Structural originations of irreversible capacity loss from highly lithiated copper oxides

We use electrochemistry, high-energy X-ray diffraction (XRD) with pair-distribution function analysis (PDF), and density functional theory (DFT) to study the instabilities of Li₂CuO₂ at varying state of charge. Rietveld refinement of XRD patterns revealed phase evolution from pure Li₂CuO₂ body-centered orthorhombic (Immm) space group to multiphase compositions after cycling. The PDF showed CuO₄ square chains with varying packing during electrochemical cycling. Peaks in the G(r) at the Cu-O distance for delithiated, LiCuO₂, showed CuO₄ square chains with reduced ionic radius for Cu in the 3+ state. At full depth of discharge to 1.5 V, CuO was observed in fractions greater than the initial impurity level which strongly affects the reversibility of the lithiation reactions contributing to capacity loss. DFT calculations showed electron removal from Cu and O during delithiation of Li₂CuO₂.     

Anion/cation induced optical switches based on luminescent lanthanide (Tb3+ and Eu3+) hydrogels

Two novel silica based lanthanide complexes (Tb(a)(2) and Eu(a)(2)) were encapsulated into poly(acrylic acid) host. Both Tb(III) and Eu(III) containing hydrogels have typical and easily distinguished narrow line emissions occurring in the green and red region respectively. Particularly, the excitation wavelength for Eu complex can be extended into nearly visible light range (λ(ex) = 395 nm). Interestingly, we discover that these target materials not only exhibit selective emission response towards HSO(4)(-) (detection limit 10(-5) M) compared with CH(3)COO(-), F(-), Cl(-), Br(-) and I(-) but also give unique quenching to Cu(2+) (detection limit 10(-5) M) (tested cations: Cu(2+), Pd(2+), Cd(2+), Co(2+) and Mn(2+)). More importantly, this kind of materials can be recycled more than 10 times.     

Determination of metabolites in Uncaria sinensis by HPLC and GC-MS after green solvent microwave-assisted extraction

Uncaria sinensis (Oliv.) Havil (Rubiaceae) has been used as an important Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herb for the treatment of fevers and various nervous disorders. The major bioactive secondary metabolites from different classes of chemical compounds, i.e. organic acid, flavonoid and alkaloid, present in this TCM herb, namely catechin, caffeic acid, epicatechin and rhynchophylline, were extracted by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method with ultra-pure water as the extraction solvent. The optimal extraction conditions for this green solvent MAE method were found to be 100 °C for 20 min. The recoveries of the compounds were found to be comparable to that of heating under reflux using ultra-pure water for 60 min. The method precision (RSD, n = 6) was found to vary from 0.19% to 5.60% for the proposed method on different days for the secondary metabolites. Simultaneously, the key primary metabolites such as sucrose and phenylalanine for the biosynthesis of bioactive secondary metabolites were successfully characterized by GC-MS. Furthermore, an approach using the combination of primary and secondary metabolite profiling based on their chemical fingerprints with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was successfully developed to evaluate the quality of U. sinensis obtained from different sources. This approach was shown to be feasible in discriminating U. sinensis from different origins and thus a potential application for the quality control of other medicinal herbs.     

具有表面活性的功能化离子液体N-(三甲氧硅丙基)-N-甲基-2-吡咯烷酮盐酸盐的合成与表征

以N-甲基-2-吡咯烷酮和3-氯丙基三甲氧基硅烷单体为原料,利用SN2亲核取代反应合成具有一定表面活性的功能化离子液体N-(三甲氧硅丙基)-N-甲基-2-吡咯烷酮盐酸盐.通过元素分析、红外光谱和核磁共振对功能化离子液体进行表征,并测定了其表面张力和导电率.结果表明,合成的产物结构与其理论结构基本一致,具有较宽的液体温度范围和较低的表面张力,并具有较高的电导率,随着温度的升高,电导率逐渐增高.     

