AgF/TFA-promoted highly efficient synthesis of α-haloketones from haloalkynes

A AgF/TFA-promoted highly efficient synthesis of a wide range of α-haloketones from haloalkynes is described. The reactions are conducted under convenient conditions and provide products in moderate to excellent yields, with broad substrate scope, including a variety of aromatic chloroalkynes and bromoalkynes.     

Bioprinting of Collagen: Considerations,Potentials, and Applications

Collagen is the most abundant extracellular matrix protein that is widely used in tissue engineering (TE). There is little research done on printing pure collagen. To understand the bottlenecks in printing pure collagen, it is imperative to understand collagen from a bottom‐up approach. Here it is aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of collagen printing, where collagen assembly in vivo and the various sources of collagen available for TE application are first understood. Next, the current printing technologies and strategy for printing collagen‐based materials are highlighted. Considerations and key challenges faced in collagen printing are identified. Finally, the key research areas that would enhance the functionality of printed collagen are presented.     

Selective C-alkylation Between Alcohols Catalyzed by N-Heterocyclic Carbene Molybdenum

The first implementation of a molybdenum complex with an easily accessible bis-N-heterocyclic carbene ligand to catalyze β-alkylation of secondary alcohols via borrowing-hydrogen (BH) strategy using alcohols as alkylating agents is reported. Remarkably high activity, excellent selectivity, and broad substrate scope compatibility with advantages of catalyst usage low to 0.5 mol%, a catalytic amount of NaOH as the base, and H₂O as the by-product are demonstrated in this green and step-economical protocol. Mechanistic studies indicate a plausible outer-sphere mechanism in which the alcohol dehydrogenation is the rate-determining step.     

Enzymatic Extraction of Bioactive and Self‐Assembling Wool Keratin for Biomedical Applications

Keratin is widely recognized as a high‐quality renewable protein resource for biomedical applications. Despite their extensive existence, keratin resources such as feathers, wool, and hair exhibit high stability and mechanical properties because of their high disulfide bond content. Consequently, keratin extraction is challenging and its application is greatly hindered. In this work, a biological extraction strategy is proposed for the preparation of bioactive keratin and the fabrication of self‐assembled keratin hydrogels (KHs). Based on moderate and controlled hydrolysis by keratinase, keratin with a high molecular weight of approximately 45 and 28 kDa that retain its intrinsic bioactivities is obtained. The keratin products show excellent ability to promote cell growth and migration and are conferred with significant antioxidant ability because of their intrinsically high cysteine content. In addition, without the presence of any cross‐linking agent, the extracted keratin can self‐assemble into injectable hydrogels. The KHs exhibit a porous network structure and 3D culture ability, showing potential in promoting wound healing. This enzyme‐driven keratin extraction strategy opens up a new approach for the preparation of keratin that can self‐assemble into injectable hydrogels for biomedical engineering.     

Take precautions against potential threats that carbon nanotubes may bring to you

Long-term pulmonary exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) may promote breast cancer metastasis and rapid colonization in the lungs and other organs according to recent research conducted by Prof.Chunying Chen,Prof.Tao Zhu and their colleagues,published in Nature Nanotechnology [1].     

Subtle Alignment of Organic Semiconductors at the Donor/Acceptor Heterojunction Facilitates the Photoelectric Conversion Process

Chinese Journal of Polymer Science - The aligned molecular packing structure is vital to the anisotropic charge transport in conjugated polymer and small molecule thin films. However, how this...     

通过宽线固体核磁共振氢谱研究半晶高分子的相结构

宽线固体核磁共振氢谱（¹H NMR）是一种研究半晶高分子相结构的经典方法.本文以半晶聚乙烯的宽线固体¹H NMR谱为例，探讨了通过Gaussian/Sinc、Gaussian和Lorentzian函数组合对宽线固体¹H NMR谱图进行拟合的方案，并根据半晶聚乙烯的相结构成分对拟合得到的各信号成分进行归属.并在此基础上探讨了各个相结构中分子链运动与信号线型的相关性，以及利用宽线固体¹H NMR谱测量半晶高分子结晶度存在的困难.