Specific interaction between fluorine atoms and thiol groups accounting for higher domain purity and photostability in narrowband BHJ systems

In order to explore the role of fluorine atoms on photostability as well as morphology control of active layer in the presence of 1,4‐butanedithiol (BT), the four polymers with or without fluorine atoms in the backbones including polythieno[3,4‐b]thiophene/benzodithiophene, poly[(4,8‐bis‐(2‐ethylhexyloxy)‐benzo(1,2‐b:4,5‐b9)dithiophene)‐2,6‐diyl‐alt‐(4‐(2‐ethylhexanoyl)‐thieno[3,4‐b]thiophene‐)‐2‐6‐diyl)], poly[4,8‐bis(5‐(2‐ethylhexyl)thiophen‐2‐yl)benzo[1,2‐b;4,5‐b′]dithiophene‐2,6‐diyl‐alt‐(4‐(2‐ethylhexyl)‐3‐fluorothieno[3,4‐b]thiophene‐)‐2‐carboxylate‐2‐6‐diyl)], and poly[4,8‐bis‐(2‐ethyl‐hexyl‐thiophene‐5‐yl)‐benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b0]dithiophene‐2,6‐diyl]‐alt‐[2‐(20‐ethyl‐hexanoyl)‐thieno [3,4‐b]thiophen‐4,6‐diyl] were selected for comparison. It is found that the specimens containing fluorine atoms in polymer backbones showed of higher stability after illumination for 1 h in the presence of BT additive, contributing to the higher domain purity. The specific interaction between fluorine atoms and thiol groups was demonstrated by the appearance of novel absorption peak at 2663.1 cm^?1, in addition to the broadening of peak at 2556.2 cm^?1 ascribing to S? H stretching vibration as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The finding may guide the accurate use of thiols as effective solvent additive in morphology and stability optimization. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 941–951     

Synthesis of peptide dendrimers with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane cores via click chemistry

Inorganic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) was used as the core for the synthesis of poly(Llysine) peptide dendrimer via copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne click chemistry. The inorganic/organic composite dendrimer was characterized by MS, 1H NMR, FTIR, GPC and DLS.     

Advantageous Interfacial Effects of AgPd/g-C3N4 for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution: Electronic Structure and H2O Dissociation

Bimetallic AgPd nanoparticles have been synthesized before, but the interfacial electronic effects of AgPd on the photocatalytic performance have been investigated less. In this work, the results of hydrogen evolution suggest that the bimetallic AgPd/g-C₃N₄ sample has superior activity to Ag/g-C₃N₄ and Pd/g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts. The UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, CO adsorption diffuse reflectance FTIR spectroscopy, and FTIR results demonstrate that in the AgPd/g-C₃N₄, the surface electronic structures of Pd and Ag are changed, which is beneficial for faster photogenerated electron transfer and greater H₂O molecule adsorption. In situ ESR spectra suggest that, under visible light irradiation, there is more H₂O dissociation to radical species on the AgPd/g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst. Furthermore, DFT calculations confirm the interfacial electronic effects of AgPd/g-C₃N₄, that is, Pd^δ−⋅⋅⋅Ag^δ+, and the activation energy of H₂O molecule dissociation on AgPd/g-C₃N₄ is the lowest, which is the main contributor to the enhanced photocatalytic H₂ evolution.     

Panisuffrutin A,a highly degraded seco-triterpene derivative from Paeonia suffruticosa var. papaveracea (Andr.) Kerner

Panisuffrutin A (1), a highly degraded seco-triterpene derivative, together with the known palbinone, has been isolated from the whole plant Paeonia suffruticosa var. papaveracea (Andr.) Kerner. The structure with absolute configuration of 1 was determined via comprehensive NMR and MS analyses, as well as NMR and ECD calculations. A plausible biosynthetic pathway for 1 was proposed. Compound 1 showed weak cytotoxicity against Hela cancer cell line with an IC₅₀ value of 26.2 μM, while palbinone exhibited a moderate inhibition on NO production with an IC₅₀ of 18.3 μM.     

Efficient glycosylation with glycosyl ortho-allylbenzoates as donors

Glycosylation reactions are significant as they provide access to model compounds that are useful for elucidating biochemical pathways. Herein, we describe the development of glycosyl ortho-alkynylbenzoates as novel, bench-top stable, and readily available glycosyl donors. Glycosylation is promoted by inexpensive trimethylsilyl triflate (TMSOTf) in combination with N-iodosuccinimide (NIS) under mild reaction conditions; hence, the novel glycosyl donors are promising reagents for the synthesis of glycosides.     

