In situ Raman studies on lithiated single-wall carbon nanotubes in liquid ammonia

The charge transfer induced lithiation of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was investigated by in situ monitoring by Raman spectroscopy as lithium was added incrementally to a dispersion of SWNTs in liquid ammonia. Charge transfer from liquid ammonia solvated lithium to the SWNTs led to intercalation of lithium into the SWNT ropes, as well as to the semi-covalent lithiation of the SWNTs. Raman spectra of the SWNTs recorded as lithium was added showed a 30 wavenumber downshift of the G band (1594 cm⁻¹) with the concomitant appearance of a new peak at 1350 cm⁻¹ that was assigned as the signature of the lithiated SWNTs. Addition of 1-iodododecane to the lithiated SWNTs resulted in the covalent attachment of dodecyl groups. The intercalation of lithium throughout the SWNT ropes led to complete dodecylation of all individual SWNTs.     

芳香叔胺引发丙烯腈光聚合的引发机理

芳香叔胺引发丙烯腈(AN)光聚合是通过形成激基复合物(exciPlex)进行的。紫外光谱和荧光光谱表明,芳香叔胺在基态可以和AN形成电荷转移复合物(CTC),而在激发态可和AN形成exciplc(称定域激发)。CTC经光照亦可激发(称CTC激发)。 定域激发引起光聚合速率为CH_3C_6H_4N(CH_3)_2>C_6H_5N(CH_3)_2>HOCH_2·C_6H_4N(CH_3)_2>CH_3C_6H_4N(CH_2CH_2OH)_2,与芳胺荧光被AN淬灭的Stern-Vo-lmer常数顺序一致。CTC激发引起的光聚合顺序为:CH_3C_6H_4N(CH_3)_2>CH_3C_6H_4N(CH_2CH_2OH)_2>HOCH_2C_6H_4N(CH_3)_2>C_6H_5N(CH_3)_2,与芳胺上取代基推电子能力一致。端基分析表明聚合物有芳胺端基。     

Dysfunction of Shh signaling activates autophagy to inhibit trophoblast motility in recurrent miscarriage

In early pregnancy, the placenta anchors the conceptus and supports embryonic development and survival. This study aimed to investigate the underlying functions of Shh signaling in recurrent miscarriage (RM), a serious disorder of pregnancy. In the present study, Shh and Gli2 were mainly observed in cytotrophoblasts (CTBs), Ptch was mainly observed in syncytiotrophoblasts (STBs), and Smo and Gli3 were expressed in both CTBs and STBs. Shh signaling was significantly impaired in human placenta tissue from recurrent miscarriage patients compared to that of gestational age-matched normal controls. VEGF-A and CD31 protein levels were also significantly decreased in recurrent miscarriage patients. Furthermore, inhibition of Shh signaling impaired the motility of JAR cells by regulating the expression of Gli2 and Gli3. Intriguingly, inhibition of Shh signaling also triggered autophagy and autolysosome accumulation. Additionally, knockdown of BECN1 reversed Gant61-induced motility inhibition. In conclusion, our results showed that dysfunction of Shh signaling activated autophagy to inhibit trophoblast motility, which suggests the Shh pathway and autophagy as potential targets for RM therapy.Subject terms: Embryology, Endocrine reproductive disorders, Autophagosomes     

Amplified detection of nucleic acids and proteins using an isothermal proximity CRISPR Cas12a assay

Herein, we describe an isothermal proximity CRISPR Cas12a assay that harnesses the target-induced indiscrimitive single-stranded DNase activity of Cas12a for the quantitative profiling of gene expression at the mRNA level and detection of proteins with high sensitivity and specificity. The target recognition is achieved through proximity binding rather than recognition by CRISPR RNA (crRNA), which allows for flexible assay design. A binding-induced primer extension reaction is used to generate a predesigned CRISPR-targetable sequence as a barcode for further signal amplification. Through this dual amplification protocol, we were able to detect as low as 1 fM target nucleic acid and 100 fM target protein isothermally. The practical applicability of this assay was successfully demonstrated for the temporal profiling of interleukin-6 gene expression during allergen-mediated mast cell activation.

Herein, we develop an isothermal proximity CRISPR Cas12a assay that harnesses the target-induced collateral cleavage activity of Cas12a for the quantitative profiling of gene expression and detection of proteins with high sensitivity and specificity.     

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of 3,2′-pyrrolinyl spirooxindoles via conjugate addition/Schmidt-type rearrangement of vinyl azides and (E)-alkenyloxindoles

A catalytic asymmetric conjugate addition/Schmidt-type rearrangement of vinyl azides and (E)-alkenyloxindoles was realized. It afforded a variety of optically active 3,2′-pyrrolinyl spirooxindoles with high yields (up to 98%), and excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee, >19 : 1 dr), even at the gram-scale in the presence of a chiral N,N′-dioxide–nickel(ii) complex. In addition, a possible catalytic cycle and transition state model were proposed to rationalize the stereoselectivity.

Lewis acid catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of 3,2′-pyrrolinyl spirooxindole skeletons via conjugate addition/Schmidt-type rearrangement of vinyl azides and (E)-alkenyloxindoles.     

