Simultaneous quantification of five biogenic amines based on LC–MS/MS and its application in honeybee venom from different subspecies

The use of honeybee venom in traditional medicine is increasing due to its unexpected beneficial effects in the treatment of diseases. In this study, a simple and environmentally friendly sample preparation procedure was developed to quantify five biogenic amines—histamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline—in honeybee venom using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The instrument and sample preparation method were optimized to achieve stable, sensitive, and accurate quantification of the five biogenic amines. The peak purities of five biogenic amines in bee venom were examined using a diode array detector to ensure that endogenous impurities will not interfere with biogenic amines during the chromatographic separation procedure. The correlation coefficient of each compound was higher than 0.998 in the range of 0.5–1000 ng/mL. The limits of detection and quantification of the developed method ranged between 0.09 and 0.17, and 0.3 and 0.59 μg/g, respectively. The average recoveries of spiked biogenic amines with different concentrations were higher than 70.95%, and the intra- and intermediate-day precisions were lower than 7.51% and 10.17%, respectively. The carry-over between each injection and the stability of the target analytes were also evaluated to ensure the effectiveness of this method. The data obtained are presented in various formats, including boxplot, heat map, and principal component analysis diagram, to visualize the differences in the biogenic amine contents of the honeybee venoms from different subspecies. This method hopes to provide the opportunity to distinguish the bee venom produced by different subspecies.     

The metabolites and biotransformation pathways in vivo after oral administration of ocotillol,RT5, and PF11

Ocotillol, pseudo-ginsenoside RT5 (RT₅), and pseudo-ginsenoside F₁₁ (PF₁₁) are ocotillol-type saponins that have the same aglycone structure but with different numbers of glucose at the C-6 position. In this study, the metabolites of ocotillol, RT₅, and PF₁₁ in rat plasma, stomach, intestine, urine, and feces after oral administration were investigated by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The results showed that RT₅ was easily biotransformed into metabolites in vivo, whereas PF₁₁ and RT₅ were difficult to be biotransformed. Hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, dehydration, deglycosylation, deoxygenation, hydration, phosphorylation, deoxidation, glucuronidation, and reactions combining amino acid were speculated to be involved in the biotransformation of ocotillol, RT₅, and PF₁₁. Based on the structural analysis of metabolites, it was deduced that hydrogenation, dehydration, deoxidation, and reactions combining amino acid occurred on the aglycone structure, whereas deglycosylation, hydration, and phosphorylation occurred on the glycosyl chain. Further, metabolites in plasma, urine, feces, and tissues were different: First, glucuronidation products were found in urine, stomach, intestine, and feces, but not in plasma. Second, the ocotillol prototype was not identified in urine samples. Third, the RT₅ prototype was found in stomach, intestine, feces, and urine, but not in plasma.     

A multifunctional silicotungstic acid-modified Li-rich manganese-based cathode material with excellent electrochemical properties

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Li-rich layered oxide (LrLO) cathode has attracted much attention for Li-ion batteries in recent years due to its superior capacity of exceeding...     

Large‐Area Synthesis of Superclean Graphene via Selective Etching of Amorphous Carbon with Carbon Dioxide

Contamination commonly observed on the graphene surface is detrimental to its excellent properties and strongly hinders its application. It is still a great challenge to produce large‐area clean graphene film in a low‐cost manner. Herein, we demonstrate a facile and scalable chemical vapor deposition approach to synthesize meter‐sized samples of superclean graphene with an average cleanness of 99 %, relying on the weak oxidizing ability of CO₂ to etch away the intrinsic contamination, i.e., amorphous carbon. Remarkably, the elimination of amorphous carbon enables a significant reduction of polymer residues in the transfer of graphene films and the fabrication of graphene‐based devices and promises strongly enhanced electrical and optical properties of graphene. The facile synthesis of large‐area superclean graphene would open the pathway for both fundamental research and industrial applications of graphene, where a clean surface is highly needed.     

