Small luminescent molecular probe for developing as assay for alkaline phosphatase

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is an important biomarker in clinical diagnostics, and the abnormal level of ALP enzyme in serum is closely related to various diseases such as bone metastases, bone or liver cancer, and extrahepatic biliary obstruction. Recognizing the location and expression level of ALP in live cells has a substantial importance in early-stage cancer diagnosis, as well as an important parameter for studying the recovery of the patients after liver transplantation. With the advent of the newer and advanced fluorescence imaging techniques, small-molecule fluorescent probes have become a very powerful tool for mapping the subtle changes in the enzyme expression level in living cells and tissues in real-time. In this account, we provide an overview of recent advances in small-molecule ALP fluorescent probes, mainly during the last few years, including the design strategies and applications for biological applications.     

超浸润形状记忆海绵的制备及油-水分离性能

基于反式 1,4-聚异戊二烯(TPI)的形状记忆性能, 以聚氨酯海绵为基底, 包覆TPI制备出了一种具有疏水超亲油特性的三维多孔形状记忆海绵. 由于这种海绵具有良好的形状记忆特性, 可以通过反复按压/恢复过程, 实现对海绵孔径在微米尺寸(约875 μm)与纳米尺寸(约450 nm)间可逆调控. 利用材料特殊的浸润特征及其可控的孔尺寸, 进一步研究了其在油-水分离中的应用. 研究结果表明, 微米尺寸大孔径海绵有利于对不相溶油-水混合物进行快速高效分离, 而纳米尺寸小孔径海绵则有利于对乳液混合物进行分离, 实现了同一材料同时满足不相溶油-水混合物及乳液体系的分离要求.     

Adaptation of electrodes and printable gel polymer electrolytes for optimized fully organic batteries

Despite intensive scientific efforts on the development of organic batteries, their full potential is still not being realized. The individual components, such as electrode materials and electrolytes, are in most cases developed independently and are not adjusted to each other. In this context, we report on the performance optimization of a full-organic solid-state battery system by the mutual adaptation of the electrode materials and an ionic liquid (IL)-based gel polymer electrolyte (GPE). The formulation of the latter was designed for a one-step manufacturing approach and can be applied directly to the electrode surface, where it is UV-cured to yield the GPE without further post-treatment steps. Herein, a special focus was placed on the applicability in industrial processes. A first significant capacity increase was achieved by the incorporation of the IL into the electrode composite. Furthermore, the GPE composition was adapted applying acrylate- and methacrylate-based monomers and combinations thereof with the premise of a fast curing step. Furthermore, the amount of IL was varied, and all combinations were evaluated for their final performance in cells. The latter variation revealed that a high ionic conductivity is not the only determining factor for a good cell performance. Next to a sufficient conductivity, the interaction between electrode and electrolyte plays a key role for the cell performance as it enhances the accessibility of the counter ions to the redox-active sites.     

通过"双离子键"固载于季鏻盐聚合物的[Rh(CO)I3]2–物种在多相乙醇羰基化中的应用

贵金属物种(Rh或Ir络合物)在均相羰基化和氢甲酰化催化过程得到了广泛的应用,但始终存在分离繁琐等问题,其均相多相化可很大程度上简化分离操作,故一直广受重视.单位点催化剂因其具有可与均相相比拟的较高金属利用率和选择性而成为均相多相化的重要研究方向之一.研究发现,在碘物种存在的情况下用于固载金属物种的配位键容易断裂,进而导致金属物种的流失,而通过离子键固载的[Rh(CO)₂I₂]^–物种更加稳定,比如著名的甲醇羰基化“Acetica^TM”工艺中,[Rh(CO)₂I₂]^–负一价阴离子物种是以离子键的方式固定在带有阳离子骨架的甲基化聚乙烯吡啶树脂上.与甲醇羰基化过程类似的乙醇羰基化过程是生产重要化工中间体丙酸的主要途径之一,但该过程的均相多相化始终存在着稳定性差这一关键问题.为了解决这一问题,基于之前将固载于季鏻盐聚合物的[Rh(CO)I₃]^2–应用于甲醇羰基化的工作,我们将类似的季鏻盐聚合物固载Rh基催化剂Rh-TPISP用于多相乙醇羰基化过程,通过多种表征进一步证明了Rh物种和P物种结构,并提出了“双离子键”模型.P的K边XANES证明了聚合物TPISP的季鏻化阳离子骨架特征.HAADF-STEM测试表明Rh-TPISP中的Rh呈现单位点分散的状态.Rh的XPS和XANES结果证明了Rh-TPISP中Rh物种的价态介于0~+1.通过EXAFS的拟合解析给出了[Rh(CO)I₃]^2–活性中心结构.由于[Rh(CO)₂I₂]^–为经典的羰基化活性中心,为了进一步证明该结构的正确性,我们将Rh-TPISP的EXAFS和IR谱图与标样[PPh3Et]⁺[Rh(CO)₂I₂]^–对比发现:在EXAFS谱图中,Rh-TPISP中的Rh-C峰高低于[PPh3Et]+[Rh(CO)₂I₂]^–的Rh-C峰高,而Rh-TPISP中的Rh-I峰高高于[PPh3Et]+[Rh(CO)₂I₂]^–的Rh-I峰高,这就说明Rh-TPISP中Rh物种的Rh-C配位数小于2,而Rh-I配位数大于2;在IR谱图中,标样[PPh3Et]+[Rh(CO)₂I₂]^–中有两个羰基振动峰,与该物种的两个Rh-C配位键相符,而Rh-TPISP中的只有一个羰基振动峰,说明Rh-C配位数为1.因此,Rh-TPISP催化剂的季鏻盐骨架中的每个P物种带有一个正电荷,每个带有两个负电荷的[Rh(CO)I₃]^2–通过与两个[P]⁺的静电作用进行固载,形成“双离子键”结构.该催化剂在固定床乙醇羰基化过程中表现出优异的羰基化活性、选择性和稳定性.在3.5 MPa、195 oC反应近1000 h后,Rh-TPISP催化剂TOF保持在约350 h–1,丙酰基选择性为95%以上,高出所有文献报道的均相和多相乙醇羰基化活性.其较高的活性主要是因为[Rh(CO)I₃]^2–比传统Rh活性相[Rh(CO)₂I₂]^–具有更强的富电子性,而较高的稳定性主要是由于“双离子键”这种强静电作用比“AceticaTM”工艺中“单离子键”更有利于Rh物种的固载.故Rh-TPISP催化剂中的“双离子键”对其优异的催化性能具有极其重要的作用,对后续多相乙醇羰基化的发展具有重要意义.     