LapRLSR for NIR spectral modeling and its application to online monitoring of the column separation of Salvianolate

A novel near infrared (NIR) modeling method—Laplacian regularized least squares regression (LapRLSR) was presented, which can take the advantage of many unlabeled spectra to promote the prediction performance of the model even if there are only few calibration samples. Using LapRLSR modeling, NIR spectral analysis was applied to the online monitoring of the concentration of salvia acid B in the column separation of Salvianolate. The results demonstrated that LapRLSR outperformed partial least squares (PLS) significantly, and NIR online analysis was applicable.     

Non-equilibrium determination of metoclopramide and tetracaine hydrochloride by sequential injection spectrophotometry

A new sequential injection spectrophotometric method was proposed for the determination of metoclopramide and tetracaine hydrochloride. The method was based on the detection of an unstable red intermediate compound resulting from the reaction of metoclopramide or tetracaine hydrochloride with potassium dichromate, in the presence of sodium oxalate, in sulfuric acid solution. The related reaction mechanisms of this new method have been studied. The experimental conditions were optimized for the stopped-flow and continuous-flow sequential injection models. For continuous flow, the linear range for determination of metoclopramide, the detection limit and the sampling frequency were 13-130 μg ml⁻¹, 9.4 μg ml⁻¹ and 40 samples per hour, respectively. For stopped flow, they were 3-42 μg ml⁻¹, 1.0 μg ml⁻¹ and 18 h⁻¹, respectively. Adopting the continuous-flow model for tetracaine hydrochloride, the linear range was 25-300 μg ml⁻¹, and the detection limit was 18.0 μg ml⁻¹ with sampling frequency of 40 h⁻¹. This method has been used to determine metoclopramide and tetracaine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical preparations, and the results are compared with those determined by the pharmacopoeia method. Statistical analysis reveals that there was no evidence of significant difference between the methods.     

Theoretical study on germanium cyanide radical GeCN and its ions

A detailed theoretical study is performed on the hitherto unknown germanium cyanide radical and its ions. The (2)Pi state GeCN lies 5.0 kcal/mol lower than the (2)Pi state GeNC at the coupled-cluster theory including single and double excitations and perturbative inclusion of triple excitations [CCSD(T)]/6-311++G(3df)//quadratic configuration interaction with single and double excitations (QCISD)/6-311G(d)+zero-point vibrational energy (ZPVE) level. For interconversion between them, two electronic state pathways (2)A(') and (2)A(") are located, with the latter being 0.7 kcal/mol more favorable than the former. On the (2)A(") path, the GeCN-->GeNC and GeNC-->GeCN conversion barriers are 14.5 and 9.5 kcal/mol, respectively. The detailed singlet and triplet potential-energy surfaces of both the cationic and anionic GeCN species are also investigated. On the ground-state electronic hypersurface, singlet GeNC(+) is 4.6 kcal/mol more stable than singlet GeCN(+), whereas triplet GeNC(-) is 10.0 kcal/mol less stable than triplet GeCN(-). The relative energy difference between the GeCN(0,+/-) and GeNC(0,+/-) can be well correlated with the number of vacant orbitals on the Ge atom. The stability of the neutral and ionic CGeN and cyclic cGeCN is also discussed. The predicted structures, spectroscopies, ionization, and affinity energies as well as the Renner-Teller properties are expected to provide reliable estimates for future characterization of the potential GeCN and GeNC radicals as well as their ionic counterparts both in the laboratory and in the interstellar space.     

The synthesis and electronic structure of a novel [NiS4Fe2(CO)6] radical cluster: implications for the active site of the [NiFe] hydrogenases

A novel [NiS4Fe2(CO)6]cluster (1: 'S(4)'=(CH(3)C(6)H(3)S(2))(2)(CH(2))(3)) has been synthesised, structurally characterised and has been shown to undergo a chemically reversible reduction process at -1.31 V versus Fc(+)/Fc to generate the EPR-active monoanion 1(-). Multifrequency Q-, X- and S-band EPR spectra of (61)Ni-enriched 1(-) show a well-resolved quartet hyperfine splitting in the low-field region due to the interaction with a single (61)Ni (I=3/2) nucleus. Simulations of the EPR spectra require the introduction of a single angle of non-coincidence between g(1) and A(1), and g(3) and A(3) to reproduce all of the features in the S- and X-band spectra. This behaviour provides a rare example of the detection and measurement of non-coincidence effects from frozen-solution EPR spectra without the need for single-crystal measurements, and in which the S-band experiment is sensitive to the non-coincidence. An analysis of the EPR spectra of 1(-) reveals a 24 % Ni contribution to the SOMO in 1(-), supporting a delocalisation of the spin-density across the NiFe(2) cluster. This observation is supported by IR spectroscopic results which show that the CO stretching frequencies, nu(CO), shift to lower frequency by about 70 cm(-1) when 1 is reduced to 1(-). Density functional calculations provide a framework for the interpretation of the spectroscopic properties of 1(-) and suggest that the SOMO is delocalised over the whole cluster, but with little S-centre participation. This electronic structure contrasts with that of the Ni-A, -B, -C and -L forms of [NiFe] hydrogenase in which there is considerable S participation in the SOMO.     

TiO2表面电子结构及其光催化活性

利用ＨＣｌ和ＨＣｌＯ４对不同方法制备的ＴｉＯ２进行了表面修饰,发现经强酸修饰后ＴｉＯ２的光催化活性有明显提高,其中ＨＣｌ的修饰效果好于ＨＣｌＯ４。