Generic fast gradient liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry techniques for the assessment of the in vitro permeability across the blood-brain barrier in drug discovery

Rapid, generic gradient liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) assays, designed to accelerate sample analyses, have been developed to keep pace with the productivity of advanced synthetic procedures. In this study, LC/MS/MS was combined with an in vitro, cell-based, blood-brain barrier (BBB) model to evaluate the potential of new chemical entities (NCEs) to cross the BBB. This in vitro assay provides the permeability of discovery compounds across a monolayer of a primary culture of bovine brain microvessel endothelial cells in a fraction of the time that is required for in vivo studies (brain/plasma concentrations), using only 2 mg of the compound. The results are consistent with in vivo brain/plasma concentration ratio data.     

Formation of hydroxyl radical from the photolysis of frozen hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide (HOOH) in ice and snow is an important chemical tracer for the oxidative capacities of past atmospheres. However, photolysis in ice and snow will destroy HOOH and form the hydroxyl radical (*OH), which can react with snowpack trace species. Reactions of *OH in snow and ice will affect the composition of both the overlying atmosphere (e.g., by the release of volatile species such as formaldehyde to the boundary layer) and the snow and ice (e.g., by the *OH-mediated destruction of trace organics). To help understand these impacts, we have measured the quantum yield of *OH from the photolysis of HOOH on ice. Our measured quantum yields (Phi(HOOH --> *OH)) are independent of ionic strength, pH, and wavelength, but are dependent upon temperature. This temperature dependence for both solution and ice data is best described by the relationship ln(Phi(HOOH --> *OH)) = -(684 +/- 17)(1/T) + (2.27 +/- 0.064) (where errors represent 1 standard error). The corresponding activation energy (Ea) for HOOH (5.7 kJ mol(-1)) is much smaller than that for nitrate photolysis, indicating that the photochemistry of HOOH is less affected by changes in temperature. Using our measured quantum yields, we calculate that the photolytic lifetimes of HOOH in surface snow grains under midday, summer solstice sunlight are approximately 140 h at representative sites on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. In addition, our calculations reveal that the majority of *OH radicals formed on polar snow grains are from HOOH photolysis, while nitrate photolysis is only a minor contributor. Similarly, HOOH appears to be much more important than nitrate as a photochemical source of *OH on cirrus ice clouds, where reactions of the photochemically formed hydroxyl radical could lead to the release of oxygenated volatile organic compounds to the upper troposphere.     

Fast DNA sequencing up to 1,000 bases by capillary electrophoresis using poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) as a separation medium

Poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA) with a molecular mass of 5.2 x 10(6) g/mol has been synthesized and used in DNA sequencing analysis by capillary electrophoresis (CE). A systematic investigation is presented on the effects of different separation conditions, such as injection amount, capillary inner diameter, polymer concentration, effective separation length, electric field and temperature, on the resolution. DNA sequencing up to 800 bases with a resolution (R) limit of 0.5 (and 1,000 bases with a resolution limit of 0.3) and a migration time of 96 min was achieved by using 2.5% w/v polymer, 150 V/cm separation electric field, and 60 cm effective separation length at room temperature on a DNA sample prepared with FAM-labeled--21M13 forward primer on pGEM3Zf(+) and terminated with ddCTP. Ultrafast and fast DNA sequencing up to 420 and 590 bases (R > or = 0.5) were also achieved by using 3% w/v polymer and 40 cm effective separation length with a separation electric field of 525 and 300 V/cm, and a migration time of 12.5 and 31.5 min, respectively. PDMA has low viscosity, long shelf life and dynamic coating ability to the glass surface. The unique properties of PDMA make it a very good candidate as a separation medium for large-scale DNA sequencing by capillary array electrophoresis (CAE).     

Isolation of a carbon nanohoop with M(o)bius topology

Carbon nanohoop,a class of constrained molecular architecture consisting of linked arene units,has attracted considerable interest from both experimental and th...     

Vanadium-Substituted Dawson-Type Polyoxometalate–TiO2 Nanowire Composite Film as Advanced Cathode Material for Bifunctional Electrochromic Energy-Storage Devices

Polyoxometalates (POMs) demonstrate potential for application in the development of integrated smart energy devices based on bifunctional electrochromic (EC) optical modulation and electrochemical energy storage. Herein, a nanocomposite thin film composed of a vanadium-substituted Dawson-type POM, i.e., K₇[P₂W₁₇VO₆₂]·18H₂O, and TiO₂ nanowires were constructed via the combination of hydrothermal and layer-by-layer self-assembly methods. Through scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy characterisations, it was found that the TiO₂ nanowire substrate acts as a skeleton to adsorb POM nanoparticles, thereby avoiding the aggregation or stacking of POM particles. The unique three-dimensional core−shell structures of these nanocomposites with high specific surface areas increases the number of active sites during the reaction process and shortens the ion diffusion pathway, thereby improving the electrochemical activities and electrical conductivities. Compared with pure POM thin films, the composite films showed improved EC properties with a significant optical contrast (38.32% at 580 nm), a short response time (1.65 and 1.64 s for colouring and bleaching, respectively), an excellent colouration efficiency (116.5 cm² C⁻¹), and satisfactory energy-storage properties (volumetric capacitance = 297.1 F cm⁻³ at 0.2 mA cm⁻²). Finally, a solid-state electrochromic energy-storage (EES) device was fabricated using the composite film as the cathode. After charging, the constructed device was able to light up a single light-emitting diode for 20 s. These results highlight the promising features of POM-based EES devices and demonstrate their potential for use in a wide range of applications, such as smart windows, military camouflage, sensors, and intelligent systems.     

