New attempt at directly generating superbasicity on mesoporous silica SBA-15

Direct generation of superbasicity on mesoporous silica SBA-15 was realized by tailoring the host-guest interaction, and calcium species were selected as the guest in modifying SBA-15. The results show that calcium species could be homogeneously distributed on the surface of SBA-15. Because of the host-guest interaction, the decomposition of the supported calcium nitrate was apparently easier than the bulk one. Surprisingly, the calcium nitrates modified SBA-15 (CaNS) samples exhibited superbasicity with good preservation of the mesostructure after activation, differing from the potassium nitrate loaded SBA-15 samples that displayed weak basicity with collapsed mesostructure. The present superbasic CaNS materials also possess good water resistance and high surface areas, up to 429 m(2) g(-1), which is promising for their potential applications in adsorption and catalysis. Further investigation concerning the roles played by the guest in basicity formation on SBA-15 was conducted. The samples modified by Group 2 metal nitrates showed strong basicity with base strength (H-) of 22.5-27.0 and good preservation of mesostructure. In contrast, loading Group 1 metal nitrates on SBA-15 produced samples with weak basicity ( H-=9.3-15.0) and collapsed mesostructure after activation. Such differences can be related to the interaction between the resulting metal oxide and the silica support, as well as the mobility of the cations in the metal oxide.     

Preparation of thiophilic paramagnetic adsorbent for separation of antibodies

The micron-sized microspheres with superparamagnetic property were synthesized with vinyl acetate and divinylbenzene by microsuspension polymerization. After the complete alcoholysis, these hydroxyl-functionalized microspheres were activated by divinylfone and modified with mercaptoethanol to prepare the thiophilic magnetic adsorbent, which was used to specifically isolate immunoglobulin G （IgG） from human serum. This thiophilic magnetic adsorbent performed an evident salt-dependent adsorption behavior for IgG. Due to their salt-promoted adsorption towards IgG under high salt concentration, the absorbed antibodies could be extracted in low salt concentration with high purity.     

A step toward the wet surface chemistry of glycine and alanine on Cu{110}: destabilization and decomposition in the presence of near-ambient water vapor

The coadsorption of water with organic molecules under near-ambient pressure and temperature conditions opens up new reaction pathways on model catalyst surfaces that are not accessible in conventional ultrahigh-vacuum surface-science experiments. The surface chemistry of glycine and alanine at the water-exposed Cu{110} interface was studied in situ using ambient-pressure photoemission and X-ray absorption spectroscopy techniques. At water pressures above 10(-5) Torr a significant pressure-dependent decrease in the temperature for dissociative desorption was observed for both amino acids, accompanied by the appearance of a new CN intermediate, which is not observed for lower pressures. The most likely reaction mechanisms involve dehydrogenation induced by O and/or OH surface species resulting from the dissociative adsorption of water. The linear relationship between the inverse decomposition temperature and the logarithm of water pressure enables determination of the activation energy for the surface reaction, between 213 and 232 kJ/mol, and a prediction of the decomposition temperature at the solid-liquid interface by extrapolating toward the equilibrium vapor pressure. Such experiments near the equilibrium vapor pressure provide important information about elementary surface processes at the solid-liquid interface, which can be retrieved neither under ultrahigh vacuum conditions nor from interfaces immersed in a solution.     

Precursor-directed fungal generation of novel halogenated chaetoglobosins with more preferable immunosuppressive action

Precursor-fed cultivation of endophytic Chaetomium globosum 1C51 afforded nine novel "unnatural" halogenated chaetoglobosins including those with more preferable immunosuppressive activity.     

RgBF2(+) complexes (Rg = Ar, Kr, and Xe): the cations with large stabilities

Rare gas containing cations with general formula [Rg, B, 2F](+) have been investigated theoretically by second-order Mo?ller-Plesset perturbation, coupled cluster, and complete active space self-consistent field levels of theory with correlation-consistent basis sets. Totally two types of minima, i.e., boron centered C(2) (v) symmetried RgBF(2) (+) (Rg = Ar, Kr, and Xe) which can be viewed as loss of F(-) from FRgBF(2) and linear FRgBF(+) (Rg = Kr and Xe) are obtained at the CCSD(T)∕aug-cc-pVTZ∕SDD and CASSCF(10,8)∕aug-cc-pVTZ∕SDD levels, respectively. It is shown that the RgBF(2) (+) are global minima followed by FRgBF(+) at 170.9 and 142.2 kcal∕mol on the singlet potential-energy surfaces of [Rg, B, 2F](+) (Rg = Kr and Xe) at the CASPT2(10,8) ∕aug-cc-pVTZ∕SDD∕∕CASSCF(10,8)∕aug-cc-pVTZ∕SDD, respectively. The interconversion barrier heights between RgBF(2) (+) and FRgBF(+) (Rg = Kr and Xe) are at least 39 kcal∕mol. In addition, no dissociation transition state associated with RgBF(2) (+) and FRgBF(+) can be found. This suggests that RgBF(2) (+) (Rg = Ar, Kr, and Xe) can exist as both thermodynamically and kinetically stable species, while linear FRgBF(+) (Rg = Kr and Xe) can exist as metastable species compared with the lowest dissociation limit energies just like isoelectronic linear FRgBO and FRgBN(-). From natural bond orbital and atoms-in-molecules calculations, it is found that the positive charge is mainly located on Rg and boron atoms for both types of minima, the Rg-B bonds of ArBF(2) (+), KrBF(2) (+), and XeBF(2) (+) are mostly electrostatic, thus can be viewed as ion-induced dipole interaction; while that of linear FKrBF(+) and FXeBF(+) are covalent in nature. The previous experimental observation of ArBF(2) (+) by Pepi et al. [J. Phys. Chem. B. 110, 4492 (2006)] should correspond to C(2) (v) minimum. The presently predicted spectroscopies of KrBF(2) (+), XeBF(2) (+), FKrBF(+), and FXeBF(+) should be helpful for their experimental identification in the future.     

