Aptamer-based electrochemical assay of 17β-estradiol using a glassy carbon electrode modified with copper sulfide nanosheets and gold nanoparticles,and applying enzyme-based signal amplification

Microchimica Acta - We have developed an electrochemical method for the determination of 17β-estradiol. A glassy carbon electrode was modified with a composite made from copper sulfide...     

Experimental and computational studies of naphthyridine derivatives as corrosion inhibitor for N80 steel in 15% hydrochloric acid

The inhibition effect of three naphthyridine derivatives namely 2-amino-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carbonitrile (ANC-1), 2-amino-4-(4-methylphenyl)-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carbonitrile (ANC-2) and 2-amino-4-(3-nitrophenyl)-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carbonitrile (ANC-3) as corrosion inhibitors for N80 steel in 15% HCl by using gravimetric, electrochemical techniques (EIS and potentiodynamic polarization), SEM, EDX and quantum chemical calculation. The order of inhibition efficiency is ANC-1>ANC-2>ANC-3. Potentiodynamic polarization reveals that these inhibitors are mixed type with predominant cathodic control. Studied inhibitors obey the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The quantum calculation is in good agreement with experimental results.     

Selective Catalytic Isomerization of β-Pinene Oxide to Perillyl Alcohol Enhanced by Protic Tetraimidazolium Nitrate

A series of tetraimidazolium salts with different anions was prepared and applied in the isomerization of β-pinene oxide. After examining the activity of different catalysts, a remarkable enhancement of the selectivity of perillyl alcohol (47 %) was obtained over [PEimi][HNO₃]₄ under mild reaction conditions and using DMSO as the solvent. Furthermore, noncovalent interactions between solvent molecules and the catalyst were found by FT-IR spectroscopy and confirmed by computational chemistry. The homogeneous catalyst showed excellent stability and was reused up to six times without significant loss.     

CRISPR-Cas12a System for Biosensing and Gene Regulation

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is a promising technology in the biological world. As one of the CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins, Cas12a is an RNA-guided nuclease in the type V CRISPR-Cas system, which has been a robust tool for gene editing. In addition, due to the discovery of target-binding-induced indiscriminate single-stranded DNase activity of Cas12a, CRISPR-Cas12a also exhibits great promise in biosensing. This minireview not only gives a brief introduction to the mechanism of CRISPR-Cas12a but also highlights the recent developments and applications in biosensing and gene regulation. Finally, future prospects of the CRISPR-Cas12a system are also discussed. We expect this minireview will inspire innovative work on the CRISPR-Cas12a system by making full use of its features and advantages.     

A Photoluminescent Ag10Cu6 Cluster Stablized by a PNNP Ligand and Phenylacetylides Selectively and Reversibly Senses Ammonia in Air and Water

A photoluminescent bimetallic cluster [Ag₁₀Cu₆(bdppthi)₂(C≡CPh)₁₂(MeOH)₂(H₂O)](ClO₄)₄ ( 1 , bdppthi=N,N’-bis(diphenylphosphanylmethyl)-tetrahydroimidazole} was synthesized from the PNNP type ligand bdppthi generated in-situ. Upon excitation at 365 nm, 1 exhibited strong phosphorescent emission at 630 nm, which was selectively quenched by NH₃ in air or water. The sensing of NH₃ was rapid and recoverable, with detection limits of 53 ppm (v/v) in N₂ and 21 μmol/L (0.36 ppm, w/w) for NH₃ ⋅ H₂O in water. Cluster 1 could potentially serve as a bifunctional chemical sensor for the efficient detection of ammonia in waste-gas and waste-water.     

Two novel Co (II)-coordination polymers as bifunctional materials for efficient photocatalytic degradation of dyes and electrocatalytic water oxidation

Two novel Co (II)- coordination polymers (CPs) based on 2,5-bis(4-carboxylpheny)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (bcpo), namely [Co/(bcpo)_0.5(tib)(H₂O)₂]_n (1) and [Co (bcpo)_0.5(bidpe)(H₂O)₂]_n (2) (tib = 1,3,5-tirs(1-imidazolyl)benzene, bidpe = 4,4′-bis (imidazolyl)diphenyl ether) have been synthesized under solvothermal conditions and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), single crystal X-ray diffraction, photochemistry as well as electrochemistry. The investigation of the photo-degradation methyl blue and methyl violet (MB, MV) properties of CPs 1–2 demonstrates that CP 1 shows great performance for the degradation of MB, and CP 2 could efficiently degrade MB/MV. Meanwhile, the possible photo-degradation mechanism has been proposed and explored. Simultaneously, electrochemistry studies show that both CPs 1 and 2 can catalyze water oxidation under an alkaline condition at the potential around 1.20 V vs. NHE with relatively low overpotential of 330–510 mV vs. NHE.