Effect of well thickness on the Rashba spin splitting and intersubband spin-orbit coupling in AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN quantum wells with two subbands

By projecting the characteristic equation into the subspace of the conduction band, the Rashba spin splitting coefficient for the first two subbands (α₁, α₂) and the intersubband spin-orbit coupling coefficient (η₁₂) in AlGaN/GaN quantum well structure are obtained. Then sizable α₁, α₂ and η₁₂ in QWs are calculated by solving the Schrödinger and Poisson equations self-consistently. We find that the internal electric field is crucial for considerable spin-orbit coupling effect in III-nitride QWs and the spin-orbit coupling coefficient can be greatly modulated by the well thickness. Compared with the Rashba coefficient, the intersubband spin-orbit coupling coefficient is basically of the same order of magnitude. The results show the great possibility of spin manipulation in low-dimensional semiconductors, and III-nitride QWs are candidates for the design of spintronic devices.     

Diode-pumped efficient continuous-wave Yb:Y3Ga5O12 laser at 1035 nm

An efficient diode-pumped Yb:Y3Ga5O12 (Yb:YGG) laser was demonstrated by using a high-quality Yb:YGG crystal grown by the optical floating zone method. Continuous-wave laser power up to 2.65?W had been obtained under an incident pump power of 6.71?W at 970?nm, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 39.5% and maximum slope efficiency of 84.5%. A modeling calculation of the Yb:YGG laser was also performed, and the theoretical results were consistent with the experimental results.     

Diastereoselectively switchable enantioselective trapping of carbamate ammonium ylides with imines

The diastereoselectively switchable enantioselective trapping of protic carbamate ammonium ylides with imines is reported. The intriguing Rh(2)(OAc)(4) and chiral Br?nsted acid cocatalyzed three-component Mannich-type reaction of a diazo compound, a carbamate, and an imine provides rapid and efficient access to both syn- and anti-α-substituted α,β-diamino acid derivatives with a high level control of chemo-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivity.     

A general sonochemical approach to rapid synthesis of 1D single-crystalline MSn(OH)6 (M = Ba, Ca, Sr) nanostructures

A general sonochemical approach that allows for a facile, rapid synthesis of MSn(OH)₆ (M = Ba, Ca, Sr) one-dimension (1D) nanostructures has been developed. The resulting CaSn(OH)₆ products possessed a nanotubular structure while SrSn(OH)₆ and BaSn(OH)₆ showed nanowire-like structures. The as-synthesized MSn(OH)₆ products were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM techniques. Owing that BaSn(OH)₆ nanowires, CaSn(OH)₆ nanotubes, and SrSn(OH)₆ nanowires takes different crystal structures respectively, they share different growth mechanisms. However, we found that in all three growing processes, both ultrasound irradiation and the presence of Na₂CO₃ in the synthetic procedure had an significant impact on the homogeneous nucleation and fast growth of 1D MSn(OH)₆ nanostructures. This approach represents a successful example for the fast construction of innovative inorganic nanostructures in the absence of any surfactants.     

Structural and photoluminescent properties of Ni doped ZnO nanorod arrays prepared by hydrothermal method

Self-assembled Ni-doped zinc oxide (Zn_1−xNi_xO, x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, i.e., ZnNiO, nominal composition) nanorod arrays vertically grown on the ZnO seed layer covered glass along [0 0 1] direction were synthesized by hydrothermal method. Their images and structures have been characterized by scan electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectra, showing that Ni doping is beneficial to the formation of ZnO nanorods with hexagonal cross section and the enhancement of ZnO crystal quality. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) study further demonstrated that Ni atoms were successfully doped into ZnO lattices. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of ZnNiO samples show near bandedge emission (NBE) peaks at about 380 nm at a low excitation power and the NBE peak position redshifts while its intensity continuously increases with the increase of Ni doping concentration. With the excitation power increasing, the NBE peak redshifts from 380 nm to about 400 nm for ZnNiO nanorod arrays. The NBE mechanisms for ZnNiO nanorod arrays have been discussed, which is helpful for understanding their room temperature ferromagnetisms.     

