Bimetallic Covalent Organic Frameworks for Constructing Multifunctional Electrocatalyst

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a new class of crystalline porous polymers comprised mainly of carbon atoms, and are versatile for the integration of heteroatoms such as B, O, and N into the skeletons. The designable structure and abundant composition render COFs useful as precursors for heteroatom-doped porous carbons for energy storage and conversion. Herein, we describe a multifunctional electrochemical catalyst obtained through pyrolysis of a bimetallic COF. The catalyst possesses hierarchical pores and abundant iron and cobalt nanoparticles embedded with standing carbon layers. By integrating these features, the catalyst exhibits excellent electrochemical catalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), with a 50 mV positive half-wave potential, a higher limited diffusion current density, and a much smaller Tafel slope than a Pt-C catalyst. Moreover, the catalyst displays superior electrochemical performance toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), with overpotentials of −0.26 V and −0.33 V in acidic and alkaline aqueous solution, respectively, at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻². The overpotential in the catalysis of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) was 1.59 V at the same current density.     

Comprehensive Profiling by Non-targeted Stable Isotope Tracing Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry: A New Tool Complementing Metabolomic Analyses of Polar Metabolites

Mass spectrometry (MS) driven metabolomics is a frequently used tool in various areas of life sciences; however, the analysis of polar metabolites is less commonly included. In general, metabolomic analyses lead to the detection of the total amount of all covered metabolites. This is currently a major limitation with respect to metabolites showing high turnover rates, but no changes in their concentration. Such metabolites and pathways could be crucial metabolic nodes (e.g., potential drug targets in cancer metabolism). A stable-isotope tracing capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry (CE-MS) metabolomic approach was developed to cover both polar metabolites and isotopologues in a non-targeted way. An in-house developed software enables high throughput processing of complex multidimensional data. The practicability is demonstrated analyzing [U-¹³C]-glucose exposed prostate cancer and non-cancer cells. This CE-MS-driven analytical strategy complements polar metabolite profiles through isotopologue labeling patterns, thereby improving not only the metabolomic coverage, but also the understanding of metabolism.     

Metabolic profiles of dioscin in rats revealed by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Dioscin (DIS), one of the most abundant bioactive steroidal saponins in Dioscorea sp., is used as a complementary medicine to treat coronary disease and angina pectoris in China. Although the pharmacological activities and pharmacokinetics of DIS have been well demonstrated, information regarding the final metabolic fates is very limited. This study investigated the in vivo metabolic profiles of DIS after oral administration by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry method. The structures of the metabolites were identified and tentatively characterized by means of comparing the molecular mass, retention time and fragmentation pattern of the analytes with those of the parent compound. A total of eight metabolites, including seven phase I and one phase II metabolites, were detected and tentatively identified for the first time. Oxidation, deglycosylation and glucuronidation were found to be the major metabolic processes of the compound in rats. In addition, a possible metabolic pathway on the biotransformation of DIS in vivo was proposed. This study provides valuable and new information on the metabolism of DIS, which will be helpful for further understanding its mechanism of action. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crosslinked poly(ethylene oxide) containing siloxanes fabricated through thiol‐ene photochemistry

Homogenous amphiphilic crosslinked polymer films comprising of poly(ethylene oxide) and polysiloxane were synthesized utilizing thiol‐ene “ click ” photochemistry. A systematic variation in polymer composition was Carried out to obtain high quality films with varied amount of siloxane and poly(ethylene oxide). These films showed improved gas separation performance with high gas permeabilities with good CO₂/N₂ selectivity. Furthermore, the resulting films were also tested for its biocompatibility, as a carrier media which allow human adult mesenchymal stem cells to retain their capacity for osteoblastic differentiation after transplantation. The obtained crosslinked films were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR, Raman‐IR , and small angle X‐ray scattering. The synthesis ease and commercial availability of the starting materials suggests that these new crosslinked polymer networks could find applications in wide range of applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1548–1557     

Simultaneous determination of major components of Huangqi–Honghua extract in rat plasma using LC–MS/MS and application to a pharmacokinetic study

A sensitive and reliable LC–MS/MS method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of the major components of Huangqi–Honghua extact in rat plasma, including hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), astragaloside IV (ASIV), calycosin‐7‐O‐β‐d ‐glucoside (CAG), calycosin, calycosin‐3′‐O‐glucuronide (C‐3′‐G) and calycosin‐3′‐O‐sulfate (C‐3′‐S). After extraction by protein precipitation with acetonitrile and methanol from plasma, the analytes were separated on a Hypersil BDS C₁₈ column by gradient elution with acetonitrile and 5 mM ammonium acetate. The detection was carried out on a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer equipped with electrospray ionization source switched between negative and positive modes. HSYA was monitored in negative ionization mode from 0 to 4.9 min, and ASIV, CAG, calycosin, C‐3′‐G and C‐3′‐S were determined in positive ionization mode from 4.9 to 10 min. The lower limits of quantification of the analytes were 6.25 ng/mL for HSYA, 0.781 ng/mL for CAG and 1.56 ng/mL for ASIV and calycosin. The intra‐ and inter‐assay precision (RSD) values were within 13.43%, and accuracy (RE) ranged from ?8.75 to 9.92%. The validated method was then applied to the pharmacokinetic study of HSYA, ASIV, CAG, calycosin, C‐3′‐G and C‐3′‐S in rat after an oral administration of Huangqi–Honghua extract.     

