No abstract

Titania (TiO) is widely used in the chemical industry as an efficacious catalyst support, benefiting from its unique strong metal-support interaction. Many proposals have been made to rationalize this effect at the macroscopic level, yet the underlying molecular mechanism is not understood due to the presence of multiple catalytic species on the TiO surface. This challenge can be addressed with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) featuring well-defined metal oxo/hydroxo clusters for supporting single-site catalysts. Herein we report that the Ti(μ-O)(μ-OH) node of the Ti-BDC MOF (MIL-125) provides a single-site model of the classical TiO support to enable Co-hydride-catalyzed arene hydrogenation. The catalytic activity of the supported Co-hydride is strongly dependent on the reduction of the Ti-oxo cluster, definitively proving the pivotal role of Ti in the performance of the supported catalyst. This work thus provides a molecularly precise model of Ti-oxo clusters for understating the strong metal-support interaction of TiO-supported heterogeneous catalysts.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a global health concern, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. HFMD caused by Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and Coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) infection is usually self-limited but occasionally leads to severe pulmonary edema, neurological complications, and even death. Unfortunately, no effective drugs are currently available in clinical practice for the prevention and treatment of HFMD. Thus, anti-HFMD drugs must be urgently developed. A previous study had reported that lycorine could inhibit EV71 replication. In the present study, we found that LY-55, a lycorine derivative, inhibited the replication of EV71 and CVA16 in vitro and provided partial protection to mice from EV71 infection, as indicated by the decreased viral load and protein expression levels in muscles, clinical scores, and increased survival rates of infected mice. Mechanistically, LY-55 was not directly viricidal. Instead, the LY-55-mediated inhibition of EV71 and CVA16 was found to be mechanistically possible, at least in part, through downregulating autophagy, which plays an important role for EV71 and CVA16 replication. These findings suggest that LY-55 could be a potential lead or supplement for the development of anti-HFMD agents in the future.

A highly efficient approach to the famous flavor and fragrance compound vanillin has been developed starting from 4-cresol with the attention focused on improving the sustainability of all the reactions. The approach involves a three-step sequence of the quasi-quantitative selective clean oxybromination of 4-cresol, the high-yield selective aerobic oxidation of 2-bromo-4-cresol, and the quantitative methoxylation of 3-bromo-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde with the recovery of pure methanol. Herein, the pivotal oxidation and methoxylation reactions are logically investigated and developed into two concise methodologies. As a green alternative, the approach holds significant value for the sustainable manufacturing of vanillin.Scheme 1 Traditional production of vanillin from guaiacol.Scheme 2 Synthesis of vanillin starting from 4-cresol. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See

The environmental friendly nanomaterials with biodegradable, responsive and biocompatible properties have attracted considerable interest to explore safe and efficient pesticides, and applying nanotechnology to develop new nanopesticide formulations would avoid...