Surface characterization of TEMPO‐oxidized bacterial cellulose

In this study, we focused on the surface character of bacterial cellulose (BC) before and after oxidation mediated by 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl (TEMPO).Solid‐state ¹³C NMR, XPS, SEM, contact angle and surface free energy analyses were performed to investigate the effects of various parameters (reaction time and oxidant and catalyst concentrations) on the surface composition, morphology and polarity of the BC. The results provided by the combined use of these techniques showed that hydrogen bonds were disrupted on the BC surface after carboxylation occurred; therefore, the surface of oxidized BC was rougher than that of the original BC, and the surface free energy, especially the polar components, increased after oxidation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Catalyst‐Free Protocol for the Synthesis of Quinoxalines and Pyrazines in PEG

A facile and simple catalyst‐free protocol has been developed for the condensation of 1,2‐diketones with aromatic 1,2‐diamines in polyethylene glycol (PEG), providing quinoxaline derivatives in good yields. The important features of the methodology are broad substrates scope, simple workup, catalyst free, environmentally benign, and no requirement for metal catalysts. It is noteworthy that the cyclization reaction of 1,2‐diketones with aliphatic 1,2‐diamines is also conducted smoothly to afford pyrazines in good yields under the standard conditions. In addition, PEG could be recovered easily and was reused without evident loss in activity     

Strong ergodicity of the regime-switching diffusion processes

We provide criteria for the strong ergodicity of regime-switching diffusion processes. Our conditions are imposed on the coefficients of the processes. Particularly, we show that for regime-switching diffusions on the half line, if the corresponding diffusion on each fixed environment is strongly ergodic, then the regime-switching diffusion is strongly ergodic as well, which does not depend on the changing rate of the environment. Moreover, the converse is not always true, which is shown by an example. For transience, recurrence and positive recurrence, there is no such good consistency [R. Pinsky and M. Scheutzow, Some remarks and examples concerning the transience and recurrence of random diffusions, Ann. Inst. Henri. Poincaré 28 (1992) 519–536].     

The Synthesis of 1-Phenoxy-3- Arylseleno-2-Propanol

A general and efficient synthetic method of 1-phenoxy-3-arylseleno-2-propanol by reducing diary1 diselenides with sodium borohydride in basic environment and their reaction with epoxypropoxyphenols are described.     

Quantitative study of cellular heterogeneity in doxorubicin uptake and its pharmacological effect on cancer cells

Cellular heterogeneity in doxorubicin (DOX) uptake and its relationship with pharmacological effect on cancer cells were quantitatively investigated for the first time. An in vitro experimental model was established by treating human leukemia K562 and breast cancer MCF‐7 cells with different schedules of DOX with or without surface P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) inhibitor verapamil (VER). The cellular heterogeneity in DOX uptake was quantitatively examined by single‐cell analysis using capillary electrophoresis coupled with laser‐induced fluorescence detection. The corresponding cytotoxic effect was tested by cellular morphology, 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyl‐tetrazolium and flow cytometry assays. The expression of cellular membrane surface P‐gp was determined by flow cytometry. Results showed that the cellular heterogeneity exists in DOX uptake. The single‐high DOX schedule leads to lower uptake heterogeneity and higher mean drug uptake. The cellular heterogeneity in DOX uptake was found to be negatively correlated with drug cytotoxicity and surface P‐gp expression, with r = ?0.7680 to ~ ?0.9587. VER reduces the cellular variation in DOX uptake, suggesting that surface P‐gp may be one of the causes of the cellular heterogeneity in DOX uptake. This research demonstrates the importance of quantitative study of cellular heterogeneity in drug uptake and its potential application in drug schedule design, response prediction and therapy modulation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Novel Synthetic Approach Toward C‐Substituted Piperazine Derivatives via C‐N Bonds Formation of α‐Bromoarylethanones and Ethanolamine

A new method for the synthesis of novel C‐substituted piperazine derivatives bearing aryl substituents on 2,6‐C positions has been developed by one‐pot three‐component sequential reaction of α‐bromoarylethanones with ethanolamine in the presence of formic acid. The structure of the novel compounds was established by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS), and elemental analysis. In addition, the crystal structure of 4e was determined by single X‐ray crystallography and a possible reaction mechanism was proposed.     

Normal Coordinate Analysis of Long Chain Mono-Unsaturated Alcohol Acetates

Long chain mono-unsaturated alcohol acetates are important in practice as insect sex pheromones of lepidoptera. We have studied the relationship between the vibrational spectra of this kind of compounds and their structures⁽¹⁾. The compounds are similar in vibrational spectra even though they have differerces in both the length of chain and the position of double bond. The normal coordinate analysis of these compounds have not been reported in the literature yet.