Three‐dimensional structure of cyclic antibiotic teicoplanin aglycone using NMR distance and dihedral angle restraints in a DMSO solvation model

The three‐dimensional solution conformation of teicoplanin aglycone was determined using NMR spectroscopy. A combination of NOE and dihedral angle restraints in a DMSO solvation model was used to calculate an ensemble of structures having a root mean square deviation of 0.17 Å. The structures were generated using systematic searches of conformational space for optimal satisfaction of distance and dihedral angle restraints. Comparison of the NMR‐derived structure of teicoplanin aglycone with the X‐ray structure of a teicoplanin aglycone analog revealed a common backbone conformation with deviation of two aromatic side chain substituents. Experimentally determined backbone ¹³C chemical shifts showed good agreement with those computed at the density functional level of theory, providing a cross validation of the backbone conformation. The flexible portion of the molecule was consistent with the region that changes conformation to accommodate protein binding. The results showed that a hydrogen‐bonded DMSO molecule in combination with NMR‐derived restraints together enabled calculation of structures that satisfied experimental data. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

碳模板诱导生长Fe-Nx活性位点

能源危机和环境恶化是当今社会面临的巨大挑战. 燃料电池作为一种高效、清洁的发电装置,受到了社会各界特别是新能源行业的高度关注. 尤其是, 日本丰田推出Mirai燃料电池汽车量产上市计划, 把燃料电池及其关键技术发展推向了一个新的发展纪元. 然而, 制约燃料电池走向大规模商业化的核心问题依然是其综合性能不具竞争力. 其中, 氧电极的缓慢动力学以及贵金属Pt的有限资源、高昂成本等是关键所在, 因此, 亟待实现高性能非贵金属催化剂的突破.近年来, 大量研究表明, Fe-Nx掺杂的碳催化剂具有极大的代Pt潜力, 研究者们尝试各种手段进行开发,如: 调控Fe化合物及N前驱体的类型与添加量, 改变温度、压力等合成条件, 采用轴向配位体连接、共价接枝、球磨等非热解路线, 构建核壳、有序介孔碳、阵列、类石墨烯薄片、多孔碳等碳纳米结构, 制备石墨烯/碳纳米管、石墨烯/碳黑、碳纳米带/碳纳米管、碳纳米颗粒/碳纤维、碳球/碳纳米管/石墨烯等复合材料, 进行酸洗、造孔、二次加热等后处理, 调控不同类型Fe物种相生成等. 此外, EXAFS及M?ssbauer等谱学技术已经证实Fe-Nx特别是Fe-N4为强活性位点. 因此, 有待提出合理策略以促进非贵金属碳催化剂中Fe-Nx强活性位点的高密度掺杂.本文提出了一种碳模板诱导Fe-Nx活性位点生长的方法即通过高温热解含有Fe盐的三聚氰胺前驱体混合物, 成功制备 了Fe-Nx掺杂的碳催化剂, 并结合多种表征技术证实了碳模板对制备碳催化剂结构组成及电化学性能的影响. 形貌结果说明, 碳模板的引入有利于Fe、N化合物的均匀吸附以至于Fe基纳米颗粒的均一成核, 促使竹状碳纳米管在碳模板表面以及中间均一生长; 氮气吸脱附及孔径分布曲线显示, 引入碳模板形成的复合材料较单一的碳纳米管和碳黑材料具有提高的比表面积和总孔体积, 说明复合材料中存在两种单体的有效协同; M?ssbauer、XPS及XRD测试数据证实, 碳模板可以调控Fe、N两种元素的耦合方式, 能够抑制金属Fe和Fe碳化物等非活性Fe物种的生成、诱导Fe-N4和其它Fe氮化物等强活性Fe-Nx物种的生长. 电化学测试数据表明, 复合材料具有提升的面积活性和质量活性, 且TOF值明显提高, 说明碳模板的引入增强了Fe-Nx位点的本征活性; 此外, 复合材料的氧还原过程为高效的4e-途径, 且较商业Pt/C催化剂表现出了优异的循环稳定性和甲醇耐受性.     

Controlled formation of optically reflective and electrically conductive silvered surfaces on polyimide film via a direct ion-exchange self-metallization technique using silver ammonia complex cation as the precursor

Double-surface-silvered polyimide films have been successfully fabricated using silver ammonia complex cation ([Ag(NH3)2]+) as the silver precursor and 3,3',4,4'-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride/4,4'-oxidianile- (BTDA/ODA-) based poly(amic acid) (PAA) as the polyimide precursor via a direct ion-exchange self-metallization technique. The process has been clarified to involve the loading of silver(I) into PAA via ion exchange, the thermally induced reduction of silver(I) to silver(0) and the concomitant imidization of PAA to polyimide upon thermal treatment, the subsequent silver-catalyzed and oxygen-assisted decomposition of the polyimide overlayer, and the self-accelerated aggregation of silver clusters on the film surface to produce well-defined surface silver layers. By employing [Ag(NH3)2]+ solution with a concentration of only 0.01 M and an ion-exchange time of no more than 10 min, the controlled formation of highly reflective and conductive silver surfaces upon thermal treatment at 300 degrees C for less than 4.5 h indicates that the present work provides an efficient route and an effacious silver species for polyimide surface metallization. Although the alkaline characteristics of [Ag(NH3)2]+ have a strong hydrolysis effect on the polyimide precursor chains, the final metallized films retain the key mechanical and thermal properties of the pure polyimide. Films were characterized by ATR-FTIR, XPS, ICP-AES, SEM, TEM, DSC, TGA, reflectivity, conductivity, and mechanical measurements.     

