The atroposelective synthesis of axially chiral styrenes remains a formidable challenge due to their relatively lower rotational barriers compared to the biaryl atropoisomers. Herein, we describe the ...construction of axially chiral styrenes through PdII‐catalyzed atroposelective C−H olefination, using a bulky amino amide as a transient chiral auxiliary. Various axially chiral styrenes were produced with good yields and high enantioselectivity (up to 95 % yield and 99 % ee). Carboxylic acid derivatives of the resulting axially chiral styrenes showed superior enantiocontrol over the biaryl counterparts in CoIII‐catalyzed enantioselective C(sp3)−H amidation of thioamide. Mechanistic studies suggest that C−H cleavage is the enantioselectivity‐determining step.
Axially chiral styrenes were constructed through a PdII‐catalyzed atroposelective C−H olefination with a bulky amino amide as a transient chiral auxiliary. Various axially chiral styrenes were produced with good yields and high enantioselectivity. Carboxylic acid derivatives of these axially chiral styrenes showed superior enantiocontrol compared to the biaryl counterparts in CoIII‐catalyzed enantioselective C(sp3)−H amidation of ferrocenes.
Amino acids and peptides with bulky side chains are of significant importance in organic synthesis and modern medicinal chemistry. The efficient synthesis of these molecules with full enantiocontrol ...and high diversity remains challenging. Herein we report a Pd-catalyzed ligand-enabled γ-C(sp
)-H arylation of
-leucine and its derived peptides without using an external directing group (DG)
a less favored six-membered palladacycle. Structurally diverse bulky side chain amino acids and peptides were accessed in a step-economic fashion and the reaction could be conducted on a gram scale with retention of chirality. The resulting amino acids can be used as chiral ligands in Co(iii)-catalyzed enantioselective C(sp
)-H amidation. It is worth noting that the weakly coordinating carboxylate DG outcompetes the strongly coordinating bidentate DG of the peptide backbone, providing the products of γ-C(sp
)-H arylation of Tle residue exclusively. This protocol represents the first example of late stage C(sp
)-H functionalization of peptides using a weakly coordinating directing group.
The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) usually has sluggish kinetics in alkaline solution due to the difficulty in forming binding protons. Herein we report an electrocatalyst in which sulfur atoms ...are doping in the oxygen vacancies (VO) of inverse spinel NiFe2O4 (S‐NiFe2O4) to create active sites with enhanced electron transfer capability. This electrocatalyst has an ultralow overpotential of 61 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm−2 and long‐term stability of 60 h at 1.0 Acm−2 in 1.0 M KOH media. In situ Raman spectroscopy revealed that S sites adsorb hydrogen adatom (H*) and in situ form S‐H*, which favor the production of hydrogen and boosts HER in alkaline solution. DFT calculations further verified that S introduction lowered the energy barrier of H2O dissociation. Both experimental and theoretical investigations confirmed S atoms are active sites of the S‐NiFe2O4.
Sulfur‐atom doping of inverse spinel NiFe2O4 results in the occupation of the oxygen vacancies. S sites in the S‐NiFe2O4 likely adsorb H adatoms and form S‐H* in situ, which boosts the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline solution. DFT calculations further verified that the lowered energy barrier for H2O dissociation induced by S doping is the key reason for the remarkable HER performance.
Herein, a strategy is reported for the fabrication of NiCo2O4‐based mesoporous nanosheets (PNSs) with tunable cobalt valence states and oxygen vacancies. The optimized NiCo2.148O4 PNSs with an ...average Co valence state of 2.3 and uniform 4 nm nanopores present excellent catalytic performance with an ultralow overpotential of 190 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and long‐term stability (700 h) for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. Furthermore, Zn–air batteries built using the NiCo2.148O4 PNSs present a high power and energy density of 83 mW cm−2 and 910 Wh kg−1, respectively. Moreover, a portable battery box with NiCo2.148O4 PNSs as the air cathode presents long‐term stability for 120 h under low temperatures in the range of 0 to −35 °C. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the prominent electron exchange and transfer activity of the electrocatalyst is attributed to the surface lower‐coordinated Co‐sites in the porous region presenting a merging 3d–eg–t2g band, which overlaps with the Fermi level of the Zn–air battery system. This favors the adsorption of the *OH, and stabilized *O radicals are reached, toward competitively lower overpotential, demonstrating a generalized key for optimally boosting overall OER performance.
