Label-free electrochemical detection of DNA in blood serum via target-induced resolution of an electrode-bound DNA pseudoknot

We have demonstrated a fully covalent, signal-on E-DNA architecture based on the target-induced resolution of a DNA pseudokont. In the absence of target, the electrode-bound DNA probe adopts a pseudoknot conformation that segregates an attached methylene blue (MB) from the electrode. Upon target binding, the pseudoknot is resolved, leading to the formation of a single-stranded DNA element that supports electron transfer from the methylene blue to the electrode.

Extending electrochemical activity of polyaniline to alkaline media via electrostatic interaction and sol-gel route

The electroactivity of polyaniline was extended to pH = 14 alkaline media by preparation of a novel electrostatic interaction conductive hybrid from water-borne conductive polyaniline and silica network containing carboxyl groups via sol-gel process. In addition, the obtained conductive polyaniline hybrid film displayed very low conductivity threshold percolation and demonstrated excellent stability upon cycling.

Stimuli-responsive polyelectrolyte block copolymer brushes synthesized from the si wafer via atom-transfer radical polymerization

Surface-tethered oppositely charged weak polyelectrolyte block copolymer brushes composed of poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (P2VP) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) were grown from the Si wafer by atom-transfer radical polymerization. The P2VP-b-PAA brushes were prepared through hydrolysis of the second PtBA block to the corresponding acrylic acid. The P2VP-b-PAA brushes with different PAA block length were obtained. The P2VP-b-PAA brushes revealed a unique reversible wetting behavior with pH. The difference between the solubility parameters for P2VP and PAA, the changes of surface chemical composition and surface roughness, and the reversible wetting behavior illustrated that the surface rearrangement occurred during treatment of the P2VP-b-PAA brushes by aqueous solution with different pH value. The reversible properties of the P2VP-b-PAA brushes can be used to regulate the adsorption of the sulfonated PS nanoparticles.

A reversibly tunable colloidal photonic crystal via the infiltrated solvent liquid-solid phase transition

A reversibly tunable colloidal photonic crystal between two stop bands was realized by a liquid-solid phase transition of liquid infiltrated into the air voids of silica opals. The difference of the peak wavelengths of the two stop bands was dependent on the diameter of the silica opals and the difference of the refractive index of the filled solvent between the solid and liquid state. The reversibly tunable photonic crystals have good stability and reproducibility.

Efficient one-pot synthesis of highly substituted pyridin-2(1H)-ones via the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction of 1-acetyl,1-carbamoyl cyclopropanes

A facile and efficient one-pot synthesis of highly substituted pyridin-2(1H)-ones is developed via the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction of readily available 1-acetyl,1-carbamoyl cyclopropanes, and a mechanism involving sequential ring-opening, haloformylation, and intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization reactions is proposed.

Efficient synthesis of highly substituted pyrrolin-4-ones via PIFA-mediated cyclization reactions of enaminones

A convenient and efficient synthesis of highly substituted pyrrolin-4-ones is developed via the PIFA-mediated cyclization reactions of readily available enaminones, and a mechanism involving sequential cleavage of N-C bond, formation of new N-C bond, intramolecular addition reaction, and benzilic acid type rearrangement is proposed.

One-pot synthesis of substituted isothiazol-3(2H)-ones: Intramolecular annulation of alpha-carbamoyl ketene-S,S-acetals via PIFA-Mediated N-S bond formation

A facile and efficient synthetic route towards; highly substituted isothiazol-3(2H)-ones 2 from readily available U.-carbamoyl ketene-S,S-acetals 1 is presented. The key step features the formation of an N-acylnitrenium ion, generated from the oxidization of substituted amides with the hypervalent iodine reagent phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA), and its succeeding intramolecular amidation to form a new N-S bond affording the title compounds.

Synthesis of novel functional polyolefin containing carboxylic acid via Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction

The strong polar group, carboxylic acid, has triumphantly been introduced into ethylene and allylbenzene copolymers without obvious degradation or crosslinking via Friedel-Crafts (F-C) acylation reaction with glutaric anhydride (GA), succinic anhydride (SA) and phthalic anhydride (PA) in the presence of anhydrous aluminum chloride in carbon disulfide. Some important reaction parameters were examined in order to optimize the acylation process. In the optimum reaction conditions, almost all of the phenyls can be acylated with any anhydride. The microstructure of acylated copolymer was characterized by Fr-IR, H-1 NMR and H-1-H-1 COSY. All the peaks of acylated copolymers can be accurately attributed, which indicates that all the acylation reactions occur only at the para-positions of the substituent of the aromatic rings. The thermal behavior was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), showing that the melting temperatures (T(m)s) of acylated copolymers with GA firstly decrease slowly and then increase significantly with the increase of the amount of carboxyl acid groups.

One-pot synthesis of polyimides via Ni-catalyzed coupling of bis(chlorophthalimide)s

A one-pot synthesis method for the preparation of polyimides containing biphenyl units was developed via nickel-catalyzed coupling reaction of bis(chlorophthalimide)s which were prepared from chloroplithalic anhydrides and diamines in xylene. The resulting polyimides had inherent viscosities of above 0.60dL g(-1). In the meantime, the copolymerizations from a mixture of three isomeric bis(chlorophthalimide)s gave the polymers with inherent viscosities of 0.36-0.55 gdL(-1). The solubility and film formability of the copolymers were better than those of homopolymers from bis(4-chlorophthalimide). The 10% weight loss of these polyimides was between 470 and 531 degrees C.

