A mesoporous non-precious metal boride system: synthesis of mesoporous cobalt boride by strictly controlled chemical reduction

Generating high surface area mesoporous transition metal boride is interesting because the incorporation of boron atoms generates lattice distortions that lead to the formation of amorphous metal boride with unique properties in catalysis. Here we report the first synthesis of mesoporous cobalt boron amorphous alloy colloidal particles using a soft template-directed assembly approach. Dual reducing agents are used to precisely control the chemical reduction process of mesoporous cobalt boron nanospheres. The Earth-abundance of cobalt boride combined with the high surface area and mesoporous nanoarchitecture enables solar-energy efficient photothermal conversion of CO₂ into CO compared to non-porous cobalt boron alloys and commercial cobalt catalysts.

Generating high surface area mesoporous transition metal boride is challenging but interesting because incorporation of boron atoms can generate lattice distortion to form amorphous metal boride which has unique properties in catalysis.     

Carbohydrate-binding module O-mannosylation alters binding selectivity to cellulose and lignin

Improved understanding of the effect of protein glycosylation is expected to provide the foundation for the design of protein glycoengineering strategies. In this study, we examine the impact of O-glycosylation on the binding selectivity of a model Family 1 carbohydrate-binding module (CBM), which has been shown to be one of the primary sub-domains responsible for non-productive lignin binding in multi-modular cellulases. Specifically, we examine the relationship between glycan structure and the binding specificity of the CBM to cellulose and lignin substrates. We find that the glycosylation pattern of the CBM exhibits a strong influence on the binding affinity and the selectivity between both cellulose and lignin. In addition, the large set of binding data collected allows us to examine the relationship between binding affinity and the correlation in motion between pairs of glycosylation sites. Our results suggest that glycoforms displaying highly correlated motion in their glycosylation sites tend to bind cellulose with high affinity and lignin with low affinity. Taken together, this work helps lay the groundwork for future exploitation of glycoengineering as a tool to improve the performance of industrial enzymes.

Improved understanding of the effect of protein glycosylation is expected to provide the foundation for the design of protein glycoengineering strategies.

The cell walls of terrestrial plants primarily comprise the polysaccharides cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin, as well as the heterogeneous aromatic polymer, lignin. In nature, carbohydrates derived from plant polysaccharides provide a massive carbon and energy source for biomass-degrading fungi, bacteria, and archaea, which together are the primary organisms that recycle plant matter and are a critical component of the global carbon cycle. Across the various environments in which these microbes break down lignocellulose, a few known enzymatic and chemical systems have evolved to deconstruct polysaccharides to soluble sugars.^1–6 These natural systems are, in several cases, being evaluated for industrial use to produce sugars for further conversion into renewable biofuels and chemicals.From an industrial perspective, overcoming biomass recalcitrance to cost-effectively produce soluble intermediates, including sugars for further upgrading remains the main challenge in biomass conversion. Lignin, the evolution of which in planta provided a significant advantage for terrestrial plants to mitigate microbial attack, is now widely recognized as a primary cause of biomass recalcitrance.⁷ Chemical and/or biological processing scenarios of lignocellulose have been evaluated⁸ and several approaches have been scaled to industrial biorefineries to date. Many biomass conversion technologies overcome recalcitrance by partially or wholly removing lignin from biomass using thermochemical pretreatment or fractionation. This approach enables easier polysaccharide access for carbohydrate-active enzymes and/or microbes. There are however, several biomass deconstruction approaches that employ enzymes or microbes with whole, unpretreated biomass.^9,10 In most realistic biomass conversion scenarios wherein enzymes or microbes are used to depolymerize polysaccharides, native or residual lignin remains.^11,12 It is important to note that lignin can bind and sequester carbohydrate-active enzymes, which in turn can affect conversion performance.¹³Therefore, efforts aimed at improving cellulose binding selectivity relative to lignin have emerged as major thrusts in cellulase studies.^14–25 Multiple reports in the past a few years have made exciting new contributions to our collective understanding of how fungal glycoside hydrolases, which are among the most well-characterized cellulolytic enzymes given their importance to cellulosic biofuels production, bind to lignin from various pretreatments.^15,17 Taken together, these studies have demonstrated that the Family 1 carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) often found in fungal cellulases are the most relevant sub-domains for non-productive binding to lignin,^15,17,20,26 likely due to the hydrophobic face of these CBMs that is known to be also responsible for cellulose binding (Fig. 1).²⁷Open in a separate windowFig. 1Model of glycosylated CBM binding the surface of a cellulose crystal. Glycans are shown in green with oxygen atoms in red, tyrosines known to be critical to binding shown in purple, and disulfide bonds Cys8–Cys25 and Cys19–Cys35 in yellow.Furthermore, several studies have been published recently using protein engineering of Family 1 CBMs to improve CBM binding selectivity to cellulose with respect to lignin. Of particular note, Strobel et al. screened a large library of point mutations in both the Family 1 CBM and the linker connecting the catalytic domain (CD) and CBM.^21,22 These studies demonstrated that several mutations in the CBM and one in the linker led to improved cellulose binding selectivity compared to lignin. The emerging picture is that the CBM-cellulose interaction, which occurs mainly as a result of stacking between the flat, hydrophobic CBM face (which is decorated with aromatic residues) and the hydrophobic crystal face of cellulose I, is also likely the main driving force in the CBM-lignin interaction given the strong potential for aromatic–aromatic and hydrophobic interactions.Alongside amino acid changes, modification of O-glycosylation has recently emerged as a potential tool in engineering fungal CBMs, which Harrison et al. demonstrated to be O-glycosylated.^28–31 In particular, we have revealed that the O-mannosylation of a Family 1 CBM of Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I (TrCel7A) can lead to significant enhancements in the binding affinity towards bacterial microcrystalline cellulose (BMCC).^30,32,33 This observation, together with the fact that glycans have the potential to form both hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions with other molecules, led us to hypothesize that glycosylation may have a unique role in the binding selectivity of Family 1 CBMs to cellulose relative to lignin and as such, glycoengineering may be exploited to improve the industrial performance of these enzymes. To test this hypothesis, in the present study, we systematically probed the effects of glycosylation on CBM binding affinity for a variety of lignocellulose-derived cellulose and lignin substrates and investigated routes to computationally predict the binding properties of different glycosylated CBMs.     

