Ionic‐Liquid‐Grafted Rigid Poly(p‐Phenylene) Microspheres: Efficient Heterogeneous Media for Metal Scavenging and Catalysis

Novel guanidinium ionic liquid‐grafted rigid poly(p‐phenylene) (PPPIL) microspheres have been developed for metal scavenging and catalysis. The noble‐metal nanoparticles supported on the microspheres surface can be used as efficient heterogeneous catalysts. The combination of nanoparticles and ionic liquid fragments on the microsphere surfaces enhance the activity and durability of the catalyst. The PPPIL ? Pd⁰ catalyst has been tested in the Suzuki cross‐coupling reaction, and exhibits much higher catalytic activity than Pd catalysts supported on porous polymer matrices. The PPPIL ? Pd⁰ catalyst can be recycled at least for nine runs without any significant loss of activity. The present approach may, therefore, have potential applications in transition‐metal‐nanocatalyzed reactions.     

Synthesis,Structure and Magnetic Properties of dimeric Nickel(II) Benzoate with Pyridyl‐substituted Nitronyl Nitroxides

The novel heterospin complex [Ni₂(PhCOO)₄(NITpPy)₂]·2CH₃CN ( 1 ) was synthesized by the reaction of nickel benzoate and 2‐(4‐pyridyl)‐4,4,5,5‐tetramethylimidazoline‐1‐oxyl‐3‐oxide (NITpPy) in acetonitrile and dichloromethane solutions. The X‐ray structure determination shows that complex 1 consists of a symmetrical dimeric Ni^II benzoate paddle‐wheel core and pyridyl nitrogen atoms of radical ligands at the apical position, in addition, the temperature (2–300K) dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate that 1 has antiferromagnetic behavior.     

Platinum(II) complexes of reduced amino acid ester Schiff bases: synthesis, characterization, and antitumor activity

A series of platinum(II) complexes of reduced amino acid esters Schiff bases were synthesized as potential anticancer agents and characterized by ¹H NMR, EA, IR, and molar conductivity. These compounds were tested for their DNA interaction with salmon sperm DNA by ultraviolet spectrum and CD spectrum, and their in vitro anticancer activities have been validated against HL-60, KB, BGC-823, and Bel-7402 cell lines by MTT assay. The cytotoxicity of complexes 5d and 5f are better than cisplatin against Bel-7402 cell lines, and show a close cytotoxic effect against HL-60 cell line.     

Testing the semi-explicit assembly model of aqueous solvation in the SAMPL4 challenge

Here, we test a method, called semi-explicit assembly (SEA), that computes the solvation free energies of molecules in water in the SAMPL4 blind test challenge. SEA was developed with the intention of being as accurate as explicit-solvent models, but much faster to compute. It is accurate because it uses pre-simulations of simple spheres in explicit solvent to obtain structural and thermodynamic quantities, and it is fast because it parses solute free energies into regionally additive quantities. SAMPL4 provided us the opportunity to make new tests of SEA. Our tests here lead us to the following conclusions: (1) The newest version, called Field-SEA, which gives improved predictions for highly charged ions, is shown here to perform as well as the earlier versions (dipolar and quadrupolar SEA) on this broad blind SAMPL4 test set. (2) We find that both the past and present SEA models give solvation free energies that are as accurate as TIP3P. (3) Using a new approach for force field parameter optimization, we developed improved hydroxyl parameters that ensure consistency with neat-solvent dielectric constants, and found that they led to improved solvation free energies for hydroxyl-containing compounds in SAMPL4. We also learned that these hydroxyl parameters are not just fixing solvent exposed oxygens in a general sense, and therefore do not improve predictions for carbonyl or carboxylic-acid groups. Other such functional groups will need their own independent optimizations for potential improvements. Overall, these tests in SAMPL4 indicate that SEA is an accurate, general and fast new approach to computing solvation free energies.     

A comparison study of the H + CH4 and H + SiH4 reactions with eight-dimensional quantum dynamics: normal mode versus local mode in the reactant molecule vibration

The hydration of NaCl has been widely studied and believed to be important for understanding the mechanisms of salt dissolution in water and the formation of ice nucleus, cloud, and atmospheric aerosols. However, understanding on the poly-NaCl ion pair interacting with water is very limited. Here, we investigated the adsorption of water molecules on (NaCl)₃, using both theoretical calculations and anion photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. The calculated vertical detachment energies and the experimental ones agree well with each other. Furthermore, we found that, for neutral (NaCl)₃(H₂O) _n (n = 2–7) clusters, the water-doped cuboid and structures formed by adding water molecules on the Na–Cl edges of the cuboid are energetically favored; water molecules preferentially bind to the Na–Cl edge if the NaCl ion pair has larger partial charges than others. We also found the anionic structures are more various compared with neutral ones, and the Na⁺ and Cl^? ions are hydrated more easily in the anionic clusters than in the corresponding neutrals.     