Interfacial supramolecular self-assembled monolayers of C-60 by thiolated beta-cyclodextrin on gold surfaces via monoanionic C-60

The supramolecular self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of C-60 by thiolated beta-cyclodextrin (CD) on gold surfaces were constructed for the first time using C-60 monoanion. The results indicate that monoanionic C-60 plays a crucial role in the formation of the C-60-containing self-assembled monolayers. The generation of C-60 monoanion and the formation process of C-60 SAMs were monitored in-situ by UV-visible and near-IR spectroscopy. The resulting C-60 SAMs were fully characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), cyclic voltammetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and water contact angle measurements. After the immobilization of C-60 by the SAMs of thiolated beta-CD, the film thickness increased by approximately 1 nm from 0.8 to 1.8 nm as determined by SE, demonstrating the formation of the supramolecular self-assembled monolayers of thiolated beta-CD/C-60. The new C-60 SAMs exhibited one quasi-reversible redox couple at half wave potential of -0.57 V vs SCE in aqueous solution containing 0.1 M KCl. The surface coverage of C-60 on the gold surfaces was estimated to be 1.1 x 10(-10) mol cm(-2). The XPS showed the assembly of C-60 over the thiolated beta-CD SAMs.

Polypropylene as a carbon source for the synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes via catalytic combustion

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were efficiently synthesized by catalytic combustion of polypropylene (PP) using nickel compounds (such as Ni2O3, NiO, Ni(OH)(2) and NiCO3 (.) 2Ni(OH)(2)) as catalysts in the presence of organic-modified montmorillonite (OMMT) at 630-830 degrees C. Morphologies of the sample undergoing different combustion times were observed to investigate actual process producing MWCNTs by this method. The obtained MWCNTs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope and Raman spectroscopy. The yield of MWCNTs was affected by the composition of PP mixtures with OMMT and nickel compounds and the combustion temperature. The proton acidic sites from the degraded OMMT layers due to the Hoffman reaction of the modifiers at high temperature played an important role in the catalytic degradation of PP to supply carbon sources that are easy to be catalyzed by nickel catalyst for the growth of MWCNTs. The XRD measurements demonstrated that the nickel compounds were in situ reduced into the Ni(0) state with the aid of hydrogen gas and/or hydrocarbons in the degradation products of PP, and the Ni(O) was really the active site for the growth of MWCNTs. The combination of nickel compounds with OMMT was a key factor to efficiently synthesize MWCNTs via catalytic combustion of PP.

Synthesis and characterization of polyethylene chains grafted onto the sidewalls of single-walled carbon nanotubes via copolymerization

Polyethylene (PE) chains grafted onto the sidewalls of SWCNTs (SWCNT-g-PE) were successfully synthesized via ethylene copolymerization with functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (f-SWCNTs) catalyzed by rac-(en)(THInd)(2)ZrCl2/ MAO. Here f-SWCNTs, in which alpha-alkene groups were chemically linked on the sidewalls of SWCNTs, were synthesized by Prato reaction. The composition and microstructure of SWCNT-g-PE were characterized by means of H-1 NMR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Nanosized cable-like structure was formed in the SWCNT-g-PE, in which the PE formed a tubular shell and several SWCNTs bundles existed as core. The formation of the above morphology in the SWCNT-g-PE resulted from successfully grafting of PE chains onto the surface of SWCNTs via copolymerization. The grown PE chains grafted onto the sidewall of the f-SWCNTs promoted the exfoliation of the mass nanotubes. Comparing with pure PE, the physical mixture of PE/f-SWCNTs and in situ PE/SWCNTs mixture, thermal stability, and mechanical properties of SWCNT-g-PE were higher because of the chemical bonding between the f-SWCNTs and PE chains.

Preparation of silica/polyacrylamide/polyethylene nanocomposite via in situ polymerization

SiO2/polyacrylamide (PAM) composite was prepared via the polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of silica sol in water/hexane emulsion, and pure SiO2 was also prepared without the use of acrylamide in the same way. Field emission scanning electron micrographs (FESEM) showed that PAM covered the silica nanoparticles to form SiO2/PAM nanospheres, which loosely agglomerated to form SiO2/PAM secondary particles, while SiO2 secondary particles were made up of tightly agglomerated silica nanoparticles. Metallocene catalyst was then immobilized over SiO2 and SiO2/PAM respectively to prepare supported metallocene catalyst for ethylene polymerization. Transmission electron micrographs (TEM) showed that support particles broke up to smaller particles and even nanoparticles in polyethylene (PE) matrix when the support particles were the fragile SiO2/PAM secondary particles, which shows a novel way to prepare silica/polyacrylamide/polyethylene nanocomposite.

Synthesis of tellurium nanorods via spontaneous oxidation of NaHTe at room temperature

Trigonal phase of tellurium (t-Te) nanorods with tapered ends have been synthesized through spontaneous oxidation of NaHTe by dissolved oxygen at room temperature. Utilization of sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate was found to help to obtain high-quality nanorods. The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction and Transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the possible nucleation and growth mechanism of the t-Te nanorods was discussed.