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A convenient and highly efficient palladium-catalyzed reaction of [60]fullerene (C60) with aroyl compounds via enolate-mediated C-H activation and hydroxylation has been exploited for the first time to synthesize novel C60-fused dihydrofurans, and rare 1,4-fullerenols. Further functionalization including etherification, and esterification of synthesized 1,4-fullerenols provided efficient access to versatile fullerene derivatives. Moreover, a plausible reaction mechanism leading to the observed products is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are a class of compounds that are currently produced and used in large amounts in commercial products worldwide. In this study, food, indoor air, indoor dust, and drinking water samples were collected to evaluate the external exposure levels of CPs and possible pathway for the general population in Beijing, China. Short chain CPs (SCCPs) and medium chain CPs (MCCPs) in 199 samples were analyzed using a gas chromatography tandem time-of-flight high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-HR-MS) method. High levels of CPs were observed in the indoor environment from residential houses, offices, and student dormitories. The geometric mean concentrations (GM) of ∑SCCPs and ∑MCCPs in indoor dust were 92 μg g-1 and 82 μg g-1, respectively, while in indoor air, the concentrations were 80 ng m-3 and 3.4 ng m-3, respectively. The GM of ∑SCCPs and ∑MCCPs in the diet were 83 ng g-1 dry weight (dw) and 56 ng g-1 dw, respectively. The most important external exposure routes to CPs to the general populations in Beijing were food intake and indoor dust ingestion. Indoor dust and indoor air posed higher risks for toddlers and infants than for adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystal growth from amorphous drugs is of interest in the context of solubility enhancing formulations. Herein, the impact of polymers on the crystal growth of different polymorphs from the undercooled liquid was investigated using indomethacin (IDM) as a model compound and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate (HPMCAS), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as polymeric inhibitors. Samples sandwiched between two coverslips were prepared by melt quenching, and polymorphs were identified using Raman spectroscopy, hot stage microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Crystal growth rates of δ, α, and γ polymorphs were measured in the absence and presence of polymers. Polymorphs grown from pure IDM melt showed different crystal growth rates at a given temperature, that persisted when differences in the extent of undercooling were accounted for. The crystal growth rates of IDM crystals were reduced by the three polymers. At lower temperatures, the effectiveness of the polymers in inhibiting crystal growth decreased in the order of PVP > HPMC > HPMCAS. Interestingly, it was found that the same polymer had different inhibitory effects on the crystal growth of different polymorphs, with polymers being least effective in inhibiting the growth of the γ polymorph. Clearly the impact of polymers on crystal growth from undercooled melts is highly complex, depending not only on the properties of the liquid phase, but also on the growing crystal polymorph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pristine high-altitude mountains are ideal areas for studying the potential mechanism behind the long-range transport and environmental behavior of persistent organic pollutants in remote areas. Short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are the most complex halogenated contaminants in the environment, and have attracted extensive worldwide interest in recent years. In this study, the spatiotemporal concentrations and distributions of SCCPs in air collected from Shergyla Mountain (located in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau) and Lhasa were investigated during 2012-2015. Generally, the total SCCP levels at Shergyla Mountain and Lhasa were between 130 and 1300 pg/m³ and 1100-14440 pg/m³, respectively. C10 and C11 components were the most abundant homologue groups, indicating that lighter SCCP homologue groups are capable of relatively long-range atmospheric transport. Relatively high but insignificant atmospheric SCCP concentrations at Shergyla Mountain area and Lhasa were observed from 2013 to 2015 compared with 2012. At Shergyla Mountain, SCCP concentrations on the eastern and western slopes increased with altitude, implying that "mountain cold-trapping" might occur for SCCPs. A back-trajectory model showed that SCCP sources at Shergyla Mountain and Lhasa were primarily influenced by the tropical monsoon from Southwest and South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient and simple copper-mediated oxidative coupling of N,N-dimyethylanilines with [60]fullerene was employed to obtain a high yield of scarce 6-membered-ring [60]fullerene-fused tetrahydroquinolines. The reaction occurred through sp³ C-H bond activation under mild reaction conditions with molecular oxygen as the oxidant. A plausible reaction pathway was proposed, and the electrochemistry of the fullerene products was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pd(0)-catalyzed intramolecular C-H alkenylation was achieved with excellent yields and enantioselectivity for the construction of planar chiral ferrocenes. It is compatible with a broad range of substrates and various functional groups. Notably, the enantioselective and diastereoselective synthesis of planar chiral ferrocenes was realized by cascade C-H arylation and alkenylation reaction for the first time. Additionally, the product was easily converted into a N,O-bidentate ligand, showing promising chiral induction in asymmetric alkynylation of 1-naphthaldehyde. