Spectrum–effect relationship of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Laportea bulbifera based on multivariate statistical analysis

Laportea bulbifera, named Hong He Ma in Chinese, is a Chinese herbal medicine commonly used by the Miao nationality of China. In this study, 43 batches of L. bulbifera were collected from different origins in China. Ethanol, ethyl acetate and petroleum ether were used to prepare different extracts of the plant. UHPLC technique was used to establish the fingerprints, whereas DPPH assay and RAW264.7 inflammatory cell models were used to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, respectively. Moreover, the spectrum–effect relationship between relative peak area of common peaks and efficacy value was set up by multivariate statistical analysis. Furthermore, 10 batches were selected randomly for validation of those models. The results showed that ethyl acetate and petroleum ether extracts possess excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, respectively. Peaks A₆ and A₇ demonstrated the greatest antioxidant activity, while peak A₁₇ showed the strongest anti-inflammatory activity. After a verified experiment, the result was obtained and illustrated that the spectrum–effect relationship which we established could reliably infer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds of the Chinese herbal medicine.     

Advantageous Interfacial Effects of AgPd/g-C3N4 for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution: Electronic Structure and H2O Dissociation

Bimetallic AgPd nanoparticles have been synthesized before, but the interfacial electronic effects of AgPd on the photocatalytic performance have been investigated less. In this work, the results of hydrogen evolution suggest that the bimetallic AgPd/g-C₃N₄ sample has superior activity to Ag/g-C₃N₄ and Pd/g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts. The UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, CO adsorption diffuse reflectance FTIR spectroscopy, and FTIR results demonstrate that in the AgPd/g-C₃N₄, the surface electronic structures of Pd and Ag are changed, which is beneficial for faster photogenerated electron transfer and greater H₂O molecule adsorption. In situ ESR spectra suggest that, under visible light irradiation, there is more H₂O dissociation to radical species on the AgPd/g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst. Furthermore, DFT calculations confirm the interfacial electronic effects of AgPd/g-C₃N₄, that is, Pd^δ−⋅⋅⋅Ag^δ+, and the activation energy of H₂O molecule dissociation on AgPd/g-C₃N₄ is the lowest, which is the main contributor to the enhanced photocatalytic H₂ evolution.     

Coordinate Bond Breaking Induced by Collapse of Poly(\begin{document}$N$\end{document}-isopropyl acrylamide) as Ligands of a Rare Earth Complex

A novel water-soluble luminescent complex consisting of Eu(ally-dbm)\begin{document}$_3$\end{document}-2Tppo and poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) is synthesized through a series of chemical reactions. The structure of the complex is characterized by TGA, GPC, HNMR, and the thermal-responsive fluorescence of the complex in aqueous solution is investigated. It is found that PNIPAM collapse above the lower critical solution temperature causes the coordination bond breaking, leading to weakening of the fluorescence from Eu\begin{document}$^{3+}$\end{document} and enhancing of the fluorescence from the ligands. When temperature decreases, the fluorescence from Eu\begin{document}$^{3+}$\end{document} is found to boost up and the fluorescence from ligands weakens accordingly. It is deduced from this phenomenon that the ligands re-coordinate with europium ions again along with the temperature decreasing, which is further confirmed by IR measurements. This thermal-responsive fluorescence is of reversibility, which can be used as molecular probes for biological imaging and collapse studying of PNIPAM.     

Synthesis and Herbicidal Activities of 3‐(4‐Chloro‐2‐fluoro‐5‐substituted phenyl)benzo[d][1,2,3]triazin‐4(3H)‐one Derivatives

