A Facile Synthetic Method of 3-Bromoflavones

The synthesis of 3-bromoflavones by bromination-debromination using pyridinium bromide perbromide is described.     

Synthesis and study of N,N‐disubstituted 4‐[(4‐aminophenyl)diazenyl]benzylidene‐4′‐alkylanilines

A series of N,N‐disubstituted‐4‐[(4‐aminophenyl)diazenyl]benzylidene‐4′‐alkylanilines (azo dyes) were synthesized from the reaction of the corresponding benzaldehyde with alkylanilines. These azo dyes exhibit nematic and SmC phases on heating. Their order parameter, photo‐stability and miscibility were studied by investigation of a representative sample.     

A Journey to the Total Synthesis of Daptomycin

Daptomycin, the first antibiotic of its class, provides a new structural motif for the development of new antibiotics. Recently, we have completed the total synthesis of daptomycin. The development of the successful synthetic strategy is described here, including the application of serine/threonine ligation mediated peptide cyclization to the daptomycin macrocyclization.     

Effects of Divalent Metal Ions on the Chaperone Activity and Structure of Rat Lens H18G Mutant αB‐Crystallin

αB‐crystalin, a small heat shock protein and a component of α‐crystalin, is a molecular chaperone playing an important role in preventing the formation of cataracts. It has been reported that His18 is an important site for Cu²⁺ to bind with to form a stable metal complex and thus to enhance this chaperone‐like activity of human αB‐crystalin. In this work, we used site‐directed mutagenesis to clone and express H18G rat lens αB‐crystalin in order to investigate the role of His18 in chaperoning activity. We found that 1 mM of Cu²⁺, or Zn²⁺, rather than Mg²⁺, significantly enhanced the chaperone‐like activity of wild type αB‐crystalin. Whereas, it is Zn²⁺ and Mg²⁺, not Cu²⁺, that significantly reduced this activity of H18G αB‐crystalin. In the absence of cation, H18G showed better activity compared to the wild type αB‐crystalin. ANS fluorescence measurement showed there was no linear relationship between chaperone‐like activity and surface hydrophobicity, indicating that surface hydrophobicity is not a prerequisite for chaperone‐like activity. An HPLC size‐exclusion chromatography study showed that in the presence of metal ions, wild type αB‐crystalin tended to aggregate via dissociation and re‐association into a high molecular aggregate with a molecular weight higher than 1400 kDa and then precipitated, suggesting that the presence of metal ions is a factor leading to the formation of cataracts. Both the near and far UV‐CD spectra suggested that the wild type αB‐crystalin reflected more β‐sheet structural characteristics; whereas the H18G reflected more random coil characteristics. The H18G induced structural alterations as to develop more random coil characteristics and more micro‐environmental changes around the tryptophan residues. This work suggested that His18 may not be a crucial binding site for Cu²⁺, but rather that it may be an important binding site for Zn²⁺ in terms of chaperone‐like activity and the process of metal induced self‐aggregation is prerequisite for chaperone‐like activity to occur.     

P‐type tin‐oxide thin film transistors for blue‐light detection application

We reported the characteristics of p‐type tin‐oxide (SnO) thin film transistors (TFTs) upon illumination with visible light. Our p‐type TFT device using the SnO film as the active channel layer exhibits high sensitivity toward the blue‐light with a high light/dark read current ratio (I_light/I_dark) of 8.2 × 10³ at a very low driven voltage of <3 V. Since sensing of blue‐light radiation is very critical to our eyes, the proposed p‐type SnO TFTs with high sensitivity toward the blue‐light show great potential for future blue‐light detection applications.

     

双水相体系中Proline/CuI催化Heck反应的研究

以双水相为反应溶剂,丙烯酸酯、苯乙烯与多种芳卤化合物在催化剂碘化亚铜、配体L-脯氨酸的存在下,在较低的温度(75～85 ℃)下得到了产物,该方法具有反应时间短、产率较高、选择性较好等特点,为该反应及该类化合物的合成提供了一种新方法。产物通过熔点、红外、核磁共振氢谱、碳谱等方法的表征。     

Conversion of Methane into Methanol and Ethanol over Nickel Oxide on Ceria–Zirconia Catalysts in a Single Reactor

The conversion of methane into alcohols under moderate reaction conditions is a promising technology for converting stranded methane reserves into liquids that can be transported in pipelines and upgraded to value‐added chemicals. We demonstrate that a catalyst consisting of small nickel oxide clusters supported on ceria–zirconia (NiO/CZ) can convert methane to methanol and ethanol in a single, steady‐state process at 723 K using O₂ as an abundantly available oxidant. The presence of steam is required to obtain alcohols rather than CO₂ as the product of catalytic combustion. The unusual activity of this catalyst is attributed to the synergy between the small Lewis acidic NiO clusters and the redox‐active CZ support, which also stabilizes the small NiO clusters.