Characterization of Aspergillus spores by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

The intact fungal spores of several strains of four Aspergillus species, Aspergillus flavus, A. oryzae, A. parasiticus, and A. sojae, were directly analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Very simple MALDI mass spectra are obtained by directly mixing spores with a matrix such as alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid or sinapinic acid. The mass spectra are obtained from the ablation of cell walls of spores owing to the acidity of the matrix solution. The MALDI results show that aflatoxigenic strains and non-aflatoxigenic strains have different mass peak profiles. Furthermore, the MALDI results of non-aflatoxigenic A. flavus and A. parasiticus spores resemble those of the closely related A. oryzae and A. sojae spores, respectively.     

多孔岩心的渗透性

The relaxation properties of water saturated in porous core are discussed and the distribution of proton transverse relaxation time and bi-exponential model of longitudiual relaxation time are obtained, which provide an illustration for two-model of fluids saturated in porous media. The cutoff value of T_1 based on relaxation specific property of fluids in porous core is adopted to improve the correlation between permeability and ?4T1b2.     

Cover Picture: A Stepwise Annulation for the Transformation of Cyclic Ketones to Fused 6 and 7‐Membered Cyclic Enimines and Enones (Chin. J. Chem. 4/2019)

The cover picture shows a typical building within the Campus of Xiamen University displaying Chen Jiageng (Tan Kah Kee)'s style. Just like many beautiful buildings designed and constructed by human, Nature “designs and constructs” a huge number of useful molecules with fascinating structures called natural products. Many natural products possess a fused six or seven‐membered carbocyclic unity. On page 315–322, the Huang's group disclosed a three‐step “[2+n]” annulation method for the construction of fused six and seven‐membered carbocyclic enimines and enones. The method starts from simple cyclic ketones and terminal olefinic amides, and relies on both the Suzuki coupling reaction and the olefin‐amide based Friedel‐Crafts type acylating reaction, a method developed by Huang and coworkers.

     

电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法测定镍基单晶高温合金中Mo、W、Ta、Re、Ru时元素之间相互干扰的消除与校正的研究

称取镍基单晶高温合金0.100 0g于聚四氟乙烯烧杯中,先令其与盐酸9mL和硝酸1mL加热反应,待反应缓慢时滴加氢氟酸2mL并继续加热使样品完全溶解。加入500g·L^-1酒石酸溶液2mL,冷却至室温,在塑料容量瓶中加水定容至100.0mL。按仪器工作条件采用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法测定其中5种合金元素(Mo、W、Ta、Re、Ru)的含量,选择分析谱线依次为204.598,207.911,240.063,197.312,240.272nm。结果发现:除了Re外,其余4种元素的测定中均受共存元素的光谱干扰,严重影响了测定结果的准确性。为克服其干扰,除了采用基体匹配法消除镍的基体干扰外,试验采用混合校正系数矩阵法对测定结果进行校准。通过一系列试验计算得到混合校准系数矩阵K,并应用于模拟样品的分析。结果表明:经过矩阵K的校准,所测定的5种元素的准确度显著提高,达到了消除共存元素之间光谱干扰的目的。通过精密度试验,测得上述5种元素测定值的相对标准偏差(n=11)均在1.5%以下,并通过标准加入法进行回收试验,测得5种元素的回收率为97.0%~105%。     

Biocatalytic reversible control of the stiffness of DNA-modified responsive hydrogels: applications in shape-memory,self-healing and autonomous controlled release of insulin

The enzymes glucose oxidase (GOx), acetylcholine esterase (AchE) and urease that drive biocatalytic transformations to alter pH, are integrated into pH-responsive DNA-based hydrogels. A two-enzyme-loaded hydrogel composed of GOx/urease or AchE/urease and a three-enzyme-loaded hydrogel composed of GOx/AchE/urease are presented. The biocatalytic transformations within the hydrogels lead to the dictated reconfiguration of nucleic acid bridges and the switchable control over the stiffness of the respective hydrogels. The switchable stiffness features are used to develop biocatalytically guided shape-memory and self-healing matrices. In addition, loading of GOx/insulin in a pH-responsive DNA-based hydrogel yields a glucose-triggered matrix for the controlled release of insulin, acting as an artificial pancreas. The release of insulin is controlled by the concentrations of glucose, hence, the biocatalytic insulin-loaded hydrogel provides an interesting sense-and-treat carrier for controlling diabetes.