A series of 3‐phenyl benzo[d][1,2,3]triazin‐4(3H)‐one derivatives were synthesized through the condensation of phenol E and alkyl (alkenyl, alkynyl) chlorides (bromides, iodide) or alkyl chloroacetates or N‐alkyl chloroacetamides using K₂CO₃ as the acid acceptor in N,N‐dimethylformamide. Phenol E was prepared from starting material, 5‐amino‐2‐chloro‐4‐fluorophenyl ethyl carbonate, in four steps involving in amidation, reduction, diazotization, and deprotecting‐group reaction. The herbicidal activities of the title compounds were tested against two dicotyledonous plants and two monocotyledonous plants, in which some of them exhibited high herbicidal activities against two dicotyledonous plants in preemergence and postemergence treatments. Moreover, when the dosage was decreased to 180 and 90 g/ha, compounds F1 , F8 , and F9 showed highly selective inhibitory activities against amaranth pigweed, alfalfa, asteraceae, field sowthistle, morning glory, purslane, and velvetleaf in postemergence treatment but had no herbicidal efficacy on rape except F1 , suggesting that it be possible to find a kind of herbicides to inhibit dicotyledonous weeds in the field of dicotyledonous crops with the same genus as aforementioned weeds.     

The First One‐Pot Synthesis of Metal–Organic Frameworks Functionalised with Two Transition‐Metal Complexes

The synthesis of a metal–organic framework (UiO‐67) functionalised simultaneously with two different transition metal complexes (Ir and Pd or Rh) through a one‐pot procedure is reported for the first time. This has been achieved by an iterative modification of the synthesis parameters combined with characterisation of the resulting materials using different techniques, including X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The method also allows the first synthesis of UiO‐67 with a very wide range of loadings (from 4 to 43 mol %) of an iridium complex ([IrCp*(bpydc)(Cl)Cl]^2?; bpydc=2,2′‐bipyridine‐5,5′‐dicarboxylate, Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) through a pre‐functionalisation methodology.     

Pincer‐Type Platinum(II) Complexes Containing N‐Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) Ligand: Structures,Photophysical and Anion‐Binding Properties,and Anticancer Activities

Two classes of pincer‐type Pt^II complexes containing tridentate N‐donor ligands ( 1 – 8 ) or C‐deprotonated N^C^N ligands derived from 1,3‐di(2‐pyridyl)benzene ( 10 – 13 ) and auxiliary N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand were synthesized. [Pt(trpy)(NHC)]²⁺ complexes 1 – 5 display green phosphorescence in CH₂Cl₂ (Φ: 1.1–5.3 %; τ: 0.3–1.0 μs) at room temperature. Moderate‐to‐intense emissions are observed for 1 – 7 in glassy solutions at 77 K and for 1 – 6 in the solid state. The [Pt(N^C^N)(NHC)]⁺ complexes 10 – 13 display strong green phosphorescence with quantum yields up to 65 % in CHCl₃. The reactions of 1 with a wide variety of anions were examined in various solvents. The tridentate N‐donor ligand of 1 undergoes displacement reaction with CN^? in protic solvents. Similar displacement of the N^C^N ligand by CN^? has been observed for 10 , leading to a luminescence “switch‐off” response. The water‐soluble 7 containing anthracenyl‐functionalized NHC ligand acts as a light “switch‐on” sensor for the detection of CN^? ion with high selectivity. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the Pt^II complexes towards HeLa cells has been evaluated. Complex 12 showed high cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ value of 0.46 μM , whereas 1 – 4 and 6 – 8 are less cytotoxic. The cellular localization of the strongly luminescent complex 12 traced by using emission microscopy revealed that it mainly localizes in the cytoplasmic structures rather than in the nucleus. This complex can induce mitochondria dysfunction and subsequent cell death.     

Path to achieving molecular dispersion in a dense reactive mixture

A uniform dispersion of reactants is necessary to achieve a complete reaction involving multicomponents. In this study, we have examined the role of plasticizer in the reaction of two seemingly unlikely reactants: a highly crystalline hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) and a strongly hydrogen bonded phenol formaldehyde resin. By combining information from NMR, infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, we were able to determine the role of specific intermolecular interactions necessary for the plasticizer to dissolve the highly crystalline HMTA and to plasticize the phenol formaldehyde resin in this crosslinking reaction. The presence of the plasticizer increased the segmental mobility, disrupted the hydrogen bonded matrix, and freed the hydroxyl units, which further increased the solubility of the HMTA. Both the endothermic and exothermic transitions are accounted for in the calorimetric data obtained. For the first time, it is possible to obtain the effective molar ratio of each component needed to complete the crosslinking reaction efficiently. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1519–1526