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Pd-catalyzed, asymmetric oxidative cross-coupling reaction between ferrocenes and heteroarenes is described. The process, which takes place via a twofold C-H bond activation pathway, proceeds with modest to high efficiencies (36-86%) and high levels of regio- and enantioselectivity (95-99% ee). In the reaction, air oxygen serves as a green oxidant and excess amounts of the coupling partners are not required. The process is the first example of a catalytic asymmetric biaryl coupling reaction that occurs via double C-H bond activation. Finally, the generated coupling products can be readily transformed into chiral ligands and catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of nanomaterials under high strain rates is critical to understand their suitability for dynamic applications such as nanoresonators and nanoswitches. It is also of great theoretical importance to explore nanomechanics with dynamic and rate effects. Here, we report in situ scanning electron microscope (SEM) tensile testing of bicrystalline silver nanowires at strain rates up to 2/s, which is 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously reported in the literature. The experiments are enabled by a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) with fast response time. It was identified that the nanowire plastic deformation has a small activation volume (<10b³), suggesting dislocation nucleation as the rate controlling mechanism. Also, a remarkable brittle-to-ductile failure mode transition was observed at a threshold strain rate of 0.2/s. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that along the nanowire, dislocation density and spatial distribution of plastic regions increase with increasing strain rate. Furthermore, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations show that deformation mechanisms such as grain boundary migration and dislocation interactions are responsible for such ductility. Finally, the MD and experimental results were interpreted using dislocation nucleation theory. The predicted yield stress values are in agreement with the experimental results for strain rates above 0.2/s when ductility is pronounced. At low strain rates, random imperfections on the nanowire surface trigger localized plasticity, leading to a brittle-like failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highlyefficient synthesis of planar chiral ferrocenylpyridinederivatives via Pd-catalyzed intramolecular C–H arylation wasdeveloped, and quantitative yields and excellent enantioselectivitywere obtained for a wide range of substrates. Notably, the catalystloading could be lowered to 0.2 mol %, which represents the highestcatalytic efficiency found for asymmetric C–H bond activation(TON up to 495). These compounds could be easily transformed to pyridine N-oxides, displaying promising catalytic reactivity in the asymmetric opening of meso-epoxide. Moreover, computational investigations wereconducted to clarify the origin of the excellent enantioselectivity.The compatibility of large-scale synthesis and low catalyst loadingshould enhance the practicality of the synthetic application of thecurrent method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collective behavior of biological systems has inspired efforts toward the controlled assembly of synthetic nanomotors. Here we demonstrate the use of acoustic fields to induce reversible assembly of catalytic nanomotors, controlled swarm movement, and separation of different nanomotors. The swarming mechanism relies on the interaction between individual nanomotors and the acoustic field, which triggers rapid migration and assembly around the nearest pressure node. Such on-demand assembly of catalytic nanomotors is extremely fast and reversible. Controlled movement of the resulting swarm is illustrated by changing the frequency of the acoustic field. Efficient separation of different types of nanomotors, which assemble in distinct swarming regions, is illustrated. The ability of acoustic fields to regulate the collective behavior of catalytic nanomotors holds considerable promise for a wide range of practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Removable tridentate directing groups inspired by pincer ligands have been designed to stabilize otherwise kinetically and thermodynamically disfavored 