Identification of Crucial Intermediates in the Formation of Humins from Cellulose-Derived Platform Chemicals Under Brønsted Acid Catalyzed Reaction Conditions

Humins are one of the undesirable products formed during the dehydration of sugars as well as the conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to value-added products. Thus, reducing the formation of humins is an important strategy for improving the yield of the aforementioned reactions. Even after a plethora of studies, the mechanism of formation and the structure of humins are still elusive. In this regard, we have employed density functional theory-based mechanistic studies and microkinetic analysis to identify crucial intermediates formed from glucose, fructose, and HMF that can initiate the polymerization reactions resulting in humins under Brønsted acid-catalyzed reaction conditions. This study brings light into crucial elementary reaction steps that can be targeted for controlling humins formation. Moreover, this work provides a rationale for the experimentally observed aliphatic chains and HMF condensation products in the humins structure. Different possible polymerization routes that could contribute to the structure of humins are also suggested based on the results. Importantly, the findings of this work indicate that increasing the rate of isomerization of glucose to fructose and reducing the rate of reaction between HMF molecules could be an efficient strategy for reducing humins formation.     

Anti‐CRLF2 Antibody‐Armored Biodegradable Nanoparticles for Childhood B‐ALL

B‐precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B‐ALL) lymphoblast (blast) internalization of anti‐cytokine receptor‐like factor 2 (CRLF2) antibody‐armored biodegradable nanoparticles (AbBNPs) are investigated. First, AbBNPsaere synthesized by adsorbing anti‐CRLF2 antibodies to poly(D,L‐lactide‐co‐glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles of various sizes and antibody surface density (Ab/BNP) ratios. Second, AbBNPs are incubated with CRLF2‐overexpressing (CRLF2+) or control blasts. Third, internalization of AbBNPs by blasts is evaluated by multicolor flow cytometry as a function of receptor expression, AbBNP size, and Ab/BNP ratio. Results from these experiments are confirmed by electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and Western blotting. The optimal size and Ab/BNP for internalization of AbBNPs by CRLF2+ blasts is 50 nm with 10 Ab/BNP and 100 nm with 25 Ab/BNP. These studies show that internalization of AbBNPs in childhood B‐ALL blasts is AbBNP size‐ and Ab/BNP ratio‐dependent. All AbBNP combinations are non‐cytotoxic. It is also shown that CD47 is very slightly up‐regulated by blasts exposed to AbBNPs. CD47 is “the marker of self” overexpressed by blasts to escape phagocytosis, or “cellular devouring”, by beneficial macrophages. The results indicate that precise engineering of AbBNPs by size and Ab/BNP ratio may improve the internalization and selectivity of future biodegradable nanoparticles for the treatment of leukemia patients, including drug‐resistant minority children and Down's syndrome patients with CRLF2+B‐ALL.     

Sodium Borohydride–Mediated Transesterification

In the presence of sodium borohydride, esters react with alcohols with formation of the corresponding esters. The reaction is sensitive to the solvent, structure of the ester, and is often concurrent with reduction. Thioesters containing an ester group can be selectively cleaved by the reagent. Both esters and thioesters attached to solid support are resistant toward sodium borohydride. The in situ prepared sodium tetraalkoxyborate is introduced as an efficient reagent and catalyst for transesterification.     

FeCl3-catalyzed efficient synthesis of di(5-methylfuran/thiophen-2-yl)isatin analogues

A simple, inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and high yield protocol is described for the synthesis of (5-methylfuran/thiophene-2-yl)isatin by the reaction of 2-methylfuran/2-methylthiophene with isatin/isatin imine in the presence of FeCl₃. The present protocol is ideal for the direct introduction of 2-methylfuran/2-methylthiophene onto isatin at 3-position with complete regioselectivity.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel bis-triazolyl quinazolinones

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - A series of 2-methyl-1-[(1-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl]-2-(4-{[(1-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl}amino]phenyl)-2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones...     

