Synthesis, characterization and photodynamic activity of amino-substituted hypocrellin derivatives

Three new hypocrellin derivatives, amino- or amino acid-substituted on the side ring of hypocrellin B (HB), were synthesized by the reactions of HB with 3-methoxypropylamine, 6-aminohexanoic acid and gamma-amino-n-butyric acid, respectively. The structures of these compounds were characterized with proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, infrared spectra and mass spectra. The UV-visible absorption spectra, singlet oxygen-generating quantum yield and amphiphilicities of hypocrellin derivatives were measured and compared with HB, the parent compound. These derivatives showed strong absorption in the domain of the phototherapeutic window (600-900 nm) and improved amphiphilicity. HB and the derivatives were preliminarily tested for their photodynamic effects on human oral cavity epithelial carcinoma KB cell line in vitro. Two amino acid-substituted hypocrellins showed phototoxicity to the KB cell line. At an inhibitory dosage of 50% killing only 0.51 mumol L-1 compound 3 (or 0.88 mumol L-1 compound 2) and 0.5 J cm-2 irradiation were required. The hypocrellins exhibited some dark toxicity to the KB cell line. HB and amino acid-substituted hypocrellins showed lower dark toxicity to the KB cell line than amino-substituted hypocrellins in the assessment of cell survival.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Sub‐Transition for Polyethersulfone

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a polyethersulfone (PES) chain are carried out in the amorphous state by using the Dreiding 2.21 force field at four temperatures. Two types of molecular motion, i.e. rotations of phenylene rings and torsions of large segments containing two oxygen atoms, two sulfur atoms, and five phenylene rings on the backbone, are simulated. The modeling results show that the successive phenylene rings should be in‐phase cooperative rotations, whereas the successive large segments should be out‐of‐phase cooperative torsions. By calculating the diffusion coefficient for the phenylene ring rotations, it is found that this rotation contributes to the β‐transition of PES.     

Photocatalytic decolorization of methyl orange solution with potassium peroxydisulfate

Increasing environmental pollution caused by toxic dyes due to their hazardous nature is a matter of great concern. It has been generally agreed that methyl orange (MO) can be effectively degraded in aerated K₂S₂O₈ homogeneous reaction system using near-UV irradiation. In this paper photocatalytic degradation of MO solutions with K₂S₂O₈ was investigated, with particular attention on the possible underlying mechanisms. This report has shown decolorization efficiency of MO increases with the increasing of the dosage of the catalyst. There is no optimal amount of catalyst in our case, where special attention was paid on the nature of the photocatalyst itself. The current research revealed that the decolorization reaction is a pseudo first-order reaction when the concentration of MO is below 20 mg L⁻¹ and the decolorization reaction is zero-order reaction when the concentration of MO is above 100 mg L⁻¹, but the Langmuir-Hinshewood kinetic model does not describe this. The influence of IO₄⁻, BrO₃⁻ and H₂O₂ were investigated in detailed. Several observations indicate that the mechanism is not involved in hydroxyl radical attacks in MO degradation with K₂S₂O₈ by UV irradiation. The possible underlying mechanisms are direct oxidation of the MO by S₂O₈²⁻ and hydrogen attraction by SO₄^•−.      

Hemoglobin as a Diagnosing Molecule for Biological Effects of Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma

The studies with proteins are necessary to understand the biological effects of atmospheric pressure plasma (APP). Among proteins, those with transient metal ions play key roles in many biological events and they are very sensitive to environmental redox states. Iron-containing hemoglobin (Hb) is investigated in this study, after APP treatments under two environmental gas conditions of pure N₂ and N₂?+?O₂ mixture. Monitoring the intensity change for absorption spectra could lead to a quantitative assessment of the effect of discharge plasma on Hb. Redox states of Hb are classified into five states including O₂-bound Hb (oxy-Hb), deoxy-Hb, met-Hb, NO-bound Hb (NO-Hb), and hemichrome. Chemically generated reactive species and some scavengers are applied to understand the chemical reactions. Our experimental results confirm the complex chemical reactions of APP and suggest the possible use of Hb as a model protein for the visualization of APP biological effects.     

