Microcrystal induced emission enhancement of a small molecule probe and its use for highly efficient detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol in water

In this contribution, we reported a very simple and small molecule material, 2,5-dimethoxyterephthalaldehyde(DMA). It exhibited a relatively weak fluorescence in solution, while showed a steadily increased green fluorescence with typical aggregation-induced enhanced emission(AIE) effect for forming a cubic-like microcrystal structure in THF-H2 O mixed solvent.The microcrystals presented significantly higher fluorescence than that of amorphous aggregates. The DMA microcrystals suspension showed a good response to 2,4,6-trinitrophenol(TNP) with a LOD of 1.2×10~(-7) M, which is the best result of TNP detection in aqueous solution. Quantum chemical calculation revealed that DMA is a donor(D)-receptor(A) type molecule with methoxy unit as donor and carbonyl moiety as receptor. Its emission arises from an intramolecular charge transfer(ICT) from methoxy units to carbonyl units. NMR indicated that there is a strong hydrogen bond interaction between DMA and TNP.Hydrogen bond interaction can effectively decrease the intermolecular distance of DMA and TNP, which will increase the efficiency of photoinduced electron transfer(PET) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET), and hence will be advantageous for its selectivity. The microcrystal induced enhanced emission could be generally used for kinds of target molecules analysis.     

Application of central composite designs for optimisation of the chromatographic separation of monomethylarsonate and dimethylarsinate and of selenomethionine and selenite by ion-pair chromatography coupled with plasma mass spectrometric detection

Central composite designs (CCDs) were used in the study of the ion-pair chromatographic separation of arsenic and selenium species in tap water: monomethylarsonate, dimethylarsinate, selenomethionine and selenite. The ternary eluent consisted of tetrabutylammonium phosphate (TBA), sodium hydrogenphosphate (Na2HPO4) and 1% acetonitrile. CCD allowed the investigation of the influence of the eluent parameters, which varied from 0.5 to 4.2 mmol l-1 Na2HPO4, 0.5 to 4.2 mmol l-1 TBA and pH 4.9 to 8.2, on the capacity factors (k') of arsenic and selenium compounds. Furthermore, another mathematical model that permitted the variation of the chromatographic selectivity of species, computed from their retention data to be followed, was investigated. This showed the ability to locate the optimum conditions within the experimental design, so that arsenic and selenium species could be simultaneously quantified with good efficiency and resolution. A comparison between the predicted and the experimental response values was made in order to assess the prediction quality of the model. Response surfaces and isoresponse curves obtained from the mathematical models allowed the determination of the optimum chromatographic conditions and the robustness of the method. The predicted optimum zone allowing satisfactory determination of both arsenic and selenium compounds was pH 5.5-6.5, 2.5 mmol l-1 Na2HPO4 and 3.0-4.0 mmol l-1 TBA.     

Use of a highly efficient and recyclable solid-phase catalyst based on nanocrystalline titania for the Pechmann condensation

Nanocrystalline titania-based sulfonic acid was used as an efficient and reusable catalyst for the synthesis of coumarins. The clean, mild acidity condition, the quantitative yields of products, the short reaction time, and the low reaction temperature are attractive features of this method, making it suitable for heat- or acid-sensitive substrates, particularly in drug synthesis. In practice, this method affords an advantageous combination of satisfactory yields, easy product isolation and purification.     

Reduction of β-ketosulfoxides : a highly efficient asymmetric synthesis of both enantiomers of methyl carbinols from the corresponding esters

It is shown that reductions of β-ketosulfoxides of identical chirality (R) at sulfur, lead to reduction products of opposite stereochemistry according to the reducing agent used. The high enantiomeric excesses obtained (80 to 100%) provide a general route to both enantiomers of methylcarbinols from the corresponding esters.     

Sequential optimisation of the separation of a complex mixture of plastics additives by HPLC with a quaternary gradient and a dual detection system

Summary The separation of two families of plastics additives (phenolic antioxidants and UV absorbers) has been achieved by high performance liquid chromatography with a quaternary gradient. A methodology of separation based on a sequential optimization is described. After a preliminary study of the effects of solvents on retention of compounds, the mobile phase is first chosen for each class of additives (Irganox and Tinuvin), then for the mixture of all the compounds and the separation is finally optimized. The importance of the column phase ratio is also reported. The use of two detectors, UV absorbance and light-scattering, enables all the compounds to be detected. The performance of the detectors has been compared and the effects of the nebulization temperature on the detection of low molecular mass compounds is reported.     

