Total synthesis of Daphnodorin A

A total synthesis of Daphnodorin A, a member of the Daphnodorins, was accomplished. Key features of the synthetic strategy include construction of 2-substituted-3-functionalized benzofuran via intramolecular Heck reaction and a mild Barton–McCombie deoxygenation process mediated by triethylborane. The total synthesis provided Daphnodorin A in 19.7% or 5.6% overall yield over 7 or 15 steps.     

Determination of 12 potential nephrotoxicity biomarkers in rat serum and urine by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry and its application to renal failure induced by Semen Strychni

In previous nephrotoxicity metabonomic studies, several potential biomarkers were found and evaluated. To investigate the relationship between the nephrotoxicity biomarkers and the therapeutic role of Radix Glycyrrhizae extract on Semen Strychni‐induced renal failure, 12 typical biomarkers are selected and a simple LC–MS method has been developed and validated. Citric acid, guanidinosuccinic acid, taurine, guanidinoacetic acid, uric acid, creatinine, hippuric acid, xanthurenic acid, kynurenic acid, 3‐indoxyl sulfate, indole‐3‐acetic acid, and phenaceturic acid were separated by a Phenomenex Luna C₁₈ column and a methanol/water (5 mM ammonium acetate) gradient program with a runtime of 20 min. The prepared calibration curves showed good linearity with regression coefficients all above 0.9913. The absolute recoveries of analytes from serum and urine were all more than 70.4%. With the developed method, analytes were successfully determined in serum and urine samples within 52 days. Results showed that guanidinosuccinic acid, guanidinoacetic acid, 3‐indoxyl sulfate, and indole‐3‐acetic acid (only in urine) were more sensitive than the conventional renal function markers in evaluating the therapeutic role of Radix Glycyrrhizae extract on Semen Strychni‐induced renal failure. The method could be further used in predicting and monitoring renal failure cause by other reasons in the following researches.     

Topologically protected interface mode in plasmonic waveguide arrays

Recent realization of nontrivial topological phases in photonic systems has provided unprecedented opportunities in steering light flow in novel manners. Based on the Su–Schriffer–Heeger (SSH) model, a topologically protected optical mode was successfully demonstrated in a plasmonic waveguide array with a kinked interface that exhibits a robust nonspreading feature. However, under the same excitation conditions, another antikinked structure seemingly cannot support such a topological interface mode, which appears to be inconsistent with the SSH model. Theoretical calculations are carried out based on the coupled‐mode theory, in which the mode properties, excitation conditions, and the robustness are studied in detail. It is revealed that under the exact eigenstate excitations, both kinked and antikinked structures do support such robust topological interface modes; however, for a realistic single‐waveguide input only the kinked structure does so. It is concluded that the symmetry of interface eigenmodes plays a crucial role, and the odd eigenmode in a kinked structure offers the capacity to excite the nonspreading interface mode in the realistic excitation of a one‐waveguide input. Our finding deepens the understanding of mode excitation and propagation in coupled waveguide systems, and could open a new avenue in optical simulations and photonic designs.

     

Controlled synthesis of dendritic ruthenium nanostructures under microwave irradiation and their catalytic properties for p-chloronitrobenzene hydrogenation

Transition Metal Chemistry - In this study, the shape-controlled synthesis of ruthenium (Ru) nanostructures was examined using microwave irradiation. Dendritic Ru nanostructures, with an average...     

Fault tolerant deterministic secure quantum communication using logical Bell states against collective noise

This study proposes two novel fault tolerant deterministic secure quantum communication(DSQC) schemes resistant to collective noise using logical Bell states. Either DSQC scheme is constructed based on a new coding function, which is designed by exploiting the property of the corresponding logical Bell states immune to collective-dephasing noise and collective-rotation noise, respectively. The secret message can be encoded by two simple unitary operations and decoded by merely performing Bell measurements, which can make the proposed scheme more convenient in practical applications.Moreover, the strategy of one-step quanta transmission, together with the technique of decoy logical qubits checking not only reduces the influence of other noise existing in a quantum channel, but also guarantees the security of the communication between two legitimate users. The final analysis shows that the proposed schemes are feasible and robust against various well-known attacks over the collective noise channel.     

丙烯酸酯/液晶/POSS复合体系光聚合过程中的体积收缩

采用光-流变学方法研究了丙烯酸酯/液晶复合体系的光聚合凝胶时间及体积收缩率,并与密度法测量的体积收缩率进行了对比.结果表明,该复合体系的凝胶时间小于10 s,光-流变学方法可以在线测量丙烯酸酯单体/液晶复合体系的光聚合体积收缩.以2种不同结构的多面体齐聚倍半硅氧烷(POSS)掺杂丙烯酸酯/液晶复合体系,八甲基丙烯酰氧基倍半硅氧烷(MA-POSS)使丙烯酸酯/液晶复合体系的双键转化率略有降低,掺杂10 wt%MA-POSS使体系的光聚合体积收缩率仅降低了12%;而甲基丙烯酰氧基七异丁基倍半硅氧烷(MI-POSS)对体系双键转化率的影响较小,显著降低了体系的光聚合体积收缩,掺杂10 wt%MI-POSS使体系的光聚合体积收缩率降低29%.     

Synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones in the presence of Fe3O4@nano-cellulose–OPO3H as a bio-based magnetic nanocatalyst

In this research, we have used Fe₃O₄@nano-cellulose–OPO₃H as magnetic bio-based nanocatalyst for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones via condensation of 2-aminobenzamide and different aldehydes. The major advantages of the present methodology are good yields, ecofriendly catalyst, and easy workup.     

Metal–Organic Gels from Silver Nanoclusters with Aggregation-Induced Emission and Fluorescence-to-Phosphorescence Switching

Luminescent metal nanoclusters (NCs) are emerging as a new class of functional materials that have rich physicochemical properties and wide potential applications. In recent years, it has been found that some metal NCs undergo aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and an interesting fluorescence-to-phosphorescence (F-P) switching in solutions. However, insights of both the AIE and the F-P switching remain largely unknown. Now, gelation of water soluble, atomically precise Ag₉ NCs is achieved by the addition of antisolvent. Self-assembly of Ag₉ NCs into entangled fibers was confirmed, during which AIE was observed together with an F-P switching occurring within a narrow time scale. Structural evaluation indicates the fibers are highly ordered. The self-assembly of Ag₉ NCs and their photoluminescent property are thermally reversible, making the metal–organic gels good candidates for luminescent ratiometric thermometers.