Optimized NiCo2.148O4 mesoporous nanosheets with an average Co valence state of 2.3 and uniform 4 nm mesopores demonstrate exceptional performance for Zn–air batteries under a wide temperature range from 80 to −35 °C, which arises from the high activities of electron exchange and transfer by the surface lower‐coordinated Co‐sites within the porous region.
The proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is one of the most promising hydrogen production techniques. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) occurring at the anode dominates the overall ...efficiency. Developing active and robust electrocatalysts for OER in acid is a longstanding challenge for PEM water electrolyzers. Most catalysts show unsatisfied stability under strong acidic and oxidative conditions. Such a stability challenge also leads to difficulties for a better understanding of mechanisms. This review aims to provide the current progress on understanding of OER mechanisms in acid, analyze the promising strategies to enhance both activity and stability, and summarize the state‐of‐the‐art catalysts for OER in acid. First, the prevailing OER mechanisms are reviewed to establish the physicochemical structure–activity relationships for guiding the design of highly efficient OER electrocatalysts in acid with stable performance. The reported approaches to improve the activity, from macroview to microview, are then discussed. To analyze the problem of instability, the key factors affecting catalyst stability are summarized and the surface reconstruction is discussed. Various noble‐metal‐based OER catalysts and the current progress of non‐noble‐metal‐based catalysts are reviewed. Finally, the challenges and perspectives for the development of active and robust OER catalysts in acid are discussed.
Developing proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers requires a fundamental understanding of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acid, which is the primary focus of this review. The water electrolyzer in alkaline and acid are compared; and the recent advances in OER mechanisms, the strategies for enhancing activity and stability of electrocatalysts, surface reconstruction, and the state‐of‐the‐art electrocatalysts are discussed.
While quasi‐two‐dimensional (quasi‐2D) perovskites have emerged as promising semiconductors for light‐emitting diodes (LEDs), the broad‐width distribution of quantum wells hinders their efficient ...energy transfer and electroluminescence performance in blue emission. In particular, the underlying mechanism is closely related to the crystallization kinetics and has yet to be understood. Here for the first time, the influence of bifunctional zwitterions with different coordination affinity on the crystallization kinetics of quasi‐2D perovskites is systematically investigated. The zwitterions can coordinate with Pb2+ and also act as co‐spacer organic species in quasi‐2D perovskites, which collectively inhibit the aggregation of colloidal precursors and shorten the distance of quantum wells. Consequently, restricted nucleation of high‐n phases and promoted growth of low‐n phases are achieved with moderately coordinated zwitterions, leading to the final film with a more concentrated n distribution and improved energy transfer efficiency. It thus enables high‐efficiency blue LEDs with a recorded external quantum efficiency of 15.6% at 490 nm, and the operation stability has also been prolonged to 55.3 min. These results provide useful directions for tuning the crystallization kinetics of quasi‐2D perovskites, which is expected to lead to high‐performance perovskite LEDs.
In this work, a facile strategy base on bifunctional zwitterions is proposed that effectively modulates the crystallization kinetics of quantum wells—both suppressing the formation of low‐n phases and restricting the growth of high‐n phases—contributing to a narrow n distribution. Accordingly, high‐performance sky‐blue PeLEDs at 490 nm with a recorded EQE of 15.6% are realized.
