DNA-mediated coordinative assembly of upconversion hetero-nanostructures for targeted dual-modality imaging of cancer cells

We reported a simple and universal strategy for DNA-mediated assembly of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). Such DNA-QD/UCNPs heterostructures not only maintains both fluorescent properties of QDs and upconversion luminescence behaviors of UCNPs, but also offers a polyvalent DNA surface, allowing for targeted dual-modality imaging of cancer cells using an aptamer     

Efficient synthesis of complex glycopeptides based on unprotected oligosaccharides

N-Glycopeptides containing 1 to 4 trisaccharide chains, with the carbohydrates vicinal to each other in the multivalent glycopeptides, were efficiently synthesized by using the glycosylated Fmoc-asparagine as a key building block. While the couplings of amino acids with glycopeptides could be achieved in the homogeneous solutions in N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP) to give excellent yields, all products were conveniently isolated from the reaction mixtures through a precipitation method by using the free carbohydrate chains as phase tags. Commercially available pentafluorophenyl (Pfp) esters of amino acids were employed for the glycopeptide elongation. Longer glycopeptides were constructed by means of a highly convergent synthetic design that is based on the coupling of glycopeptide/peptide fragments. Hydrogen bond interactions between free oligosaccharides were proposed to explain the exceptionally high efficiency of the couplings between two glycosylated building blocks.     

Asymmetric synthesis of trans-2,3-piperidinedicarboxylic acid and trans-3,4-piperidinedicarboxylic acid derivatives

Asymmetric syntheses of (2S,3S)-3-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-2-piperidinecarboxylic acid (1b), (3R,4S)-4-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-3-piperidinecarboxylic acid (2b), and their corresponding N-Boc and N-Cbz protected analogues 8a,b and 17a,b are described. Enantiomerically pure 1b has been synthesized in five steps starting from L-aspartic acid beta-tert-butyl ester. Tribenzylation of the starting material followed by alkylation with allyl iodide using KHMDS produces the key intermediate 5a in a 6:1 diastereomeric excess. Upon hydroboration, the alcohol 6a is oxidized, and the resulting aldehyde 7 is subjected to a ring closure via reductive amination, providing 1b in an overall yield of 38%. Optically pure 2b has been synthesized beginning with N-Cbz-beta-alanine. The synthesis involves the induction of the first stereogenic center using Evans's chemistry and sequential LDA-promoted alkylations with tert-butyl bromoacetate and allyl iodide. Further elaboration by ozonolysis and reductive amination affords 2b in an overall yield of 28%.     

Combining the best in triplex recognition: synthesis and nucleic acid binding of a BQQ-neomycin conjugate

Synthesis of a BQQ-neomycin conjugate is reported. The conjugate combines two ligands, one known to intercalate triplexes (BQQ) and another known to bind in the triplex groove (neomycin). The conjugate stabilizes T.A.T, as well as mixed base DNA triplex, better than neomycin, BQQ, or a combination of both. The conjugate selectively stabilizes the triplex (in the presence of physiological salt concentrations), with as little as 4 muM of the ligand leading to a DeltaTm of >60 degrees C. Competition dialysis studies show a clear preference for the drug binding to triplex DNA/RNA over the duplex/single strand structures. Modeling studies suggest a structure of neomycin bound to the larger W-H (Watson-Hoogsteen) groove with BQQ intercalated between the triplex bases.     

探究Cu/ZnO相互作用对CO2加氢制甲醇反应性能的影响

Using renewable green hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO₂) to produce methanol is one of the fundamental ways to reduce CO₂ emissions in the future, and research and development related to catalysts for efficient and stable methanol synthesis is one of the key factors in determining the entire synthesis process. Metal nanoparticles stabilized on a support are frequently employed to catalyze the methanol synthesis reaction. Metal-support interactions (MSIs) in these supported catalysts can play a significant role in catalysis. Tuning the MSI is an effective strategy to modulate the activity, selectivity, and stability of heterogeneous catalysts. Numerous studies have been conducted on this topic; however, a systematic understanding of the role of various strengths of MSI is lacking. Herein, three Cu/ZnO-SiO₂ catalysts with different strengths of MSI, namely, normal precipitation Cu/ZnO-SiO₂ (Nor-CZS), co-precipitation Cu/ZnO-SiO₂ (Co-CZS), and reverse precipitation Cu/ZnO-SiO₂ (Re-CZS), were successfully prepared to determine the role of such interactions in the hydrogenation of CO₂ to methanol. The results of temperature-programmed reduction (H₂-TPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization illustrated that the MSI of the catalysts was considerably affected by the precipitation sequence. Fourier transform infrared reflection spectroscopy (FT-IR) results indicated that the Cu species existed as CuO in all cases and that copper phyllosilicate was absent (except for strong Cu-SiO₂ interaction). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and N₂O chemical titration results revealed that strong interactions between the Cu and Zn species would promote the dispersion of Cu species, thereby leading to a higher CO₂ conversion rate and improved catalytic stability. As expected, the Re-CZS catalyst exhibited the highest activity with 12.4% CO₂ conversion, followed by the Co-CZS catalyst (12.1%), and the Nor-CZS catalyst (9.8%). After the same reaction time, the normalized CO₂ conversion of the three catalysts decreased in the following order: Re-CZS (75%) > Co-CZS (70%) > Nor-CZS (65%). Notably, the methanol selectivity of the Re-CZS catalyst was found to level off after a prolonged period, in contrast to that of Co-CZS and Nor-CZS. Investigation of the structural evolution of the catalyst with time on stream revealed that the high methanol selectivity of the catalyst was caused by the reconstruction of the catalyst, which was induced by the strong MSI between the Cu and Zn species, and the migration of ZnO onto Cu species, which caused an enlargement of the Cu/ZnO interface. This work offers an alternative strategy for the rational and optimized design of efficient catalysts.     

疏水缔合型增稠剂聚(丙烯酰胺-丙烯酸高级酯)的合成及增稠性能研究

采用沉淀聚合法合成了聚（丙烯酰胺－丙烯酸十四酯），聚（丙烯酰胺－丙烯酸十六酯）和聚（丙烯酰胺－丙烯酸十八酯），重点讨论了共聚物中疏水基团数量及疏水基团链长对增稠性能的影响。采用凯达尔定氮法和动态热分析（DMTA）测定了共聚物的组成及玻璃化温度。     

Maximum spectrum of continuous wavelet transform and its application in resolving an overlapped signal

To estimate the number of peaks and to find the individual peak positions in an overlapped signal, a new method called maximum spectrum of continuous wavelet transform (MSCWT) was developed by extracting the maximum coefficients of continuous wavelet transform (CWT). The peak position in MSCWT was the same as that in its original signal. In this process, CWT was performed not on a single dilation but on an appreciation dilation range. To obtain such a range, a new criterion was introduced to choose a center dilation, which was used to form the dilation range. If Cdilation denoted the center dilation, the proper dilation range was [Cdilation -6 +/- 2, Cdilation +1 +/- 1]. The Mexican Hat function was an analytical wavelet. Utilizing the information of the peak number and the position detected by MSCWT, a fitting route was performed to recover the original signal. One simulated and four true overlapped signals, including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultraviolet-visible (UV) spectrum, and differential pulse voltammetric (DPV), were processed, and the results indicated that MSCWT could detect an overlapped peak number and position, and the curve fitting based on information of MSCWT had a higher accuracy. The proposed method was an efficient one in resolving different types of overlapped signals.