Nanosheets of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)—porous crystalline materials consisting of metal ions and organic ligands—are actively studied for their intrinsic chemical/physical properties attributed to the reduced dimensionality and for their potential to function as ideal components of nanodevices, especially when electrical conduction is present. Air/liquid interfacial synthesis is a promising technique to obtain highly oriented MOF nanosheets. However, rational control of size and shape combined with the aimed functionality remains an important issue to address making it necessary to research the critical factors governing nanosheet characteristics in the interfacial synthesis. Here, we investigate the influence of the solvent—methanol (MeOH) versus N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)—used to prepare a ligand spread solution on an assembly of MOF nanosheets composed of Ni2+ and 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaiminotriphenylene (HITP) (HITP-Ni-NS). We find that the macroscopic morphological uniformity in the micrometer scale is higher when DMF is used as the solvent. Regarding the microscopic crystalline domain, molecules of DMF with relatively high polarity and boiling point are involved in HITP-Ni-NS formation, hindering its growth and resulting in nanosheets with slightly smaller lateral size than that grown when MeOH is used. These findings provide crucial guidelines towards establishing a judicious strategy for creating desired MOF nanosheets at the air/liquid interface, thereby driving forward research on both fundamental and applied aspects of this field.

The commercial quality of Japanese Angelica radices -- Angelica acutiloba Kitagawa (Yamato-toki) and A. acutiloba Kitagawa var. sugiyama Hikino (Hokkai-toki) -- used in Kampo traditional herbal medicines, was studied by use of omics technologies. Complementary and alternative medical providers have observed in their clinical experience that differences in radix commercial quality reflect the differences in pharmacological responses; however, there has been little scientific examination of this phenomenon. The approach of omics, including metabolomics, transcriptomics, genomics, and informatics revealed a distinction between the radix-quality grades based on their metabolites, gene expression in human subjects, and plant genome sequences. Systems biology, constructing a network of omics data used to analyze this complex system, is expected to be a powerful tool for enhancing the study of radix quality and furthering a comprehensive understanding of all medicinal plants.

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Air-stable single-component ambipolar organic semiconductors that conduct both holes and electrons are highly desired but have been rarely realized. Neutral nickel bis(dithiolene) complexes are promising candidates that fulfill the stringent electronic requirements of shallow HOMO levels and deep LUMO levels, which can reduce the carrier injection barrier to overcome the work function of gold electrodes and ensure air stability. However, most nickel bis(dithiolene) analogs that have been characterized as ambipolar semiconductors have twisted molecular structures that hinder the effective intermolecular interactions required for carrier conduction. To address this issue, we synthesized planar alkoxy-substituted nickel bis-(dithiolene) analogs that facilitate dense packing with effective intermolecular interactions. Remarkably, changing the methoxy substituents to ethoxy or propoxy groups led to a dramatic change in the packing mode, from one-dimensional to herringbone-like, while maintaining effective intermolecular interactions. These materials overcome the usual trade-off between crystallinity and solubility; they are highly crystalline, even in their film forms, and are highly soluble in organic solvents. They are therefore readily solution-processable to form semiconducting layers with well-defined and well-ordered structures in field-effect transistors. Devices based on these compounds exhibited efficient ambipolar characteristics, even after several months of exposure to air, achieving high carrier mobilities of up to 10 −2 cm 2 V −1 s −1 and large on/off ratios of up to 10 5 , which are the top-class performances achieved for a single-component ambipolar semiconductor material driven in air.