6- membered alkyl palladacycle intermediates. This family of directing groups enables regioselective remote hydrocarbofunctionalization of several synthetically useful alkene-containing substrate classes, including 4-pentenoic acids, allylic alcohols, homoallyl amines, and bis-homoallylamines, under Pd(II) catalysis. In conjunction with previous findings, we demonstrate regiodivergent hydrofunctionalization of 3-butenoic acid derivatives to afford either Markovnikov or anti-Markovnikov addition products depending on directing group choice. Preliminary mechanistic and computational data are presented to support the proposed catalytic cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report a highly conductive polypropylene-graphene nonwoven composite via direct coating of melt blown polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabrics with graphene oxide (GO) dispersions in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), followed by the chemical reduction of GO with hydroiodic acid (HI). GO as an amphiphilic macromolecule can be dispersed in DMF homogeneously at a concentration of 5 mg/mL, which has much lower surface tension (37.5 mN/m) than that of GO in water (72.9 mN/m, at 5 mg/mL). The hydrophobic PP nonwoven has a surface energy of 30.1 mN/m, close to the surface tension of GO in DMF. Therefore, the PP nonwoven can be easily wetted by the GO/DMF dispersion without any pretreatment. Soaking PP nonwoven in a GO/DMF dispersion leads to uniform coatings of GO on PP-fiber surfaces. After chemical reduction of GO to graphene, the resulting PP/graphene nonwoven composite offers an electrical conductivity of 35.6 S m-1 at graphene loading of 5.2 wt %, the highest among the existing conductive PP systems reported, indicating that surface tension of coating baths has significant impact on the coating uniformity and affinity. The conductivity of our PP/graphene nonwoven is also stable against stirring washing test. In addition, here we demonstrate a monolithic supercapacitor derived from the PP-GO nonwoven composite by using a direct laser-patterning process. The resulted sandwich supercapacitor shows a high areal capacitance of 4.18 mF/cm2 in PVA-H2SO4 gel electrolyte. The resulting highly conductive or capacitive PP/graphene nonwoven carries great promise to be used as electronic textiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective endosomal escape remains as the "holy grail" for endocytosis-based intracellular drug delivery. To date, most of the endosomal escape strategies rely on small molecules, cationic polymers, or pore-forming proteins, which are often limited by the systemic toxicity and lack of specificity. We describe here a light-fueled liquid-metal transformer for effective endosomal escape-facilitated cargo delivery via a chemical-mechanical process. The nanoscale transformer can be prepared by a simple approach of sonicating a low-toxicity liquid-metal. When coated with graphene quantum dots (GQDs), the resulting nanospheres demonstrate the ability to absorb and convert photoenergy to drive the simultaneous phase separation and morphological transformation of the inner liquid-metal core. The morphological transformation from nanospheres to hollow nanorods with a remarkable change of aspect ratio can physically disrupt the endosomal membrane to promote endosomal escape of payloads. This metal-based nanotransformer equipped with GQDs provides a new strategy for facilitating effective endosomal escape to achieve spatiotemporally controlled drug delivery with enhanced efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-driven synthetic micro-/nanomotors have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications and unique performances such as remote motion control and adjustable velocity. Utilizing harmless and renewable visible light to supply energy for micro-/nanomotors in water represents a great challenge. In view of the outstanding photocatalytic performance of bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI), visible-light-driven BiOI-based Janus micromotors have been developed, which can be activated by a broad spectrum of light, including blue and green light. Such BiOI-based Janus micromotors can be propelled by photocatalytic reactions in pure water under environmentally friendly visible light without the addition of any other chemical fuels. The remote control of photocatalytic propulsion by modulating the power of visible light is characterized by velocity and mean-square displacement analysis of optical video recordings. In addition, the self-electrophoresis mechanism has been confirmed for such visible-light-driven BiOI-based Janus micromotors by demonstrating the effects of various coated layers (e.g., Al2O3, Pt, and Au) on the velocity of motors. The successful demonstration of visible-light-driven Janus micromotors holds a great promise for future biomedical and environmental applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe and illustrate a three-step data-processing approach that enables individual congener groups of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) to