Efficient one‐pot oxidative esterification of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to furan‐2,5‐dimethylcarboxylate (FDMC) was achieved under extremely mild reaction conditions by using AuPd alloy ...nanoparticles (NPs) supported on Fe3O4. A high yield of FDMC (92 %) was obtained at room temperature under atmospheric O2. The reaction proceeded through the synergistic effects of the AuPd heterobimetallic catalyst system. The most effective molar ratio of noble metal contents for HMF oxidation was 1.00:1.18. If Au‐Fe3O4 NPs were used as the catalyst, selective synthesis of 5‐hydroxymethylfuroic acid methyl ester (HMFE) was achieved. Additionally, the AuPd‐Fe3O4 catalyst could be successfully reused.
AuPd alloy catalyst: The first direct synthesis of furan‐2,5‐dimethylcarboxylate (FDMC) from 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is reported by using a bimetallic AuPd alloy nanoparticle catalyst under extremely mild reaction conditions.
Achieving single‐band upconversion is a challenging but rewarding approach to attain optimal performance in diverse applications, such as multiplexed molecular imaging, security coding, and nonlinear ...photonic devices. Here, highly efficient single‐band upconversion luminescence in the green spectral regime (16.4 times increase in emission at 525 nm) accomplished by realizing minimal energy loss from two‐photon upconversion in a newly synthesized liquid‐quenched amorphous matrix is reported. In contrast to previously reported single‐band upconversion, this phenomenon originates from the elevated transition probability of the host sensitive transition via changes in the host matrix's microstructure. The elevated transition probability facilitates ultrafast decay of upconversion luminescence with decay times as short as 0.2 µs, the fastest decay ever reported. The material in this study therefore has strong potential for use in photonic devices demanding high upconversion efficiency with a fast response time, which to date has been inaccessible using upconversion materials.
Ultrafast and highly efficient single‐band upconversion luminescence in the green spectral regime is demonstrated in a newly synthesized liquid‐quenched amorphous matrix via promoting the transition probability of the host sensitive transition. The material in this study has strong potential for photonic devices demanding high upconversion efficiency with a fast response time, which to date has been inaccessible using upconversion materials.
Curcuma, a genus of rhizomatous herbaceous species, has been used as a spice, traditional medicine, and natural dye. In this study, the metabolite profile of Curcuma extracts was determined using gas ...chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (GC/TOF MS) and ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF MS) to characterize differences between Curcuma aromatica and Curcuma longa grown on the Jeju-do or Jin-do islands, South Korea. Previous studies have performed primary metabolite profiling of Curcuma species grown in different regions using NMR-based metabolomics. This study focused on profiling of secondary metabolites from the hexane extract of Curcuma species. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) plots showed significant differences between the C. aromatica and C. longa metabolite profiles, whereas geographical location had little effect. A t-test was performed to identify statistically significant metabolites, such as terpenoids. Additionally, targeted profiling using UPLC/Q-TOF MS showed that the concentration of curcuminoids differed depending on the plant origin. Based on these results, a combination of GC- and LC-MS allowed us to analyze curcuminoids and terpenoids, the typical bioactive compounds of Curcuma, which can be used to discriminate Curcuma samples according to species or geographical origin.
Smartphone-assisted point-of-care (POC) bioassay has brought a giant leap in personal healthcare system and environmental monitoring advancements. In this study, we developed a rapid and reliable ...colorimetric urea biosensor assisted by a smartphone. We employed hydrolysis of urea into NH3 by urease, which activates the reduction power of tannic acid, to generate silver nanoparticles for a dramatic colorimetric response. The proposed urea biosensor was validated in a solution to provide high selectivity against various interferents in human urine. It had high sensitivity, with a limit of detection as low as 0.0036 mM, and a high reliability of 99% ± 2.9% via the standard addition method. The urea biosensor was successfully implanted on a paper to facilitate smartphone-assisted POC readout with a limit of detection of 0.58 mM and wide detection range of 500 mM, whereby direct diagnosis of human urine without dilution was realized. Our smartphone-assisted POC colorimetric urea biosensor will pave the way for daily monitoring systems of renal and hepatic dysfunction diseases.
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•A fast-acting, reliable smartphone-assisted colorimetric urea biosensor.•High sensitivity of LOD as low as 0.0036 mM and high reliability of 99% ± 2.9%.•High selectivity against various interferents in human urine.•Paper-based smartphone-assisted POC was applied for urea sensing in human urine.•A potential POC monitoring systems of renal and hepatic dysfunction diseases.