Synthesis and antifungal activity of carvacrol and thymol esters with heteroaromatic carboxylic acids

Aiming to obtain the more effective pathogen inhibitive ingredients and explore the influence of introducing different heterocyclic units to carvacrol and thymol esters, twenty ester derivatives with different heterocyclic units were synthesized. And the in vitro antifungal activity of title compounds against five plant pathogenic fungi was evaluated by mycelium growth rate method. The results showed that some carvacrol and thymol esters showed good to excellent antifungal activity, and compound 9d (4-bromo-5-isopropyl-2-methylphenyl picolinate) exhibited a broad antifungal spectrum. Preliminary study indicated that the introduction of furan, thiophene and pyridine unit could enhance the antifungal activity of carvacrol and thymol esters against Botrytis cinerea and a bromine atom on the para position of benzene moiety could enhance their antifungal activity.     

二氢嘧啶并[4,5-d]嘧啶类衍生物作为集落刺激因子-1受体激酶抑制剂的分子对接和定量构效关系研究

集落刺激因子-1受体激酶（CSF-1R）属于Ⅲ型受体酪氨酸激酶家族成员，其在调控单核巨噬细胞系中发挥重要作用。CSF-1R及其配体异常表达与肿瘤发展过程密切相关。因此，CSF-1R信号传导可成为抗肿瘤治疗的有吸引力的靶标。本文用比较分子场分析法（CoMFA）和比较分子相似性指数分析法（CoMSIA）研究了54个二氢嘧啶并[4,5-d]嘧啶类CSF-1R激酶抑制剂的三维定量构效关系（3D-QSAR）。基于配体叠合，CoMFA和CoMSIA模型的交叉验证系数（q2）分别为0.725和0.636，拟合验证系数（r2）分别为0.960和0.958，结果表明这两种模型均具有较好的预测能力。所建模型的等势图能直观反映分子不同取代基对活性的影响，其中立体场和疏水场对活性的贡献较大。通过分子对接研究显示，氨基酸残基Cys666、Asp796在配体和受体结合过程中产生作用，分子对接的结合模式与3D-QSAR得到的结果一致。这些信息为进一步优化CSF-1R激酶抑制剂提供了理论基础。     

A self-penetrating and chemically stable zinc (ii)-organic framework as multi-responsive chemo-sensor to detect pesticide and antibiotics in water

Guided by the self-penetrating features can improve the stability of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), an unprecedented 3D self-penetrated framework, {[Zn (tptc)_0.5(bimb)]·H₂O}_n ( NUC-6 , here NUC corresponding to North University of China), with 3D (4,4)-c {8⁶} net, was designed. Benefit from the high chemical stability and excellent luminescent property, NUC-6 can be act as an efficient multi-response chemo-sensor in detecting dichloronitroaniline pesticide and nitrofuran antibiotics in water with the detection limits are 116 ppb for DCN pesticide, 16 ppb for NFT antibiotic, and 12 ppb for NTZ antibiotic. Besides, the mechanisms of luminescence quenching were revealed from the viewpoint of internal filter effect (IFE) and photo-induced electron transfer (PET), implied by the optical spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculation. This work provides a promising strategy to design stable MOFs by improving the self-penetrating features and to expand their practical applications in the detection of organic pollutants in aqueous medium.     

Origins of Boosted Charge Storage on Heteroatom-Doped Carbons

Although tremendous efforts have been devoted to understanding the origin of boosted charge storage on heteroatom-doped carbons, none of the present studies has shown a whole landscape. Herein, by both experimental evidence and theoretical simulation, it is demonstrated that heteroatom doping not only results in a broadened operating voltage, but also successfully promotes the specific capacitance in aqueous supercapacitors. In particular, the electrolyte cations adsorbed on heteroatom-doped carbon can effectively inhibit hydrogen evolution reaction, a key step of water decomposition during the charging process, which broadens the voltage window of aqueous electrolytes even beyond the thermodynamic limit of water (1.23 V). Furthermore, the reduced adsorption energy of heteroatom-doped carbon consequently leads to more stored cations on the heteroatom-doped carbon surface, thus yielding a boosted charge storage performance.