The cover picture shows a new and expeditious approach for the synthesis of disparlure and its enantiomer. The disparlure is the sex pheromone of the Gypsy moth Porthetria dispar L., which is used to monitor the Gypsy moth and protect plants against these pests. Starting from propargyl alcohol, and on the basis of Zhou's modified Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation, the sex pheromone of the Gypsy moth, disparlure and its enantiomer have been synthesized, each in six steps, with overall yields of 29% and 27% (ee>98%), respectively. The use of the sequential coupling tactic renders the method flexible, which is applicable to the synthesis of other cis-epoxy pheromones. More details are discussed in the article by Zheng et al. on page 23–28.

A Brønsted acid-catalyzed direct alkylation reaction of aldehydes was described. The 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid promoted the reaction between aldehydes and diarylmethanols to afford the corresponding alkylation products with middle to high yields (up to 91% yield).

Power conversion efficiency of the polymer solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as donor and indene-C70 bisadduct (IC₇₀BA) as acceptor reached 5.82% with open circuit voltage of 0.81 V, short circuit current of 11.37 mA/cm² and fill factor of 64.0%, under the irradiation of AM1.5, 100 mW/cm², at the optimized conditions of 188-nm-thick active layer of P3HT:IC₇₀BA (1:1, w:w) blend film and pre-thermal annealing at 150°C for 10 min.

Starting from propargyl alcohol (12), and on the basis of Zhou's modified Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation, the sex pheromone of the Gypsy moth, disparlure (+)-8 and its enantiomer (−)-8 have been synthesized, each in six steps, with overall yields of 29% for (+)-8 and 27% for (−)-8 (ee>98%). The use of the sequential coupling tactic renders the method flexible, which is applicable to the synthesis of other cis-epoxy pheromones.

A series of allylic and propargylic alcohols were oxidized to the corresponding aldehydes or ketones using molecular oxygen in air as the oxidant and CuCl with 1:1 combination of phenanthroline and bipyridine as the catalyst system.

Two new series of B-ring modified caged xanhone analogues of Gambogic acid analogues were designed and synthesized utilizing a Claisen/Diel-Alder cascade reaction. These compounds were evaluated for their in vitro anti-tumor activities against A549, MCF-7, SMMC-7721 and BGC-823 cancer cell lines by MTT assay. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) was also discussed.

Ecteinascidin 743 from sea squirt is one of the most original anti-tumoral activity compounds, as proven by the Natural Cancer Institute. Ecteinascidin 743 could be obtained with traditional liquid extraction, but it should be purified and separated from the extract. A molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction procedure was developed for the selective separation.

A small molecular hydrogel could be manipulated by two enzymes, phosphatase for the formation of gels and esterase for the gel-sol phase transitions.

NG has a strong catalysis on the PMo blue colored reaction, but the NGA catalysis is weak. With the increase of CS concentration, the NG decreased, and the PMo blue absorption value at 700 nm decreased linearly. Thus the CS can be determined spectrophotometrically.

1,2-Disubstituted benzimidazoles are selectively synthesized in high yields under extremely mild conditions via the condensation of o-phenylenediamine derivatives with aldehyde derivatives using catalytic amount of iron(III) phosphate under solvent-free conditions. The use of readily available iron(III) phosphate as a reusable and recyclable catalyst makes this process quite simple, convenient, and environment-friendly.

Nine bisabolangelone reduction derivatives were synthesized and characterized. Preliminarily H⁺/K⁺-ATPase activity evaluation indicated compounds II and IV exhibited better inhibitory activities against H⁺/K⁺-ATPase than bisabolangelone and the commercial omeprazole with the IC₅₀ of 23.21 and 65.32 μmol/L, respectively.

A series of new 2,5-disubstituted-1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,2,4-triazole derivatives were synthesized by heterocyclization of acid hydrazide 1 and thiosemicarbazide derivative 2. Furthermore the acyclic C-nucleoside analogs were also prepared by cyclization of their corresponding sugar hydrazones by reaction with acetic anhydride.

The radical scavenging activity of shikonin has been theoretically investigated. Six shikonin derivatives have been designed by introducing different groups with the aim to design good candidates for radical scavenging activity.

The first example of the p-orbital overlap controlled enantioselectivity of Norrish type II photocyclization reaction was described. Irradiation of 5-methyl bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanyl ketone with UV in the solid state as well as in the acetonitrile solution afforded the Norrish/Yang photocyclization compound as the sole product. Solid-state asymmetric photochemical studies using ionic chiral auxiliary technique led to the enantioselectivity as high as 60%. The results were rationalized by X-ray single crystal structure.

An efficient synthesis of various α-halo,α-allylic aldehydes from α,α-dihalo ketones using both cyclic (3-bromocyclohex-1-ene zinc bromide and (Z)-3-bromocyclobut-1-ene zinc bromide) and acyclic (allylzinc bromide and cinnamylzinc bromide) type of allylic organozinc bromide with DMF as base is described. A possible reaction mechanism is also proposed.

The additions of surfactants have obvious influence to the electrochemical and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) intensity of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺-chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) system at the Au electrode. When the concentration of SDBS is 0.7 mmol·L⁻¹, enhancement of the ECL intensity was 14-fold at Au electrode. Base on this, an ECL method was established for efficient and simple determination of CPM at Au electrode with high sensitivity and wide linear range. The enhanced effect of SDBS on ECL intensity of other eleven kinds of tertiary amines-Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ systems was universal in either GC electrode or Au electrode, while the enhancement of ECL intensity was higher in Au electrode than that in GC electrode.

