Evaluation of the separation performance of polyvinylpyrrolidone as a virtual stationary phase for chromatographic NMR

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used as a virtual stationary phase to separate p‐xylene, benzyl alcohol, and p‐methylphenol by the chromatographic NMR technique. The effects of concentration and weight‐average molecular weight (Mw) of PVP, solvent viscosity, solvent polarity, and sample temperature on the resolution of these components were investigated. It was found that both higher PVP concentration and higher PVP Mw caused the increase of diffusion resolution for the three components. Moreover, the diffusion resolution did not change at viscosity‐higher solvents. Moreover, the three components showed different resolution at different solvents. As temperature increased, the diffusion resolution between p‐xylene and benzyl alcohol gradually increased, and the one between p‐xylene and p‐methylphenol slightly increased from 278 to 298 K and then decreased above 298 K. It was also found that the polarity of the analytes played an important role for the separation by affecting the diffusion coefficient. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

二氰胺钴、镍调控钒酸铋界面载流子传输及光催化产氧研究（英文）

光催化水分解反应是解决当前世界范围严峻的能源与环境问题的一种有效途径.光催化分解水过程可以分为产氢和产氧两个半反应.产氧反应过程复杂,动力学缓慢,是光催化分解水的限速步骤,因此需要探索性能优异的水氧化催化剂(WOCs)来提高产氧半反应的效率.钒酸铋近年来被广泛研究并应用于光催化产氧领域.钒酸铋拥有合适的带宽(2.4 eV)以及较好的稳定性,但是其应用受到其严重的电子空穴复合率、较低的电荷传输能力以及较差的反应动力学的限制.以往研究表明,通过构建复合光催化体系可以有效促进光生电荷的分离与传输,提高材料的光催化性能.因此,我们提出构建新型的BiVO_4/M(dca)_2(M=Co,Ni)复合体系,其中,BiVO_4作为光敏化剂,M(dca)_2作为水氧化催化剂.红外测试和紫外可见测试的结果表明,M(dca)_2通过物理吸附的方式附着在BiVO_4表面,形成BiVO_4/M(dca)_2复合光催化剂体系.复合体系的产氧活性相较于纯BiVO_4有明显的提升.光催化产氧测试结果表明,BiVO_4/Co(dca)2和BiVO_4/Ni(dca)_2复合体系的产氧活性分别可达508.1和297.7μmol/(h·g),而纯BiVO_4的产氧活性只有252.2μmol/(h·g).进一步的稳定性测试结果表明,BiVO_4/Co(dca)2复合体系在30 h的测试过程中能够保持稳定的活性.ICP-MS和XPS的表征结果证明了催化过程中分子催化剂良好的稳定性,排除了反应过程中生成氧化物进而促进产氧活性的可能.对该复合体系的一系列电化学表征证明,M(dca)_2有效改善了BiVO_4/电解液界面的电荷传输性能,从而促进了光催化产氧性能.其中,莫特-肖特基测试表明,M(dca)_2的加入增大了能带弯曲,提高了空穴传递的驱动力,阻抗谱的测试证明了复合体系具有较低的界面电阻,有利于载流子的迁移.通过对复合体系光生载流子分离和注入效率的表征,可以证明,在BiVO_4/M(dca)_2复合体系中,光生空穴能够有效地从BiVO_4迁移到M(dca)_2,进而参与光催化产氧反应并且光催化活性有明显的提升.其中,由于Co(dca)2能够更加有效地改善BiVO_4/电解质的水氧化反应动力学过程,其活性显著优于BiVO_4/Ni(dca)_2体系和纯BiVO_4.此外,基于实验结果和各项表征,我们进一步提出了BiVO_4/Co(dca)2光催化产氧反应的反应机理:光照条件下,BiVO_4中电子跃迁至导带,进而被牺牲剂消耗,而价带上的空穴则传递至分子催化剂进行化学反应,其中,分子催化的反应机理遵循水亲核攻击的模型.     

Mechanism of the Enhanced Electrochemical Properties of LiNi<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Co<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript> Cathode Materials by a Pre-Sintering Process

α-NaFeO₂ layered LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ cathode materials were synthesized by mechanical milling accompanied by the solid phase sintering. The sample exhibited a good crystallinity and layered structure while sintered at 900°C, which can be further improved by adding a pre-sintering process at 500°C before high temperature sintering. The sample with a pre-sintering process presents an average particle size about 0.6 μm, and a hexagonal crystalline structure. The optimally fabricated sample showed a first charge capacity of 210.2 mA h/g, discharge capacity of 171.2 mA h/g with a current rate of 0.2 C within the voltage range of 2.7~4.5 V. With increasing the current rate to 1 C, the charge–discharge capacity faded quickly during the cycling process, which can be partially recovered while operated at a low current rate. However, the capacity fading at a current rate of 2 C was largely irreversible. The evolution of the surface chemical states was evaluated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on the charged and discharged samples to understand the high rate capacity fading.     