The rapid outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a matter of international concern as the disease is spreading fast 1, 2. Considering that the contagious disease has led to an ...enormous impact globally, there is an urgent need to identify the risk populations with poor prognosis. Ageing is associated with certain changes in pulmonary physiology, pathology and function, during the period of lung infection. Therefore, age-related differences in responsiveness and tolerance become obvious and lead to worse clinical outcomes in elderly individuals 3. Previous studies have mentioned that older COVID-19 patients are at an increased risk of death 4–7. However, the age-related clinical characteristics, disease courses and outcomes other than death in COVID-19 patients remain unclear.
Age significantly determined the clinical features and prognosis of COVID-19. The prognosis was worse in patients older than 60 years, calling for clinicians to pay more attention to patients of this age.
https://bit.ly/34DTI05
This study aimed to determine the levels of health-related behaviours (physical activity, screen exposure and sleep status) among Chinese students from primary, secondary and high schools during the ...pandemic of COVID-19, as well as their changes compared with their status before the pandemic. A cross-sectional online survey of 10,933 students was conducted among 10 schools in Guangzhou, China, between 8th and 15th March, 2020. After getting the informed consent from student's caregivers, an online questionnaire was designed and used to obtain time spending on health-related behaviours during the pandemic of COVID-19, as well as the changes compared with 3 months before the pandemic, which was completed by students themselves or their caregivers. Students were stratified by regions (urban, suburban, exurban), gender (boys and girls), and grades (lower grades of primary school, higher grades of primary schools, secondary schools and high schools). Data were expressed as number and percentages and Chi-square test was used to analyse difference between groups. Overall, the response rate of questionnaire was 95.3% (10,416/10,933). The median age of included students was 13.0 (10.0, 16.0) years and 50.1% (n = 5,219) were boys. 41.4%, 53.6% and 53.7% of total students reported less than 15 min per day in light, moderate and vigorous activities and 58.7% (n = 6,113) reported decreased participation in physical activity compared with the time before pandemic. Over 5 h of screen time spending on online study was reported by 44.6% (n = 4,649) of respondents, particular among high school students (81.0%). 76.9% of students reported increased screen time compared with the time before pandemic. Inadequate sleep was identified among 38.5% of students and the proportion was highest in high school students (56.9%). Our study indicated that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the school closure exerted tremendous negative effects on school-aged children's health habits, including less physical activity, longer screen exposure and irregular sleeping pattern.
A nickel-catalyzed thiolation of unactivated C(sp(2))-H bonds with disulfides employing the PIP directing group was described. This process uses a catalytic nickel catalyst and no metallic oxidants ...or cocatalysts are required. The reaction tolerates various important functional groups and heteroarenes, providing an efficient synthetic pathway to access diverse diaryl sulfides.
Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown great potential as nanophotosensitizers (nPSs) for photodynamic therapy (PDT). The use of such MOFs in PDT, however, is limited by the shallow depth of ...tissue penetration of short-wavelength light and the oxygen-dependent mechanism that renders it inadequate for hypoxic tumors. Here, to combat such limitations, we rationally designed core–shell upconversion nanoparticle@porphyrinic MOFs (UCSs) for combinational therapy against hypoxic tumors. The UCSs were synthesized in high yield through the conditional surface engineering of UCNPs and subsequent seed-mediated growth strategy. The heterostructure allows efficient energy transfer from the UCNP core to the MOF shell, which enables the near-infrared (NIR) light-triggered production of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species. A hypoxia-activated prodrug tirapazamine (TPZ) was encapsulated in nanopores of the MOF shell of the heterostructures to yield the final construct TPZ/UCSs. We demonstrated that TPZ/UCSs represent a promising system for achieving improved cancer treatment in vitro and in vivo via the combination of NIR light-induced PDT and hypoxia-activated chemotherapy. Furthermore, the integration of the nanoplatform with antiprogrammed death-ligand 1 (α-PD-L1) treatment promotes the abscopal effect to completely inhibit the growth of untreated distant tumors by generating specific tumor infiltration of cytotoxic T cells. Collectively, this work highlights a robust nanoplatform for combining NIR light-triggered PDT and hypoxia-activated chemotherapy with immunotherapy to combat the current limitations of tumor treatment.
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