Effects of C3-aromatic heterocycles on 1,3,5-triaryl-2-pyrazoline sulfonium salt photoacid generators as light-emitting diode-sensitive cationic photoinitiators

Four 1,5-diphenyl-3-aromatic heterocyclyl-2-pyrazoline-based sulfonium salt photoacid generators (PAGs) with different aromatic heterocycles substituted on C3 atom and dimethyl sulfonium group on C5 atom were synthesized. These PAGs were highly photosensitive in the 365–425 nm light-emitting diode region, and the intramolecular charge transfer from the pyrazoline ring to sulfonium salts induced efficient photolysis and high Φ_H⁺. The heterocycles as well as their substituted positions significantly influenced the energy of the S₂ orbital, which was determined by the electrochemical and absorption properties of the PAGs. The raising of the S₂ orbital energy enlarged the energy gap of S₀–S₂ and S₁–S₂, resulting in blue shift of the absorption spectra and increase in the quantum yield of photoacid generation (Φ_H⁺), respectively. When the energy of excited electrons was higher than that of the S₂ orbital, the transition from S₀ to S₂ (π–π*) occurred before the C-S cleavage on S₁ and the PAGs showed high Φ_H⁺ values (0.52–0.72). The transition from S₀ to S₁ (π–σ*) occurred when the energy of electrons is lower than that of the S₂ orbital, and the PAGs showed low Φ_H⁺ value. The photopolymerization kinetics demonstrated that these PAGs were highly efficient cationic photoinitiators.     

Bioprinting of Collagen: Considerations,Potentials, and Applications

Collagen is the most abundant extracellular matrix protein that is widely used in tissue engineering (TE). There is little research done on printing pure collagen. To understand the bottlenecks in printing pure collagen, it is imperative to understand collagen from a bottom‐up approach. Here it is aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of collagen printing, where collagen assembly in vivo and the various sources of collagen available for TE application are first understood. Next, the current printing technologies and strategy for printing collagen‐based materials are highlighted. Considerations and key challenges faced in collagen printing are identified. Finally, the key research areas that would enhance the functionality of printed collagen are presented.     

Enzymatic Extraction of Bioactive and Self‐Assembling Wool Keratin for Biomedical Applications

Keratin is widely recognized as a high‐quality renewable protein resource for biomedical applications. Despite their extensive existence, keratin resources such as feathers, wool, and hair exhibit high stability and mechanical properties because of their high disulfide bond content. Consequently, keratin extraction is challenging and its application is greatly hindered. In this work, a biological extraction strategy is proposed for the preparation of bioactive keratin and the fabrication of self‐assembled keratin hydrogels (KHs). Based on moderate and controlled hydrolysis by keratinase, keratin with a high molecular weight of approximately 45 and 28 kDa that retain its intrinsic bioactivities is obtained. The keratin products show excellent ability to promote cell growth and migration and are conferred with significant antioxidant ability because of their intrinsically high cysteine content. In addition, without the presence of any cross‐linking agent, the extracted keratin can self‐assemble into injectable hydrogels. The KHs exhibit a porous network structure and 3D culture ability, showing potential in promoting wound healing. This enzyme‐driven keratin extraction strategy opens up a new approach for the preparation of keratin that can self‐assemble into injectable hydrogels for biomedical engineering.     

The catalytic performance study of polymerized ionic liquid synthesized in different conditions on alkylation of o‐Xylene with styrene

In this work, a series of novel acidic polymerized ionic liquids were used as heterogeneous catalyst for alkylation of o‐Xylene with styrene. And the effect of the amount of initiator and the type of acid used for ion exchange on catalyst structure and the catalytic performance of catalysts for alkylation were studied thoroughly. The experiment results show: when the percentage of the amount of initiator in the total material is 3%, the polymerized ionic liquid catalyst MPM‐SO₃H‐[C₃V][SO₃CF₃] has the most uniform with a specific surface area of 97.30 m²/g and a pore volume of 0.35 cm³/g. Benefiting from the unique structure features, MPM‐SO₃H‐[C₃V][SO₃CF₃] manifested an excellent catalytic performance for alkylation of o‐Xylene with styrene, along with the conversion of styrene was 96.8% and the yield of 1‐Phenyl‐1‐ortho‐xylene ethane was 94.7%. Therefore, this work provides a novel reference to the synthesis of polymerized ionic liquids and clearly explains the advantage of novel acidic polymerized ionic liquids on alkylation.     

Evaluating the impact of functional groups on membrane-mediated CO2/N2 gas separations using a common polymer backbone

Polymeric membranes have shown tremendous promise for the separation of CO₂ from flue gas streams. However, few systematic studies have been conducted to better understand the impact that chemical functionalities have on membrane-based gas separation performance. To address this gap, we herein describe the synthesis and gas separation performance of a series of vinyl-addition polynorbornenes bearing various CO₂-philic functional groups. To facilitate direct comparison between functional groups, each material was designed to maintain a common polymer backbone. Though the incorporation of CO₂-philic moieties within a dense polymeric membrane is frequently hypothesized to enhance CO₂ solubility, and thereby increase CO₂/N₂ selectivity, our results demonstrate that the incorporation of CO₂-philic groups onto a common polymer backbone do not necessarily result in increased gas separation performance. Experimental and computational results demonstrate that the incorporation of amidoxime groups onto a polynorbornene backbone increase CO₂/N₂ selectivity, whereas commonly employed ethereal side chains only increased permeability.     

Potent Anticancer Efficacy of First-In-Class CuII and AuIII Metaled Phosphorus Dendrons with Distinct Cell Death Pathways

First-in-class Cu^II and Au^III metaled phosphorus dendrons were synthesized and showed significant antiproliferative activity against several aggressive breast cancer cell lines. The data suggest that the cytotoxicity increases with reducing length of the alkyl chains, whereas the replacement of Cu^II with Au^III considerably increases the antiproliferative activity of metaled phosphorus dendrons. Very interestingly, we found that the cell death pathway is related to the nature of the metal complexed by the plain dendrons. Cu^II metaled dendrons showed a potent caspase-independent cell death pathway, whereas Au^III metaled dendrons displayed a caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway. The complexation of plain dendrons with Au^III increased the cellular lethality versus dendrons with Cu^II and promoted the translocation of Bax into the mitochondria and the release of Cytochrome C (Cyto C).     

Highly stable polyoxometalate‐resorcin[4]arene‐based inorganic‐organic complexes for catalytic oxidation desulfurization

Self‐assembly of a resorcin[4]arene‐based ligand (TMR4A) with metal salts and H₃PMo₁₂O₄₀·xH₂O offers two isostructural complexes, namely, [Ni₂Cl(TMR4A)₂(CH₃CN)₂]·[PMo₁₂O₄₀]·4CH₃CN ( 1 ) and [Co₂Cl(TMR4A)₂(CH₃CN)₂]·[PMo₁₂O₄₀]·4CH₃CN ( 2 ). In both 1 and 2 , one Cl^? anion bridges two metal cations, and each metal cation is further chelated by four 2‐mercaptopyridine N‐oxide groups of one TMR4A, producing a [M₂Cl(TMR4A)₂]³⁺ dimer (M = Ni or Co). The negative [PMo₁₂O₄₀]^3? as a counter‐anion balances the positive charge. Markedly, 1 and 2 exhibit high stability in aqueous solutions with different pH values and in organic solvents. Remarkably, the efficient heterogeneous catalytic capability for oxidative desulfurization was studied by suing 1 and 2 as recycled catalysts. Moreover, the electrochemical behaviors of the two compounds were discussed as well.