Preparation and properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)/silica nanocomposites derived from copolymerization of vinyl silica nanoparticles and vinyl acetate

Nanocomposites of poly(vinyl alcohol)/silica nanoparticles (PVA-SNs) were prepared by in-situ radical copolymerization of vinyl silica nanoparticles functionalized by vinyltriethoxysilane (VTEOS) and vinyl acetate with benzoyl peroxide (BPO, i.e., initiator), subsequently saponified via direct hydrolysis with NaOH solution. The resulting vinyl silica nanoparticles, PVA-SNs were characterized by means of fourier transformation spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the elemental analysis method. Effects of silica nanoparticles on viscosity and alcoholysis of PVA-SNs were studied by a ubbelohode capillary viscometer and the back titration method. The morphological structure of PVA-SN films was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and tensile test were used to determine the thermal and mechanical properties of PVA-SN films. The results indicated that the content of vinyl groups on the surface of the vinyl silica nanoparticles was up to 3.02 mmol/g and vinyl silica nanoparticles had been successfully copolymerized with vinyl acetate. Furthermore, compared to pure PVA, silica nanoparticles bonded with polymer matrix in a low concentration affected the viscosity and alcoholysis of the PVA-SNs materials. At the same time, it resulted in the improvement of the thermal and mechanical properties of the PVA-SN materials due to a strong interaction between silica nanoparticles and the polymer matrix via a covalent bond. It could be found that the optical clarity of the membrane was changed through UV-Vis absorption spectrum due to the introduction of silica nanoparticles.     

Essential of Proline and Valine Residues in the Peptide Derived from Lactoferrin for Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibition

We synthesized Leu‐Arg‐Pro‐Val‐Ala‐Ala‐Glu, the peptide contained in lactoferrin (Lf), to identify the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition. In an attempt to know the structure‐activity relationship of this peptide, we replaced Pro (the third amino acid residues from N‐terminal) or Val (the fourth amino acid residues from N‐terminal) with Ala (neutral amino acid), Glu (acidic amino acid) or Lys (basic amino acid) to produce six peptides. From the in vitro ACE inhibition (IC₅₀) of these synthesized peptides, the original peptide (Leu‐Arg‐Pro‐Val‐Ala‐Ala‐Glu) showed higher ACE inhibition than the replaced six peptides. Thus, replacement of Pro at the third amino acid residues or Val at the fourth position with Ala, Glu or Lys revealed the ACE inhibition to be lower than the original form of Leu‐Arg‐Pro‐Val‐Ala‐Ala‐Glu. Otherwise, we added one peptide at the C‐terminal of Leu‐Arg‐Pro‐Val‐Ala‐Ala‐Glu and found both products with an addition of Val (Leu‐Arg‐Pro‐Val‐Ala‐Ala‐Glu‐Val) or Ile (Leu‐Arg‐Pro‐Val‐Ala‐Ala‐Glu‐Ile) showing a lower ACE inhibition than the original one. The ACE inhibitions produced by both replaced peptides were without significance. Also, deletion of the last peptide at the C‐terminal (Leu‐Arg‐Pro‐Val‐Ala‐Ala) failed to produce a marked change of ACE inhibition as compared to the original one. These results suggest that Pro and Val are essential in the peptide for inhibition of ACE activity.     

M4 @Si28 (M=Al,Ga): metal-encapsulated tetrahedral silicon fullerene

It is known that silicon fullerenes cannot maintain perfect cage structures like carbon fullerenes. Previous density-functional theory calculations have shown that even with encapsulated species, nearly all endohedral silicon fullerenes exhibit highly puckered cage structures in comparison with their carbon counterparts. In this work, we present theoretical evidences that the tetrahedral fullerene cage Si(28) can be fully stabilized by encapsulating a tetrahedral metallic cluster (Al(4) or Ga(4)). To our knowledge, this is the first predicted endohedral silicon fullerene that can retain perfectly the same cage structure (without puckering) as the carbon fullerene counterpart (T(d)-C(28) fullerene). Density-functional theory calculations also suggest that the two endohedral metallosilicon fullerenes T(d)-M(4)@Si(28) (M=Al and Ga) can be chemically stable because both clusters have a large highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gap ( approximately 0.9 eV), strong spherical aromaticity (nucleus-independent chemical shift value of -36 and -44), and large binding and embedding energies.     

A new diarylheptanoid and a new diarylheptanoid glycoside isolated from the roots of Juglans mandshurica and their anti-inflammatory activities

A new diarylheptanoid, (2S,3S,5S)-2,3,5-trihydroxy-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy- 3-methoxyphenyl)heptane (1), and a new diarylheptanoid glycoside, (2S,3S,5S)-2,3-dihydroxy-5-O-β-d-xylopyranosyl-7-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)heptane (2), together with three known compounds, rhoiptelol C (3), rhoiptelol B (4) and 3′,4″-epoxy-2-O-β-d-glucopyanosyl-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)- 7-(3-methoxyphenyl)heptan-3-one (5) were isolated from the roots of Juglans mandshurica (Juglandaceae). The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were identified based on HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1–5 were assayed for their inhibitory effects on the production of NO, TNF-α and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells.     

