Deep removal of trace arsenic from acidic SbCl3 solution by in-situ galvanically coupled Cu2Sb/Cu particles.

Arsenic is a harmful associated element in antimony ore, which might bring out the risk of leakage during complex industrial production of high-purity antimony. Herein, we reported a novel and efficient way to remove the trace arsenic impurity from acidic SbCl3 solution by utilizing copper-system bimetallic particles. Specifically, galvanically coupled Cu2Sb/Cu was in-situ synthesized by introducing precursor copper powder to the specific SbCl3 solution. DFT studies revealed that Sb(III) was easily reduced by Cu to form Cu2Sb due to the strong adsorption of Sb(III) on Cu (111) crystal plane. The Cu2Sb/Cu coupling exhibited excellent activity for As(III) reduction, over 99.4% arsenic were removed under optimal conditions and residual arsenic concentration dropped to only 2.7 mg L-1. Crucially, Sb(III) concentration changes could be neglected. Besides, the dearsenization residues were extensively characterized to analyze the evolvement and cause in the reaction process. The results confirmed that the arsenic removal mechanisms by Cu2Sb/Cu particles were multi-affected, including adsorption, displacement, and precipitation. And the strong electrostatic attraction of AsO+ under high HCl conditions was identified as a key step to achieving dearsenization. This research will provide a theoretical guidance for the green synthesis of high-purity antimony and related products.

Triptycene-based stationary phases for gas chromatographic separations of positional isomers.

This work presents the investigation of two triptycene-based materials (TP-3OB and TP-3Im) as the stationary phases for gas chromatographic (GC) separations. The TP-3OB and TP-3Im capillary columns fabricated by static coating exhibited column efficiency of 3000-3500 plates/m for n-dodecane at 120 °C. Also, their McReynolds constants and Abraham system constants were determined to characterize their polarity and molecular interactions with analytes. On the basis of the unique 3D TP architecture, the TP-3OB and TP-3Im stationary phases exhibited complementary high-resolution performance for analytes of a wide ranging polarity, including alkylbenzenes, alkylnaphthalenes, halobenzenes, phenols and anilines, respectively. Moreover, the TP-based columns exhibited good repeatability and reproducibility on the retention times of analytes with the relative standard deviation (RSD) values in the range of 0.01-0.14% for run-to-run, 0.11-0.47% for day-to-day and 0.68-4.7% for column-to-column, respectively. Additionally, their applications for the determination of isomer impurities in the commercial reagents of o-dichlorobenzene, p-/m-diethylbenzene, o-toluidine and 2,3-/3,5-xylidine proved their good potential for practical analysis. This work demonstrates the promising future of the triptycene-based stationary phases for chromatographic separations.

Amphiphilic triptycene-based stationary phase for high-resolution gas chromatographic separations.

This work reports a new type of triptycene-based amphiphilic stationary phase (TP-2IL) for gas chromatography (GC). It is an integration of the 3D π-rich triptycene framework with ionic liquids. Its capillary column showed the efficiency of 3880 plates/m determined by n-dodecane at 120 °C (k = 2.79) and exhibited good performance for analytes from apolar to polar nature. Particularly, it has outstanding capability for resolving critical pairs of anilines and phenols with good peak shapes and shows distinct advantages over its composing counterparts (TP-2BO and O-IL) and widely-used commercial columns, namely 35% phenyl methyl polysiloxane (DB-35) and polyethylene glycol (INNOWAX). Moreover, the TP-2IL column exhibited good repeatability and reproducibility with the values of relative standard deviation in the range of 0.02%-0.07% for run-to-run, 0.10%-0.35% for day-to-day and 2.9%-5.1% for column-to-column, respectively, and good thermal stability up to 300 °C. Furthermore, its applications for determining isomer impurities in real samples demonstrate its feasibility for practical GC analysis. This work presents a facile strategy for constructing triptycene-based stationary phases with amphiphilic selectivity and provides alternatives of highly selective stationary phases for chromatographic analysis.

(-)-Meptazinol-melatonin hybrids as novel dual inhibitors of cholinesterases and amyloid-ß aggregation with high antioxidant potency for Alzheimer's therapy.

The multifactorial pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) implicates that multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) intervention may represent a promising therapy for AD. Amyloid-ß (Aß) aggregation and oxidative stress, two prominent neuropathological hallmarks in patients, play crucial roles in the neurotoxic cascade of this disease. In the present study, a series of novel (-)-meptazinol-melatonin hybrids were designed, synthesized and biologically characterized as potential MTDLs against AD. Among them, hybrids 7-7c displayed higher dual inhibitory potency toward cholinesterases (ChEs) and better oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) than the parental drugs. Furthermore, compound 7c could effectively inhibit Aß self-aggregation, showed favorable safety and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Therefore, 7c may serve as a valuable candidate that is worthy of further investigations in the treatment of AD.

Novel bis-(-)-nor-meptazinol derivatives act as dual binding site AChE inhibitors with metal-complexing property.

The strategy of dual binding site acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition along with metal chelation may represent a promising direction for multi-targeted interventions in the pathophysiological processes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the present study, two derivatives (ZLA and ZLB) of a potent dual binding site AChE inhibitor bis-(-)-nor-meptazinol (bis-MEP) were designed and synthesized by introducing metal chelating pharmacophores into the middle chain of bis-MEP. They could inhibit human AChE activity with IC(50) values of 9.63µM (for ZLA) and 8.64µM (for ZLB), and prevent AChE-induced amyloid-ß (Aß) aggregation with IC(50) values of 49.1µM (for ZLA) and 55.3µM (for ZLB). In parallel, molecular docking analysis showed that they are capable of interacting with both the catalytic and peripheral anionic sites of AChE. Furthermore, they exhibited abilities to complex metal ions such as Cu(II) and Zn(II), and inhibit Aß aggregation triggered by these metals. Collectively, these results suggest that ZLA and ZLB may act as dual binding site AChEIs with metal-chelating potency, and may be potential leads of value for further study on disease-modifying treatment of AD.

[Serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathic pain and the correlation among them].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the change of serum levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines: macrophage migration inhibition factor (MIF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin 6 (IL-6), in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) and their role in the pathogenesis of related diseases. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 28 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) without complications, and gender ratio- and age-matched 32 patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), 28 patients with DPNP, and 28 normal controls. Dual-antibody ELISA was used to detect the serum MIF, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 levels. RESULTS: The serum MIF, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 levels of the DM, DPN, and DPNP groups were all significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0. 001, P < 0.05). The serum MIF and TNF-alpha levels of the DPN and DPNP groups were all significantly higher than those of the DM group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.001), while there were not significant differences in the serum MIF and TNF-alpha levels between the DPN and DPNP groups (both P > 0.05). There was not significant difference in the serum IL-6 level among the DM, DPN, and DPNP groups as well (all P > 0.05). The correlation analysis show that the levels of MIF, TNF-alpha and IL-6 each other were positively correlated (r = 0.337, P < 0.01; r = 0.216, P < 0.001; r = 0.281, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The serum pro-inflammatory cytokines MIF, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 levels play an important role in the pathogenesis of DM and DPN, but may not play an important role in the development of DPNP.