荧光探针在氰化物分析中的研究进展

氰化物极易与细胞色素氧化酶键合,抑制电子转移、导致组织缺氧,从而显示较强的毒性。荧光化学传感器作为简易、灵敏且可视化的方法广泛应用于氰化物的检测。本文对荧光探针在氰化物检测中的应用进行综述,概述了氰化物的毒性机制和荧光探针对氰化物的响应机理。同时,本文总结了荧光探针在水体、食品和生物组织中对氰化物的检测及生物成像中的应用,并对荧光探针在结构设计中如何提高生物兼容性和靶向性等进行了展望,以期为光化学探针分子的设计及应用提供理论与研究依据。     

Long-term super-resolution imaging of mitochondrial dynamics

Monitoring dynamics of mitochondria has become an essential approach to explore the function of mitochondria in living cells with the emergence of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. However, long-term super-resolution imaging of mitochondria is still challenging due to the lack of photostable fluorescent probes and stable mitochondria-specific markers which are not affected by the changes of mitochondrial membrane potential. Here, we introduce a method for long-term imaging mitochondrial dynamic through the SNAP-tag fluorogenic probe based on 4-azetidinyl-naphthalimide derivatives. Using structured illumination microscopy (SIM), we observed the fusion and fission of mitochondria over a course of 16 min at 109 nm resolution. Furthermore, the interactions as well as fusion between mitochondria and lysosomes were studied during mitophagy at the nanoscale. Convincingly, the combination of SNAP-tag fluorogenic probes and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy will offer a new way to monitor dynamic mitochondria in living cells.     

A ratiometric near-infrared naphthalimide-based fluorescent probe with high sensitivity for detecting Fe2+ in vivo

Iron is one of the essential trace elements in the human body. It plays an important role in human biology and pathology. Deregulation of iron levels in cells is associated with disease development. In this work, we synthesized a novel near-infrared intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) based ratiometric fluorescent probe to detect Fe²⁺, by using naphthalimide and indole moieties as building blocks. Our work showed that the radiometric probe has excellent selectivity, sensitivity and rapid response. Moreover, we could successfully perform real-time monitoring of Fe²⁺ in HeLa cells and C. elegans.     

Sonochemical synthesis and characterization of new one-dimensional manganese(II) coordination polymer nanostructures

A new Mn(II) coordination polymer, [Mn (L₁)₂(NCS)₂]_n (1) [L₁ = 3,4-bis(4-pyridyl)-5-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole] was synthesized by the reaction of ligand L₁ and mixtures of manganese(II) acetate and potassium thiocyanate using the heat gradient method. Compound 1 has been characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analyses and X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure of compound 1 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and shows a new interesting one-dimensional coordination polymer. Nanostructures of compound 1 have been synthesized by sonochemical method. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and IR spectroscopy. The thermal stability of nano particles of compound 1 was studied by thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analyses.     

Electron mobility in poly(3-hexylthiophene) enhanced by gamma-ray irradiation

Gamma-ray irradiation effects on the photoresponsive thin-film devices based on the regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (RR-P3HT) conjugated polymer have been studied by means of atomic force microscopy, UV–vis absorption, photoluminescence (PL), and time-of-flight measurements. As a result, increased light absorption in the red region and PL quenching induced by the irradiation were observed. Besides, enhancement of the electron/hole mobilities, attributable to improved ordering or increased nanodomain size of the P3HT thin films, was revealed.     

A multifrequency EPR study of poly(PADPA) synthesized with Trametes versicolor laccase from the aniline dimer p-aminodiphenylamine (PADPA) in the presence of anionic vesicles

Poly(PADPA) synthesized with the enzyme Trametes versicolor laccase (TvL) at pH = 3.5 in aqueous solution from the aniline dimer p-aminodiphenylamine (PADPA) was studied by EPR spectrometry at X-band and W-band frequencies. For the synthesis of poly(PADPA), vesicles formed from AOT (sodium bis-(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate) were used as structure-directing templates, and TvL/O₂ as catalyst and oxidant. The isolated product is abbreviated as “poly(PADPA)-TvL-AOT” to distinguish it from poly(PADPA) obtained by other means. The EPR spectrum of poly(PADPA)-TvL-AOT recorded at room temperature is complex. It can be decomposed into two separate Dyson–type spectral components. Furthermore, the spectra measured at high frequency exhibit a line broadening behavior in comparison to the spectra recorded at low frequency where there is no line broadening. This behavior was used to estimate the effective inter-chain spin exchange interaction for each monitored spectral component. The obtained effective distances between the polymer (or oligomer) chains in both identified components of poly(PADPA)-TvL-AOT can be explained by considering slightly different interactions between the chains and the AOT molecules present in the sample. Additionally, due to different average g tensor values, g_av, of these components, it seems that each spectral component originates from one of two different molecular subunits (or local structural motifs) within the polymer (or oligomer) chains.