significant electron transfer between each metal and the N-doped carbon, additionally, the metal NPs supplied electrons to the carbon atoms. The electron-deficient metal site in the pyridinic N-rich carbon was beneficial for the activation of HMF and oxygen. The activation of oxygen produced reactive oxygen species (such as superoxide radical anions) to ensure high selectivity to DMFDCA through dehydrogenative oxidation of the hemiacetal intermediate and hydroxymethyl group of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-methyl-furoate. The existence of disordered and defective carbons increased the number of active sites. Subsequently, we performed a series of control experiments. Based on our current experimental results and previous studies, we propose a simple mechanism for the aerobic oxidation of HMF to DMFDCA. The catalyst was stable, its performance decreased slightly after two cycles, and it was tolerant to SCN⁻ ions and resistant against N or S poisoning. Furthermore, the use of this catalytic system can be expanded to various substituted aromatic alcohols, such as benzyl alcohols with different substituents, furfuryl alcohol, and heterocyclic alcohols. Simultaneously, the product type was further extended from methyl esters to ethyl esters with a high yield when the substrate reacted with ethanol. In conclusion, this catalytic system can be applied in the production of carboxylic esters for polymers.     

新型手性硫醚-亚磷酰胺配体的设计与应用

根据模块组合法原理,设计并合成了一种具有亚磷酰胺结构的硫醚配体,该配体具有原料便宜易得、合成步骤简单、易于修饰和结构稳定等特点。以配体/钯络合物催化的丙二酸二甲酯与1,3-二苯基烯丙基醋酸酯的烯丙基化反应作为模板反应,探究了溶剂、碱对其立体控制的影响。随后探究了中心手性与轴手性的匹配/错配现象以及硫醚片段的空间位阻、电性对反应立体控制的作用。在最佳条件下,产物的对映选择性能够达到-76% ee。     

Designing Solid Electrolyte Interfaces towards Homogeneous Na Deposition: Theoretical Guidelines for Electrolyte Additives and Superior High-Rate Cycling Stability

Metallic Na is a promising metal anode for large-scale energy storage. Nevertheless, unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and uncontrollable Na dendrite growth lead to disastrous short circuit and poor cycle life. Through phase field and ab initio molecular dynamics simulation, we first predict that the sodium bromide (NaBr) with the lowest Na ion diffusion energy barrier among sodium halogen compounds (NaX, X=F, Cl, Br, I) is the ideal SEI composition to induce the spherical Na deposition for suppressing dendrite growth. Then, 1,2-dibromobenzene (1,2-DBB) additive is introduced into the common fluoroethylene carbonate-based carbonate electrolyte (the corresponding SEI has high mechanical stability) to construct a desirable NaBr-rich stable SEI layer. When the Na||Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ cell utilizes the electrolyte with 1,2-DBB additive, an extraordinary capacity retention of 94 % is achieved after 2000 cycles at a high rate of 10 C. This study provides a design philosophy for dendrite-free Na metal anode and can be expanded to other metal anodes.