Alloying-Triggered Phase Engineering of NiFe System via Laser-Assisted Al Incorporation for Full Water Splitting

It is challenging to design one non-noble material with balanced bifunctional performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for commercial sustainability at a low cost since the different electrocatalytic mechanisms are not easily matchable for each other. Herein, a self-standing hybrid system Ni₁₈Fe₁₂Al₇₀, consisting of Ni₂Al₃ and Ni₃Fe phases, was constructed by laser-assisted aluminum (Al) incorporation towards full water splitting. It was found that the incorporation of Al could effectively tune the morphologies, compositions and phases. The results indicate that Ni₁₈Fe₁₂Al₇₀ delivers an extremely low overpotential to trigger both HER (η₁₀₀=188 mV) and OER (η₁₀₀=345 mV) processes and maintains a stable overpotential for 100 h, comparable to state-of-the-art electrocatalysts. The synergistic effect of Ni₂Al₃ and Ni₃Fe alloys on the HER process is confirmed based on theoretical calculation.     

Conversion of the Native 24‐mer Ferritin Nanocage into Its Non‐Native 16‐mer Analogue by Insertion of Extra Amino Acid Residues

Protein assemblies with high symmetry are widely distributed in nature. Most efforts so far have focused on repurposing these protein assemblies, a strategy that is ultimately limited by the structures available. To overcome this limitation, methods for fabricating novel self‐assembling proteins have received intensive interest. Herein, by reengineering the key subunit interfaces of native 24‐mer protein cage with octahedral symmetry through amino acid residues insertion, we fabricated a 16‐mer lenticular nanocage whose structure is unique among all known protein cages. This newly non‐native protein can be used for encapsulation of bioactive compounds and exhibits high uptake efficiency by cancer cells. More importantly, the above strategy could be applied to other naturally occurring protein assemblies with high symmetry, leading to the generation of new proteins with unexplored functions.     

Screening anaphylactic components of MaiLuoNing injection by using rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell membrane chromatography coupled with HPLC–ESI‐TOF‐MS

MaiLuoNing injection is a traditional Chinese medicine that used clinically since the 1950s in China. However, anaphylactic reactions, through the potentiation of mast cell degranulation, have been reported. In the present study, a rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell membrane chromatography coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization‐ion trap‐time of flight‐mass spectrometry method was established for screening, analyzing, and identifying the potential anaphylactic components of MaiLuoNing injection. Harpagoside, a potential degranulator of rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cells, was retained in rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell membrane chromatography. We aimed to evaluate the retained components to determine which of those were capable of inducing degranulation of basophilic leukemia cells. A β‐hexosaminidase assay revealed that harpagoside can induce rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell degranulation in a dose‐dependent manner. BLBA/c mice also exhibit passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in response to harpagoside. These results indicate that rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell membrane chromatography coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization ion trap time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry is effective in screening for the anaphylactic components of MaiLuoNing injection.     

Poisoning Deactivation of Mesoporous Titanosilicate-Supported WO<Subscript>3</Subscript> During Metathesis of Butene to Propene

Deactivation by poisoning is studied in the metathesis of 2-butene to propene on mesoporous titanosilicate-supported WO₃ (WO₃/MTS–9), for which we focus on the effect of polar organic oxygenates on the activity of the catalyst. It is found that deactivation is strongly influenced by these oxygenates in feedstock, and the rate of deactivation increases with the increase of the polarity of the organic oxygenates. The deactivation by poisoning is reversible. The deactivation catalyst can be recovered by treatment in a nitrogen atmosphere at a high temperature.     

Determination of photoinitiator 4‐methylbenzophenone in milk by cloud point extraction

An efficient and easy sample pretreatment methodology was proposed for the detection of photoinitiator 4‐methylbenzophenone from milk before high‐performance liquid chromatography. Appropriate conditions for demulsification were studied. The parameters affecting cloud point extraction, such as concentration of Tween‐20, electrolyte salt, equilibration temperature, and time, have been investigated. When the spiked level was 200–1000 μg/kg, the average addition standard recovery was 99.14–105.98% with the optimum cloud point extraction conditions (concentration of Tween‐20, 138 g/L; mass of anhydrous sodium sulfate, 0.75 g; equilibration temperature, 65°C; equilibration time, 30 min). To decrease the detection limits, further work about the organic solvent, shaking time, and ultrasonic parameters was carried. When the spiked level was 10–100 μg/kg, the average addition standard recovery was 70.40–106.91% with the optimum cloud point extraction and enrichment conditions (optimum cloud point extraction conditions; volume of cyclohexane, 30 mL; shaking time, 20 min; time of ultrasonic, 20 min; temperature of ultrasonic bath, 45°C).