A facile and efficient synthesis of fully substituted pyridin-2(1H)-ones from α-oxoketene-S,S-acetals

A facile and efficient synthesis of fully substituted pyridin-2(1H)-ones has been developed by the reaction of readily available α-oxoketene-S,S-acetals with malononitrile in the presence of sodium methoxide in methanol under reflux.     

A scalable microfluidic chip for bacterial suspension culture

Microfluidic systems could, in principle, enable high-throughput breeding and screening of microbial strains for industrial applications, but parallel and scalable culture and detection chips are needed before complete microbial selection systems can be integrated and tested. Here we demonstrate a scalable multi-channel chip that is capable of bacterial suspension culture. The key invention is a multi-layered chip design, which enables a single set of control channels to function as serial peristaltic pumps to drive parallel culture chamber loops. Such design leads to scalability of the culture chip. We demonstrate that E. coli growth in the chip is equivalent or superior to conventional suspension culture on shaking beds. The chip could also be used for suspension culture of other microbes such as Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas stutzeri, and Zymomonas mobilis, indicating its general applicability for bacterial suspension culture.     

Luminescent organic–inorganic hybrid materials based on lanthanide containing ionic liquids and sylilated β-diketone

In this work, we report the luminescent organic–inorganic hybrid materials prepared by hydrolysis and condensation of sylilated β-diketone under acid conditions in the presence of carboxyl-functionalized ionic liquid in which Eu³⁺ ions are coordinated to the oxygen atoms of carboxylate groups from the ionic liquids. The obtained materials were characterized with FT-IR, TG and photoluminescence spectroscopy. FT-IR spectra imply that Eu³⁺ ions are still coordinated to the ionic liquid in the hybrid materials. Excitation and emission spectra demonstrate that the energy transfer occurs from the β-diketone molecules covalently bonded with silica to Eu³⁺ ions. The Eu³⁺ (⁵D₀) quantum efficiency value of the hybrid materials has been estimated based on the emission spectrum and the value of lifetime. A large value of ratio (16.44) between the intensities of the ⁵D₀→⁷F₂ and ⁵D₀→⁷F₁ transition and high value of ⁵D₀ quantum efficiency (51.01%) are obtained.     

The roles of benzoic acid and water on the Michael reactions of pentanal and nitrostyrene catalyzed by diarylprolinol silyl ether

The roles of benzoic acid and water on the Michael reaction of pentanal and nitrostyrene catalyzed by diarylprolinol silyl ether are revealed by density functional theory calculations. The calculations demonstrate that the benzoic acid is ready to attack the catalysts and form a hydrogen bond between the hydrogen atom of the COOH of benzoic acid and one of the N atoms of the catalyst. The complex formed from pentanal, catalyst and benzoic acid attacks nitroalkene and forms transition states. Finally, the transition states hydrolyze and the products are formed. The calculations demonstrate that the stereoselectivity is dominated by the steric hindrance of the 2-substituent groups, and the benzoic acid can increase the reaction rate evidently by decreasing the activation energies; however, H(3)O(+) or strong acid may prevent the formation of the transition states between enamines and nitroalkenes. The employed solvent can decrease the activation energies and promote the proton transfer from benzoic acid onto the catalyst 2. The calculated enantiomeric excess values are in good agreement with the experimental results. These calculations also reveal that the role of benzoic acid is dependent on the sophisticated structures of the catalysts and provide a valuable index for the structural design of new catalysts and selection of additives or co-catalysts.     

海洋生物中具有生理活性的多羟基甾醇

多羟基甾醇是一类具有显著生理活性的天然化合物,广泛地存在于海洋生物当中.根据甾体中所含羟基的数目进行分类,综述了近几年来从海洋生物中分离得到的具有生理活性的多羟基甾醇的研究进展.     

New Benzofuranylpropanoids from the Roots of Codonopsis lanceolata

Three new benzofuranylpropanoids, lanceolunes A–C ( 1 – 3 ), were isolated from the roots of Codonopsis lanceolata. Their structures were determined by means of HR‐ESI‐MS, extensive 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR spectroscopic, and chemical evidence.     

