Creation of strong and tough plastics from sustainable and biorenewable resources is a significant challenge in polymer science. This challenge is further complicated when attempting to make these materials using an economically viable process, which is often hindered by the production and availability of chemical feedstocks and the efficiency of the monomer synthesis. Herein, we report the synthesis

Multiple exciton generation (MEG), the generation of multiple excitons from the absorption of a single high-energy photon, is a strategy to go beyond the limiting efficiencies that define current-day solar cells by harvesting some of the thermalization energy losses that occur when photons with an energy greater than the semiconductor bandgap are absorbed. In this work, we show that organic dyes can

Phase transition is a physical phenomenon that attracts great interest of researchers. Although the theory of second-order phase transition is well-established, their atomic-scale dynamics in polycrystalline materials remains elusive. In this work, second-order phase transitions in polycrystalline Cu2Se at the transition temperature are directly observed by in-situ aberration-corrected transmission

Examples of isolated boron substituted nitroxide radicals are rare. The reaction of the reactive cyclic boraalkene 3 with nitrosobenzene yields a mixture of the [2+2] cycloaddition product 4, the B-nitroxide radicals 5a and 6a and the azoxybenzene co-product via a bora nitroso ene reaction pathway, the boron analogue of the nitroso ene reaction. The products were separated by flash chromatography and

We demonstrate a recycling system for synthetic nicotinamide cofactor analogues using a soluble hydrogenase with turnover numbers of >1000 for reduction of the cofactor analogues by H2. Coupling this system to an ene-reductase, we show quantitative conversion of N-ethylmaleimide to N-ethylsuccinimide. The biocatalyst system retained >50% activity after 7 h.

Herein we synthesized an A−D−A small molecule photosensitizer DPTTIC and a new amphiphilic pillararene WP5-8C-2PEG, which were used to construct a novel nanoparticle DPTTIC NPs with NIR II absorption. under a 980 nm laser irradiation, DPTTIC NPs performed well in mild-temperature photothermal and type I & II photodynamic combined therapy for tumors.

Au@RhPd ultrathin nanowires is designed as highly reactive and selective catalyst for the hydrogenation of phenol under ambient conditions. Au NWs modulates the electronic state of Rh atoms to enhance the adsorption of phenol and desorption of cyclohexanone. Pd works as cocatalyst to activate H2 into H* and spillover to Rh sites. This new catalyst shows turnover frequency up to 560 h-1 for a wide spectrum

Correction for ‘Diastereoselective synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[b]azocines by Lu(OTf)3-catalyzed [4+4] cycloaddition of donor–acceptor cyclobutanes with anthranils’ by Meifeng Hou et al., Chem. Commun., 2022, 58, 5865–5868, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CC00829G.

Phase transfer of metal-organic frameworks is highly desired in many areas, which remains a challenge. Herein, we firstly presented a CO2-driven reversible transfer of the amine-functionalized ZIF-90 between organics and water. Mechanism study showed that the switching is ascribed to the reversible generation of hydrophilic ammonium salts from the reaction of CO2 with the amines on the ZIF-90. The

Herein we present the genetic encoding of 7-aminocoumarin-based lysine derivatives, ACouK and AFCouK, into proteins in both bacterial and mammalian cells and the characterization of FRET pairs comprising of ACouK or AFCouK as the donor and GFP as the acceptor. We further report the application of the FRET pairs to construct fully genetically encoded ratiometric probes for detecting deubiquitinases

Herein, we report the rapid mass spectrometric identification of short-lived intermediates generated under AC electrolysis via combining bipolar electrochemistry with nanoelectrospray ionization in a hybrid ultramicroelectrode/ion emitter. The key reactive intermediates involved in the C-O/O-H cross-metathesis between 4-alkoxy anilines and alcohols were successfully captured and identified for the

In this study, we describe a synthetic method for incorporating arenes into closed tubes that we name capsularenes. First, we prepared vase-shaped molecular baskets 4-7. The baskets comprise a benzene base fused to three bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane rings that extend into phthalimide (4), naphthalimide (6), and anthraceneimide sides (7), each carrying a dimethoxyethane acetal group. In the presence of catalytic

Kagome magnets possess several novel non-trivial topological features owing to the strong correlation between topology and magnetism, that extends to their applications in the field of thermoelectricity. Conventional thermoelectric (TE) devices use the Seebeck effect to convert heat into electrical energy. In contrast, transverse thermoelectric devices based on the Nernst effect are attracting recent

The learning and inference efficiencies of an artificial neural network represented by a cross-point synaptic memristor array can be achieved using a selector (1S), with high selectivity (Ion/Ioff) and sufficient death region, stacked vertically on a synaptic memristor (1 M). This can prevent a sneak current in the memristor array. A selector with multiple jar-shaped conductive Cu filaments in the