Aconitum species (belonging to the Ranunculaceae) are well known herbaceous medicinal ingredients and have great economic value in Asian countries. However, there are still limited genomic resources ...available for Aconitum species. In this study, we sequenced the chloroplast (cp) genomes of two Aconitum species, A. coreanum and A. carmichaelii, using the MiSeq platform. The two Aconitum chloroplast genomes were 155,880 and 157,040 bp in length, respectively, and exhibited LSC and SSC regions separated by a pair of inverted repeat regions. Both cp genomes had 38% GC content and contained 131 unique functional genes including 86 protein-coding genes, eight ribosomal RNA genes, and 37 transfer RNA genes. The gene order, content, and orientation of the two Aconitum cp genomes exhibited the general structure of angiosperms, and were similar to those of other Aconitum species. Comparison of the cp genome structure and gene order with that of other Aconitum species revealed general contraction and expansion of the inverted repeat regions and single copy boundary regions. Divergent regions were also identified. In phylogenetic analysis, Aconitum species positon among the Ranunculaceae was determined with other family cp genomes in the Ranunculales. We obtained a barcoding target sequence in a divergent region, ndhC-trnV, and successfully developed a SCAR (sequence characterized amplified region) marker for discrimination of A. coreanum. Our results provide useful genetic information and a specific barcode for discrimination of Aconitum species.
A series of double metal cyanide (DMC) catalysts prepared using nitrile compounds as complexing agents (CAs) was employed for the synthesis of polyether, polyester, and polycarbonate polyols. The DMC ...catalysts bearing nitrile CAs exhibited remarkably higher activities toward the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of propylene oxide (PO) and ε-caprolactone (CL), as well as toward the copolymerization of PO with CO2, than conventional DMC catalysts prepared using tert-butyl alcohol as a CA. Accordingly, DMC catalysts bearing 2-methylbutyronitrile or isobutyronitrile showed the highest activities for the ROP of PO (TOF=533 min−1) and CL (TOF=83 h−1), respectively, whereas the DMC using acetonitrile CA exhibited the highest efficiency for the copolymerization of PO and CO2 (TOF=475 h−1). The resultant polypropylene oxide polyols were characterized by a narrow polydispersity index (1.1 −1.2) and a low unsaturation level (0.004−0.014). In addition, the DMC catalyst bearing isobutyronitrile afforded α,ω-hydroxyl-terminated polycaprolactones with controlled molecular weights (1000−9800 g mol−1) and a narrow polydispersity index of 1.1−1.5. Polycarbonate polyols with relatively high yields (56–67 %) and carbonate contents (30–38 %) were also obtained.
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•Double metal cyanide catalysts using nitriles complexing agents are prepared and intensively characterized.•The catalysts show excellent activities (TOF=227−533 min−1) for the polymerization of propylene oxide.•α,ω-Polyester polyols with controlled MW (1000–10,000 g mol−1) and narrow polydispersity (1.1–1.5) are achieved.•Polycarbonate polyols are also produced with high yield (56−67 %) and carbonate content (30–38 %).
Nakai and
Nakai, which belong to the
subgenus
, are distributed in East Asia and Korea.
species are used in herbal medicine and contain highly toxic components, including aconitine.
.
an endemic ...species of Korea, is a commercially valuable material that has been used in the manufacture of cosmetics and perfumes. Although
species are important plant resources, they have not been extensively studied, and genomic information is limited. Within the subgenus
which includes
.
and
.
, a complete chloroplast (CP) genome is available for only one species,
Patrin ex Pers. Therefore, we sequenced the complete CP genomes of two
species,
and
, which are 155,628 and 155,524 bp in length, respectively. Both genomes have a quadripartite structure consisting of a pair of inverted repeated regions (51,854 and 52,108 bp, respectively) separated by large single-copy (86,683 and 86,466 bp) and small single-copy (17,091 and 16,950 bp) regions similar to those in other
CP genomes. Both CP genomes consist of 112 unique genes, 78 protein-coding genes, 4 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. We identified 268 and 277 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in
and
, respectively. We also identified potential 36 species-specific SSRs, 53 indels, and 62 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between the two CP genomes. Furthermore, a comparison of the three
CP genomes from the subgenus
revealed highly divergent regions, including
-
-
, and
Based on this finding, we developed indel markers using indel sequences in
-
and
-
.
