A Hydrogen-Deficient Nickel–Cobalt Double Hydroxide for Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

Developing highly efficient and low-cost photocatalysts for overall water splitting has long been a pursuit for converting solar power into clean hydrogen energy. Herein, we demonstrate that a nonstoichiometric nickel–cobalt double hydroxide can achieve overall water splitting by itself upon solar light irradiation, avoiding the consumption of noble-metal co-catalysts. We employed an intensive laser to ablate a NiCo alloy target immersed in alkaline solution, and produced so-called L-NiCo nanosheets with a nonstoichiometric composition and O²⁻/Co³⁺ ions exposed on the surface. The nonstoichiometric composition broadens the band gap, while O²⁻ and Co³⁺ ions boost hydrogen and oxygen evolution, respectively. As such, the photocatalyst achieves a H₂ evolution rate of 1.7 μmol h⁻¹ under AM 1.5G sunlight irradiation and an apparent quantum yield (AQE) of 1.38 % at 380 nm.     

Water-Insensitive Synthesis of Poly-β-Peptides with Defined Architecture

Biocompatible and proteolysis-resistant poly-β-peptides have broad applications and are dominantly synthesized via the harsh and water-sensitive ring-opening polymerization of β-lactams in a glovebox or using a Schlenk line, catalyzed by the strong base LiN(SiMe₃)₂. We have developed a controllable and water-insensitive ring-opening polymerization of β-amino acid N-thiocarboxyanhydrides (β-NTAs) that can be operated in open vessels to prepare poly-β-peptides in high yields, with diverse functional groups, variable chain length, narrow dispersity and defined architecture. These merits imply wide applications of β-NTA polymerization and resulting poly-β-peptides, which is validated by the finding of a HDP-mimicking poly-β-peptide with potent antimicrobial activities. The living β-NTA polymerization enables the controllable synthesis of random, block copolymers and easy tuning of both terminal groups of polypeptides, which facilitated the unravelling of the antibacterial mechanism using the fluorophore-labelled poly-β-peptide.     

Cross-Module Enoylreduction in the Azalomycin F Polyketide Synthase

The colinearity of canonical modular polyketide synthases, which creates a direct link between multienzyme structure and the chemical structure of the biosynthetic end-product, has become a cornerstone of knowledge-based genome mining. Herein, we report genetic and enzymatic evidence for the remarkable role of an enoylreductase in the polyketide synthase for azalomycin F biosynthesis. This internal enoylreductase domain, previously identified as acting only in the second of two chain extension cycles on an initial iterative module, is shown to also catalyze enoylreduction in trans within the next module. The mechanism for this rare deviation from colinearity appears to involve direct cross-modular interaction of the reductase with the longer acyl chain, rather than back transfer of the substrate into the iterative module, suggesting an additional and surprising plasticity in natural PKS assembly-line catalysis.     

部分还原二氧化钛的NMR和EPR研究

Partially reduced TiO₂ nanomaterials have attracted significant interest because of their visible-light activity for catalysis and photodegradation. Herein, we prepared a partially reduced anatase TiO₂ (Re-A-TiO₂) nanoparticle material using a fast combustion method, demonstrating good activity toward decomposing methyl orange under visible light irradiation. The surface structure of the prepared material, after being surface-selectively ¹⁷O-labeled with H₂¹⁷O (¹⁷O-enriched water), was studied via ¹⁷O and ¹H solid-state magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and the obtained results were compared to those of non-reduced anatase TiO₂ (A-TiO₂). The EPR results showed that the concentrations of paramagnetic species (i.e., oxygen vacancies (OV) and Ti³⁺) in Re-A-TiO₂ were much higher than that in A-TiO₂, while the former was associated with a higher OV/Ti³⁺ ratio. The intensities of the EPR signals were significantly affected by the adsorbed water, and this phenomenon was explored in combination with ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The ¹H species on Re-A-TiO₂ appeared at larger chemical shifts, denoting the increased acidity of the sample, and these ¹H species on Re-A-TiO₂ were more difficult to remove than those on A-TiO₂. On the other hand, different features were observed for the signals arising from the two-coordinated oxygen atoms (μ₂-O) in ¹⁷O NMR, suggesting a typical anatase TiO₂(101) surface on A-TiO₂, but a more complex surface environment for Re-A-TiO₂. Furthermore, a larger amount of hydroxyl groups (OH) were observed on Re-A-TiO₂ compared to that on A-TiO₂, indicating a larger proportion of exposed (001) facets on Re-A-TiO₂. However, the μ₂-O signals broadened and became similar when the drying temperature was increased to 100 ℃, indicating a non-faceted anatase TiO₂ surface in such conditions. Based on the EPR and NMR results, a significant fraction of the OH species is believed to be formed from the reaction of the paramagnetic centers and adsorbed water molecules. The ¹H→¹⁷O cross polarization (CP) MAS and two-dimensional heteronuclear correlation (2D HETCOR) NMR spectra were used to verify the spatial proximity of the hydrogen and oxygen species, confirming the spectral assignments of a strongly adsorbed water and one type of surface OH species. In particular, the ¹H NMR signals at approximately 11 ppm were ascribed to the hydrogen species in the intramolecular hydrogen bond. In summary, this study investigated the paramagnetic species and surface structure of anatase TiO₂ materials by combining EPR along with ¹H and ¹⁷O solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The differences in the surface structures of Re-A-TiO₂ and A-TiO₂ should be closely related to their different properties toward the photodegradation of methyl orange.     