Theoretical realization of cluster-assembled hydrogen storage materials based on terminated carbon atomic chains

The capacity of carbon atomic chains with different terminations for hydrogen storage is studied using first-principles density functional theory calculations. Unlike the physisorption of H(2) on the H-terminated chain, we show that two Li (Na) atoms each capping one end of the odd- or even-numbered carbon chain can hold ten H(2) molecules with optimal binding energies for room temperature storage. The hybridization of the Li 2p states with the H(2)σ orbitals contributes to the H(2) adsorption. However, the binding mechanism of the H(2) molecules on Na arises only from the polarization interaction between the charged Na atom and the H(2). Interestingly, additional H(2) molecules can be bound to the carbon atoms at the chain ends due to the charge transfer between Li 2s2p (Na 3s) and C 2p states. More importantly, dimerization of these isolated metal-capped chains does not affect the hydrogen binding energy significantly. In addition, a single chain can be stabilized effectively by the C(60) fullerenes termination. With a hydrogen uptake of ～10 wt.% on Li-coated C(60)-C(n)-C(60) (n = 5, 8), the Li(12)C(60)-C(n)-Li(12)C(60) complex, keeping the number of adsorbed H(2) molecules per Li and stabilizing the dispersion of individual Li atoms, can serve as better building blocks of polymers than the (Li(12)C(60))(2) dimer. These findings suggest a new route to design cluster-assembled hydrogen storage materials based on terminated sp carbon chains.     

Dewetting Kinetics of Thin Polymer Films with Different Architectures: Effect of Polymer Adsorption

We have investigated the influence of the adsorption process on the dewetting behavior of the linear polystyrene film(LPS),the 3-arm star polystyrene film(3 SPS) and the ring polystyrene film(RPS) on the silanized Si substrate.Results show that the adsorption process greatly influences the dewetting behavior of the thin polymer films.On the silanized Si substrate,the 3 SPS chains exhibit stronger adsorption compared with the LPS chains and RPS chains; as a result,the wetting layer forms more easily.For LPS films,with the decrease of annealing temperature,the kinetics of polymer film changes from exponential behavior to slip dewetting.As a comparison,the stability of 3 SPS and RPS films switches from slip dewetting to unusual dewetting kinetic behavior.The adsorbed nanodroplets on the solid substrate play an important role in the dewetting kinetics by reducing the driving force of dewetting and increase the resistant force of dewetting.Additionally,Brownian dynamics(BD) simulation shows that the absolute values of adsorption energy(ε) gradually increase from linear polymer(-0.3896) to ring polymer(-0.4033) and to star polymer(-0.4264),which is consistent with the results of our adsorption experiments.     

Self‐Assembly of Cylinder‐Forming ABA Triblock Copolymers under Cylindrical Confinement

The self‐assembly of two types of linear ABA triblock copolymers confined in cylindrical nanopores is studied using simulated annealing. The effects of pore size and block copolymer chain architecture on morphology, chain conformations and bridging fraction are investigated. For the bulk cylinder‐forming copolymers, novel structures such as helices and stacked toroids form, which depend sensitively on the pore size. Several significant differences between the two types of copolymers are predicted and explained based on the differences in their chain conformations and chain architectures. A simple model is proposed to explain the mean square radius of gyration for the bridge and loop chains.

     

Selective conversion of cellobiose and cellulose into gluconic acid in water in the presence of oxygen, catalyzed by polyoxometalate-supported gold nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles loaded onto Keggin-type insoluble polyoxometalates (Cs(x)H(3-x)PW(12)O(40)) showed superior catalytic performances for the direct conversion of cellobiose into gluconic acid in water in the presence of O(2). The selectivity of Au/Cs(x)H(3-x)PW(12)O(40) for gluconic acid was significantly higher than those of Au catalysts loaded onto typical metal oxides (e.g., SiO(2), Al(2)O(3), and TiO(2)), carbon nanotubes, and zeolites (H-ZSM-5 and HY). The acidity of polyoxometalates and the mean-size of the Au nanoparticles were the key factors in the catalytic conversion of cellobiose into gluconic acid. The stronger acidity of polyoxometalates not only favored the conversion of cellobiose but also resulted in higher selectivity of gluconic acid by facilitating desorption and inhibiting its further degradation. On the other hand, the smaller Au nanoparticles accelerated the oxidation of glucose (an intermediate) into gluconic acid, thereby leading to increases both in the conversion of cellobiose and in the selectivity of gluconic acid. The Au/Cs(x)H(3-x)PW(12)O(40) system also catalyzed the conversion of cellulose into gluconic acid with good efficiency, but it could not be used repeatedly owing to the leaching of a H(+)-rich hydrophilic moiety over long-term hydrothermal reactions. We have demonstrated that the combination of H(3)PW(12)O(40) and Au/Cs(3.0)PW(12)O(40) afforded excellent yields of gluconic acid (about 85%, 418 K, 11 h), and the deactivation of the recovered H(3)PW(12)O(40)-Au/Cs(3.0)PW(12)O(40) catalyst was not serious during repeated use.