Microbial fuel cells using natural pyrrhotite as the cathodic heterogeneous Fenton catalyst towards the degradation of biorefractory organics in landfill leachate

An investigation aimed at checking the integration of cathodic pyrrhotite Fenton's reaction with anodic microbial respiration for the enhancement of MFC performance and treatment of a real landfill leachate was carried out. The MFC equipped with a pyrrhotite-coated graphite-cathode generated the maximum power density of 4.2 W/m³ that was 133% higher than graphite-cathode. Concomitantly, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the polarization resistance of pyrrhotite-cathode (92 Ω) was much lower than the graphite-cathode (1057 Ω), indicating that the cathodic overpotential was significantly lowered, probably due to the occurrence of pyrrhotite Fenton's reaction. The in situ generation of Fenton's reagents (Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂) at the pyrrhotite-cathode was demonstrated by the cyclic voltammetry measurement. Besides, reactive oxygen species produced from the pyrrhotite Fenton's reaction were detected and demonstrated to be vital to the enhancement of MFC power output. Further, the effectiveness of this system was examined by treating an old-aged landfill leachate. 77% of color and 78% of COD were removed from the original leachate, indicating that the pyrrhotite not only acted as a cost-effective cathodic catalyst for MFCs in power generation, but also extended the practical merits of traditional MFCs towards advanced oxidation of biorefractory pollutants.     

Antibacterial Constituents from Isodon Excisoides

Two new ent‐kaurane diterpenoids, taihangexcisoidesin C (1) and its acetonide, taihangexcisoidesin D (2), along with 9 known compounds were isolated from the leaves of Isodon excisoides. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated using 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy analysis. Compounds 3‐6 and 8‐9 were tested for their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and S. saprophyticus. Compound 6 showed inhibitory effects on Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and S. saprophyticus MIC values 32, 16 and 16 μg/mL, respectively. All of the compounds didn't show effects on Escherichia coli (MIC > 10 mg/mL).     

Synthesis of dihydroxyurea and its application to the U/Pu split in the PUREX process

Dihydroxyurea (DHU) was synthesized using tri-associated solid phosgene [bis(trichloromethyl) carbonate] dissolved in dioxane and hydroxylamine hydrochloride dissolved in potassium acetate solution. The reduction of Pu(IV) by DHU was investigated using UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The reduction back-extraction behavior of Pu(IV) in 30% tri-butyl phosphate/kerosene was firstly investigated under conditions of various temperature, various DHU and HNO₃ concentrations and various phase contact times. The results showed that Pu(IV) in the organic phase can be stripped rapidly to the aqueous phase by DHU. Simulating the 1B contactor of the PUREX process using a 0.1 M DHU in 0.36M nitric acid solution as the stripping agent, the separation factors of uranium/plutonium can reach 2.1·10⁴. This indicates that DHU is a promising salt free agent for uranium/plutonium separation.     

Tetraphenylpyrazine-based AIEgens: facile preparation and tunable light emission

Research on aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has been a hot topic. Due to enthusiastic efforts by many researchers, hundreds of AIE luminogens (AIEgens) have been generated which were mainly based on archetypal silole, tetraphenylethene, distyrylanthracene, triphenylethene, and tetraphenyl-1,4-butadiene, etc. To enlarge the family of AIEgens and to enrich their functions, new AIEgens are in high demand. In this work, we report a new kind of AIEgen based on tetraphenylpyrazine (TPP), which could be readily prepared under mild reaction conditions. Furthermore, we show that the TPP derivatives possess a good thermal stability and their emission could be fine-tuned by varying the substituents on their phenyl rings. It is anticipated that TPP derivatives could serve as a new type of widely utilized AIEgen, based on their facile preparation, good thermo-, photo- and chemostabilities, and efficient emission.     

山楂果和桑枝提取物中总黄酮含量的Fe(phen)2+3探针共振瑞利散射法测定

在pH值约为8.0的BR缓冲介质中,桑色素、槲皮素和芦丁等黄酮类物质能与Fe(phen)2+3反应形成离子缔合物,此时将引起共振瑞利散射(RRS)显著增强,最大RRS波长均位于310 nm. 在一定范围内散射强度(ΔI)与黄酮类物质的浓度成正比,据此可以建立用Fe(phen)2+3测定某些黄酮类物质的新RRS法. 对桑色素、槲皮素和芦丁的检出限(3σ/K)分别为1.25×10-7 mol/L(37.74 μg/L),1.80×10-7 mol/L(54.42 μg/L),2.72×10-7 mol/L(167.30 μg/L). 研究了反应的适宜条件和影响因素,考察了共存物质的影响. 结果表明,方法有较好的选择性.分别以芦丁和桑色素为对照品测定了中药材山楂果和桑枝中的总黄酮含量,对反应机理进行了初步探讨.     