Effect of operational parameters on photodegradation of methylene blue on ZnS nanoparticles prepared in presence of an ionic liquid as a highly efficient photocatalyst

In the present study, photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) on ZnS nanoparticles, prepared in aqueous solution of a room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), was studied and the results were compared with commercial ZnS. Influence of various operational parameters such as calcination temperature, catalyst weight, pH of solution, and initial concentration of MB on the photodegradation reaction was investigated to achieve maximum degradation efficiency. The optimum value of pH and catalyst dose was found to be 9.5 and 0.6 g l^-1. It was demonstrated that the photodegradation of MB follows a pseudo first-order kinetic. At optimized conditions, the rate constant of the reaction on ZnS nanoparticles prepared in aqueous solution of the RTIL is about five and four times greater than the prepared sample in water and commercial ZnS, respectively.     

Application of central composite design in the optimisation of thermal desorption parameters for the trace level determination of the chemical warfare agent chloropicrin

A quantitative trace-level thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry method was developed for chloropicrin CCl3NO2 using central composite design. Factors influencing the thermal decomposition were elucidated and optimum conditions for maximum response deduced. Four factors were investigated: desorption time, desorption temperature, valve temperature and line temperature. Only valve and line temperature influenced the response. The storage stability of chloropicrin on Tenax TA was investigated. Only the storage conditions affected recovery: no significant loss of chloropicrin was observed for spiked tubes stored in a refrigerator for up to 30 days. The application of central composite design to study thermal degradation of chloropicrin has not been described in the literature. The benefits in adopting this approach are reflected in the limit of detection, 22 ng on the sorbent tube (equivalent to 3.2 ppbv), the lowest atmospheric detection limit reported to date.     

DABCO as a mild and efficient catalytic system for the synthesis of highly substituted imidazoles via multi-component condensation strategy

A simple and efficient protocol for the synthesis of highly substituted imidazoles is developed through the condensation of 1,2-dicarbonyl compound, aldehyde, and ammonium acetate or amine via multi-component condensation strategy. The present method gives good to excellent yields of substituted imidazoles.     

Oxime palladacycle in PEG as a highly efficient and recyclable catalytic system for phenoxycarbonylation of aryl iodides with phenols

In this report, we have developed a sustainable protocol for the synthesis of aromatic esters by a carbonylative method using di‐μ‐chlorobis [5‐hydroxy‐2‐[1‐(hydroxyimino‐?N) ethyl] phenyl‐?C] palladium (II) dimer ( 1 ) catalyst in PEG‐400 as a greener and recyclable solvent. The reaction is carried out at room temperature using CO in a balloon. Good to excellent yield of various esters can be synthesize using this protocol. Direct insertion of CO moiety leads to the high atom and step economy. Compared to previous protocol this phosphine free approach for the synthesis of aromatic esters provides high Turnover Number (TON) and Turnover Frequency (TOF). Developed approach has an alternative route for use of conventional palladium precursor with high conversion and selectivity. The catalyst system and product can easily be separated using diethyl ether as a solvent. The Pd/PEG‐400 system could be reused up to a fifth consecutive cycle without any loss of its activity and selectivity.     

Influence of co-solvents in the highly efficient selective monohydrolysis of a symmetric diester

The influence of the co-solvents in the selective monohydrolysis of a symmetric diester, in an aqueous NaOH medium at 0 °C, has been examined. The reactions were found to proceed through reaction media consisting of water with a small amount of a co-solvent and the starting symmetric diester. Slightly polar aprotic solvents that are slightly miscible with water, such as THF and acetonitrile, were found to be effective co-solvents.     

Rapid, highly efficient extraction and purification of membrane proteins using a microfluidic continuous-flow based aqueous two-phase system

Membrane proteins play essential roles in regulating various fundamental cellular functions. To investigate membrane proteins, extraction and purification are usually prerequisite steps. Here, we demonstrated a microfluidic aqueous PEG/detergent two-phase system for the purification of membrane proteins from crude cell extract, which replaced the conventional discontinuous agitation method with continuous extraction in laminar flows, resulting in significantly increased extraction speed and efficiency. To evaluate this system, different separation and detection methods were used to identify the purified proteins, such as capillary electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE and nano-HPLC-MS/MS. Swiss-Prot database with Mascot search engine was used to search for membrane proteins from random selected bands of SDS-PAGE. Results indicated that efficient purification of membrane proteins can be achieved within 5-7s and approximately 90% of the purified proteins were membrane proteins (the highest extraction efficiency reported up to date), including membrane-associated proteins and integral membrane proteins with multiple transmembrane domains. Compared to conventional approaches, this new method had advantages of greater specific surface area, minimal emulsification, reduced sample consumption and analysis time. We expect the developed method to be potentially useful in membrane protein purifications, facilitating the investigation of membrane proteomics.     

