A pair of chiral, emissive and porous tubular multi-functional organic molecular cages were synthesized easily by imine chemistry of 4, 4’, 4’’, 4’’’-(ethene-1,1,2,2-tetrayl)-tetrabenzaldehyde (ETTBA) with (R, R)- or (S, S)-...

Dendranthema indicum var. aromaticum plant has been widely used as herbal medicine in China, however, the material basis responsible for the therapeutic benefits remains largely unclear. This study aimed to provide an optimized method for extracting and characterizing phenolic compounds in D . indicum var. aromaticum flower. Firstly, an ultrasound-assisted method combined with central composite circumscribed (CCC) design was applied to optimize phenolic compound extraction. Ethanol-acetic acid (70%:2%, v/v) was selected as solvent, and the optimal extraction condition was: extraction temperature, 57 °C; solid/liquid ratio, 1:30 g/mL; extraction time, 20 min. Secondly, an effective and economic HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS n method was established and validated for phenolic compound characterization and quantification. As a result, 14 phenolic compounds were identified, including 8 phenolic acids and 6 flavonoids, and for the first time, oleuropein derivatives, chrysoeriol, and tricin are reported in D . indicum var. aromaticum flower. The content of phenolics identified by HPLC-MS n was 6.42 ± 0.32 mg/g DW. The optimized method for extraction and characterization of phenolic compounds has significant meaning to future pharmaceutical and medicinal research on D . indicum var. aromaticum , and the results in this study can provide references for herbal research.

Dendranthema indicum var. aromaticum is a new species with strong fragrance and is used as a herbal medicine by Chinese folks. The abundant flavonoids play important roles in its pharmacological activities. In this study, an ultrasound-assisted method was used to extract total flavonoids (TF) from D. indicum var. aromaticum by response surface methodology. A quadratic model was developed to optimize the extraction conditions, whose accuracy was verified by statistic analysis. Ethanol and acetic acid at the volume ratio of 70% : 2% were selected as the extract solvent. The optimized extraction conditions were as follows: extraction time, 40 min; solid/liquid ratio, 1 : 23 g/mL; and temperature, 60°C. This is the first report of an efficient and easy-operating method for TF extraction from D. indicum var. aromaticum. Besides, this study provides reference for future pharmacological research on D. indicum var. aromaticum and extraction of bioactive components from other herbs.

A comparison of pyrolysis characteristics and gas product evolution of biochar with different packing arrangements was investigated. Pyrolysis properties and released gas products of rice husk char were obtained by particles in two different modes of packing. The results of the combustion characteristics of rice husk/char showed that the maximum pyrolysis rate of the rice husk decreased and the pyrolysis curve shifted to higher temperatures when the biomass was covered by Al2O3. The volatilization analysis of char from the covered biomass had a larger characteristic index and a lower activation energy. The 2D Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results showed that layering hindered gaseous products from being released during rice husk pyrolysis, and there was no obvious release peak of C=O-containing organic matter. The 3D FTIR results showed that gaseous product absorption peak of solid product char pyrolysis gradually decreased while the rice husk conversion rate increased. The amount of H2O, CO2, CO, CH4, and C=O-containing organic components released during combustion of pyrolyzed char when blended with Al2O3 decreased gradually. However, the pyrolysis gaseous product release was increased by the layering procedure.

The effect of drying temperature on the drying characteristics of tobacco was investigated with different water content. The isothermal drying characteristics and kinetics of three kinds of tobacco on the production line of a tobacco factory in Hubei were studied by halogen water analyzer. The drying characteristics of tobacco with different water content under isothermal conditions were evaluated by water loss characteristics, water diffusion coefficient, and activation energy. The results showed that the drying time of cut tobacco was reduced by increasing the drying temperature within a certain range. The water diffusion coefficient of cut tobacco decreased with the increase of temperature from 70 to 100 °C, and increased with the increase of initial water content. The activation energy of cut tobacco was related to the production process. The activation energy in the experiment was as follows: CT-2 > CT-3 > CT-1. Five drying models were used for non-linear fitting of the drying behavior of tobacco. The fitting degree of the Midilli model was the highest, reaching 0.9944. This data will be useful in the design of tobacco drying equipment.