Biocatalytic control over the stiffness of pH-responsive hydrogels is applied to develop shape-memory, self-healing and controlled release matrices.     

Density functional theory studies on the Raman and IR spectra of meso-tetraphenylporphyrin diacid

The vibrational spectra of meso-tetraphenylporphyrin diacid (H4TPP2+) have been studied with the density functional theory. Raman and IR spectra of H4TPP2+ and its N-deuterated analogue (D4TPP2+) are measured and compared with the computational results. Complete assignments of observed IR and Raman bands were proposed on the bases of calculation results. The DFT calculations reproduce 140 observed fundamentals with the RMS 8.6 cm-1. The computational as well as the experimental results reveal that the saddle-distortion of porphyrin macrocycle for the diacid leads to a significant effect on its vibrational spectra. Especially, several out-of-plane skeletal modes, which were either unobserved or very weak in the Raman spectra of CuTPP and H2TPP, are activated in the Raman spectra of the diacids. In addition, enhancement for the Raman bands of phenyl CC stretching modes were observed and attributed to the conjugation effect of pi-systems of the phenyl and the porphyrinato macrocycles.     

Comparisons of NMR spectral quality and success in crystallization demonstrate that NMR and X-ray crystallography are complementary methods for small protein structure determination

X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy provide the only sources of experimental data from which protein structures can be analyzed at high or even atomic resolution. The degree to which these methods complement each other as sources of structural knowledge is a matter of debate; it is often proposed that small proteins yielding high quality, readily analyzed NMR spectra are a subset of those that readily yield strongly diffracting crystals. We have examined the correlation between NMR spectral quality and success in structure determination by X-ray crystallography for 159 prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins, prescreened to avoid proteins providing polydisperse and/or aggregated samples. This study demonstrates that, across this protein sample set, the quality of a protein's [15N-1H]-heteronuclear correlation (HSQC) spectrum recorded under conditions generally suitable for 3D structure determination by NMR, a key predictor of the ability to determine a structure by NMR, is not correlated with successful crystallization and structure determination by X-ray crystallography. These results, together with similar results of an independent study presented in the accompanying paper (Yee, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., accompanying paper), demonstrate that X-ray crystallography and NMR often provide complementary sources of structural data and that both methods are required in order to optimize success for as many targets as possible in large-scale structural proteomics efforts.     

Asymmetric direct vinylogous carbon-carbon bond formation catalyzed by bifunctional organocatalysts

The bifunctional chiral thiourea-tertiary amine organocatalysts have been applied to a direct asymmetric vinylogous Michael addition of α,α-dicyanoolefins to nitroolefins with 2-10 mol % catalyst loadings. The electronic properties of the thiourea-based catalysts have significant influences on this reaction. Moderate to excellent enantioselectivities (57-95% ee) have been achieved with low to good isolated yields through fine tuning the structures of the bifunctional organocatalysts. Much better ees were obtained for some α,α-dicyanoolefinic substrates compared with that catalyzed by modified cinchona alkaloids.     

Silicomolybdate‐Doped PEDOT Modified Electrode: Electrocatalytic Reduction of Bromate and Oxidation of Ascorbic Acid

Electrically conducting poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) film doped with silicomolybdate (SiMo₁₂O₄₀^4? or SiMo₁₂) was synthesized by electrochemical polymerization. The synthesized film is capable of fast charge propagation during redox reactions in strong acid medium 0.2 M H₂SO₄ solution. The modified electrode was used towards reduction of bromate and successfully employed as an amperometric sensor for bromate and also above modified electrode was investigated for ascorbic acid oxidation.     

水中酚的膜萃取分离流动注射技术测定的研究

本文提出了硅橡胶膜在线萃取分离流动注射技术测定水样中苯酚的方法。由于水样中的苯酚透过硅橡胶进入萃取液的萃取量随时间的增加和温度的升高而增大，故采用停流技术及升高温度以降低酚的检出限。