Orthogonal Halogen‐Bonding‐Driven 3D Supramolecular Assembly of Right‐Handed Synthetic Helical Peptides

Peptide‐mediated self‐assembly is a prevalent method for creating highly ordered supramolecular architectures. Herein, we report the first example of orthogonal C?X???X?C/C?X???π halogen bonding and hydrogen bonding driven crystalline architectures based on synthetic helical peptides bearing hybrids of l ‐sulfono‐γ‐AApeptides and natural amino acids. The combination of halogen bonding, intra‐/intermolecular hydrogen bonding, and intermolecular hydrophobic interactions enabled novel 3D supramolecular assembly. The orthogonal halogen bonding in the supramolecular architecture exerts a novel mechanism for the self‐assembly of synthetic peptide foldamers and gives new insights into molecular recognition, supramolecular design, and rational design of biomimetic structures.     

Catalytic Kinetic Resolution by Enantioselective Aromatization: Conversion of Racemic Intermediates of the Barton–Zard Reaction into Enantioenriched 3‐Arylpyrroles

Racemic 3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐pyrroles, hypothetical intermediates of the Barton–Zard reaction, were synthesized in a highly diastereoselective manner and fully characterized for the first time. Kinetic resolution of the dihydropyrroles with a quinine‐derived thiourea afforded the (+)‐3‐arylpyrrole products and recovered (+)‐3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐pyrroles with high efficiency (s‐factor up to 153). The resolved (+)‐3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐pyrroles underwent subsequent aromatization with a quinidine‐derived thiourea catalyst to afford (?)‐3‐arylpyrroles with excellent central‐to‐axial chirality transfer. In contrast to the well‐accepted Barton–Zard mechanism, the aromatization of the 3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐pyrroles in the presence of a bifunctional catalyst is believed to proceed by an unprecedented sequence involving syn elimination of HNO₂ and aromatization.     

Synthesis of Indoles through Domino Reactions of 2‐Fluorotoluenes and Nitriles

Indoles are essential heterocycles in medicinal chemistry, and therefore, novel and efficient approaches to their synthesis are in high demand. Among indoles, 2‐aryl indoles have been described as privileged scaffolds. Advanced herein is a straightforward, practical, and transition‐metal‐free assembly of 2‐aryl indoles. Simply combining readily available 2‐fluorotoluenes, nitriles, LiN(SiMe₃)₂, and CsF enables the generation of a diverse array of indoles (38 examples, 48–92 % yield). A range of substituents can be introduced into each position of the indole backbone (C4 to C7, and aryl groups at C2), providing handles for further elaboration.     

Carbon Dots as a New Class of Diamagnetic Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (diaCEST) MRI Contrast Agents

While carbon dots (C‐dots) have been extensively investigated pertaining to their fluorescent, phosphorescent, electrochemiluminescent, optoelectronic, and catalytic features, their inherent chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging (CEST MRI) properties are unknown. By virtue of their hydrophilicity and abundant exchangeable protons of hydroxyl, amine, and amide anchored on the surface, we report here that C‐dots can be adapted as effective diamagnetic CEST (diaCEST) MRI contrast agents. As a proof‐of‐concept demonstration, human glioma cells were labeled with liposomes with or without encapsulated C‐dots and implanted in mouse brain. In vivo CEST MRI was able to clearly differentiate labeled cells from non‐labeled cells. The present findings may encourage new applications of C‐dots for in vivo imaging in deep tissues, which is currently not possible using conventional fluorescent (near‐infrared) C‐dots.     

活性位高度暴露的钴/氮/碳电催化剂的构建及氧还原性能研究

金属/氮/碳催化剂（M/N/C，M=Fe、Co等）是最有发展前景的非贵金属电催化剂之一，其性能依赖于催化剂表面的活性物种密度.通过常规的热解含氮前驱物与金属盐的方法制得的催化剂往往存在金属活性物种被包埋而不能有效利用的缺点.考虑到石墨相氮化碳（g-C₃N₄）富含类吡啶氮和亚纳米孔腔结构，将g-C₃N₄包覆在高导电性碳纳米笼（hCNC）表面，进而利用表层g-C₃N₄的配位和限域作用锚定大量Co²⁺离子，获得的Co/g-C₃N₄/hCNC复合物经热解后形成了活性位高度暴露、导电性好、孔结构丰富的Co/N/C催化剂.800℃热解得到的最优化催化剂在碱性介质中展现出优异氧还原活性，其起始电位（0.97 V）与商业Pt/C催化剂相当，且抗甲醇干扰性能和稳定性优异.此项研究提供了一种构建具有高度暴露活性位的M/N/C催化剂的有效策略.     

A hydrated amorphous iron oxide nanoparticle as active water oxidation catalyst

Developing efficient water oxidation catalysts (WOCs) with earth-abundant elements still remains a challenging task for artificial photosynthesis. Iron-based WOC is a promising candidate because it is economically cheap, little toxic and environmentally friendly. In this study, we found that the catalytic water oxidation activity on amorphous iron-based oxide/hydroxide (FeO_x) can be decreased by an order of magnitude after the dehydration process at room temperature. Thermogravimetric analysis, XRD and Raman results indicated that the dehydration process of FeO_x at room temperature causes the almost completely loss of water molecule with no bulk structural changes. Based on this finding, we prepared hydrated ultrasmall (ca. 2.2 nm) FeO_x nanoparticles of amorphous feature, which turns out to be extremely active as WOC with turnover frequency (TOF) up to 9.3 s^?1 in the photocatalytic Ru(bpy)₃²⁺-Na₂S₂O₈ system. Our findings suggest that future design of active iron-based oxides as WOCs requires the consideration of their hydration status.     

HYDROPHOBICITY OF CONTAMINATED SILICONE RUBBER SURFACES

Silicone rubber (SIR) shows superior performance when used outdoors, but its surface can be transformed frominherently hydrophobic to hydrophilic by the adsorption of contaminants. Al(OH)_3, Al_2O_3, quartz powder and active carbonwere selected as authentic contaminants. Hydrophobicity of the surface was determined using contact angle measurement.The results indicate that the adsorbability of the contaminants can strongly affect the hydrophobicity of contaminated SIRsurface. The increasing rate of contact angle of specimens contaminated by Al(OH)_3 was much faster than that by Al_2O_3 andquartz due to the adsorption of migrated low molecular weight (LMW) polydimethylsiloxanes. Specimens contaminated byactive carbon could achieve sunde hydrophobicity within 15 min because active carbon has high adsorbability. Surfaces ofcontaminated ultrapure SIR, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and glass remain hydrophilic because they contain no mobileLMW components. The addition of oligomeric polydimethylsiloxanes has little effect on the hydrophobicity of contaminantscovered on SIR surface.     

Reaction Mechanism Investigation Using Vibrational Mode Analysis for the Multichannel Reaction of CH_3O+CO

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Chemiluminescence Determination of Benzoic Acid Using A Solid-Phase Verdigris Reactor

Benzoicacidisacommonadditiveusedwidelyasfoodpreservativeandplasticizer.Itcouldpromoteseverereactiontoallergicpopulationevenatlowconcentrationlevel1.Routinemethodsfortheassayofbenzoicacidincludeschromatographic2-6,spectrophotometry7,8,capillaryelectrophoresis9-13andelectrochemicaltitration14.Stokes15etal.monitoredairbornebenzoicacidbasedonsurface-enhancedRamanscatteringtechniques.Thereisalsoreportonamicrobialsensorusingpseudomonasforbenzoicacidandtheirderivativesinaqua16.Interestofusinglumines…