Biocompatible or biodegradable hyperbranched polymers: from self-assembly to cytomimetic applications

Self-assembly of amphiphilic hyperbranched polymers (HBPs) is a newly emerging research area and has attracted increasing attention due to the great advantages in biomedical applications. This tutorial review focuses on the self-assembly of biocompatible or biodegradable amphiphilic HBPs and their cytomimetic applications, and specialities or advantages therein owing to the hyperbranched structure have also been summarized. As shown here, various supramolecular structures including micelles, vesicles, tubes, fibers and films have been prepared through the primary self-assembly processes. The primary self-assemblies can be further assembled into more complex structures through hierachical self-assembly processes. Besides, the hyperbranched polymer vesicles have demonstrated great potential to be used as model membranes to mimic cellular behaviors, such as fusion, fission and cell aggregation. Other biomedical applications of HBPs as well as their self-assemblies are also briefly summarized.     

Plasmonic photocatalysts: harvesting visible light with noble metal nanoparticles

The efforts to produce photocatalysts operating efficiently under visible light have led to a number of plasmonic photocatalysts, in which noble metal nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of polar semiconductor or insulator particles. In the metal-semiconductor composite photocatalysts, the noble metal nanoparticles act as a major component for harvesting visible light due to their surface plasmon resonance while the metal-semiconductor interface efficiently separates the photogenerated electrons and holes. In this article, we survey various plasmonic photocatalysts that have been prepared and characterized in recent years.     

Adsorption of benzene and propene in zeolite MCM-22: a grand canonical Monte Carlo study

The GCMC (grand canonical Monte Carlo) simulation technique was used to predict the competition adsorption characteristics of benzene and propene in different pore systems of MCM-22. The nine-site model of benzene was used, which proved to be effective and efficient. The zeolite was divided into three adsorption sites following a simulated annealing method. It is found that benzene and propene have the same preferential adsorption site and a similar adsorption order in different sites. Moreover, the pure and mixture isotherms of the three sites are drawn. From the isotherms, we obtained a selectivity reversal of the mixture isotherms of benzene and propene in different sites. It is also noted that the competition adsorption in the three adsorption sites for the two adsorbates can fall into three successive steps and the adsorption order of propene in mixture in these three sites is S3→S1→S2. A new model is presented to predict the benzene and propene adsorption equilibrium in MCM-22. This approach yields better multicomponent equilibrium predictions than ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST). Isotherms at different mole fraction of benzene in gas phase indicate an advantage to increase the feed radio of benzene and propene. Thus, this work is helpful for a better understanding of the adsorption mechanism of benzene and propene in MCM-22 and hence the relation of the catalytic properties of the zeolite to its structure.     

Preparation and characterization of high-rate and long-cycle LiFePO4/C nanocomposite as cathode material for lithium-ion battery

Olivine LiFePO₄/C nanocomposite cathode materials with small-sized particles and a unique electrochemical performance were successfully prepared by a simple solid-state reaction using oxalic acid and citric acid as the chelating reagent and carbon source. The structure and electrochemical properties of the samples were investigated. The results show that LiFePO₄/C nanocomposite with oxalic acid (oxalic acid: Fe²⁺= 0.75:1) and a small quantity of citric acid are single phase and deliver initial discharge capacity of 122.1 mAh/g at 1 C with little capacity loss up to 500 cycles at room temperature. The rate capability and cyclability are also outstanding at elevated temperature. When charged/discharged at 60 °C, this materials present excellent initial discharge capacity of 148.8 mAh/g at 1 C, 128.6 mAh/g at 5 C, and 115.0 mAh/g at 10 C, respectively. The extraordinarily high performance of LiFePO₄/C cathode materials can be exploited suitably for practical lithium-ion batteries.     

Facile synthesis of α-difluoromethyl α-propargylamines from CF2H-substituted N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines

Stereoselective approach for preparation ofα-difluoromethylα-propargylamines has been developed.1,2-Addition of lithium acetylides to diverse chiral difluoromethylated（S）-N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines by using Ti（OⁱPr）₄ as catalyst and THF as solvent afforded N-tert-butanesulfinamides in good to excellent yields（51-93%） and good diastereoselectivities（dr.85:15 to 93:7）.The N-tert -butanesulfinyl group can be readily cleaved under mild acidic condition（4 mol/L HCl in dioxane） to provide the correspondingα-difiuoromethylα-propargylamine in excellent yields（90-95%）.     

Design, synthesis and primary activity of thiomorpholine derivatives as DPP-IV inhibitors

Thirteen thiomorpholine-bearing compounds were designed and synthesized as dipeptidyl peptidase IV（DPP-IV） inhibitors, with natural and non-natural L-amino acids as the starting materials.Their structures were characterized by ¹H NMR,¹³C NMR and HR-MS.The target compounds were screened for the DPP-IV inhibition,and the preliminary SAR result was obtained.Particularly, compounds 4c,4d and 4f with good DPP-IV inhibition in vitro were further evaluated through a mouse oral glucose tolerance test （OGTT）.The preliminary result showed the potential value for further studies on those thiomorpholine-bearing compounds as DPP-IV inhibitors.     

UPTAKE KINETICS AND INTRACELLULAR LOCALIZATION OF HYPOCRELLIN PHOTOSENSITIZERS FOR PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY: A CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY STUDY

Hypocrellins are naturally occurring compounds with photosensitizing properties in biological systems. We have prepared synthetic derivatives of hypocrellin B, which have promise as photosensitizers in the clinical application of photodynamic therapy. The intracellular localization and uptake kinetics of hypocrellin B and several selected hypocrellin congeners were determined semiquantitatively by fluorescence confocal microscopy in monolayer cultures of EMT6/Ed murine tumor cells. Each compound had unique uptake kinetics. Although no compound tested to date has demonstrated nuclear labeling, most could be detected in lysosomes, Golgi, endoplasmic reticulum and, to a minor extent, in cellular membranes. No two compounds gave identical labeling distributions. The differences are assumed to originate in physicochemical properties characteristic of each compound, which may ultimately impact upon the primary modality of phototoxicity.