Comparing the Volatile and Soluble Profiles of Fermented and Integrated Chinese Bayberry Wine with HS-SPME GC-MS and UHPLC Q-TOF.

To evaluate the flavor characteristics of Chinese bayberry alcoholic beverages, fermented bayberry wine (FBW) and integrated bayberry wine (IBW) were investigated for their volatile and soluble profiles using HS-SPME GC-MS and UHPLC Q-TOF and were analyzed with multidimensional statistical analysis, including PCA and OPLS-DA. The volatile compounds 1-pentanol, ß-caryophyllene and isopentanol were only detected in IBW. ß-caryophyllene, the key flavor component of bayberry, was found to be the most abundant volatile compound in IBW (25.89%) and was 3.73 times more abundant in IBW than in FBW. The levels of ethyl octanoate, ethyl nonanoate, and ethyl decanoate were also several times higher in IBW than in FBW. These compounds contributed to the strong bayberry aroma and better fruity flavor of IBW. On the other hand, high levels of ethyl acetate and octanoic acid in FBW, representing pineapple/overripe or sweat odor, were key contributors to the fermented flavor of FBW. Soluble sugars, such as sucrose, D-glucose, and D-tagatose, as well as amino acids, such as L-glutamate and L-aspartate, had much higher levels in IBW. The anthocyanin pigment cyanidin 3-glucoside, which generates red color, was also higher in IBW. On the other hand, most of the differentially expressed alcohols, acids, amino acids, purines/pyrimidines and esters were present in higher concentrations in FBW compared to IBW. This demonstrated that IBW has a much sweeter and more savory taste as well as a better color generated by more anthocyanins, while FBW presents a more acidic and drier taste as well as a complex formation of alcohols and esters. The study also prompts the need for further research on the flavor profiles of IBW and its potential application and market value.

Polymer-Encapsulated Lanthanide-Containing Clusters as Platforms for Fabricating Magnetic Soft Materials.

Although many high-nuclearity lanthanide-containing clusters with aesthetical topological nanoarchitectures and unique magnetic properties have been synthesized, there was a big time lag to develop functional soft materials and devices on the basis of these clusters, because of their stability and processability. Herein, we report a universal strategy to fabricate lanthanide cluster based magnetic soft materials under ambient conditions. The prototypical cluster [Gd52Ni56(IDA)48(OH)154(H2O)38]18+ was encapsulated as an inorganic core by polymeric shells of sulfonate end functionalized poly(ethylene glycol) monoalkyl ethers through electrostatic interaction. The thickness of the shell was readily controlled by precisely tuning length of the polymer chain, leading to controllably reduced antiferromagnetic interactions between the clusters. The encapsulated hybrids can self-assemble to form vesicles in solution and can be used as an excellent agent for in vivo magnetic resonance imaging.

Going beyond the classical amphiphilicity paradigm: the self-assembly of completely hydrophobic polymers into free-standing sheets and hollow nanostructures in solvents of variable quality.

Self-assembly is well-known to occur in amphiphiles, and the totally hydrophobic ones are never reported to self-assemble. In this work we report for the first time that the latter can self-assemble into free-standing sheets and hollow spheres in toluene/methanol mixed solvents by modulating the solvent quality. The homopolymers studied in this work are polystyrene (PS), polyphenylacetylene (PPA), and poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT), representing polymers with different rigidity. All the three form a homogenous solution in toluene, but self-assembly occurs in the toluene/methanol mixed solvents. Micrometer sized free-standing sheets were formed for PS, PPA, and P3HT at methanol volume fractions being 43%, 50%, and 67%, respectively, and hollow spheres were observed for PPA at higher methanol fractions of 75 and 90%. Under the latter solvent conditions, PS forms solid spheres, yet ill-defined aggregates and free-standing sheets coexist in the case of P3HT. This non-solvent induced self-assembly was explained by a delicate balance of two "opposing forces": van der Waals attractive and entropic repulsive forces generated between the segments of these homopolymers within a single chain, between two chains, and among more chains in the solvents of worsened quality.

Tuning the luminescence behaviors of a chloroplatinum(II) complex by component exchanges of dynamic acylhydrazone bonds.

A cationic chloroplatinum(II) complex was found to show remarkable luminescence enhancement upon self-assembly with tripodal dynamic acylhydrazone-bridged sulfonates in water. The successive exchange reactions with acylhydrazine or aldehyde resulted in a controllable decrease in the luminescence intensities.

Remarkable luminescence enhancement of chloroplatinum(II) complexes of hexaethylene glycol methyl ether substituted 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2'-yl)pyridine in water triggered by PF6⁻.

Three chloroplatinum(II) complexes of 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2'-yl)pyridine bearing hexaethylene glycol methyl ether are almost nonemissive in dilute aqueous solutions. Upon addition of excessive hexafluorophosphate salts to their dilute aqueous solutions, one of them was found to show a remarkable luminescence enhancement.