Organometallic titanocene complex as highly efficient bifunctional catalyst for intramolecular Mannich reaction

Bifunctional catalysts bearing two catalytic sites, Lewis acidic organometallic titanocene and Brønsted acidic COOH, have been assembled in situ from Cp₂TiCl₂ with carboxylic acid ligands, showing high catalytic activity over an intramolecular Mannich reaction towards synthesis of 2‐aryl‐2,3‐dihydroquinolin‐4(1H)‐ones. The determination of the bifunctional catalyst Cp₂Ti(C₈H₄NO₆)₂ was elucidated by single X‐ray HR‐MS and investigation of catalytic behavior. In particular, masking the Brønsted acidic COOH catalytic site with dormant COOMe lowered the reaction yield greatly, indicating that two catalytic sites work together to maintain high catalytic efficiency.     

Triple Frustrated Lewis Pair-Type Reactivity on a Single Rare-Earth Metal Center

Rare-earth metal cations have been used rarely as Lewis-acidic components in the chemistry of frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs). Herein, we report the first cerium/phosphorus system ( 2 ) employing a heptadentate N₄P₃ ligand, which exhibits triple FLP-type reactivity towards a series of organic substrates, including isocyanates, isothiocyanates, diazomethane, and azides on a single rare-earth Lewis acidic Ce center. This result shows that the Ce center and three P atoms in 2 could simultaneously activate three equivalents of small molecules under mild conditions. This study broadens the diversity of FLPs and demonstrates that rare earth based FLP exhibit unique properties compared with other FLP systems.     

A simple,rapid and reliable liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method for determination of methotrexate in human plasma and its application to therapeutic drug monitoring

A simple, rapid and reliable liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method was established and validated for the determination of methotrexate in human plasma. After a straightforward protein precipitation by acetonitrile–water (70:30, v/v), methotrexate (MTX) and p‐aminoacetophenone (used as internal standard, IS) were separated on a Column C₁₈ column (50 × 2.1 mm, 3 µm; Column Technology, Fremont, CA, USA) using a gradient elution with mobile phase of acetonitrile and 0.03% acetic acid aqueous solution at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The total chromatographic runtime was 5 min for each injection. Quantification detection was performed in a triple‐quadruple tandem mass spectrometer under positive mode monitoring the following mass transitions: m/z 455.3 → 308.3 for MTX and m/z 136.1 → 94.4 for IS. The calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.05–25.0 µmol/L with a lower limit of quantification of 0.05 µmol/L. The intra‐ and interday precisions were <5.2%, the accuracy varied from ?4.1 to 4.5%. The recovery was >94%. The LC‐MS/MS method showed an excellent agreement with the existing HPLC‐UV method using Passing–Bablok regression and Bland–Altman difference plot analysis. The validated LC‐MS/MS can be successfully applied to the routine therapeutic drug monitoring of MTX in clinical laboratories. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Self-repairing” nanoshell for cell protection

Self-repair is nature''s way of protecting living organisms. However, most single cells are inherently less capable of self-repairing, which greatly limits their wide applications. Here, we present a self-assembly approach to create a nanoshell around the cell surface using nanoporous biohybrid aggregates. The biohybrid shells present self-repairing behaviour, resulting in high activity and extended viability of the encapsulated cells (eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells) in harsh micro-environments, such as under UV radiation, natural toxin invasion, high-light radiation and abrupt pH-value changes. Furthermore, an interaction mechanism is proposed and studied, which is successful to guide design and synthesis of self-repairing biohybrid shells using different bioactive molecules.     

In Situ Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(aryleneethynylene)‐Grafted Reduced Graphene Oxide

Using highly soluble bromo‐functionalized reduced graphene oxide (RGBr) as a key graphene template for surface‐directing Sonogashira–Hagihara polymerization, a novel soluble poly(arylene‐ethynylene)‐grafted reduced graphene oxide, hereafter abbreviated as PAE‐g‐RGO, was prepared in situ. The entirely different electron distribution of LUMO and HOMO of PAE‐g‐RGO suggested the existence of a charge‐transfer (CT) state (PAE^.?–RGO^.+). The negative ΔG_CS value (?2.57 eV) indicates that the occurrence of the charge separation via ¹RGO* in o‐DCB is exothermic and favorable. Upon irradiation with 365 nm light, the light‐induced electron paramagnetic resonance (LEPR) spectrum of PAE‐g‐RGO showed a decrease in the spin‐state density owing to photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer events in this system. A sandwich‐type Al/PAE‐g‐RGO/ITO device showed representative bistable electrical switching behavior. The nonvolatile memory performance was attributed to the CT‐induced conductance changes, which was supported by molecular computation results and conductive atomic force microscopy (C‐AFM) images.     

1.3 GHz超导腔磁通排出效应研究

设计并搭建了一套高精度的磁场测量和补偿系统,并结合中国科学院高能物理研究所(IHEP)的2K超导腔垂直测试平台对1.3 GHz单加速间隙超导腔的磁通排出效应开展了实验研究:利用研制的磁场测量和补偿系统能够精密地测量超导腔赤道位置磁场,并能够将磁场补偿至小于5.0×10-8 T;并对超导腔不同表面温度梯度下的磁通排出效应进行了测量分析;对钉扎了磁场的超导腔进行了射频性能测试,研究了超导腔电阻对磁通钉扎的敏感度,以及在不同电场梯度下超导腔的表面电阻变化情况。结果表明,研制的高精度磁场测量和补偿系统能够满足超导腔磁通排出研究的需求;高的超导腔表面温度梯度有利于磁通的排出;磁通钉扎电阻的敏感度随着加速电场梯度的增加而增大,导致超导腔的性能下降。此实验研究也为后续超导腔的研制奠定了一定基础。