A Renal‐Clearable Duplex Optical Reporter for Real‐Time Imaging of Contrast‐Induced Acute Kidney Injury

Despite its high morbidity and mortality, contrast‐induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) remains a diagnostic dilemma because it relies on in vitro detection of insensitive late‐stage blood and urinary biomarkers. We report the synthesis of an activatable duplex reporter (ADR) for real‐time in vivo imaging of CIAKI. ADR is equipped with chemiluminescence and near‐infrared fluorescence (NIRF) signaling channels that can be activated by oxidative stress (superoxide anion, O₂^.?) and lysosomal damage (N‐acetyl‐β‐d ‐glucosaminidase, NAG), respectively. By virtue of its high renal clearance efficiency (80 % injected doses after 24 h injection), ADR detects sequential upregulation of O₂^.? and NAG in the kidneys of living mice prior to a significant decrease in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and tissue damage in the course of CIAKI. ADR outperforms the typical clinical assays and detects CIAKI at least 8 h (NIRF) and up to 16 h (chemiluminescence) earlier.     

Low Temperature Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration by Atmospheric Air Non-thermal Plasma Injection System

An experimental study of the regeneration of diesel particulate filter (DPF) was conducted through the use of a self-designed Non-thermal plasma (NTP) injection system with an experimental temperature of 20–300 °C, with atmospheric air being used as the gas source. The results revealed that the PM could be broken down into CO and CO₂ by NTP, through a discharge reaction of the NTP reactor. As the temperature increases, the mass of C₁ (mass of C in CO) showed an overall declining trend. Interestingly, the mass of C₂ (mass of C in CO₂) and C₁₂ (the sum of C₁ and C₂) both showed an initial increase, followed by a decrease. The peak mass of C₁₂ appears at 150 °C, and both axial and radial temperature gradients are less than the limit of DPF temperature gradient at this temperature. In conclusion, DPF can be regenerated by the NTP technology at a lower temperature, which can aid in the avoidance of thermal damage of DPF. The technology boasts a great advantage in adopting atmospheric air as its gas source, which can not only reduce costs, but also is convenient.     

1,2-Diketones as photoinitiators of both cationic and free-radical photopolymerization under UV (392 nm) or Blue (455 nm) LEDs

The photoinitiation abilities of three 1,2-diketones [i.e., acenaphthenequinone ( ANPQ ), aceanthrenequinone ( AATQ ), and 9,10-phenanthrenequinone ( PANQ )]-based photoinitiating systems [PISs, with additives such as iodonium salt, N-vinylcarbazole (NVK), tertiary amine, and phenacyl bromide (R-Br)] for cationic photopolymerization and free-radical photopolymerization under the irradiation of ultraviolet (UV; 392 nm) or blue (455 nm) light-emitting diode (LED) bulb are investigated. All 1,2-diketones studied exhibit ground state absorption that match with the emission spectra of UV (392 nm) or blue LED (455 nm) better than that of the well-known blue-light-sensitive photoinitiator camphorquinone (CQ). In particular, AATQ /iodonium salt/NVK can show high photoinitiating ability (with epoxide conversion yield >70%) under the UV light irradiation due to the effect of NVK. In addition, 1,2-diketone/iodonium salt (and optional NVK) systems are capable of initiating free-radical photopolymerization of methacrylates, with conversions of 50–58%. Furthermore, some 1,2-diketone/tertiary amine (and optional R-Br) combinations are found to demonstrate high efficiency to initiate free-radical photopolymerization, and 71% of methacrylate conversion can be achieved with PANQ /tertiary amine/R-Br PIS. Some 1,2-ketone-based PISs can even exhibit higher efficiency than the CQ-based systems. The photochemical mechanism of the radical generation from the 1,2-diketone-based PISs is investigated and found to be consistent with the related photopolymerization efficiency. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 58, 792–802     

Influence of switchable magnetic field on the modulation property of nanostructured magnetic fluids

Magnetic fluid is a kind of colloidal material with tunable microstructure and unique optical properties. The tunable magneto-optical modulation property of magnetic fluid under externally switchable magnetic field with various modulation periods is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The transitional modulation period (lower limit of the working frequency) between the square-like and oscillation-like modulation is achieved and found to be magnetic-field- and sample-concentration-dependent. The modulation mechanism is analyzed and ascribed to the dynamic microstructure of magnetic fluid under different modulation periods of external magnetic fields. The result of this work may be helpful for the pragmatic applications of magnetic fluid based on the square-like modulation.