Kinetics of the reaction of 2-chloro-3,5-dinitrobenzotriflouride with aniline was studied in toluene, methanol-toluene binary solvents, benzene and chloroform. The reaction in toluene exhibits third-order kinetics consistent with aggregates of aniline.

Under different temperatures and concentrations, the diffusion of Vitamin C (VC) in water solution was examined by molecular dynamics simulation. The diffusion coefficients were calculated based on the Einstein equation. The influences of temperature, concentration, and simulation time on the diffusion coefficient were discussed.

The first principles study was performed on the stability of Ag adsorbed on the internal walls of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and loaded on acid modified SWCNT. The calculation results show that Ag can be adsorbed stably on the internal walls of SWCNT.

Solid catalysts consisting of polyoxometalates (POM) namely phosphotungstic acid H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ (HPW) supported on a mesoporous sieve MCM-41 have been prepared and characterized. The HPW/MCM-41 with different HPW loadings from 10 to 60 wt% possess large specific surface area and rather uniform mesopores. Keggin structure of HPW retains on the prepared composite catalysts. The photocatalytic performance of HPW/MCM-41 was examined by degradation of a durable pesticide imidacloprid. It is found that the prepared photocatalysts exhibit high activity under irradiation of 365 nm monochromatic light.

The compatibility of the blend systems for olyactic acid (PLA)/tributyl citrate (TBC) and PLA/glycerol has been studied by molecule and mesoscopic dynamics methods. The results from glass transition temperature simulations showed that the compatibility of PLA/TBC system was better than that of PLA/glycerol, which were consistent with the conclusion obtained from the pair correlation functions. Besides, the behaviors of phase state distribution and evolution process were investigated by mesoscopic dynamics method as well. The results indicated that citrate ester was a better plasticizer than glycerol for PLA.

A mild and efficient Knoevenagel-Doebner reaction from malonic acid and a wide range of aldehydes was catalyzed by a catalytic system consisting of β-alanine and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), affording the corresponding (E)-α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids in good to excellent yields and with high stereoselectivity. The advantage of the method is that the reaction could proceed smoothly at ambient temperature so that it can tolerate a variety of functional groups and avoid unnecessary side reactions.

Mesoporous 1,4-phenylene-silica nanorings were prepared using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and (S)-2-methyl-1-butanol as a chiral dopant in concentrated aqueous NH₃ solutions. Transmission electron microscopy images of the samples indicated that the nanorings were formed by bending nanorods 360(. With increasing the stirring speed or the (S)-2-methyl-1-butanol/CTAB molar ratio, the morphologies of mesoporous 1,4-phenylene-silicas changed from helical nanofibers to nanorings, and then to nano-saddles. Circular dichroism spectra of these hybrid silicas indicated that they were chiral.

A novel titanium-supported nanoporous Pt catalyst (nanoPt/Ti) was fabricated using a hydrothermal method and the nanoPt/Ti electrode was then modified with limited amounts of tin particles generated by cyclic potential scans to synthesize a Sn-modified nanoporous Pt catalyst (Sn/nanoPt/Ti). Compared to nanoPt/Ti, formaldehyde electrooxidation on Sn/nanoPt/Ti displays a dramatic improvement at the most negative potentials.

Two chiral stationary phases (CSP), phenylisocyanate teicoplanin CSP (Phe-TE), and 3,5-dimethylphenyl isocyanate teicoplanin CSP (DMP-TE) were prepared from the macrocyclic glycopeptide teicoplanin CSP (TE) using derivative agents, phenyl isocyanate or 3,5-dimethylphenyl isocyanate, respectively. The evaluation and comparison of these two self-made CSP were performed using HPLC enantiomeric separations. Eight α-amino acids reached enantioseparation using the RPLC mobile phase. The chiral selectivity factor for six α-amino acids on DMP-TE is somewhat bigger than that on Phe-TE CSP under RP mode.

In this work, a sensitive electrochemical DNA biosensor for the detection of sequence- specific target DNA was reported.

From density functional theory calculations, we predicted that the sandwich-type dinuclear organometallic compounds Cp₂Ti₂ and Cp₂Sc₂ can adsorb up to eight hydrogen molecules respectively, corresponding to a high gravimetric storage capacity of 6.7% and 6.8% (w), respectively. These sandwich-type organometallocenes are favorable for reversible adsorption and desorption of hydrogen at ambient conditions.

Cerium(IV) molybdophosphate (CMP) as an inorganic ion exchanger and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as a binder were used to prepare the granular composite of the CMP-PAN. The distribution coefficients of some metal ions were obtained. Finally, it was used for decontamination of low level liquid waste.

An N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed [2+2+2] annulation reaction of allenoates with two molecules of trifluoromethylketone is reported, which is different from the corresponding [3+2] and [2+2] reaction catalyzed by phosphines and amines, respectively.

Methenamine was found to be an efficient, inexpensive and facile ligand for the CuX-catalyzed O-arylation of phenols with aryl iodides and bromides. The present protocol is applicable to a variety of phenols and aryl iodides containing electron-withdrawing, electron-donating, and sterically demanding substrate combinations under mild conditions.