Screening and analysis of aconitum alkaloids and their metabolites in rat urine after oral administration of aconite roots extract using LC-TOFMS-based metabolomics

Aconite roots are popularly used in herbal medicines in China. Many cases of accidental and intentional intoxication with this plant have been reported; some of these are fatal because the toxicity of aconitum is very high. It is thus important to detect and identify aconitum alkaloids in biofluids. In this work, an improved method employing LC-TOFMS with multivariate data analysis was developed for screening and analysis of major aconitum alkaloids and their metabolites in rat urine following oral administration of aconite roots extract. Thirty-four signals highlighted by multivariate statistical analyses including 24 parent components and 10 metabolites were screened out and further identified by adjustment of the fragmentor voltage to produce structure-relevant fragment ions. It is helpful for studying aconite roots in toxicology, pharmacology and forensic medicine. This work also confirmed that the metabolomic approach provides effective tools for screening multiple absorbed and metabolic components of Chinese herbal medicines in vivo.     

Deprotonative metalation of chloro- and bromopyridines using amido-based bimetallic species and regioselectivity-computed CH acidity relationships

A series of chloro- and bromopyridines have been deprotometalated by using a range of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidino-based mixed lithium-metal combinations. Whereas lithium-zinc and lithium-cadmium bases afforded different mono- and diiodides after subsequent interception with iodine, complete regioselectivities were observed with the corresponding lithium-copper combination, as demonstrated by subsequent trapping with benzoyl chlorides. The obtained selectivities have been discussed in light of the CH acidities of the substrates, determined both in the gas phase and as a solution in THF by using the DFT B3LYP method.     

Amine-assisted synthesis of concave polyhedral platinum nanocrystals having {411} high-index facets

High-index surfaces of a face-centered cubic metal (e.g., Pd, Pt) have a high density of low-coordinated surface atoms and therefore possess enhanced catalysis activity in comparison with low-index faces. However, because of their high surface energy, the challenge of chemically preparing metal nanocrystals having high-index facets remains. We demonstrate in this work that introducing amines as the surface controller allows concave Pt nanocrystals having {411} high-index facets to be prepared through a facile wet-chemical route. The as-prepared Pt nanocrystals display a unique octapod morphology with {411} facets. The presence of high-index {411} exposed facets endows the concave Pt nanocrystals with excellent electrocatalytic activity in the oxidation of both formic acid and ethanol.     

Insulin-binding aptamer-conjugated graphene oxide for insulin detection

This paper describes a simple and sensitive aptamer/graphene oxide (GO) based assay for insulin detection. GO can protect DNA from nuclease cleavage, but aptamers can be detached from the GO surface by specific target binding. This exposes the aptamers to enzymatic cleavage and releases the target for a new cycle. Cycling of targets leads to significant signal amplification and low LOD.     

Plasmonic gold nanocrosses with multidirectional excitation and strong photothermal effect

We report a facile chemical synthesis of well-defined gold nanocrosses through anisotropic growth along both <110> and <001>, whereas gold nanorods grow only along either <110> or <001>. The multiple branching was achieved by breaking the face-centered-cubic lattice symmetry of gold through copper-induced formation of single or double twins, and the resulting gold nanocrosses exhibited pronounced near-IR absorption with a great extension to the mid-IR region. As studied by discrete dipole approximation (DDA) simulations, the entire nanocross gets excited even when one of the branches is exposed to incident light. The above properties make them useful as octopus antennas for capturing near-IR light for effective photothermal destruction of cells. The cell damage process was analyzed using the Arrhenius model, and its intrinsic thermodynamic characteristics were determined quantitatively. Besides effective photothermal treatment and two-photon luminescence imaging, the near- and mid-IR-absorbing gold nanocrosses may also find applications in IR sensing, thermal imaging, telecommunications, and the like.     

Total syntheses of drimane-type sesquiterpenoids enabled by a gold-catalyzed tandem reaction

Development of a gold-catalyzed tandem reaction of 1,7-diynes with both internal and external nucleophiles was realized, which constructed five chemical bonds, two rings, and two stereogenic centers in a single step. Based on the novel cascade transformation, we achieved a unified strategy toward the stereoselective total syntheses of C-15 oxygenated drimane-type sesquiterpenoids and their analogues, which provided the natural products kuehneromycin A, antrocin, anhydromarasmone, and marasmene as a proof-of-concept study.