Porous Molybdenum Carbide Nanostructured Catalyst toward Highly Sensitive Biomimetic Sensing of H2O2

There are great challenges to fabricate a highly selective and sensitive enzyme‐free biomimetic sensor. Herein for the first time a unique nanostructure of porous molybdenum carbide impregnated in N‐doped carbon (p‐Mo₂C/NC) is synthesized by using SiO₂ nanocrystals‐templating method and is further used as an enzyme‐free electrochemical biosensor toward highly selective, sensitive detection of H₂O₂, of which the limit of detection, dynamic detection range and sensitivity accomplish as 0.22 μM, 0.05–4.5 mM and 577.14 μA mM^?1 cm^?2, respectively, and are much superior to the non‐porous molybdenum carbide impregnated in N‐doped carbon (Mo₂C/NC). The sensor is also used to monitor H₂O₂ released from A549 living cells. This work holds a great promise to be used to monitor the presence of H₂O₂ in biological research while offering an important knowledge to design a highly selective and sensitive biomimetic sensor by synthesizing a porous catalyst to greatly improve the reaction surface area rather than conventionally only relying on dispersing the catalyst material into porous carbon substrate.     

Tunable Electrochemical C−N versus N−N Bond Formation of Nitrogen‐Centered Radicals Enabled by Dehydrogenative Dearomatization: Biological Applications

Herein, an environmentally friendly electrochemical approach is reported that takes advantage of the captodative effect and delocalization effect to generate nitrogen‐centered radicals (NCRs). By changing the reaction parameters of the electrode material and feedstock solubility, dearomatization enabled a selective dehydrogenative C?N versus N?N bond formation reaction. Hence, pyrido[1,2‐a]benzimidazole and tetraarylhydrazine frameworks were prepared through a sustainable transition‐metal‐ and exogenous oxidant‐free strategy with broad generality. Bioactivity assays demonstrated that pyrido[1,2‐a]benzimidazoles displayed antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity against human cancer cells. Compound 21 exhibited good photochemical properties with a large Stokes shift (approximately 130 nm) and was successfully applied to subcellular imaging. A preliminary mechanism investigation and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed the possible reaction pathway.     

Biosynthesis of Biscognienyne B Involving a Cytochrome P450‐Dependent Alkynylation

The alkyne is a biologically significant moiety found in many natural products and a versatile functional group widely used in modern chemistry. Recent studies have revealed the biosynthesis of acetylenic bonds in fatty acids and amino acids. However, the molecular basis for the alkynyl moiety in acetylenic prenyl chains occurring in a number of meroterpenoids remains obscure. Here, we identify the biosynthetic gene cluster and characterize the biosynthetic pathway of an acetylenic meroterpenoid biscognienyne B based on heterologous expression, feeding experiments, and in vitro assay. This work shows that the alkyne moiety is constructed by an unprecedented cytochrome P450 enzyme BisI, which shows promiscuous activity towards C5 and C15 prenyl chains. This finding provides an opportunity for discovery of new compounds, featuring acetylenic prenyl chains, through genome mining, and it also expands the enzyme inventory for de novo biosynthesis of alkynes.     

Synergistic Relay Reactions To Achieve Redox‐Neutral α‐Alkylations of Olefinic Alcohols with Ruthenium(II) Catalysis

Herein, we report a ruthenium‐catalyzed redox‐neutral α‐alkylation of unsaturated alcohols based on a synergistic relay process involving olefin isomerization (chain walking) and umpolung hydrazone addition, which takes advantage of the interaction between the two rather inefficient individual reaction steps to enable an efficient overall process. This transformation shows the compatibility of hydrazone‐type “carbanions” and active protons in a one‐pot reaction, and at the same time achieves the first Grignard‐type nucleophilic addition using olefinic alcohols as latent carbonyl groups, providing a higher yield of the corresponding secondary alcohol than the classical hydrazone addition to aldehydes does. A broad scope of unsaturated alcohols and hydrazones, including some complex structures, can be successfully employed in this reaction, which shows the versatility of this approach and its suitability as an alternative, efficient means for the generation of secondary and tertiary alcohols.     

Paper‐Based Ratiometric Fluorescence Analytical Devices towards Point‐of‐Care Testing of Human Serum Albumin

Monitoring of human serum albumin (HSA) in a point‐of‐care fashion is urgently needed in particular for elderly or chronically ill patients. Herein, a dual‐state emissive chalcone probe having the feature of aggregation‐induced emission was designed and synthesized. The concentration of HSA can be evaluated by the ratios of emission from probes in aggregated and monomeric state, which gives a visually discernible red‐to‐green color change. A simple, portable paper‐based analytical device have been fabricated by integration of the recognition probe in the detection pad and employed for HSA test using the whole blood samples. This paper‐based assay shows the analytical capability comparable to the standard testing methods but is in a point‐of‐care fashion, providing a promising tool for at‐home HSA detection and HSA‐related disease diagnosis.