Facile fabrication of fast recyclable and multiple self‐healing epoxy materials through diels‐alder adduct cross‐linker

A reversibly cross‐linked epoxy resin with efficient reprocessing and intrinsic self‐healing was prepared from a diamine Diels‐Alder (DA) adduct cross‐linker and a commercial epoxy oligomer. The newly synthesized diamine cross‐linker, comprising a DA adduct of furan and maleimide moieties, can cure epoxy monomer/oligomer with thermal reversibility. The reversible transition between cross‐linked state and linear architecture endows the cured epoxy with rapid recyclability and repeated healability. The reversibly cross‐linked epoxy fundamentally behaves as typical thermosets at ambient conditions yet can be fast reprocessed at elevated temperature like thermoplastics. As a potential reversible adhesive, the epoxy polymer with adhesive strength values about 3 MPa showed full recovery after repeated fracture‐thermal healing processes. The methodology explored in this contribution provides new insights in modification of conventional engineering plastics as functional materials. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2094–2103     

Surface of room temperature ionic liquid [bmim][PF6] studied by polarization- and experimental configuration-dependent sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy

Understanding and control of the surface properties such as molecular orientations are of great importance in numerous applications of ionic liquids. However, there remain discrepancies among the previous experimental and theoretical studies on the surface orientation and structures of room temperature ionic liquids(RTIL) systems. In this article, the orientation of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium([bmin]) cation at the air/liquid interface of a characteristic RTIL, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate([bmim][PF6]), was investigated by the sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy(SFG-VS). Detailed polarization and experimental configuration analyses of the SFG-VS spectra showed the possibility of a small spectral splitting in the CH3 symmetric stretching region, which can be further attributed to the probable existence of multiple orientations for the interfacial [bmim] cations. In addition, the(N)–CH3 vibrations were absent, ruling out the prediction by several recent molecular dynamics simulations which state that portions of the [bmim] cations orient with a standing-up(N)–CH3 group at the ionic liquid surface. Hence, new realistic theoretical models have to be developed to reflect the complex nature of the ionic liquid surface.     

基于吸收系数的生脉注射液中聚山梨酯80含量测定新方法

聚山梨酯80又名吐温80，为一种亲水型非离子表面活性剂，是食品、保健品和药品中常用的辅料，作为增溶剂和澄清剂广泛用于中药注射剂。近年来，不良反应的发生使得聚山梨酯80的质量和应用愈加受到重视，有研究认为其加入可能引起注射剂不良反应增加。为避免超量使用，有必要对该辅料的投料加以严格控制。中药注射剂中聚山梨酯80的含量测定是当下研究的热点和难点，可以通过分光光度法、分子排阻-蒸发光散射检测法(SEC-ELSD)、液质联用法(LC-MS)直接测定，也可以水解后法经液相色谱-紫外检测法(HPLC-UV)或气相色谱法(GC)间接测定。但由于聚山梨酯80为聚氧乙烯聚合数目不同的混合物、不同厂家生产的聚山梨酯80化学组分及比例存在较大差异，难以采用统一的转换公式或对照品准确定量。此外，中药注射剂的复杂基质造成的假阳性干扰也对定量提出了挑战。为解决以上问题，以生脉注射液为例，提出基于吸收系数的中药注射剂中聚山梨酯80含量测定新方法。优化检测波长、显色剂种类、液液萃取过程振荡和静置时间，在6个不同品牌仪器上测得聚山梨酯80-硫氰酸钴配合物的吸收系数(E1%_{1 cm})为104.23，相对标准偏差(RSD)为2.08%。生脉注射液稀释10倍后，精密量取供试品溶液1.0 mL，精密加入硫氰酸钴溶液10 mL，二氯甲烷20 mL，涡旋振荡3 min。将混合液移至分液漏斗中，静置30 min，取下层二氯甲烷液，将前1 mL弃去，接收约15 mL，在320 nm处测定吸光度，再根据Lambert-Beer定律，利用获得的吸收系数计算得到聚山梨酯80的含量。方法阴性无干扰，精密度和重复性相对标准偏差均低于3%，平均回收率为98.42%。为进一步验证方法的准确性，分别采用吸收系数法和标准曲线法测定了2个厂家的10批生脉注射液，并与实际投料量比较。配对t检验结果表明，当置信度为95%时，两种方法无显著性差异，吸收系数法测得结果与企业生产中聚山梨酯的实际投料量也无显著性差异。研究采用前人未采用的、灵敏度更高的320 nm为检测波长，显著降低了基质干扰，克服了中药注射剂中聚山梨酯80测定结果与实际投料量难以吻合的问题。吸收系数法无需使用对照品，亦不用制备标准曲线，可为中药注射剂中聚山梨酯80的检查标准提供切实可行的解决方案。所建方法灵敏、准确、快速、简便，为含聚山梨酯80制剂的质量控制提供了关键常数及新的思路。