Selective recognition and electrochemical detection of p-nitrophenol based on a macroporous imprinted polymer containing gold nanoparticles

We have combined the molecular imprinting and the layer-by-layer assembly techniques to obtain molecularly imprint polymers (MIPs) for the electrochemical determination of p-nitrophenol (p-NPh). Silica microspheres functionalized with thiol groups and gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) were assembled on a gold electrode surface layer by layer. The electrode was then immersed into a solution of pyrrole and p-NPh (the template), and electropolymerization led to the creation of a polymer-modified surface. After the removal of the silica spheres and the template, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were employed to characterize the surface. The results demonstrated the successful fabrication of macroporous MIPs embedded with Au-NPs on the gold electrode. The effects of monomer concentration and scan rate on the performance of the electrode were optimized. Excellent recognition capacity is found for p-NPh over chemically similar species. The DPV peak current is linearly related to concentration of p-NPh in the 0.1 μM to 1.4 mM range, with a 0.1 μM limit of detection (at S/N = 3).

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and nanomaterials were combined to prepare a novel macroporous structured MIPs based electrochemical sensor for the investigation of an environmental pollutant, p-nitrophenol (p-NPh). The sensor exhibited a fast binding dynamics, good specific adsorption capacities, and high selective recognition to p-NPh.

     

Mild and Efficient Deoxygenation of Sulfoxides with a WCl6/Indium System

Dialkyl, diaryl, and aryl alkyl sulfoxides can be rapidly converted to the corresponding sulfides with a WCl₆/In system in excellent yields under mild conditions.     

Efficient Synthesis of Aryl Hydroxylactams by Reducing Imides With Activated Zinc Dust

A series of aryl hydroxylactams (2a, 2b, 2d–2g, 2i–2k, 2m, and 2n) was synthesized by partially reducing aryl cyclic imides in moderate to excellent yields with activated zinc dust alone in acetic acid. This method was regiospecific and can be employed as an alternative for reported methods to partially reduce aryl cyclic imides.     

Chiral squaramides catalyzed diastereo- and enantioselective Michael addition of α-substituted isocyanoacetates to N-aryl maleimides

An efficient diastereo- and enantioselective Michael addition of α-substituted isocyanoacetates to N-aryl maleimides catalyzed by quinine or cyclohexane-1,2-diamine derived squaramide catalysts has been disclosed, affording the corresponding adducts in good yields (up to 99%), high diastereoselectivities (up to >20:1 dr) and good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 94% ee) under mild conditions.     

Palladium-catalyzed hydrodehalogenation of aryl halides using paraformaldehyde as the hydride source: high-throughput screening by paper-based colorimetric iodide sensor

Paraformaldehyde was employed as a hydride source in the palladium-catalyzed hydrodehalogenation of aryl iodides and bromides. High throughput screening using a paper-based colorimetric iodide sensor (PBCIS) showed that Pd(OAc)₂ and Cs₂CO₃ were the best catalyst and base, respectively. Aryl iodides and bromides were hydrodehalogenated to produce the reduced arenes using Pd(OAc)₂ and Pd(PPh₃)₄ catalyst. This catalytic system showed good functional group tolerance. In addition, it was found that paraformaldehyde is the hydride source and the reducing agent for the formation of palladium nanoparticles.     

Palladium-catalyzed C–S bond formation by using N-amido imidazolium salts as ligands

N-Amido imidazolium salt was employed as a ligand in the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of aryl halides and thiols, and showed good activity in the formation of thioether. The best combination for the coupling with aryl bromides was N-amido imidazolium salt 2 and NaHMDS, and that for the coupling with aryl iodides was N-amido imidazolium salt 1 and KO^tBu. The coupling reactions were conducted in the presence of Pd(OAc)₂ (1 mol %) in DMSO at 80 °C for 12 h.     

Synthesis,Structures, Luminescent and Magnetic Properties of Heterometallic 5p‐4f Compounds with Ethylenediaminetetra­acetate

A series of heterometallic Ln^III–Sb^III edta‐containing compounds with the formulas [Sb₂(edta)₂Ln]NO₃ · nH₂O [edta = ethylenediaminetetraacetate; Ln = Eu, n = 7 ( 1 ); Gd, n = 7.5 ( 2 ) and Tb, n = 8 ( 3 )] were synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses (EA), powder X‐ray diffraction (PXDP), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). Their fluorescence and magnetic properties were also studied. The thermal analysis demonstrates the compounds formation of the antimony, lanthanide ions, and edta^4– ligands. FT‐IR spectra reveal that the antimony and lanthanide ions are connected through the carboxylate bridges. The studies of luminescence properties show that compounds 1 and 3 exhibit typical luminescence in the visible region. Furthermore, magnetic properties reveal compounds 2 and 3 have weak ferromagnetic behavior.     

Dual‐micropillar‐based microfluidic platform for single embryonic stem cell‐derived neuronal differentiation

We developed the dual‐micropillar‐based microfluidic platform to direct embryonic stem (ES) cell fate. 4 × 4 dual‐micropillar‐based microfluidic platform consisted of 16 circular‐shaped outer micropillars and 8 saddle‐shaped inner micropillars in which single ES cells were cultured. We hypothesized that dual‐micropillar arrays would play an important role in controlling the shear stress and cell docking. Circular‐shaped outer micropillars minimized the shear stress, whereas saddle‐shaped inner micropillars allowed for docking of individual ES cells. We observed the effect of saddle‐shaped inner micropillars on cell docking in response to hydrodynamic resistance. We also demonstrated that ES cells cultured for 6 days within the dual‐micropillar‐based microfluidic platform differentiated into neural‐like cells. Therefore, this dual‐micropillar‐based microfluidic platform could be a potentially powerful method for screening of lineage commitments of single ES cells.     

TargetATPsite: A template‐free method for ATP‐binding sites prediction with residue evolution image sparse representation and classifier ensemble

Understanding the interactions between proteins and ligands is critical for protein function annotations and drug discovery. We report a new sequence‐based template‐free predictor (TargetATPsite) to identify the Adenosine‐5′‐triphosphate (ATP) binding sites with machine‐learning approaches. Two steps are implemented in TargetATPsite: binding residues and pockets predictions, respectively. To predict the binding residues, a novel image sparse representation technique is proposed to encode residue evolution information treated as the input features. An ensemble classifier constructed based on support vector machines (SVM) from multiple random under‐samplings is used as the prediction model, which is effective for dealing with imbalance phenomenon between the positive and negative training samples. Compared with the existing ATP‐specific sequence‐based predictors, TargetATPsite is featured by the second step of possessing the capability of further identifying the binding pockets from the predicted binding residues through a spatial clustering algorithm. Experimental results on three benchmark datasets demonstrate the efficacy of TargetATPsite. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The State of NaOH in NaOH/Poly(Sodium Acrylate) Composite

NaOH/poly(sodium acrylate) composites were prepared by in situ polymerization of acrylic acid with an overneutralization level by adding excess NaOH. The composites were studied by XRD, IR and ²³Na MAS NMR spectroscopy. The results showed that the high neutralization degree (>100%) may lead to a complete polymerization. Both XRD and ²³Na MAS NMR spectra did not show any peaks of phase-separated NaOH or Na₂CO₃ until the neutralization degree was up to 217.5%. It can be presumed that the aggregates of Na⁺ ions can contain approximately two Na⁺ units for every carboxyl group before the phase separation.