Synthesis,Crystal Structure,and Properties of the 3D Porous Framework [Zn(INAIP)]·DMA·H2O

A new three‐dimensional (3D) porous framework [Zn(INAIP)] · DMA · H₂O ( 1 ) [INAIP = 5‐(isonicotinamido)isophthalate, DMA = N,N′‐dimethylacetamide] was synthesized by solvothermal methods and characterized by single‐crystal and powder X‐ray diffraction, as well as thermogravimetric analysis. The results of X‐ray diffraction analyses revealed that complex 1 has an unusual 3D architecture with the (3,6)‐connected rutile ( rtl ) topology. The adsorption behavior shows that compound 1 exhibits selective adsorptions of CO₂ over N₂ after the removal of the solvent molecules within the pores.     

dl‐Aspartic Acid‐Mediated Hydrothermal Synthesis of β‐ZnS Microspheres and Their Optical Properties

ZnS hollow microspheres were synthesized by a dl ‐aspartic acid mediated hydrothermal route. dl ‐aspartic acid plays an important role as crystal growth soft template, which regulates the release of Zn²⁺ ions for the formation of ZnS hollow spheres. The formation of these hollow spheres was mainly attributed to an Ostwald ripening process. The products were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), electron diffraction (ED), UV/Vis spectroscopy (UV), and photoluminescence (PL). The shells of the microspheres were composed of ZnS quantum dots (QDs) with the average size of 2.31 nm. The average microspheres diameter is 0.5–3.5 μm. The shell thickness of the hollow sphere is ≈?300 nm. The optical bandgap energy increased significantly compared to the bulk ZnS material due to the strong quantum confinement effect. Two strong emissions at ≈?425 nm and ≈?472 nm in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of ZnS hollow microspheres indicate strong quantum confinement because of the presence of QDs.     

Biodegradable poly(p‐dioxanone) reinforced and toughened by organo‐modified vermiculite

Poly(p‐dioxanone) (PPDO)/vermiculite (VMT) nanocomposites with exfoliated structure were prepared successfully by in situ intercalative polymerization of p‐dioxanone (PDO) in the presence of organo‐modified vermiculite (OVMT) with the aid of ultrasonic action. The nano‐structure of the nanocomposites was established using X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations. The investigation of crystallization behavior by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM) proved that exfoliated OVMT platelets acted as a template for spherulite growth. The thermal stability of nanocomposites was enhanced than that of pure PPDO. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) indicated nanoscale OVMT platelets restricted the motion of PPDO segments, which benefitted the increase of storage and loss modulus. The tensile properties showed that nanocomposites were reinforced and toughened significantly by the addition of nanoscale OVMT platelets. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation of nanoalumina/EPDM composites with good performance in thermal conductivity and mechanical properties

In this paper, nanoalumina (Al₂O₃) highly filled ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) composites are prepared, and the mechanical (static and dynamic) properties and thermal conductivity are investigated systemically through various characterization methods. Furthermore, influences of in situ modification (mixing operation assisted by silane at high temperature for a certain time) with the silane‐coupling agent bis‐(3‐triethoxy silylpropyl)‐tetrasulfide (Si69) and stearic acid (SA) pretreatment on the nano‐Al₂O₃ filled composites are as well investigated. The results indicate that nano‐Al₂O₃ particles can not only perform well in reinforcing EPDM, but also improve the thermal conductivity significantly. Assisted by in situ modification with Si69, the mechanical properties (especially dynamic mechanical properties) of the nano‐Al₂O₃ filled composites are improved obviously, without influencing the thermal conductivity. By comparing to the traditional reinforcing fillers, such as carbon black (grade N330) and silica, in situ modified nano‐Al₂O₃ filled composites exhibit excellent performance in mechanical (static and dynamic) properties as well as better thermal conductivity, especially lower compression heat build‐up and better fatigue resistance. In general, our work indicates that nano‐Al₂O₃, as the novel thermal conductive reinforcing filler, is suitable to prepare rubber products serving in dynamic conditions, with the longer expected service life. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Atom transfer radical polymerization with activators regenerated by electron transfer of acrylonitrile from silica nanoparticles,and adsorption properties of the resin for Hg2+ after amidoximation with hydroxylamine

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was grafted from surfaces of chloro‐modified silica‐gel with their surface chlorines as initiation sites, using an iron (III)‐mediated surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with activators regenerated by electron transfer (SI‐ARGET ATRP) method. The graft reaction exhibits first‐order kinetics with respect to the polymerization time in the low‐monomer‐conversion stage. The conversion of monomer (C%) and the percentage of grafting (PG%) increased with increasing of the polymerizing time and reached 23 and 730% after a polymerizing time of 24 hr, respectively. Hydroxylamine (NH₂OH·HCl) was used to modify the cyano groups of SG‐g‐PAN to obtain amidoxime (AO) groups. The AO SG‐g‐PAN was used to remove Hg²⁺. The adsorption kinetics indicated that the pseudo‐second‐order model was more suitable to describe the adsorption kinetics of AO SG‐g‐PAN for Hg²⁺. The adsorption isotherms demonstrated that Langmuir model was much better than Freundlich model to describe the isothermal process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.