be resolved in mass spectra obtained from either of two soft ionization methods: electron capture negative ionization mass spectrometry (ECNI-MS) or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI-MS). In the first step, general fragmentation pathways of CPs are deduced from analysis of mass spectra of individual CP congeners. In the second step, all possible fragment ions in the general fragmentation pathways of CPs with 10 to 20 carbon atoms are enumerated and compared to mass spectra of CP mixture standards, and a deconvolution algorithm is applied to identify fragment ions that are actually observed. In the third step, isotope permutations of the observed fragment ions are calculated and used to identify isobaric overlaps, so that mass intensities of individual CP congener groups can be deconvolved from the unresolved isobaric ion signal intensities in mass spectra. For a specific instrument, the three steps only need to be done once to enable deconvolution of CPs in unknown samples. This approach enables congener group-level resolution of CP mixtures in environmental samples, and it opens up the possibility for quantification of congener groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been widely examined as a catalyst containing no precious metals for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER); however, these examinations have utilized synthesized MoS2 because the pristine MoS2 mineral is known to be a poor catalyst. The fundamental challenge with pristine MoS2 is the inert HER activity of the predominant (0001) basal surface plane. In order to achieve high HER performance with pristine MoS2, it is essential to activate the basal plane. Here, we report a general thermal process in which the basal plane is texturized to increase the density of HER-active edge sites. This texturization is achieved through a simple thermal annealing procedure in a hydrogen environment, removing sulfur from the MoS2 surface to form edge sites. As a result, the process generates high HER catalytic performance in pristine MoS2 across various morphologies such as the bulk mineral, films composed of micron-scale flakes, and even films of a commercially available spray of nanoflake MoS2. The lowest overpotential (η) observed for these samples was η = 170 mV to obtain 10 mA/cm² of HER current density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracellular H2O2 plays an important role in regulating a variety of cellular functions. Fluorescent probes that can make response to intracellular levels of H2O2 would provide valuable tools for revealing the functions of H2O2 in living organisms. However, traditional pH-in sensitive probes and lysosome-targetable probes can only provide spatially nonspecific visualization of intracellular H2O2 and specific sensing of lysosomal H2O2, respectively. In this work, we developed a H2O2-responsive and pH-switchable fluorescent probe (HP-Ll) which can make response sequentially to intracellular H2O2 and lysosomal pH. The fluorescent probe is comprised of a H2O2- responsive boronate moiety and a pH-switchable spirobenzopyran fluorophore. When the probe was applied for intracellular H2O2 sensing, only fluorescent emission from lysosomes is visible, and the fluorescence from other regions is not able to be obviously detected, which is due to the pH-switchable property of the spirobenzopyran fluorophore. Thus, the developed fluorescence probe enables the spatially confined (Le., lysosome-spedfic) visualization of the intracellular H2O2. We envisioned that this kind of fluorescent probe (or the proposed sensing strategy) would allow the visualization of the overall levels of intracellular H202 without interferences of possible fluorescent signals from other sources (e.g., dyes for cellular staining and multiplex analysis). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 9-(2-tosylvinyl)-9H-purines as the dipolarophiles, a series of chiral azacyclic nucleosides with four continuous stereocenters were obtained in 86-99% yields, >20:1 dr, and 94 → 99% ee via the Cu(I)-catalyzed asymmetric [3 + 2] cycloaddition. Both (E)- and (Z)-9-(2-tosylvinyl)-9H-purines were suitable dipolarophiles, enriching the structure diversity of azacyclic nucleosides. Furthermore, when α-methyl imino ester was explored, the corresponding azacyclic nucleoside with a chiral quaternary stereocenter could also be afforded with excellent results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 9-(2-tosylvinyl)-9H-purines as the dipolarophiles, a series of chiral azacyclic nucleosides with four continuous stereocenters were obtained in 86-99% yields, >20:1 dr, and 94 ? 99% ee via the Cu(I)-catalyzed asymmetric [3 + 2] cycloaddition. Both (E)- and (Z)-9-(2-tosylvinyl)-9H-purines were suitable dipolarophiles, enriching the structure diversity of azacyclic nucleosides. Furthermore, when α-methyl imino ester was explored, the corresponding azacyclic nucleoside with a chiral quaternary stereocenter could also be afforded with excellent results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]