Thermal Properties of Copoly(L‐lactic acid/glycolic acid) by Direct Melt Polycondensation

Poly(L‐lactic acid‐co‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) was prepared from hydroxy‐acids with melt polymerization. In this way, the copoly(L‐LA/GA) (PLGA) was synthesized directly using a binary catalyst (tin chloride dihydrate/p‐toluenesulfonic acid). The thermal properties of PLGA were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The results show that the melting point of PLGA decreases with increasing mole fraction of GA units in the copolymer. In addition, the melting point of polymer also decreases with increasing degree of racemization of the polymer.     

Synthesis and electrochemical performance of sulfur–carbon composite cathode for lithium–sulfur batteries

In this paper, porous carbon was synthesized by an activation method, with phenolic resin as carbon source and nanometer calcium carbonate as activating agent. Sulfur–porous carbon composite material was prepared by thermally treating a mixture of sublimed sulfur and porous carbon. Morphology and electrochemical performance of the carbon and sulfur–carbon composite cathode were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS), and galvanostatic charge–discharge test. The composite containing 39 wt.% sulfur obtained an initial discharge capacity of about 1,130 mA?h g^?1 under the current density of 80 mA?g^?1 and presented a long electrochemical stability up to 100 cycles.     

Solvent effects on oxygen atom transfer reaction between manganese(V)-oxo corrole and alkene

Pseudo-first order reaction rate constants of 5,10,15-tris（pentafluorophenyl）corrole Mn（V）-oxo (F₁₅CMn（V）-oxo),5,15-bis（pentafluorophenyl）-10-（phenyl）corrole Mn（V）-oxo(F₁₀CMn（V）-oxo),5,15- bis（phenyl）-10-（pentafluorophenyl）corrole Mn（V）-oxo（F₅CMn（V）-oxo） and 5,10,15-tris（phenyl）corrole Mn（V）-oxo（F₀CMn（V）-oxo） with a series of alkene substrates in different solvents were determined by UV-vis spectroscopy.The results indicated that the oxygen atom transfer pathway between Mn（V）-oxo corrole and alkene is solvent-dependent.     

Glucose oxidase-functionalized fluorescent gold nanoclusters as probes for glucose

Creation and application of noble metal nanoclusters have received continuous attention. By integrating enzyme activity and fluorescence for potential applications, enzyme-capped metal clusters are more desirable. This work demonstrated a glucose oxidase (an enzyme for glucose)-functionalized gold cluster as probe for glucose. Under physiological conditions, such bioconjugate was successfully prepared by an etching reaction, where tetrakis (hydroxylmethyl) phosphonium-protected gold nanoparticle and thioctic acid-modified glucose oxidase were used as precursor and etchant, respectively. These bioconjugates showed unique fluorescence spectra (λ_{em max} = 650 nm, λ_{ex max} = 507 nm) with an acceptable quantum yield (ca. 7%). Moreover, the conjugated glucose oxidase remained active and catalyzed reaction of glucose and dissolved O₂ to produce H₂O₂, which quenched quantitatively the fluorescence of gold clusters and laid a foundation of glucose detection. A linear range of 2.0 × 10⁻⁶–140 × 10⁻⁶ M and a detection limit of 0.7 × 10⁻⁶ M (S/N = 3) were obtained. Also, another horseradish peroxidase/gold cluster bioconjugate was produced by such general synthesis method. Such enzyme/metal cluster bioconjugates represented a promising class of biosensors for biologically important targets in organelles or cells.     

