Solvothermal synthesis of monodisperse nanocrystals

Monodisperse nanocrystals have drawn tremendous interests in terms of their fundamental sciences and practical applications. In this review, some recent developments in the solvothermal synthesis of monodisperse nanocrystals are discussed, and we present an outlook on the field.     

Add/drop channel filter based on two parallel long-period fiber gratings coupler

A wavelength-selective coupler constructed with two parallel long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) was investigated thoroughly. Both the numerical and experimental results verified that the filter response could be improved by adjusting the UV refractive modulation of the gratings and by controlling the external surrounding. And an add/drop channel filter with high efficiency and good spectral characteristic was achieved even though the claddings of the two gratings were not processed. This feature is very favorable to simplify the fabrication process.     

Copper‐Catalyzed Intramolecular Oxidative Amination of Unactivated Internal Alkenes

A copper‐catalyzed oxidative amination of unactivated internal alkenes has been developed. The Wacker‐type oxidative alkene amination reaction is traditionally catalyzed by a palladium through a mechanism involving aminopalladation and β‐hydride elimination. Replacing the precious and scarce palladium with a cheap and abundant copper for this transformation has been challenging because of the difficulty associated with the aminocupration of internal alkenes. The combination of a simple copper salt, without additional ligand, as the catalyst and Dess–Martin periodinane as the oxidant, promotes efficiently the oxidative amination of allylic carbamates and ureas bearing di‐ and trisubstituted alkenes leading to oxazolidinones and imidazolidinones. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggested a hybrid radical–organometallic mechanism involving an amidyl radical cyclization to form the key C?N bond.     

Direct catalytic asymmetric synthesis of cyclic aminals from aldehydes

A highly enantioselective Br?nsted acid catalyzed direct synthesis of cyclic aminals from aldehydes has been developed. The methodology has been applied to the first asymmetric synthesis of several antihypertensive aminal drugs including (R)-Thiabutazide.     

Mesoporous silica functionalized with an AIE luminogen for drug delivery

An aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogen, tetraphenylethene, has been successfully grafted onto mesoporous silica SBA-15 for the first time. The materials emit blue light upon UV irradiation, and are photostable for the ibuprofen (IBU) drug loading and release process, indicating their great potential for biomedical applications.     

A non-aggregation colorimetric assay for thrombin based on catalytic properties of silver nanoparticles

In this paper, we developed a simple and rapid colorimetric assay for protein detection based on the reduction of dye molecules catalyzed by silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Aptamer-modified magnetic particles and aptamer-functionalized AgNPs were employed as capture and detection probes, respectively. Introduction of thrombin as target protein could form a sandwich-type complex involving catalytically active AgNPs, whose catalytic activity was monitored on the catalytic reduction of rhodamine B (RhB) by sodium borohydride (NaBH₄). The amount of immobilized AgNPs on the complex increased along with the increase of the thrombin concentration, thus the detection of thrombin was achieved via recording the decrease in absorbance corresponding to RhB. This method has adopted several advantages from the key factors involved, i.e., the sandwich binding of affinity aptamers contributed to the increased specificity; magnetic particles could result in rapid capture and separation processes; the conjugation of AgNPs would lead to a clear visual detection. It allows for the detection limit of thrombin down to picomolar level by the naked eye, with remarkable selectivity over other proteins. Moreover, it is possible to apply this method to the other targets with two binding sites as well.     

Synthesis and Properties of Novel Aromatic Azo Compounds from Hydroxyazobenzene and Cyanuric Chloride

A new series of aromatic azo compounds with one, two, three and five azobenzene units were facilely constructed by dehydrochlorination reaction between p‐hydroxyazobenzene, 4,4′‐dihydroxyazobenzene and cyanuric chloride under very mild conditions. Their solubility, crystallinity, thermostability, UV‐vis absorption properties and photoisomerization behaviors were carefully examined. When the number of azobenzene unit grew, the solubility of the synthesized compounds basically decreased, the crystallinity of the synthesized compounds firstly rose then dropped, while the thermostability and UV‐vis absorption ability of the synthesized compounds greatly improved. All the aromatic azo compounds exhibited typical reversible photoisomerization behaviors and were expected to be applied in photosensitive material areas.     

Graphitic-C<Subscript>3</Subscript>N<Subscript>4</Subscript> quantum dots decorated {001}-faceted TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanosheets as a 0D/2D composite with enhanced solar photocatalytic activity

Zero-dimensional (0D)/two-dimensional (2D) heterojunctions have attracted great attention in photocatalysis due to their superior interfacial effects. In this work, 0D g-C₃N₄ quantum dots (CNQDs) were firstly used to modify {001}-faceted 2D TiO₂ nanosheets by a simple solvothermal method. During the controlled growth of TiO₂ nanosheets with exposed reactive {001} facets, the CNQDs can be simultaneously assembled on the surface of TiO₂ nanosheets in a highly dispersive way. The 0D/2D composite containing only 0.5% of CNQDs shows the optimized solar photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B and 4-chlorophenol. More importantly, the 0D/2D composite exhibits a better solar photocatalytic activity than the bulk g-C₃N₄/TiO₂ nanosheets composite. This improvement can be ascribed to the close interfacial contact and strong interaction between the highly dispersed CNQDs and the TiO₂ nanosheets, which could lead to efficient separation of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs, provide more catalytic active sites, and enhance the absorption of solar light. The 0D/2D composite also shows good stability for its practical applications.     

Direct evidence for hydrated protons as the active species in artificial photocatalytic water reduction into hydrogen

Photocatalytic water reduction to hydrogen over oxide semiconductors is one of the most extensively investigated artificial photocatalytic reactions, but the nature of the active species has not yet been elucidated. Here, we successfully prepared Pt/rutile TiO_2(110) surfaces with hydrated proton species via co-adsorption of hydrogen and water and observed the photocatalytic reduction of hydrated protons to H_2 upon UV light illumination. These results provide experimental evidence to prove hydrated protons as the active species for photocatalytic water reduction to hydrogen and demonstrate the occurrence of photocatalytic reduction of hydrated protons to H_2 within the H-bonding network on the catalyst surface instead of directly on the catalyst surface. The Pt-TiO_2 interface is capable of dissociating water to form hydroxyl groups that facilitate the formation of H-bonding network on the catalyst surface to enhance the photocatalytic H_2 production. Our results greatly advance fundamental understanding of artificial photocatalytic water reduction.