Selective ruthenium-catalyzed double reductive aminations using hydrosilane to access tertiary amines and piperidine derivatives

A highly selective double reductive aminations of aldehydes with anilines to give tertiary amines, in the presence of [RuCl₂(p-cymene)]₂ catalyst and PhSiH₃, was performed under neat conditions. Piperidine derivatives were successfully synthesized by a double reductive amination followed by cyclisation from glutaric dialdehyde with anilines.     

Asymmetric hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes catalyzed by bifunctional chiral Al(III) complexes

A new bifunctional chiral Al(III) complex of BINOL derivative, which contained tert-amine at 3,3′-position of the BINOL, has been developed for the effective enantioselective hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes. A variety of aromatic, heteroaromatic, condensed-ring, α,β-unsaturated, and aliphatic aldehydes were found to be suitable substrates for the reaction, and the desired α-hydroxy phosphonate were obtained in good to excellent yields (up to 99%) with moderate to good enantioselectivities (up to 87% ee) under mild conditions (at 0 °C). A possible catalytic cycle based on the experimental results was proposed.     

Reactivity of fullerene epoxide: preparation of fullerene-fused thiirane, tetrahydrothiazolidin-2-one, and 1,3-dioxolane

The epoxide moiety in the fullerene-mixed peroxide C60(O)(OOtBu)4 1 reacts readily with aryl isocyanates ArNCS (Ar = Ph, Naph) to form both the thiirane derivative C60(S)(OOtBu)4 and fullerene-fused tetrahydrothiazolidin-2-one. The reaction of 1 with trimethylsilyl isothiocyanate TMSNCS yields the isothiocyanate derivative C60(NCS)(OH)(OOtBu)4, the isothiocyanate and hydroxyl moieties of which could be converted to a fullerene-fused tetrahydrothiazolidin-2-one ring with alumina quantitatively. Treating 1 with BF3.Et2O yields the fullerene-fused [1,3,2]-dioxoborolane derivative C60(O2BOH)(OOtBu)4. In the presence of aldehyde or acetone, BF3.Et2O catalyzes the conversion of epoxide to fullerene-fused 1,3-dioxolane derivatives. The products are characterized by spectroscopic data. Two of the compounds are also characterized by single-crystal X-ray analysis.     

Selective In Situ Analysis of Mature microRNAs in Extracellular Vesicles Using a DNA Cage-Based Thermophoretic Assay

Mature microRNAs (miRNAs) in extracellular vesicles (EVs) are involved in different stages of cancer progression, yet it remains challenging to precisely detect mature miRNAs in EVs due to the presence of interfering RNAs (such as longer precursor miRNAs, pre-miRNAs) and the low abundance of tumor-associated miRNAs. By leveraging the size-selective ability of DNA cages and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-enhanced thermophoretic accumulation of EVs, we devised a DNA cage-based thermophoretic assay for highly sensitive, selective, and in situ detection of mature miRNAs in EVs with a low limit of detection (LoD) of 2.05 fM. Our assay can profile EV mature miRNAs directly in serum samples without the interference of pre-miRNAs and the need for ultracentrifugation. A clinical study showed that EV miR-21 or miR-155 had an overall accuracy of 90 % for discrimination between breast cancer patients and healthy donors, which outperformed conventional molecular probes detecting both mature miRNAs and pre-miRNAs. We envision that our assay can advance EV miRNA-based diagnosis of cancer.     

Preparation of azafullerene derivatives from fullerene-mixed peroxides and single crystal X-ray structures of azafulleroid and azafullerene

Azafullerene was prepared by addition of hydroxylamine to a cage-opened fullerendione derivative and subsequent PCl5 induced rearrangement processes. X-ray structures were obtained for the azafullerene and its azafulleroid precursor.     

Catalyst- and Oxidant-Free Electrochemical Regioselective Halogenation and Trifluoromethylation of 4H-Pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-ones

The catalyst-free electrochemical halogenation and trifluoromethylation of 4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-ones was realized under external-oxidant-free conditions. This strategy provides an easy and green access to functionalized new 4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-one derivatives with broad scope, good functional group tolerance and high regioselectivity.