, and
could be clearly distinguished using the novel indel markers AcoTT (
-
) and AcoYN (
-
)
These two new complete CP genomes provide useful genomic information for species identification and evolutionary studies of the
subgenus
.
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is one of the most versatile biomarkers for early detection of several diseases, such as oral carcinomas and periodontitis; therefore, great efforts have been dedicated for ...developing an ALP biosensor. Multicolor detection of ALP in saliva is ideal for a point-of-care diagnosis; however, this approach is very challenging since spectral responses over wavelengths of several tens of nanometers have thus far remained difficult to achieve. In this work, a colorimetric biosensor for ALP assay has been developed based on ALP affinity to dephosphorylate glucose phosphate into glucose, which has the affinity to deposit Ag nanoshells onto Au nanobipyramids with a multicolor response. This approach provides a blue shift of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) as large as 190 nm corresponding to distinctive color changes, from yellowish brown to red based on the thickness of the formed Ag shell around the Au nanobipyramids. The change in the LSPR has been conducted for highly sensitive quantitative bioassay of ALP with a detectable multicolor change with linear dynamic range of 0.1–20 U/L and low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.085 U/L. Furthermore, the developed multicolor ALP biosensor exhibits high selectivity with high recovery of 98.6% demonstrating its reliability and suitability for a point-of-care diagnosis.
Graphical abstract
We investigated various linear carbonates, including dimethyl carbonate and diethyl carbonate, and cyclic carbonates such as ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate (PC), butylene carbonate, and ...glycerol carbonate, as complexing agents (CAs) for the preparation of double metal cyanide (DMC) catalysts. The DMC catalysts bearing carbonate complexing agents exhibited good to excellent activities for the ring-opening polymerization of epoxides (turnover frequencies of up to 467 min−1) and the copolymerization of epoxides and CO2, producing polyether polyols with moderate molecular weights (1700–9700 g mol−1), narrow polydispersity indexes (1.1–1.2), very low unsaturation values (0.002–0.009), and low viscosities (438 −997 cP). The DMC catalyst bearing PC also afforded linear and branched polycarbonate polyols in high yields (up to 83%) and carbonate contents (up to 36 mol%). Density functional theory calculations were also performed to understand the effect of the CAs on the structural properties and activities of the corresponding DMC catalysts.
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•A green and viable procedure for preparing double metal cyanide (DMC) catalyst are developed.•The effect of cyclic carbonates on the structure and activity of DMC catalysts is investigated.•DMC catalysts bearing cyclic carbonates show excellent activities for the polymerization of various epoxides.•The resultant polyether polyols have strict “head-to-tail” regiosequences with narrow distribution and very low unsaturation.•DMC catalyst produces linear and branched polycarbonate polyols with high yield and carbonate contents.
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•We developed a selective and sensitive colorimetric sensor for alkaline phosphatase (ALP).•The colorimetric ALP sensor has a dynamic linear range 0.5–225 U/L & LOD of 0.24 U/L.•The ...developed sensor can efficiently detect ALP in human serum with high precision of 99.2 ± 1.5 %.
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is an enzyme that catalyzes the dephosphorylation of proteins, nucleic acids, and biomolecules. It is a potential biomarker for diverse diseases such as breast cancer, osteopenia, and hepatobiliary. Herein, we developed a colorimetric sensor for the ALP assay based on its enzymatic activity to dephosphorylate the p-aminophenol phosphate (pAPP) into pAP. In a solution containing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and Ag+ ions prepared using a low concentration of NaBH4, pAP mediates the growth of AgNPs by reducing the concentration of Ag+ ions to enhance the intensity of localized surface plasmon resonance as the pAPP cannot induce a reduction of the remaining Ag+ due to the masking of the hydroxyl with phosphate. The quantitative assay of the ALP was demonstrated via the colorimetric detection of the pAP-mediated growth of AgNPs in the presence of an ALP. The highly sensitive enzymatic growth of AgNPs provided a wider dynamic linear range of 0.5–225 U/L with a lower limit of detection of 0.24 U/L than that previously reported. The use of pAP resulted in excellent selectivity of the sensor for the ALP assay in human serum, yielding a high recovery rate and a high precision of 99.2 ± 1.5 % for the standard addition method.
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