Synthesis and properties of side-chain liquid crystalline polymers grafted with chiral dimers containing cholesteryl groups

ABSTRACT

Two series of novel side-chain liquid crystal (LC) polysiloxanes grafted with chiral liquid crystalline dimers containing cholesteryl mesogens were synthesised. The chemical structure and LC properties of comonomers and polymers were characterised by FTIR, ¹H-NMR, DSC, TGA, POM and XRD. M₁ and M₂ were chiral nematic (N*) dimers, and M₃ was an achiral LC monomer displaying nematic mesophase in a narrow mesomorphic temperature range, while the copolymers exhibited N* mesophase whose mesomorphic temperature ranges were much wider than those of the comonomers. Moreover, the glass transition temperatures and isotropization temperatures of the polymers all decreased with decreasing the dimer components. Reflection spectra showed that P_a series tend to attain wide-band selective reflection at long wavelengths, while P_b series were more potential at short wavelengths with narrow bandwidths. Decreasing the dimer components led the wavelength of the selective reflection to blue shift, which was an abnormal phenomenon in chiral mixture system.     

Orthogonal Cationic and Radical RAFT Polymerizations to Prepare Bottlebrush Polymers

An orthogonal combination of cationic and radical RAFT polymerizations is used to synthesize bottlebrush polymers using two distinct RAFT agents. Selective consumption of the first RAFT agent is used to control the cationic RAFT polymerization of a vinyl ether monomer bearing a secondary dormant RAFT agent, which subsequently allows side‐chain polymers to be grafted from the pendant RAFT agent by a radical‐mediated RAFT polymerization of a different monomer, thus completing the synthesis of bottlebrush polymers. The high efficiency and selectivity of the cationic and radical RAFT polymerizations allow both polymerizations to be conducted in one‐pot tandem without intermediate purification.     

Solid-Solution Effect on Grain Boundary Character Distribution and Corrosion Resistance of 304 Stainless Steel

Russian Journal of Electrochemistry - In this study, we focus on the effect of solid-solution treatment on the susceptibility to intergranular corrosion and electrochemical corrosion of 304...     

Poly(2‐Oxazoline)‐Based Functional Peptide Mimics: Eradicating MRSA Infections and Persisters while Alleviating Antimicrobial Resistance

Peptides have important biological functions. However, their susceptibility to proteolysis limits their applications. We demonstrated here for the first time, that poly(2‐oxazoline) (POX) can work as a functional mimic of peptides. POX‐based glycine pseudopeptides, a host defense peptide mimic, had potent activities against methicillin‐resistant S. aureus, which causes formidable infections. The POX mimic showed potent activity against persisters that are highly resistant to antibiotics. S. aureus did not develop resistance to POX owning to the reactive oxygen species related antimicrobial mechanism. POX‐treated S. aureus is sensitive to common antibiotics, demonstrating no observable antimicrobial pressure or cross‐resistance in using antimicrobial POX. This study highlights POX as a new type of functional mimic of peptides and opens new avenues in designing and exploring peptide mimetics for biological functions and applications.     

Iron‐Catalyzed Highly Enantioselective cis‐Dihydroxylation of Trisubstituted Alkenes with Aqueous H2O2

Reliable methods for enantioselective cis‐dihydroxylation of trisubstituted alkenes are scarce. The iron(II) complex cis‐α‐[Fe^II(2‐Me₂‐BQPN)(OTf)₂], which bears a tetradentate N₄ ligand (Me₂‐BQPN=(R,R)‐N,N′‐dimethyl‐N,N′‐bis(2‐methylquinolin‐8‐yl)‐1,2‐diphenylethane‐1,2‐diamine), was prepared and characterized. With this complex as the catalyst, a broad range of trisubstituted electron‐deficient alkenes were efficiently oxidized to chiral cis‐diols in yields of up to 98 % and up to 99.9 % ee when using hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as oxidant under mild conditions. Experimental studies (including ¹⁸O‐labeling, ESI‐MS, NMR, EPR, and UV/Vis analyses) and DFT calculations were performed to gain mechanistic insight, which suggested possible involvement of a chiral cis‐Fe^V(O)₂ reaction intermediate as an active oxidant. This cis‐[Fe^II(chiral N₄ ligand)]²⁺/H₂O₂ method could be a viable green alternative/complement to the existing OsO₄‐based methods for asymmetric alkene dihydroxylation reactions.     

Pullback Attractors for Stochastic Young Differential Delay Equations

We study the asymptotic dynamics of stochastic Young differential delay equations under the regular assumptions on Lipschitz continuity of the coefficient functions. Our main results show that, if there is a linear part in the drift term which has no delay factor and has eigenvalues of negative real parts, then the generated random dynamical system possesses a random pullback attractor provided that the Lipschitz coefficients of the remaining parts are small.