Effects of image charges, interfacial charge discreteness, and surface roughness on the zeta potential of spherical electric double layers

We investigate the effects of image charges, interfacial charge discreteness, and surface roughness on spherical electric double layer structures in electrolyte solutions with divalent counterions in the setting of the primitive model. By using Monte Carlo simulations and the image charge method, the zeta potential profile and the integrated charge distribution function are computed for varying surface charge strengths and salt concentrations. Systematic comparisons were carried out between three distinct models for interfacial charges: (1) SURF1 with uniform surface charges, (2) SURF2 with discrete point charges on the interface, and (3) SURF3 with discrete interfacial charges and finite excluded volume. By comparing the integrated charge distribution function and the zeta potential profile, we argue that the potential at the distance of one ion diameter from the macroion surface is a suitable location to define the zeta potential. In SURF2 model, we find that image charge effects strongly enhance charge inversion for monovalent interfacial charges, and strongly suppress charge inversion for multivalent interfacial charges. For SURF3, the image charge effect becomes much smaller. Finally, with image charges in action, we find that excluded volumes (in SURF3) suppress charge inversion for monovalent interfacial charges and enhance charge inversion for multivalent interfacial charges. Overall, our results demonstrate that all these aspects, i.e., image charges, interfacial charge discreteness, their excluding volumes, have significant impacts on zeta potentials of electric double layers.     

Analysis of the chromite inclusions found in nephrite minerals obtained from different deposits using SEM‐EDS and LRS

Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM‐EDS) and laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS) were used to analyse the chromite inclusions found in four samples of the mineral nephrite that were obtained from Taiwan (one), Manasi in China (two) and New Zealand (one). The chromite inclusions found in sample HL‐1 (Taiwan) contain low contents of Mg and Al, as well as a characteristically high Zn content. The most significant finding, however, was that HL‐1 could also be distinguished from the other samples by the lower wavenumbers of the positions of the peaks that belong to the A_1g, F_2g⁽¹⁾ and E_g modes. Compared to the difference in compositions, the difference in the positions of the peaks in the Raman spectra of the chromite inclusions, as revealed by LRS, can more easily be used to distinguish between samples of nephrite that have been obtained from different deposits, and in particular to identify the provenance of the raw material used in ancient nephrite artefacts, in view of the fact that LRS is non‐destructive and easy to apply. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Novel Wavelength Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Network Based on Self-Seeding Light Source and Doubling Wavelength-Utilized Rate

Abstract

A wavelength-utilized rate-doubled wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network based on a self-seeding light source is proposed. The effect of distributed fiber length and power division ratio on the upstream-signal power is analyzed; the result indicates that raising the power division ratio can increase the upstream-signal power when it is lower than 0.86. The power difference between upstream signals caused by the length difference of distributed fibers is also expanded with power division ratio; thus, the power division ratio should be decreased to a proper level to reduce the power difference when the length difference is too large.     

Sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor for magnolol based on the enhancement effect of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Herein, insoluble multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were dispersed into N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) via ultrasonication, resulting in a stable and homogeneous MWNTs suspension. After evaporation of DMF, the surface of glassy carbon electrode was successfully coated with MWNTs film, as confirmed from scanning electron microscopy measurements. In pH 7 phosphate buffer, an irreversible oxidation peak was observed for magnolol, and the peak currents greatly increased on MWNTs film surface. The influences of pH value, amount of MWNTs and accumulation conditions were studied. Based on the remarkable enhancement effect of MWNTs, a new electrochemical sensor with high sensitivity was developed for magnolol. The linear range was from 5 μg?L^?1 to 1 mg?L^?1, and the detection limit was 2 μg?L^?1 (7.51?×?10^?9?M) after a 3-min accumulation. This novel sensor was successfully used to detect the content of magnolol in Chinese traditional medicines, and the recovery was over the range from 98.1 to 99.1 %.