Effects of Different Extraction Methods on Vanilla Aroma

To establish the analytic conditions for examining the aroma quality of vanilla pods, we compared different extraction methods and identified a suitable option. We utilized headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), steam distillation (SD), simultaneous steam distillation (SDE) and alcoholic extraction combined with gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify volatile components of vanilla pods. A total of 84 volatile compounds were identified in this experiment, of which SDE could identify the most volatile compounds, with a total of 51 species, followed by HS-SPME, with a total of 28 species. Ten volatile compounds were identified by extraction with a minimum of 35% alcohol. HS-SPME extraction provided the highest total aroma peak areas, and the peak areas of aldehydes, furans, alcohols, monoterpenes and phenols compounds were several times higher than those of the other extraction methods. The results showed that the two technologies, SDE and HS-SPME, could be used together to facilitate analysis of vanilla pod aroma.     

Phenothiazine-based covalent organic frameworks with low exciton binding energies for photocatalysis

Designing delocalized excitons with low binding energy (E_b) in organic semiconductors is urgently required for efficient photochemistry because the excitons in most organic materials are localized with a high E_b of >300 meV. In this work, we report the achievement of a low E_b of ∼50 meV by constructing phenothiazine-based covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with inherent crystallinity, porosity, chemical robustness, and feasibility of bandgap engineering. The low E_b facilitates effective exciton dissociation and thus promotes photocatalysis by using these COFs. As a demonstration, we subject these COFs to photocatalytic polymerization to synthesize polymers with remarkably high molecular weight without any requirement of the metal catalyst. Our results can facilitate the rational design of porous materials with low E_b for efficient photocatalysis.

We report the construction of phenothiazine-based covalent organic frameworks, which exhibited diverse structures, the feasibility of bandgap engineering, and unprecedented ultralow exciton binding energy of ∼50 meV for photocatalytic polymerization.     

低聚壳聚糖几何结构和物理化学属性的理论研究

运用密度泛函B3LYP/6-31G+(d)方法对gg构象的低聚壳聚糖进行了结构优化、频率计算和电子结构,并用更高精度的WB97XD/6-311+G(d,p)方法计算了平均结合能及零点能校正,分析了热力学性质.结果表明,由于低聚壳聚糖中的氢键作用,使其形成螺旋结构;聚合度的增加,使平均结合能随之下降,结构的稳定性增强;在降解过程中,均为放热反应,验证了利用降温来提高降解产率的实验的可行性;此外,聚合度的增加,使能隙减小且快速收敛于聚合度为7的6.99 eV,稳定的反应活性与实验相符;HOMO、LUMO的电子密度分布表明,化学活性集中在C2位的氨基、C6位的羟基以及链的两端位置.该结果对低聚壳聚糖模型的建立和低聚壳聚糖降解过程、活性位置以及物理化学属性的尺寸依赖等现象的研究有着指导意义.     

SrTiO3金属-绝缘体-半导体结构的介电与界面特性

采用金属有机分解法在p型Si衬底上制备了SrTiO3（STO）薄膜.研究了STO薄膜金属 绝缘体 半导体(MIS)结构的介电和界面特性.结果表明，STO薄膜显示出优异的介电性能，在10kHz处的介电常数约为105，损耗低于001，这来源于多晶结构和良好的结晶性；MIS结构中的固定电荷密度Nf和界面态密度Dit分别约为15×1012cm-2和(14—35)×1012cm-2eV-1，这主要与Si/STO界面处形成的低介电常数界面层有关. 关键词： SrTiO3薄膜 MIS结构 介电性能 Si/STO界面     

1,4-bis[2-(4-pyridyl)ethenyl]-benzene衍生物热致变色研究

本文制备了三种在1,4-bis[2-(4-pyridyl)ethenyl]-benzene(bp-eb)上接枝不同烷基链长度的热致变色材料DC8、DC12、DC16. 在365 nm激发光下,随着温度升高,它们呈现出荧光颜色的改变,这种改变来自于晶体态与无定形态之间的转变. 此外,DC16也呈现出光致变色的性质. 通过差示扫描量热法测试得到的相转变温度高于实验过程中荧光颜色改变时的温度. 因此,这种变色行为来自于光与热共同作用的结果. 乙醇可以使粉末变回起始的晶体状态,从而使荧光颜色恢复,实现热致变色行为的可逆. 本研究对理解热致变色分子的结构-性质关系,指导热致变色分子设计具有重要意义.