Elucidation of cell killing mechanism by comparative analysis of photoreactions on different types of bacteria

The mechanism of biocidal action of nano titania on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus has been evaluated by various biochemical techniques like lipid peroxidation, hydrolysis of orthonitrophenol β-D-galactopyranoside, estimation of protein-amino acid and bacterial nucleic acids leakage into solution, in addition to morphology studies by electron microscopy (TEM and SEM) and K(+) ion leakage by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The active anatase phase of nano titania has been synthesized by sol-gel and pulverization techniques to obtain particle sizes averaging around 11 nm. The nano semiconductor with a bandgap of 3.2 eV responds well to the UV source to liberate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Gram negative bacteria easily succumb to the ROS at a faster rate than gram-positive bacteria with an observable difference in the mode of attack. The use of analytical techniques revealed the release of peroxidized lipid (26 nmol mL(-1) ) and protein content (370 μg mL(-1)) with a K(+) ion concentration of 22 000 ppb on complete destruction of E. coli.     

Quantification of glycopeptides by multiple reaction monitoring liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Protein glycosylation has a major influence on functions of proteins. Studies have shown that aberrations in glycosylation are indicative of disease conditions. This has prompted major research activities for comparative studies of glycoproteins in biological samples. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) is a highly sensitive technique which has been recently explored for quantitative proteomics. In this work, MRM was adopted for quantification of glycopeptides derived from both model glycoproteins and depleted human blood serum using glycan oxonium ions as transitions. The utilization of oxonium ions aids in identifying the different types of glycans bound to peptide backbones. MRM experiments were optimized by evaluating different parameters that have a major influence on quantification of glycopeptides, which include MRM time segments, number of transitions, and normalized collision energies. The results indicate that oxonium ions could be adopted for the characterization and quantification of glycopeptides in general, eliminating the need to select specific transitions for individual precursor ions. Also, the specificity increased with the number of transitions and a more sensitive analysis can be obtained by providing specific time segments. This approach can be applied to comparative and quantitative studies of glycopeptides in biological samples as illustrated for the case of depleted blood serum sample. Copyright ? 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combined ligand-based and structure-based design of PDE 9A inhibitors against Alzheimer’s disease

Molecular Diversity - PDE9 enzyme hydrolyzes cGMP, which is involved in the regulation of synaptic plasticity through the NMDA pathway (a well-known excitotoxic target for AD) via activation of...     

13X分子筛负载Fe催化剂上1,4-二氧六环在空气中完全氧化(英文)

采用浸渍法制备了不同Fe含量的13X分子筛负载的Fe催化剂(Fe/X13),运用N_2吸附-脱附法测得其BET比表面积和BJH孔径分布,采用X射线衍射、扫描电镜、程序升温还原和NH_3程序升温脱附法表征了该催化剂的织构性质.在固定床流动反应器中,以空气为氧化剂、在100-400℃范围内考察了Fe/X13催化剂上1,4-二氧六环的完全氧化反应性能,研究了反应温度、金属担载量和气体空速(GHSV)等条件对催化氧化降解二氧六环反应性能的影响,并在400℃测定了该催化剂反应50h的稳定性,结果表明,6 wt%Fe/13X催化剂表现出最高的催化性能,在400℃,GHSV=24000 h~(-1)的条件下,二氧六环转化率为97%,生成CO和CO_2的选择性达95%,降解产物还包括少量的乙醛、乙二醇-甲酸酯、乙二醇二甲酸、1,4-二氧六环-2醇、1,4-二氧六环-2酮及2-甲氧基1,3二氧戊环.基于这些经色谱-质谱联用仪检测出的产物,提出了可能的1,4-二氧六环降解机理。     

Preparation and characterization of graphite nano-platelet (GNP)/epoxy nano-composite: Mechanical,electrical and thermal properties

Epoxy based polymer nano-composite was prepared by dispersing graphite nano-platelets (GNPs) using two different techniques: three-roll mill (3RM) and sonication combined with high speed shear mixing (Soni_hsm). The influence of addition of GNPs on the electrical and thermal conductivity, fracture toughness and storage modulus of the nano-composite was investigated. The GNP/epoxy prepared by 3RM technique showed a maximum electrical conductivity of 1.8 × 10⁻⁰³ S/m for 1.0 wt% which is 3 orders of magnitude higher than those prepared by Soni_hsm. The percentage of increase in thermal conductivity was only 11% for 1.0 wt% and 14% for 2.0 wt% filler loading. Dynamic mechanical analysis results showed 16% increase in storage modulus for 0.5 wt%, although the Tg did not show any significant increase. Single edge notch bending (SENB) fracture toughens (K_IC) measurements were carried out for different weight percentage of the filler content. The toughening effect of GNP was most significant at 1.0 wt% loading, where a 43% increase in K_IC was observed. Among the two different dispersion techniques, 3RM process gives the optimum dispersion where both electrical and mechanical properties are better.