Rhamnella gilgitica Mansf. et Melch, which belongs to the rhamnus family (Rhamnaceae), is traditionally used to treat rheumatism, swelling and pain in China. However, little is known about the pharmacological activities of this plant. The anti-inflammatory activities of the 70% ethanol extract of R. gilgitica (RG) in RAW264.7 macrophages and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritic rats are investigated in this study for the first time. The effects of RG on cell viability were determined by a MTT assay, and the effects of RG on pro-inflammatory mediators were analyzed by ELISA and Western blot. The effects of RG on paw thickness, thymus and spleen index were also examined in CFA-induced arthritic rats. RG suppressed the induction of proinflammatory mediators, including iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase), NO (nitric oxide), COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) and PG (prostaglandin) E2 in LPS stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. RG also inhibited the phosphorylation and degradation of I[Formula: see text]B-[Formula: see text], as well as the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-[Formula: see text]B) p65. In addition, RG treatment significantly reduced the paw thickness in CFA-induced arthritic rats. Oral administration of RG led to a significant decrease of both the thymus and spleen index at a concentration of 100[Formula: see text]mg/mL. Taken together, these findings suggest that RG might be an agent for further development in the treatment of a variety of inflammatory diseases.

Ni-Mo/ZrO 2 catalysts with Ni-Mo loadings of 10 wt % were prepared by a sol-gel method on a ZrO 2 support and subsequently applied in the simple reductive amination of heterocyclic aldehydes. Among the various catalysts prepared, Ni-Mo/ZrO 2 catalysts with Ni:Mo = 2:1 exhibited the highest metal dispersion and the smallest Ni particle size. The results showed that the catalyst has good catalytic performance, in which the yield of furfurylamine can reach 96.6 %. Initially, oximes were synthesized from the corresponding aldehydes and hydroxylamine hydrochloride, and then heterocyclic primary amines were synthesized by simple hydroreductive amination of the oximes with a 12 % methanolic solution of NH 3 in the presence of an Ni-Mo/ZrO 2 catalyst. The methanolic solution of NH 3 was found to be more effective in inhibiting the formation of secondary and tertiary amines.

The continuous-flow microreactor technique for the synthesis of bicyclic esters is reported in this paper. The synthesis time of bicyclic esters can be greatly shortened by the continuous-flow technique, and the advantage of continuous-flow microreactor is analyzed theoretically. Taking the synthesis of bicyclo[2,2,1]-5-hepten-2-methyl ester as an example, the molar ratio between cyclopentadiene (A) and methyl acrylate (B) is 1.1 to 1, the temperature is 353 K, the reaction time is 335 s, the yield reached 96.7% in a continuous-flow microreactor. However, it takes 4.5 hours to synthesize the compound within batch reaction, and the yield is 93%. It is of significant to change the batch reaction into continuous production both in the laboratory and industrial production.

The pentacyclic‐[8.2.1.14,702,903,8]‐tetradecane‐5,6,11,12‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride was prepared by norbornene dianhydrides as raw material and acetone as a solvent in a self‐made vertical photo reactor with single wavelength ultraviolet light. Based on the Gaussian Calculation combine with experiments, we studied the optimum wavelength of ultraviolet light and the stable conformation of the target product. The structure of the target compound was determined by HPLC‐MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and X‐ray diffraction. The results showed that the yield of pentacyclic‐[8.2.1.14,702,903,8]‐tetradecane‐5,6,11,12‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride could reach 50.5 %, the reaction temperature was 20 °C, the initial concentration of reactant was 0.15 g/mL, the flow rate of the substrate was 5 mL/min, and the reaction time was 4 h.

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