Simple thiazocine-2-acetic acid derivatives via ring-closing metathesis

A new protocol for synthesis of 2-heterocylylacetic acid derivatives involving conjugate addition of allyl mercaptan to an acrylate containing a tethered olefinic site followed by RCM (ring-closing metathesis) is described. In this series, sulfanyl derivatives were unreactive, while sulfoxide and sulfone analogues provided the corresponding thiazocines in fair to excellent yields. Use of the sulfoxide oxidation state as a protecting group for sulfides inert to RCM is demonstrated also. Thus, oxidation of sulfide 9 [N-allyl-N-[2-(allylthio)-4-(1H-indol-1-yl)-4-oxobutyl]-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide] followed by cyclization yielded the corresponding thiazocine sulfoxide 12. Deprotection (deoxygenation) of 12 was accomplished using Lawesson's reagent, producing 1-[[4-[4-(methylphenyl)sulfonyl]-3,4,5,8-tetrahydro-2H-1,4-thiazocin-2-yl]acetyl]-1H-indole (21) in 67% unoptimized yield.     

Low-temperature growth and photoluminescence property of ZnS nanoribbons

At a low temperature of 450 degrees C, ZnS nanoribbons have been synthesized on Si and KCl substrates by a simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method with a two-temperature-zone furnace. Zinc and sulfur powders are used as sources in the different temperature zones. X-ray diffraction (XRD), selected area electron diffraction (SEAD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis show that the ZnS nanoribbons are the wurtzite structure, and there are two types-single-crystal and bicrystal nanoribbons. Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum shows that the spectrum mainly includes two parts: a purple emission band centering at about 390 nm and a blue emission band centering at about 445 nm with a weak green shoulder around 510 nm.     

煤中有机硫形态结构和热解过程硫变迁特性的研究

利用热解 质谱并结合固定床热解反应装置，对煤中有机硫的形态主其对加氢热解过程 变迁特性的影响，进行了较系统的研究。结果表明，煤中有机硫的形态结构在褐煤中主要以脂肪族、芳香族硫化物为主，而在 煤中则主要以各种不同芳构化程度的噻吩结构为主，初步表明煤中有机硫形态结构随煤变质程度的变迁呈较强的连续递变性。煤热解过程中硫在呼产物中的变迁和分布与煤中有机硫的形态结构特点密切相关。较高芳构化噻吩结构不完全的氧     

多花蔷薇花净油化学成分研究

多花蔷薇(Rose multiflora. cathayensis)又名红刺玫、刺花,系多年生落叶灌木,野生于甘肃省陇南山区,生长在海拔500～1900 m的山峰、河岸或山坡缘及灌木丛林中,花的资源丰富,是甘肃省目前需开发的野生芳香植物之一,多花蔷薇花为粉红色,花期为5月中旬至5月底,花中含芳香油,可用作化妆、皂用香精等,有关多花蔷薇花的化学成分,未见文献报道,我们将多花蔷薇花的石油醚浸膏用乙醇在0℃脱蜡3次得净油,再经硅胶柱层析分离得纯     

