Late stage modification of peptides via CH activation reactions

Recently developed strategies for late stage modification of peptides through CH activation, an arena of contemporary interest in chemical biology and drug discovery, are discussed. Through this tactic, non-polar amino acids in peptides have been selectively functionalized and CH activation enabled new CC and CX bond formations (arylation, alkynylation, fluorination, hydroxylation, azidation, etc.) are documented. Significant advances have been made in Pd or Au-catalyzed, racemization-free, tryptophan specific modifications of large peptides via CH arylation and alkynylation reactions without any protecting group requirement. Development of a new biaryl stapling technique for complex peptides, 18F radiofluorine introduction and diversity oriented post synthetic applications on bio-active cyclopeptides like valinomycin and aureobasidin are additional highlights which underscores the vast potential of late stage CH activation reactions in peptide based therapeutics research.     

金纳米棒的表面改性及其在生物医学领域的应用

各向异性的金纳米棒由于具有独特的光学性质,在生物医学领域得到了日益广泛的应用。本文综述了金纳米棒的表面改性及其在生物标记与识别、生物成像、癌症诊断和光热治疗等领域中的应用。     

Modification of PAE-degrading Esterase(CarEW) for Higher Degradation Efficiency Through Integrated Homology Modeling,Molecular Docking,and Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Six phthalate acid esters(PAEs) priority pollutants[dimethyl phthalate(DMP), diethyl phthalate(DEP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP or DNBP), di-n-octyl phthalate(DNOP), di 2-ethyl hexyl phthalate(DEHP), and butyl benzyl phthalate(BBP)] were opted as the research object. PAE-degrading esterase CarEW(PDB ID:1C7I) isolated from Bacillus subtilis acting as a template and an iterative saturation mutation strategy was adopted to modify key amino acids to attain efficient PAE-degrading esterase substitutes with a reasonable structure constructed by homology modeling method. Present study designed a total of 285 unit-site and multi-site substitutions of PAE-degrading esterase using the homology modeling method. Among them, 207 PAE-degrading esterase substitutions, which contained the 6-site PAE-degrading esterase substitute 1C7I-6-9 with 84.21% enhancement intensity of degradation ability revealed better degradability to all the 6 PAEs after modification. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulation based on the Taguchi method reported the optimal external application environment for PAE-degrading esterase substitutes as follows:pH=6, T=35℃, the rhamnolipid concentration was 50 mg/L, the molar ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus(N:P) was 10:1, the concentration of H₂O₂ was 50 mg/L, and the voltage gradient was 1.5 V/cm. The degradation ability of PAE-degrading esterase substitutes was found to be elevated by 13.04% as compared to that of the blank control under the optimal condition. Moreover, 11 highly efficient PAE-degrading esterase substitutes with thermal stability were designed.     

Progress on High Voltage PEO-based Polymer Solid Electrolytes in Lithium Batteries

Polymer electrolytes have attracted great interest for next-generation lithium-based batteries on account of safety and high energy density. In this review, we assess recent progress on the design of poly(ethylene oxide)(PEO)-based solid polymer electrolytes in high voltage lithium batteries and identify possible side reactions between PEO-based electrolytes and existing cathodes. We provide an overview of the ways to enhance high voltage resistance of PEO-based electrolytes. Those include components blend, molecular design and interface modification. With these efforts, we want to present new insights into rational design of PEO-based electrolytes to develop solid-state lithium batteries for advanced performance.     

Recent electroanalytical applications of boron-doped diamond electrodes

This review overviews recent reports on the electroanalytical applications of boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. Because BDD electrodes have excellent features for electroanalysis, such as wide potential window, low background current, electrochemical stability, and fouling resistance, they can be useful for sensitive and stable detection of various substances, including drugs, bio-related substances, metal ions, and organic pollutants. Many articles have reported high-sensitivity detection of real samples, demonstrating that this electrode material is practically applicable. Surface modification of the BDD electrodes using metal nanoparticles, nanocarbons, and polymers can increase the sensitivity of the electrochemical detection. Furthermore, research on the electroanalytical device equipped with BDD electrodes will be expanded by combining peripheral technologies related to the device fabrication.     

丙烯酸水溶液聚合法制备PTFE/PAA/Nafion膜及其性能

采用廉价的多孔聚四氟乙烯(PTFE)膜作为基底, 用少量的Nafion与PTFE膜复合可制备低成本的质子膜. 但疏水性的PTFE膜与亲水性的Nafion膜结合性不佳. 基于此, 本文对疏水性的PTFE膜材料表面进行设计, 先采用丙烯酸对疏水性的PTFE膜表面进行亲水性改性, 再喷涂亲水性Nafion膜, 完成低成本PTFE/PAA/Nafion膜的制备. 实验结果表明, 改性前的PTFE膜材料水接触角为150°, 改性后的膜接触角变为55.6°, 亲水性大幅上升, 膜的机械强度和尺寸稳定性(断裂强度为25.2 MPa, 80 ℃下的溶胀率为11.9%)均优于Nafion117膜, 而 Nafion用量则节省了60%. PTFE/PAA/Nafion膜具有高质子导通率(80 ℃下达到131.9 mS/cm), 接近于Nafion117膜, 最大功率密度可以达到404.2 mW/cm².     

Fe/Cu修饰氮掺杂碳纳米管的构筑及催化性能

通过简单的原位化学合成法结合离子交换法制备了Cu修饰氮掺杂碳（Cu-N-C）和Fe/Cu修饰氮掺杂碳纳米管（Fe/Cu-N-C/CNT）,并系统评估了2种催化剂作为染料敏化太阳能电池（dye-sensitized solar cells,DSSCs）对电极在I₃^-/I^-体系中的电化学特性和光伏性能。采用X射线衍射（XRD）、拉曼（Raman）、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）和场发射扫描电镜（FESEM）对合成的催化剂进行组分和形貌表征。结果表明：纳米管状的Fe/Cu-N-C/CNT的石墨化程度比纳米颗粒状的Cu-N-C更高,更有利于I₃^-还原反应中电荷的传输。光伏性能测试结果表明：基于Fe/Cu-N-C/CNT对电极的DSSCs的光电能量转换效率（power conversion efficiency,PCE）达到7.55%,高于相同测试条件下Cu-N-C（6.99%）和Pt（6.76%）对电极的PCE。50圈连续循环伏安测试结果表明：Fe/Cu-N-C/CNT催化剂具有比Cu-N-C更好的电化学稳定性。     

Late-Stage Modification of Aminoglycoside Antibiotics Overcomes Bacterial Resistance Mediated by APH(3’) Kinases

The continuous emergence of antimicrobial resistance is causing a threat to patients infected by multidrug-resistant pathogens. In particular, the clinical use of aminoglycoside antibiotics, broad-spectrum antibacterials of last resort, is limited due to rising bacterial resistance. One of the major resistance mechanisms in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria is phosphorylation of these amino sugars at the 3’-position by O-phosphotransferases [APH(3’)s]. Structural alteration of these antibiotics at the 3’-position would be an obvious strategy to tackle this resistance mechanism. However, the access to such derivatives requires cumbersome multi-step synthesis, which is not appealing for pharma industry in this low-return-on-investment market. To overcome this obstacle and combat bacterial resistance mediated by APH(3’)s, we introduce a novel regioselective modification of aminoglycosides in the 3’-position via palladium-catalyzed oxidation. To underline the effectiveness of our method for structural modification of aminoglycosides, we have developed two novel antibiotic candidates overcoming APH(3’)s-mediated resistance employing only four synthetic steps.