Development of a Sensitive Method for the Determination of 4‐(Methylnitrosamino)‐1‐(3‐pyridyl)‐1‐butanol in Human Urine Using Solid‐phase Extraction Combined with Ultrasound‐assisted Dispersive Liquid–liquid Microextraction and LC‐MS/MS Detection

An efficient and sensitive analytical method based on molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction (MISPE) and reverse‐phase ultrasound‐assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (USA‐DLLME) coupled with LC–MS/MS detection was developed and validated for the analysis of urinary 4‐(methylnitrosamino)‐1‐(3‐pyridyl)‐1‐butanol (NNAL), a tobacco‐specific nitrosamine metabolite. The extraction performances of NNAL on three different solid‐phase extraction (SPE) sorbents including the hydrophilic‐lipophilic balanced sorbent HLB, the mixed mode cationic MCX sorbent and the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) sorbent were evaluated. Experimental results showed that the analyte was well retained with the highest extraction recovery and the optimum purification effect on MIP. Under the optimized conditions of MIP and USA‐DLLME, an enrichment factor of 23 was obtained. Good linearity relationship was obtained in the range of 5‐1200 pg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.9953. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.35 pg/mL. The recoveries at three spiked levels ranged between 88.5% and 93.7%. Intra‐ and inter‐day relative standard deviations varied from 3.6% to 7.4% and from 5.4% to 9.7%, respectively. The developed method combing the advantages of MISPE and DLLME significantly improves the purification and enrichment of the analyte and can be used as an effective approach for the determination of ultra‐trace NNAL in complex biological matrices.     

Convenient and Efficient Synthesis of 1,1‐Bis‐(4‐alkylthiophenyl)‐1‐alkenes via Tandem Friedel–Crafts Acylation and Alkylation of Sulfides and Acyl Chlorides

1,1‐Bis(4‐alkylthiophenyl)‐1‐alkenes were conveniently and efficiently prepared from alkyl phenyl sulfides and acyl chlorides via a tandem Friedel–Crafts acylation and alkylation in the presence of anhydrous aluminum chloride. The scope, limitation, and mechanism of the tandem reaction were also discussed.     

Facile Synthesis of 5‐Benzylidene Rhodamine Derivatives under Microwave Irradiation

A series of 5‐benzylidenerhodamine derivatives were synthesized by the cross‐aldol condensation of an aromatic aldehyde with rhodamine or rhodamine acetic acid in sodium acetate/acetic acid under microwave irradiation. The reaction was completed in 8–20 min with 63–94% yields and was environmentally benign with easy workup.     

Macrocycles consisting of flexible and rigid segments: enforced folding and host-guest inclusion exciplex formation

Macrocycles consisting of two tris(phenylene ethynylene) (or tri-PE) units connected via two flexible linkers adopt an ‘unfolded’ conformation that is converted into a folded conformation upon introducing intramolecular hydrogen bonding interaction. These foldable macrocycles are capable of forming inclusion charge transfer (CT) complex with electron-deficient small aromatics.     

Enhancement inhibition efficiency of PBTCA depending on the inclusion complex with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

For the first time, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) has been brought in to include 2-phosphonobutane-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid (PBTCA) in order to enhance inhibition efficiency of PBTCA, which leads a new approach to study oil–gas field corrosion inhibition in the process of acid treatment. Based on the host–guest inclusion reaction, the inclusion complex of PBTCA with HP-β-CD has been prepared in the laboratory. UV–Vis absorption spectrum was applied to study the inclusion behavior of PBTCA with HP-β-CD. The results revealed that PBTCA with HP-β-CD can form a 1:1 stoichiometry inclusion complex. The 1:1 inclusion complex synthesized by using lyophilization was further characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Besides, inhibition effect of the inclusion complex on the corrosion inhibition of Q235 carbon steel has been investigated in 0.1 M sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) solution using potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that the presence of the inclusion complex better achieved the anti-corrosion property in aggressive medium than was the case with alone PBTCA and the highest inhibition efficiency of the inclusion complex over 90 % was obtained, which are suggestive of the active effect of the inclusion complex for improving inhibition efficiency of PBTCA. Meanwhile, the results obtained from SEM further showed that the inclusion complex acts as a more efficient corrosion inhibitor for Q235 carbon steel in H₂SO₄ medium.