Adsorption recovery of thorium(IV) by Myrica rubra tannin and larch tannin immobilized onto collagen fibres

Novel adsorbents which can concentrate Th(IV) in aqueous solution were prepared by immobilizingMyrica rubra tannin and larch tannin onto collagen fibre matrices. The adsorption capacities of the immobilized tannins to Th(IV) are related to temperature and pH value of the adsorption process. For example, when the initial concentration of Th(IV) was 116.0 mg·l^-1 and the immobilized tannin was 100 mg, the adsorption capacities of immobilized Myrica rubra tannin and larch tannin were 55.98 mg Th(IV)·g^-1 and 13.19 mg Th(IV)·g^-1, respectively at 303 K, and 73.67 mg Th(IV)·g^-1 and 18.19 mg Th(IV)·g^-1 at 323 K. It was also found that the higher adsorption capacity was obtained at higher pH value. The adsorption equilibrium data of the immobilized tannins for Th(IV) can be well fitted by the Langmuir model and the mechanism of the adsorption was found to be a chemical adsorption. In general, the adsorption capacity of immobilized Myrica rubra tannin to Th(IV) is significantly higher than that of immobilized larch tannin, probably due to the fact that the B ring of Myrica rubra tannin has a pyrogallol structure which has higher reaction activity with metal ions. The breakthrough point of the adsorption column of immobilized Myrica rubra tannin was at 33 bed volumes for the experimental system. The mass transfer coefficient of adsorption column determined by Adams-Bohart equation was 1.61·10^-4 l·mg^-1.min^-1. The adsorption column can be easily regenerated by 0.1 mol·l^-1 HNO₃ solution, showing outstanding ability of concentrating Th(IV). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

LC–MS Determination and Pharmacokinetic Study of a Novel Sulfonylurea: Potential Hypoglycemic Agent in Rat Plasma

To support preclinical pharmacokinetic investigation of 1-[4-[2-(4-bromobenzene-sulfonaminoethyl)phenylsufonyl]-3-(trans-4-methylcyclohexyl)urea (G004), a rapid, sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-MS) method was developed and validated. Glibenclamide was employed as internal standard. After liquid–liquid extraction the analyte was analyzed on a Kromasil C₁₈ column (150 × 2.0 mm i.d.) with a mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile–water (0.05% acetic acid), 30:70 (v/v). The flow rate was 0.2 mL min⁻¹. Detection was performed on a quadrupole mass spectrometer using an electrospray ionization interface and the selected-ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The retention time was about 3.5 and 4.2 min for Glibenclamide and G004, respectively. The assay was linear over the concentration range of 2.0–500.0 ng mL⁻¹. Extraction Recovery of G004 in rat plasma was more than 87%. The intra- and inter-assay precision was lower than 11.5% (CV). This validated method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics of G004 in rats.     

MTT法测定稀土离子对BEL-7402及K562细胞的毒性及增殖毒性

用MTT法测定稀土离子在不同浓度、不同培养液中,与BEL 7402和K562细胞作用不同时间,对细胞的毒性和增殖毒性。结果表明,在含10%小牛血清培养液中,仅个别稀土离子在较高浓度时对BEL 7402细胞增殖有较弱的抑制作用;对于K562细胞,稀土离子在低浓度时对细胞增殖即表现出较强的抑制作用(P<0.05)。当培养液不含小牛血清时,较低浓度的稀土离子即可抑制BEL 7402细胞的增殖(P<0 05)。     

Synthesis,structure and DNA-binding studies on the 2-(3-chlorophenyl)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline-bis(2,2′-bipy ridine)-ruthenium(II) complex

A new polypyridyl ligand, MCP {MCP = 2-(3-chlorophenyl)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline} and its ruthenium(II) complex, [Ru(bpy)2(MCP)](ClO4)2· 0.5MeCN (bpy = 2,2-bipyridine), have been synthesized and characterized. The structure of the complex was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. The MCP ligand is essentially planar and the stacking interactions between the ligands were observed in the crystal. [Ru(bpy)2(MCP)]2+ can strongly bind to Calf thymus DNA through intercalation of MCP ligand. The Cl substitute group has no significant effect on the spectral properties and DNA-binding behaviour of the complex.