Direct electrosynthesis and characterization of a new soluble polyfluorene derivative containing carboxyl group in boron trifluoride diethyl etherate

High-quality poly(fluorene-9-acetic acid) (PFAA), a new soluble polyfluorene derivative, was synthesized electrochemically by direct anodic oxidation of fluorene-9-acetic acid (FAA) in boron trifluoride diethyl etherate (BFEE) containing a certain amount of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). This electrolyte enables facile anodic oxidation of FAA monomer at lower potential (1.05 V vs. SCE). PFAA films with conductivity of 0.53 S cm⁻¹ obtained from this medium showed better redox activity and thermal stability in relation to unsoluble poly(fluorene-9-carboxylic acid). Fluorescent spectral studies indicate that PFAA film with high fluorescence quantum yields and photochemical stability is a good blue-light emitter. The structure and morphology of the polymer were studied by UV–vis, FT-IR, ¹H NMR spectra and scanning electron microscopy, respectively.     

Synthesis of 3-substituted 1,5-aldehyde esters via an organocatalytic highly enantioselective conjugate addition of new carbonylmethyl 2-pyridinylsulfone to enals

A highly enantioselective organocatalytic protocol for conjugate addition of new nucleophilic carbonylmethyl 2-pyridinylsulfone to enals has been developed in good yields and with high enantioselectivities. The resulting Michael adducts are versatile building blocks for a variety of organic transformations.     

Four distinctive 1-D lanthanide carboxylate coordination polymers: Synthesis,crystal structures and spectral properties

Four novel lanthanide coordination polymers [Pr(mal)(OH)(bipy) · 2H₂O]_n (1), {[Dy¹(SBA)₃(H₂O)₂][Dy²(SBA)₃(H₂O)₂] · 4H₂O}_n (2), {[Tb(OHnic)(Onic)(H₂O)₅ · (OHnicH)] · H₂O}_n (3) and {[Sm(OHnic)(Onic)(H₂O)₅ · (OHnicH)] · H₂O}_n (4) (Hmal = maleic acid, HSBA = 4-sulfobenzoic acid, OHnicH = 6-hydroxynicotinic acid and bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine) have been synthesized and determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 is a 1-D helical chain with seven-coordinated praseodymium centers. Complex 2 forms 1-D chain-like molecular structure containing two crystallographically unique dysprosium centers, the Dy¹ center is seven-coordinated while Dy² is eight-coordinated. The isomorphous complexes 3 and 4 exhibit an unprecedented 1-D chain-like polymeric structure through hydroxyl oxygen atoms of bridging Onic²⁻ anions linking up the neighboring central ions, and there exist three types of 6-OHnicH ligands in the structural unit which is rare for lanthanide carboxylate complexes. The photophysical properties of these complexes were studied using ultraviolet absorption spectra, fluorescence excitation and emission spectra.     

A concise synthesis of quinazolinone TGF-β RI inhibitor through one-pot three-component Suzuki-Miyaura/etherification and imidate-amide rearrangement reactions

A simple and efficient synthesis of dihydropyrrolopyrazole boronic acid intermediate (5) has been developed. Utilization of a three-component Suzuki-Miyaura/etherification with microwave heating led to advanced compound 11 in high yield and with easy purification. Reaction of compound 11 with methanesulfonyl chloride at room temperature furnished the 1,3 O-N rearranged product (12), which is postulated to proceed via an intramolecular mechanism. The outlined synthesis provides a highly efficient and high-yielding route that is amenable to rapid analog synthesis.     

Development of a quality evaluation method for Fructus schisandrae by pressurized capillary electrochromatography

A pressurized CEC (pCEC) method with postcolumn detection cell had been developed for quantifying the lignans from Fructus schisandrae extracts. The effects of different experimental conditions, such as the ACN content of the mobile phase, the concentration and pH of the buffer, the applied voltage, and the supplementary pressure were studied. Five lignans (schisandrin, gomisin A, schisantherin C, deoxyschizandrin, schisandrin B) were baseline separated using a mobile phase of ACN-phosphate buffer (pH 5.4; 5 mM) (40:60 v/v) under -4 kV applied voltage. The method showed the satisfactory retention time and peak area repeatability. The calibration curves were linear in the range 50.0-1000.0 microg/mL for schisandrin, 20.0-500.0 microg/mL for gomisin A, 10.0-200.0 microg/mL for schisantherin C, 20.0-500.0 microg/mL for deoxyschizandrin, and 20.0-500.0 microg/mL for schisandrin B. The correlation coefficients were between 0.9978 and 0.9989. With this pCEC system, fingerprints of F. schisandrae were preliminarily established to distinguish two members S. chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. and S. sphenanthera Rehd. Et Wils. of F. schisandrae by characteristic peaks, and evaluate the quality of various sources of raw materials by determining the contents of the five lignans.