Activation of the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon gene (cGAS-STING) pathway is a potent anticancer immunotherapeutic strategy, and the induction of pyroptosis is a feasible way to stimulate the anticancer immune responses. Herein, two Pt(II) complexes (Pt1 and Pt2) were designed as photoactivators of the cGAS-STING pathway. In response to light irradiation, Pt1 and Pt2 could damage

Aptamers face challenges for use outside the ideal conditions in which they are developed. These difficulties are most palpable in vivo due to nuclease activities, rapid clearance, and off-target binding. Herein, we demonstrate that a polyphosphodiester-backboned molecular brush can suppress enzymatic digestion, reduce non-specific cell uptake, enable long blood circulation, and rescue the bioactivity

Achieving wide-range tunable emission colors, especially in the solid state of single-fluorophore materials, remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report a molecular design strategy that affords wide-range excitation-dependent emissions spanning over ~230 nm in crystalline states. Under the donor-π-acceptor configuration, we judiciously choose a rotatable acceptor fragment, o -carborane, to enrich

Covalent organic framework (COF) membranes with tunable ordered channels and free organic groups hold great promise in molecular separations owing to the synergy of physical and chemical microenvironments. Herein, we develop a defect engineering strategy to fabricate COF membranes for efficient CO 2 separation. Abundant amino groups are in situ generated on the COF nanosheets arising from the missing-linker

Multi-resonance boron-nitrogen-containing thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) emitters have experienced great success in assembling narrowband organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, the slow reverse intersystem crossing rate (kRISC) of MR-emitters (103-105 s-1) that will lead to severe device efficiency roll-off has received extensive attention and remains a challenging issue

Acetal substitution reactions of α-halogenated five- and six-membered rings can be highly stereoselective. Erosion of stereoselectivity occurs as nucleophilicity increases, which is consistent with additions to a halogen-stabilized oxocarbenium ion, not a three-membered-ring halonium ion. Computational investigations confirmed that the open-form oxocarbenium ions are the reactive intermediates involved

Lignin is an abundant renewable carbon source. Due to its complex structure, utilization of lignin is very challenging. Herein, we describe an efficient strategy for the simultaneous utilization of lignin, in which the methoxy groups in lignin react with carboxylic acids to generate methyl carboxylates and the other alkyl and phenyl carbons react with oxygen to predominantly form CO that can be used

The Fano resonance in single-molecule junctions could be created by interaction with discrete and continuous molecular orbitals and enables effective electron transport modulation between constructive and destructive interference within a small energy range. However, direct observation of Fano resonance remains unexplored because of the disappearance of discrete orbitals by molecule-electrode coupling

The presence of apoptosis inhibition proteins renders the cancer cells resistant to apoptosis, severely compromising the antitumor efficacy of sonodynamic therapy (SDT). Here, an intelligent anticancer nanoplatform based on an Aza-boron-dipyrromethene dye (denoted as Aza-BDY) is elaborately established for ferroptosis augmented SDT through cysteine (Cys) starvation. After endocytosis by tumor cells

Anionic coordination polymerizations proceed via highly reactive intermediates, whose in-situ analysis has remained difficult. Here, we show that electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry is a promising method to obtain detailed information on the polymerization process. Focusing on polymerization reactions of 1,3-dienes initiated by CoCl2/RLi (R = Me, nBu, tBu, Ph), we directly observe the growing

Developing porous materials to overcome the trade-off between adsorption capacity and selectivity for C2H2/CO2separation remains a challenge. Herein, we report a stable HKUST-1-like MOF (ZJU-50a), featuring large cages decorated with high density of supramolecular binding sites to achieve both high C2H2 storage and selectivity. ZJU-50a exhibits one of the highest C2H2 storage capacity (192 cm3 g−1)

Cytochrome P450s and Galactose Oxidases exploit redox active ligands to form reactive high valent intermediates for oxidation reactions. This strategy works well for the late 3d metals where accessing high valent states is rather challenging. Herein, we report the oxidation of NiII(salen) (salen = N,N’-bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-salicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexane-(1R,2R)-diamine) with mCPBA (meta-chloroperoxybenzoic

We report a new class of synthetic molecular pumps that use a stepwise information ratchet mechanism to achieve the kinetic gating required to sequester their macrocyclic substrates from bulk solution. Threading occurs as a result of active template reactions between the pump terminus amine and an acyl electrophile, whereby the bond-forming reaction is accelerated through the cavity of a crown ether

With the rapid development of optoelectronic fields, electrochromic (EC) materials and devices have received remarkable attention and have shown attractive potential for use in emerging wearable and portable electronics, electronic papers/billboards, see-through displays, and other new-generation displays, due to the advantages of low power consumption, easy viewing, flexibility, stretchability, etc

Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 17 August 2022

Dynamic mechanism avoids clumping of the cell's actin cytoskeleton.