Synthesis and characterization of fluorinated polyurethane containing carborane in the main chain: Thermal,mechanical and chemical resistance properties

In this study, two fluorinated polyurethanes(FPU) containing carborane groups in the main chains were firstly designed and synthesized via the reaction of hexamethylene diisocyanate trimer(HDI trimer) with fluorinated polyesters(CFPETs) having hydroxyl-terminated carborane groups at room temperature. The structures of carborane fluorinated polyesters(CFPETs) and polyurethanes(CFPUs) were characterized by gel permeation chromatography(GPC), Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) measurements. The thermal stability, mechanical properties, Shore A hardness, solvent resistance and acid-alkali resistance of the carborane fluorinated polyurethane films were also studied. Thermogravimetric analysis(TGA) tests manifested that the introduction of carborane groups into the main chain of fluorinated polyurethane endowed the obtained fluorinated polyurethane with excellent thermal stability. The thermal decomposition temperature of carborane fluorinated polyurethane(CFPU) increased by 190 °C compared with that of the carborane-free fluorinated polyurethane(FPU). Even at 800 °C, CFPU showed the char yield of 66.5%, which was higher than that of FPU(34.3%). The carborane-containing fluorinated polyurethanes also showed excellent chemical resistance and prominent mechanical property even after the cured films being immersed into Jet aircraft oil or 37% HCl for 168 h or at high temperature(700 °C). It is found that the structural characteristics of carborane group and the compacted structure of CFPU effectively improve the thermal stability, mechanical property, solvent resistance and acid-alkali resistance of the carborane-free fluorinated polyurethane. These excellent properties make CFPU as the useful raw materials to prepare the high temperature resistant coatings or adhesives for automotive engines, engine or fuel tank of aircraft and other equipment working in high-temperature or high concentrations of acid-alkali environments.     

A far-red fluorescent probe for selective G-quadruplex DNA targeting

The development of rapid and simple approaches for detection of G-quadruplex DNA structures has attracted significant attention to disclose their diverse physiological and pathological functions. Thiazole orange (TO) is a common fluorescence probe used for the detection of G-quadruplexes. However, it still suffers from some common problems like non-selective for G-quadruplex and emission in the lower wavelength region of spectrum, thus hampering its further applications. Probes with turn-on fluorescence in the far-red region are highly sought-after due to minimal auto-fluorescence and cellular damage. In this paper, we described a far-red fluorescent probe (L-1) by introducing an amine group into styrylquinolinium scaffold. The experimental results indicated that L-1 exhibited significant fluorescence enhancement when treated with G-quadruplexes but retained weak fluorescence in the presence of duplex DNAs. In addition, this probe also displayed higher binding affinity for parallel G-quadruplexes. The characteristics of L-1 were further investigated with UV–vis spectrophotometry, fluorescence, circular dichroism, KI quenching, FID assay and molecular docking to validate optical photophysical properties, as well as the selectivity, sensitivity and detailed binding mode toward G-quadruplex DNAs.     

利用复式晶胞实现二维正方形布拉菲格子光子晶体的完全带隙

利用较为简单的正方形布拉菲格子，采用复式晶胞实现了简单晶胞所不能实现的二维光子晶体的完全带隙，并用优化算法对复式晶胞的结构参数进行了讨论，得到了具有完全的、带隙宽度尽量大的二维光子带隙材料结构- 关键词： 光子晶体 正方形布拉菲格子 复式晶胞 二维完全光子带隙