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Background: X22 is one of the imidazopyridine derivatives designed and synthesized in our laboratory. This compound showed excellent anti-inflammatory activity in LPS-stimulated macrophages. We previously investigated the biological activities of X22, including treatment of obesityrelated complications and retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury. Methods: In the present study, a reliable, rapid, and simple UPLC method was first established and validated for quantitative analysis of X22 in rat plasma. Plasma samples were prepared by protein precipitation and separated on an ACQUITY HSS T3 column with a gradient mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% TFA at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. Results: Good linearity (R2>0.997) was achieved using weighted (1/x2) least-squares linear regression over a concentration range of 10 ng/mL to 1000 ng/mL with a lower limit of quantification of 10 ng/mL for X22. The average extraction recoveries were > 91.3 % for X22 and > 92.4 % for neohesperidin dihydrochalcone. The intra- and inter-precision values of the assay were both < 4.0 %. Conclusion: This method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study on rats after administration of single intravenous and oral doses of 20 and 80 mg/kg, respectively.

37 acetylenic chalcones were designed, synthesized by the Pd/Cu catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reaction, and evaluated for anti-inflammatory activities. A majority of these compounds showed remarkable inhibitions of the expression of inflammatory cytokines in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Six of them demonstrated the dose-dependent inhibition of inflammatory cytokines, and 4f is the most potent antiinflammatory compound. Our results suggest that these active acetylenic chalcones could be further developed as promising candidates for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Access to high-performance and cost-effective catalyst materials is one of the crucial preconditions for the industrial application of electrochemical CO2reduction (ECR). In this work, a facile and simple strategy is proposed for the construction of a free-standing electrocatalyst via confining a superbase and hydrophobic ionic liquid (IL, [P66614][triz]) into Ni foam pores, denoted as [P66614][triz]@Ni foam. These ILs can modulate the surface of Ni foam and create a microenvironment with high CO2concentration around the electrode/electrolyte interface, which successfully suppresses the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) of Ni foam. Consequently, the synthesized [P66614][triz]@Ni foam sample can obtain a CO product with 63% Faradaic efficiency from the ECR procedure, while no detectable CO can be found on pristine Ni foam. Owing to the superbase IL, the valency of Ni species retains Ni(I)/Ni(0) during electrolysis. Furthermore, the strikingly high CO2capacity by [P66614][Triz] (0.91 mol CO2per mole of IL) offers a high CO2local concentration in the reaction region. Theoretical calculations indicated that the neutral CO2molecule turned to be negatively charged with −0.546 e and changed into a bent geometry, thus rendering CO2activation and reduction in a low-energy pathway. This study provides a new method of electrode interface modification for the design of efficient ECR catalysts.