Halide ions as a highly efficient promoter in the Ru-catalyzed hydroesterification of alkenes and alkynes

The presence of catalytic amounts of halide salts was found to enhance dramatically the reaction efficiency in the Ru-catalyzed hydroesterification of alkenes and alkynes using a chelating 2-pyridylmethyl formate by lowering the reaction temperature. On the basis of IR and NMR studies, the halide effect on the reaction is mainly attributed to the facile dissociation of the trirutheniumcarbonyl precursor into the presumed active metal species. With this milder condition, the substrate scope has been significantly broadened.     

Hybridization chain reaction-based aptameric system for the highly selective and sensitive detection of protein

We introduce here a novel assay for the detection of platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) via hybridization chain reaction (HCR) based on an aptameric system, where stable DNA monomers assemble only upon exposure to a target PDGF-BB aptamer. In this process, two complementary stable species of biotinylated DNA hairpins coexist in solution until the introduction of initiator aptamer strands triggers a cascade of hybridization events that yields nicked double helices analogous to alternating copolymers. In detail, the aptamer firstly opens the hairpins in the solution, creating long concatemers, and then reacts with the antibody captured PDGF-BB on the well surface. Moreover, several experimental conditions including different PDGF-BB aptamers, the spacer length of the selected aptamer and hairpin, etc. are investigated and optimized. Our results show that the coupling of HCR to aptamer triggers for the amplification detection of PDGF-BB achieves a better performance in the fluorescence detection of PDGF-BB as compared to the traditional antibody-antigen-aptamer assays. Upon modification, the approach presented herein could be extended to detect other types of targets. We believe such advancements will represent a significant step towards improved diagnostics and more personalized medical treatment and environmental monitoring.     

N-arylation of indoles with aryl halides using copper/glycerol as a mild and highly efficient recyclable catalytic system

A simple, efficient, and inexpensive copper catalyzed protocol has been developed for cross-coupling of indoles with aryl halides by using glycerol as a green recyclable solvent and DMSO as an additive. The reaction was carried out at low catalyst loading furnishing various N-aryl indoles in good to excellent yield. This copper/glycerol mixture was recycled up to four runs without any loss in its catalytic activity.     

Use of a highly effective intramolecular Pauson-Khand cyclisation for the formal total synthesis of (±)-α- and β-cedrene by preparation of cedrone

The cedrene carbon skeleton was directly and efficiently assembled from a simple monocyclic precursor by the strategic use of a high yielding intramolecular Pauson-Khand cyclisation reaction. A small number of further synthetic manipulations provided a concise formal total synthesis of α- and β-cedrene. The cyclisation precursor was readily prepared, with a stereoselective ketone alkenylation selectively providing the olefin required for efficient access to the natural target.     

Dynamics of the interface in a model composite system

A review of recent experiments from the authors laboratory on the dynamics of aminofunctional silane coupling agents is given. Of special emphasis are two coupling agents, aminopropylsilane (APS) and aminobutylsilane (ABS) which were deuterated in the γ-position. These two coupling agents have similar chemical behavior, but different dynamics. Deuterium NMR studies reveal that the APS moves slower on the silica surface than ABS. The mobility of the interfacial ABS was also found to be significantly slowed when it was overcoated with a polymerized layer of bismaleimide to form a composite. When the composite was treated with water, the interfacial mobility of the ABS increased. The flexural strength of the APS treated composite was the highest compared to ABS-treated and bulk glass in an epoxy-glass composite.     

基于绿色氢科学理念构筑从低碳制氢到高效储氢的氢能体系

本文从低碳制氢和高效储氢的角度思考及探讨氢能体系绿色化发展过程中的关键科学问题.提出＂绿色氢科学＂理念与＂低碳制氢,高效储氢＂技术发展路线图,以期通过相关科学问题的认识,来构建具有高度原子经济性及可持续性的绿色氢能体系.