Latest ArticlesThe recent development of selective oxidation of aromatic sulfides with molecular oxygen was highlighted. The sulfoxides and sulfones could be obtained by simply switching the reaction media, i.e., bis(2-butoxyethyl)ether (BBE) or poly(ethylene glycol)dimethyl ether (PEGDME). The application of the high-boiling-point polyether as an initiator and green media can eliminate the need of large quantities of additives and volatile solvents. This strategy represents an economic and eco-friendly method that could find potential applications.
Niobium carbide MXene quantum dots (Nb2C MQDs) derived from 2D Nb2CTx (MXene) are the rising-star material recently. Herein, a sulfur and nitrogen co-doped Nb2C MQDs (S, N-MQDs) were synthesized through a hydrothermal method. The obtained Nb2C MQDs have excellent green fluorescence with a quantum yield (QY) of 17.25%. In addition, they exhibited excitation-dependent photoluminescence, anti-photobleaching and dispersion stability. They emit light at 520 nm when excited at 390 nm. The Nb2C MQDs could be successfully applied to copper ion detection with detection limit of 2 μmol/L and Caco-2 cells imaging.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) pathways are essential in tumor angiogenesis, growth and metastasis. Studies on anti-angiogenic therapy have been mostly focused on the blockage of VEGF-VEGFR pathways. We report an extracellularly transformable peptide-based nanomaterial to develop artificial extracellular matrix (ECM)-like networks for high-efficient blockage of natural VEGF-VEGFR interactions. The transformable peptide-based nanomaterial transforms from nanoparticles into nanofibers upon binding to VEGFR in solution. In addition, the transformable peptide-based nanomaterial forms ECM-like fibrous networks on VEGFR overexpressed cells, inhibiting the VEGF-VEGFR interactions and the subsequent angiogenesis. The tube formation is reduced by nearly 85.1% after treatment. This strategy shows excellent potential for anti-angiogenesis, and inhibition of tumor invasion and metastasis.
The recent molecular iodine catalyzed [1, 2]-rearrangement of aryl amines and 3-amino-1H-indazolesfor the synthesis of 1, 2, 3-benzotriazines is highlighted.
The effect of gold nanoparticle-decorated molybdenum sulfide (AuNP-MoS2) nanocomposites on amyloid-β-40 (Aβ40) aggregation was investigated. The interesting discovery was that the effect of AuNP-MoS2 nanocomposites on Aβ40 aggregation was contradictory. Low concentration of AuNP-MoS2 nanocomposites could enhance the nucleus formation of Aβ40 peptides and accelerate Aβ40 fibrils aggregation. However, although high concentration of AuNP-MoS2 nanocomposites could enhance the nucleus formation of Aβ40 peptides, it eventually inhibited Aβ40 aggregation process. It might be attributed to the interaction between AuNP-MoS2 nanocomposites and Aβ40 peptides. For low concentration of AuNP-MoS2 nanocomposites, it was acted as nuclei, resulting in the acceleration of the nucleation process. However, the structural flexibility of Aβ40 peptides was limited as the concentration of AuNP-MoS2 nanocomposites was increased, resulting in the inhibition of Aβ40 aggregation. These findings suggested that AuNP-MoS2 nanocomposites might have a great potential to design new multifunctional material for future treatment of amyloid-related diseases.
For drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet printing, stable and single ink droplet formation without satellite dots is the key to improve the print quality. The formation of stable and single droplet is influenced by filament break up and the polymer chain's coil-stretch transition behavior. In this paper, the droplet formation behaviors of polyfluorene (PFO) ink at various driving voltages (V), polymer chain's coil-stretch transition mechanism and its effects on single ink droplet formation are investigated. It indicates that when 58 < V ≤ 63 V, a single and stable droplet is formed with a pulse time of 38.5 μs. At this stage, the Weissenberg number (Wi) < 0.5, the PFO molecular chain is coiled to guarantee stable and single droplets. When V > 63 V, Wi > 0.5, the PFO molecular chain is stretched because of the high hydrodynamic forces, resulting unwanted satellite droplets. When 55 < V ≤ 58 V, the droplet shrinks into the nozzle, which indicates that the kinetic energy supplied by the deformation of the piezoelectric transducer isn't enough to force the droplet to be jetted from the nozzle.
Selenization of Fe2O3 with NaHSe led to Se/Fe3O4. The unexpected generation of Fe3O4 attributed to the reduction conditions of the reaction, and the resulted magnetic features of the material facilitated its separation in practical applications. Owning to the synergistic effect of Se with Fe, the material was especially active to catalyze the oxidative C=C scission using O2 as mild oxidant. The technique has been successfully applied in polyene degradation project, which is of profound practical values for the treatment of the polyene pigment pollution and may be applied in the food and pharmaceutical industry.
Silk has been widely used in the clothing industry due to their soft and smooth features, good biocompatibility, good heat dissipation, warmth and ultraviolet resistance. The application of fragrance to silk can significantly improve the performance of silk. However, there are two key scientific problems that need to be solved: slowing down the release rate of fragrances and increasing the scent lasting time of silk. In this study, cationic and temperature-sensitive liposomes were designed and prepared to encapsulate eugenol. These fragrance-loaded liposomes significantly slowed down the release rate of the fragrance and controlled the release rate of the fragrance in a thermo-sensitive manner. The liposomes adhered to the silk through electrostatic adsorption interaction. The positive charge on the fragrance-loaded liposomes neutralized much negative charge on silk and thereby increasing the adhesion efficiency.
A novel upper-rim functionalized calix[4]squaramide organocatalyst bearing bis-squaramide and cyclohexanediamine scaffolds was designed and prepared to catalyse a serial of asymmetric Michael addition of 1, 3-dicarbonyl compounds to α, β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in high yields (up to 99 %) and good to excellent enantiomeric excesses (up to 99% ee). The comparative experiments indicated that the cooperative effect between calixarenes cavitives and chiral catalytic centers on this calix[4]squaramide catalyst could promote these reactions. Moreover, this strategy also provides valuable and easy access to chiral chromene, naphthoquinone and acetylacetone derivatives, which are important skeletons in biological and pharmaceutical compounds.
An efficient method for the synthesis of functionalized chroman-4-ones induced by visible light via the radical cyclization reaction of sulfinic acids and o-(allyloxy)arylaldehydes at room temperature was described. The corresponding products were isolated with moderate to good yields. Radical mechanism was proposed for this transformation. Anti-microbial activity of some desired compounds were screened.