Separation and determination of lignans from seeds of Schisandra species by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography using ionic liquid as modifier

In this paper, a micellar electrokinetic chromatographic (MEKC) method using ionic liquid as modifier for the quantification of the active components of lignans found in the medicinal herbs Schisandra species was developed for the first time. Preliminary investigations employing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as surfactant did not lead to the necessary resolution of the studied compounds, the addition of ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIM-BF4) to the SDS micellar system resulted in the complete separation of all the compounds. The effects on the separation by several parameters such as BMIM-BF4 and SDS concentration, applied voltage, background electrolyte pH and concentration, were evaluated. Under the optimal conditions (5 mM borate-5 mM phosphate buffer in the presence of 20 mM SDS and 10 mM BMIM-BF4, pH 9.2, applied voltage 25 kV and detection at 254 nm), the method successfully applied to the determination of lignans in extracts of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. and Schisandra henryi C.B. Clarke in less than 13 min. The separation mechanism was also discussed.     

Construction and Analysis of N-phosphoryl Peptide Libraries

N-Phosphoryl peptide libraries were constructed by transformation from homo-oligopeptide libraries, which was synthesized by self-assembly of amino acids with the assistance of phosphorus oxychloride. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was used to monitor the reaction.     

“双一流”背景下高等农业院校有机化学基础课程教学新模式的构建及实践

The crop science of Sichuan Agricultural University is an authorized first-class discipline. As the strategic supporting department for innovative talent cultivation in agriculture and forestry major, we are facing a long-term challenge in reforming the teaching mode for basic course-organic chemistry and cultivating talented students with solid basic knowledge and strong sense of innovation. Herein a thorough survey was performing to establish the executable teaching programs for this course during the "Double-First Class Universities Plan" period. A multidimensional teaching resource library for organic chemistry course was also constructed. The new classroom teaching mode "Interest cultivation-Creative thought development-Autonomous and Cooperative learning", along with a stepwise practice teaching mode "Foundation skills-Integrated application-Innovative trial" was proposed and practiced among thirty-five majors including agriculture, forestry and veterinary, to improve the quality for innovative talent cultivation and support our first-class discipline construction. This research could probably serve as a reference for congeneric agricultural university.     

Pinkment: a synthetic platform for the development of fluorescent probes for diagnostic and theranostic applications

Reaction-based fluorescent-probes have proven successful for the visualisation of biological species in various cellular processes. Unfortunately, in order to tailor the design of a fluorescent probe to a specific application (i.e. organelle targeting, material and theranostic applications) often requires extensive synthetic efforts and the synthetic screening of a range of fluorophores to match the required synthetic needs. In this work, we have identified Pinkment-OH as a unique “plug-and-play” synthetic platform that can be used to develop a range of ONOO⁻ responsive fluorescent probes for a variety of applications. These include theranostic-based applications and potential material-based/bioconjugation applications. The as prepared probes displayed an excellent sensitivity and selectivity for ONOO⁻ over other ROS. In vitro studies using HeLa cells and RAW 264.7 macrophages demonstrated their ability to detect exogenously and endogenously produced ONOO⁻. Evaluation in an LPS-induced inflammation mouse model illustrated the ability to monitor ONOO⁻ production in acute inflammation. Lastly, theranostic-based probes enabled the simultaneous evaluation of indomethacin-based therapeutic effects combined with the visualisation of an inflammation biomarker in RAW 264.7 cells.

Pinkment, a resorufin based ONOO⁻ selective and sensitive ‘plug and play’ fluorescence-based platform for in vitro and in vivo use, enables facile functionalisation for various imaging and theranostic applications.     

Phenolic compounds from the aerial parts of Clematis viticella L. and their in vitro anti-inflammatory activities*

Phytochemical investigations on the EtOH extract of Clematis viticella led to the isolation of six flavonoid glycosides, isoorientin (1), isoorientin 3′-O-methyl ether (2), quercetin 7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (3), quercetin 3,7-di-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (4), manghaslin (5) and chrysoeriol 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6), one phenylethanol derivative, hydroxytyrosol (7), along with three phenolic acids, caffeic acid (8), (E)-p-coumaric acid (9) and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (10). The structures of the isolates were elucidated on the basis of NMR and HR-MS data. All compounds were isolated from C. viticella for the first time. Compounds 7 and 8 showed significant anti-inflammatory activity at 100 μM by reducing the release of NO in LPS-stimulated macrophages comparable to positive control indomethacin. Compounds 3 and 7 exhibited anti-inflammatory activity through lowering the levels of TNF-α while 1, 3 and 5 decreased the levels of neopterin better than the positive controls.