Theoretical studies on thermochemistry for conversion of 5-chloromethylfurfural into valuable chemicals

Recently, 5-chloromethylfurfural (CMF) was proposed as a central intermediate in the conversion of carbohydrate-based material into useful organic commodities. In the present work, we have calculated the thermochemistry using the highly accurate G4 theory and several state-of-art density functional theory (DFT) methods (e.g., X1, M06-2X, B2PLYP-D, and XYG3) for the conversion from CMF to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) in water, and that to biofuels 5-ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF) and ethyllevulinate (EL) in alcohol. New reaction mechanisms have been proposed, which complement the well-recognized Horvat mechanisms. The assessment of DFT methods suggested that XYG3 be a viable method for biomass related thermochemistry calculations.     

Genotyping of two single nucleotide polymorphisms in 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase by multiplex polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoresis

Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, A1298C and C677T, were widely considered to be related with various neoplasia disorders. We established a simple and effective capillary electrophoresis (CE) method for detection of two SNPs in MTHFR gene simultaneously. DNA samples were amplified by multiplex PCR with universal fluorescence-labeled primer and analyzed by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP)-CE method. The CE method was performed using 1.5% hydroxyethyl cellulose in 1× TBE buffer containing 1 M urea. The PCR products after SSCP procedure were electrokinetically injected at −10 kV, 30 s. Separation voltage was −6 kV and the temperature was set at 20 °C. The optimal SSCP-CE method was applied to detect two polymorphisms in MTHFR gene of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients. Genotyping results were evaluated in terms of relationships between outcomes for ADHD patients after ALL chemotherapy and ALL disease. The SSCP-CE method and multiplex PCR with universal fluorescence primer were used as the fast technique for screening two SNPs in MTHFR gene, A1298C and C677T. The genotyping data were coincident with DNA sequencing. This SSCP-CE method was found feasible for detecting mutation of MTHFR gene in populations.     

Simultaneous Determination of Four Sudan Dyes in Egg Yolks by Molecularly Imprinted SPE Coupled with LC-UV Detection

A highly selective molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) combined with liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection was developed for the simultaneous isolation and determination of four Sudan dyes (I, II, III and IV) in egg-yolk products. The imprinted microspheres synthesized by suspension polymerization using phenylamine?Cnaphthol as mimic template show high selectivity and affinity to the four kinds of Sudan dyes and were successfully applied as selective sorbents of solid-phase extraction for the simultaneous determination of the four Sudans from egg-yolk samples. Good linearity was obtained in a range of 0.062?C10 ??g g^?1 and the average recoveries of the four Sudans at three spiked levels ranged from 94.1 to 102.5% with the relative standard deviations less than 5.8%. The developed extraction protocol eliminated the effect of template leakage on quantitative analysis and could be applied for the determination of Sudans in complicated food samples.     

A density functional theory approach to mushroom-like platinum clusters on palladium-shell over Au core nanoparticles for high electrocatalytic activity

Recently, it was found that Pt clusters deposited on Pd shell over Au core nanoparticles (Au@Pd@Pt NPs) exhibit unusually high electrocatalytic activity for the electro-oxidation of formic acid (P. P. Fang, S. Duan, et al., Chem. Sci., 2011, 2, 531-539). In an attempt to offer an explanation, we used here carbon monoxide (CO) as probed molecules, and applied density functional theory (DFT) to simulate the surface Raman spectra of CO at this core-shell-cluster NPs with a two monolayer thickness of Pd shell and various Pt cluster coverage. Our DFT results show that the calculated Pt coverage dependent spectra fit the experimental ones well only if the Pt clusters adopt a mushroom-like structure, while currently the island-like structure is the widely accepted model, which follows the Volmer-Weber growth mode. This result infers that there should be a new growth mode, i.e., the mushroom growth mode as proposed in the present work, for Au@Pd@Pt NPs. We suggest that such a mushroom-like structure may offer novel active sites, which accounts for the observed high electrocatalytic activity of Au@Pd@Pt NPs.     