A novel method to prepare polymer-ionic liquid gel under high pressure and its electrochemical properties

Sol–gel transition behavior of ionic liquid gel based on poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) and ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate [EMIM][EtSO₄] has been investigated under the pressure up to 250 MPa. The Temperature versus Pressure phase diagram of PEG/[EMIM][EtSO₄] gel is constructed, and it indicates that the melting point is an increasing function of pressure. Based on the phase diagram, the PEG/[EMIM][EtSO₄] gels are prepared by cooling under the pressure of 300 MPa and atmospheric pressure, respectively. From the differential scanning calorimetry result of the recovered samples, it is found that PEG/[EMIM][EtSO₄] gel prepared under high pressure has a higher crystallinity and smaller crystal size polymer network, comparing with under atmospheric pressure. The cyclic voltammograms and impedance spectra tests indicate that the PEG/[EMIM][EtSO₄] gel prepared under high pressure exhibit higher ionic conductivity comparing with atmospheric pressure. It could be speculated these excellent properties might be attributed to the loose gel structure and high ionic density induced by high pressure.     

Organocatalytic asymmetric one-pot sequential reaction: synthesis of highly substituted spirocyclohexanepyrazolones with six contiguous stereogenic carbons

An atom-economical synthesis of chiral polyfunctionalized spiropyrazolone derivatives based on the development of a new organocatalytic enantioselective one-pot sequential Michael/Michael/Aldol reaction of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with unsaturated pyrazolones and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes has been developed. The notable features of this one-pot sequential process include the generation of up to six consecutive stereogenic carbon centers including one quaternary stereocenter and five tertiary stereocenters with high enantioselectivities (up to 95% ee) and excellent diastereoselectivities (>99:1 d.r.).     

Enantioseparation of dansyl amino acids and dipeptides by chiral ligand exchange capillary electrophoresis based on Zn(II)-l-hydroxyproline complexes coordinating with γ-cyclodextrins

A chiral ligand exchange capillary electrophoresis (CLE-CE) method using Zn(II) as the central ion and l-4-hydroxyproline as the chiral ligand coordinating with γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) was developed for the enantioseparation of amino acids (AAs) and dipeptides. The effects of various separation parameters, including the pH of the running buffer, the ratio of Zn(II) to l-4-hydroxyproline, the concentration of complexes and cyclodextrins (CDs) were systematically investigated. After optimization, it has been found that eight pairs of labeled AAs and six pairs of labeled dipeptides could be baseline-separated with a running electrolyte of 100.0 mM boric acid, 5.0 mM ammonium acetate, 3.0 mM Zn(II), 6.0 mM l-hydroxyproline and 4.0 mM γ-CD at pH 8.2. The quantitation of AAs and dipeptides was conducted and good linearity (r² ≥ 0.997) and favorable repeatability (RSD ≤ 3.6%) were obtained. Furthermore, the proposed method was applied in determining the enantiomeric purity of AAs and dipeptides. Meanwhile, the possible enantiorecognition mechanism based on the synergistic effect of chiral metal complexes and γ-CD was explored and discussed briefly.     

Monitoring enzyme reaction and screening of inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase by quantitative matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization fourier transform mass spectrometry

A matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry (MALDI-FTMS)-based assay was developed for kinetic measurements and inhibitor screening of acetylcholinesterase. Here, FTMS coupled to MALDI was applied to quantitative analysis of choline using the ratio of choline/acetylcholine without the use of additional internal standard, which simplified the experiment. The Michaelis constant (K _m) of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was determined to be 73.9 μmol L⁻¹ by this approach. For Huperzine A, the linear mixed inhibition of AChE reflected the presence of competitive and noncompetitive components. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) value of galantamine obtained for AChE was 2.39 μmol L⁻¹. Inhibitory potentials of Rhizoma Coptidis extracts were identified with the present method. In light of the results the referred extracts as a whole showed inhibitory action against AChE. The use of high-resolution FTMS largely eliminated the interference with the determination of ACh and Ch, produced by the low-mass compounds of chemical libraries for inhibitor screening. The excellent correlation with the reported kinetic parameters confirms that the MS-based assay is both accurate and precise for determining kinetic constants and for identifying enzyme inhibitors. The obvious advantages were demonstrated for quantitative analysis and also high-throughput characterization. This study offers a perspective into the utility of MALDI-FTMS as an alternate quantitative tool for inhibitor screening of AChE.     

Ratiometric chemosensor for fluorescent determination of Zn2+ in aqueous ethanol

A new ratiometric and selective fluorescent chemosensor (1) for quantification of zinc ions in aqueous ethanol has been synthesized and investigated in this work. In an environmentally friendly media of 30% (v/v) water/ethanol and 10 mM Tris-HCl neutral buffer (pH 7.03), 1 displayed selective Zn²⁺ ratiometric fluorescence response, with a dynamic working range of 1.0-8.0 μM and a detection limit of 0.5 μM Zn²⁺. The determination of Zn²⁺ in synthesized water sample was also successful.