Evolution of self-diffusion and local structure in some amines over a wide temperature range at high pressures: a molecular dynamics simulation study

Self-diffusion and structural properties of ammonia, methylamine and trimethylamine have been studied by molecular dynamics simulation in the temperature range between the melting pressure curve and 700 K at pressures up to 400 MPa. The calculation results agree well with the experiment, which suggests that one can use the simulation method as a powerful tool to obtain self-diffusion coefficients over wide range of temperatures and pressures, under which it is rather difficult for experiments. The local structures of such fluids are investigated by calculating radial distribution functions (RDFs), the numbers of hydrogen bonds and coordination numbers. The correlation between self-diffusion and structural properties, and the influence of temperature and pressure on them are discussed. The simulation results demonstrate that the temperature effects are more pronounced than the pressure effects on self-diffusion and structural properties, and the effect of hydrogen bonding on the translational dynamics in any of these systems is a minor factor, while it is mainly affected by the close packing of amine molecules.     

Morphine-induced conditioned place preference in mice: Metabolomic profiling of brain tissue to find “molecular switch” of drug abuse by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Conditioned place preference (CPP) is a widely used model to explore the mechanism of context-dependent learning. In this work, we developed a GC–MS method to investigate the metabolites in mice brain which was used to study the mechanism of context-dependent learning associated with rewarding effect of morphine. Metabolites were extracted from brain tissues and derivatized followed by analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In total, 69 peaks were identified as known compounds. By a Wilcoxon ran sum test with p value ≤0.05, 21 metabolites were selected and considered as the potential biomarkers of morphine in mice brain. Using principal component analysis (PCA) and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves, a model was constructed with a combination of these 21 metabolic markers. Multivariate statistics of the model yielded separation between the two groups with an area under the curve value of 0.947. Some metabolites were further discussed in detail about their pathway. Results showed that our technique can be successfully applied to profile for biomarkers and in understanding molecular mechanisms of drug abuse.     

Synthesis, Structure and Luminescent Property of a Zinc(Ⅱ) Coordination Polymer Incorporating Flexible Cyclohexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexacarboxylate Ligand

The hydrothermal reaction of Zn(NO3)2·4H2O, cyclohexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexacarboxylic acid hydrate (H6LI·H2O, cis-conformation LI: a,e,a,e,a,e) and 2,2'-bpy yielded a new coordination polymer [Zn2(H2LII)(2,2'-bpy)]·2H2O(trans-conformation LII: e,e,e,e,e,e), which was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR and XRPD(X-ray powder diffraction). This complex crystallized in the triclinic system, with P1 space group and parameters a=0.66922(5) nm, b=0.97291(8) nm, c=1.22184(9) nm, ...     

One-pot synthesis of stable NIR tetracene diimides via double cross-coupling

Tetracene tetracarboxylic diimides have been synthesized based on direct double ring extension of electron-deficient naphthalene diimides involving metallacyclopentadienes. Atomic structure and electronic transitions responsible for their NIR absorption spectra are investigated with quantum-chemical calculations. In light of their unique structure and admirable photophysical and electronic properties, this new molecular skeleton is promising candidate for n-type semiconductors.     

The use of ethylene glycol solution as the running buffer for highly efficient microchip-based electrophoresis in unmodified cyclic olefin copolymer microchips

An ethylene glycol solution was used as the electrophoretic running buffer in unmodified cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) microchips to minimize the interactions between the analytes and the hydrophobic walls of the plastic microchannels, enhance the resolution of the analytes and eliminate the uncontrollable dispersion caused by uneven liquid levels and non-uniform surfaces of the separation channels. Five amino acids that were labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) were used as model analytes to examine the separation efficiency. The effects of ethylene glycol concentration, pH and sodium tetraborate concentration were systematically investigated. The five FITC-labeled amino acids were effectively resolved using a COC microchip with an effective length of 2.5 cm under optimum conditions, which included using a running buffer of 20 mmol/L sodium tetraborate in ethylene glycol:water (80:20, v/v), pH 6.7. A theoretical plate number of 4.8 × 10(5)/m was obtained for aspartic acid. The system exhibited good repeatability, and the relative standard deviations (n=5) of the peak areas and migration times were no more than 3.4% and 0.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the system was successfully applied to elucidate these five amino acids in human saliva.     

钨酸钠/冰乙酸/过氧化氢作用下聚丁二烯橡胶环氧化及降解行为研究

本文研究了在钨酸钠/冰乙酸/过氧化氢催化体系作用下聚丁二烯橡胶环氧化及降解行为.采用红外(FT-IR)、核磁(1H-NMR)和气相凝胶渗透色谱(GPC)对降解产物进行了表征,结果表明60℃反应24h,聚丁二烯橡胶环氧度为21.27％,而其分子量没有明显降低.     

An efficient high-speed counter-current chromatography method for the preparative separation of sesquiterpenoids from the rhizomes of Cyperus rotundus L. combined with evaluation of the anti-inflammation activity in vitro and molecular docking

Cyperus rotundus L. has been extensively used in ancient medication for the treatment of different disorders worldwide, in which sesquiterpenes are the most representative components. In this study, sesquiterpenes were effectively purified by two-dimensional counter-current chromatography in combination with continuous injection and inner-recycling mode with a solvent system of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:0.2:1:0.2, v/v/v/v). For one-dimension separation, continuous injection mode was used with three times injection and the inner-recycling mode was adopted for the separation of two mixtures for two-dimensional separation. Finally, four sesquiterpenoids, including scariodione ( 1 ), cyperenoic acid ( 2 ), scariodione ( 3 ), and α-cyperone ( 4 ), were obtained with purities over 98%. Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance were applied to identify their structures. The results from the anti-inflammation effect with zebrafish demonstrated that cyperenoic acid exhibited stronger anti-inflammation activity. Molecular docking results suggested that cyperenoic acid possessed lower binding energies –9.4545 kcal/mol with 1CX2 to form formed hydrogen bond interaction with ARG120. In general, all the obtained findings proved that the strong anti-inflammation capacity of cyperenoic acid can have the potential of being adopted for treating diseases resulting from inflammation.     

Electrolytic Formation of Crystalline Silicon/Germanium Alloy Nanotubes and Hollow Particles with Enhanced Lithium‐Storage Properties

Crystalline silicon(Si)/germanium(Ge) alloy nanotubes and hollow particles are synthesized for the first time through a one‐pot electrolytic process. The morphology of these alloy structures can be easily tailored from nanotubes to hollow particles by varying the overpotential during the electro‐reduction reaction. The continuous solid diffusion governed by the nanoscale Kirkendall effect results in the formation of inner void in the alloy particles. Benefitting from the compositional and structural advantages, these SiGe alloy nanotubes exhibit much enhanced lithium‐storage performance compared with the individual solid Si and Ge nanowires as the anode material for lithium‐ion batteries.     

A Mini Review on the Functional Biomaterials Based on Poly(lactic acid) Stereocomplex

Poly(lactic acid) stereocomplex (sc-PLA) prevails over homo-poly(lactic acid)s in many aspects and showed great potential as biomaterials depending on its extraordinary biological, thermal, and mechanical properties. In the past few years, sc-PLA has gained tremendous attention as a new approach to the development of new types of functional biomaterials. This paper summarizes recent progress in the application of the concept of sc-PLA in the design and fabrication of stabilized nanoparticles and in situ gelling hydrogels for biomedical applications.