Low-temperature tunneling and rotational dynamics of the ammonium cations in (NH4)2B12H12

Low-temperature neutron scattering spectra of diammonium dodecahydro-closo-dodecaborate [(NH(4))(2)B(12)H(12)] reveal two NH(4)(+) rotational tunneling peaks (e.g., 18.5 μeV and 37 μeV at 4 K), consistent with the tetrahedral symmetry and environment of the cations. The tunneling peaks persist between 4 K and 40 K. An estimate was made for the tunnel splitting of the first NH(4)(+) librational state from a fit of the observed ground-state tunnel splitting as a function of temperature. At temperatures of 50 K-70 K, classical neutron quasi-elastic scattering appears to dominate the spectra and is attributed to NH(4)(+) cation jump reorientation about the four C(3) axes defined by the N-H bonds. A reorientational activation energy of 8.1 ± 0.6 meV (0.79 ± 0.06 kJ/mol) is determined from the behavior of the quasi-elastic linewidths in this temperature regime. This activation energy is in accord with a change in NH(4)(+) dynamical behavior above 70 K. A low-temperature inelastic neutron scattering feature at 7.8 meV is assigned to a NH(4)(+) librational mode. At increased temperatures, this feature drops in intensity, having shifted entirely to higher energies by 200 K, suggesting the onset of quasi-free NH(4)(+) rotation. This is consistent with neutron-diffraction-based model refinements, which derive very large thermal ellipsoids for the ammonium-ion hydrogen atoms at room temperature in the direction of reorientation.     

A new flavonoid glycoside from Vaccaria hispanica

A profiling analysis for the methanol extract of the seeds of Vaccaria hispanica (Mill.) Rauschert was performed using a HPLC-ESI-MS technique. Five compounds were identified according to their retention times, UV spectroscopic and MS features, and by comparison with literature data. Among them, a new flavonoid glycoside, named vaccarin H, was isolated and the structure determined by spectral and chemical analysis as isovitexin 2"-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-4'-O-(6"-O-dihydroferuloyl)-3-beta-glucopyranoside.     

Total synthesis and biological evaluation of pederin, psymberin, and highly potent analogs

The potent cytotoxins pederin and psymberin have been prepared through concise synthetic routes (10 and 14 steps in the longest linear sequences, respectively) that proceed via a late-stage multicomponent approach to construct the N-acyl aminal linkages. This route allowed for the facile preparation of a number of analogs that were designed to explore the importance of the alkoxy group in the N-acyl aminal and functional groups in the two major subunits on biological activity. These analogs, including a pederin/psymberin chimera, were analyzed for their growth inhibitory effects, revealing several new potent cytotoxins and leading to postulates regarding the molecular conformational and hydrogen bonding patterns that are required for biological activity. Second generation analogs have been prepared based on the results of the initial assays and a structure-based model for the binding of these compounds to the ribosome. The growth inhibitory properties of these compounds are reported. These studies show the profound role that organic chemistry in general and specifically late-stage multicomponent reactions can play in the development of unique and potent effectors for biological responses.     

Multimetallic synergic sedation of a labile sodium atrane: synthesis and characterization of a tetranuclear sodium atrane cation complex

A series of sodium and aluminum atrane complexes of Na(3)L(THF)(5) (1), [AlLMe][Na(4)L(THF)(6)] (2), AlL(THF) (3), AlNaLMe(THF)(2) (4), and AlNaLOBn(THF)(2) (5), wherein L = tris(2-oxy-4,6-di-tert-butyl-benzyl)amine, were synthesized and characterized by NMR, X-ray crystallography, and elemental analysis. The trinuclear sodium atrane complex of Na(3)L(THF)(5) (1) is labile at room temperature; however, the tetranuclear sodium atrane cation in complex 2 can be stabilized by a multimetallic synergetic effect due to a firm interaction ring of -[Na-O-benzene](3)-. Complex 2 is also the first example of a sodatrane and alumatrane ion-paired complex in which both the cationic and anionic moieties contain an atrane ligand.     

Bottom-up fabrication of photoluminescent graphene quantum dots with uniform morphology

Multicolor photoluminescent graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with a uniform size of ～60 nm diameter and 2-3 nm thickness were prepared by using unsubstituted hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene as the carbon source. This result offers a new strategy to fabricate monodispersed GQDs with well-defined morphology.