Facial amphiphilicity index correlating chemical structures with antimicrobial efficacy

Facial amphiphilicity is an extraordinary chemical structure feature of a variety of antimicrobial peptides and polymers.Vast efforts have been dedicated to small molecular,macromolecular and dendrimer-like systems to mimic this highly preferred structure or conformation,including local facial amphiphilicity and global amphiphilicity.This work conceptualizes Facial Amphiphilicity Index(FAI)as a numerical value to quantitatively characterize the measure of chemical compositions and structural features in dictating antimicrobial efficacy.FAI is a ratio of numbers of charges to rings,representing both compositions of hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity.Cationic derivatives of multicyclic compounds were evaluated as model systems for testing antimicrobial selectivity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.Both monocyclic and bicyclic compounds are non-antimicrobial regardless of FAIs.Antimicrobial efficacy was observed with systems having larger cross-sectional areas including tricyclic abietic acid and tetracyclic bile acid.While low and high FAIs respectively lead to higher and lower antimicrobial efficacy,in consideration of cytotoxicity,the sweet spot is typically suited with intermediate FAIs for each specific system.This can be well explained by the synergistic hydrophobic-hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions with bacterial cell membranes and the difference between bacterial and mammalian cell membranes.The adoption of FAI would pave a new avenue toward the design of next-generation antimicrobial macromolecules and peptides.

Prediction on amphiphilicity of hypocrellin derivatives

Hypocrellins are most suitable for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of the diseases occurring in the superficial layer, such as microvascular diseases, because of their special absorption spectral properties. However, hypocrellins and most of their derivatives are basically lipophilic, while the hydrophilic derivatives lose the PDT activity in vivo. Therefore, the key problem for practical application of PDT of microvascular diseases focuses on finding the derivatives which possess optimized amphiphilicity. Herein, we developed a theoretical method to estimate the amphi-philicity of a molecule by the calculated average polarity. Compared with the experimentally measured results, the method is proved to be applicable. Based on the computation and available experimental results, it can be concluded that the derivative must have the polarities around C.22 for optimized amphiphilicity.

Enhanced stability of nitrogen-doped carbon-supported palladium catalyst for oxidative carbonylation of phenol

Enhancing the stability of supported noble metal catalysts emerges is a major challenge in both science and industry.Herein,a heterogeneous Pd catalyst(Pd/NCF)was prepared by supporting Pd ultrafine metal nanoparticles(NPs)on nitrogen-doped carbon;synthesized by using F127 as a stabilizer,as well as chitosan as a carbon and nitrogen source.The Pd/NCF catalyst was efficient and recyclable for oxidative carbonylation of phenol to diphenyl carbonate,exhibiting higher stability than Pd/NC prepared without F127 addition.The hydrogen bond between chitosan(CTS)and F127 was enhanced by F127,which anchored the N in the free amino group,increasing the N content of the carbon material and ensuring that the support could provide sufficient N sites for the deposition of Pd NPs.This process helped to improve metal dispersion.The increased metal-support interaction,which limits the leaching and coarsening of Pd NPs,improves the stability of the Pd/NCF catalyst.Furthermore,density functional theory calculations indicated that pyridine N stabilized the Pd^(2+)species,significantly inhibiting the loss of Pd^(2+)in Pd/NCF during the reaction process.This work provides a promising avenue towards enhancing the stability of nitrogen-doped carbon-supported metal catalysts.

2D Janus polymer nanosheets for enhancing oil recovery:From material ppreparation to property evaluation

Janus amphiphilic polymer nanosheets(JAPNs)with anisotropic morphology and distinctive perfor-mance have aroused widespread interest.However,due to the difficulty in synthesis and poor dispersion stability,JAPNs have been scarcely reported in the field of enhancing oil recovery(EOR).Herein,a kind of organic-based flexible JAPNs was prepared by paraffin emulsion methods.The lateral sizes of JAPNs were ranging from hundreds of nanometers to several micrometers and the thickness was about 3 nm.The organic-based nanosheets were equipped with remarkably flexible structures,which could improve their injection performance.The dispersion and interfacial properties of JAPNs were studied systematically.By modification of crosslinking agent containing multiple amino groups,the JAPNs had excellent hydro-philicity and salt resistance compared with conventional inorganic or composite nanosheets.The settling time of nanosuspension with NaCl and CaCl_(2) at a low salinity of 1000 mg/L was over 240 h.The value could also remain 124 h under the salinity of 10,000 mg/L NaCl.With the dual functionalities of Janus amphiphilic nature and nanoparticles'Pickering effect,JAPNs could change rock wettability and form emulsions as"colloidal surfactants",In particular,a new technology called optical microrheology was pioneered to explore the destabilization state of nanosuspensions for the first time.Since precipitation lagged behind aggregation,especially for stable suspension systems,the onset of the unstable behavior was difficult to be detected by conventional methods,which should be the indicator of reduced effec-tiveness for nanofluid products.In addition,the oil displacement experiments demonstrated that the JAPNs could enhance oil recovery by 17.14%under an ultra-low concentration of 0.005%and were more suitable for low permeability cores.The findings can help for a better understanding of the material preparation of polymer nanosheets.We also hope that this study could shed more light on the nano-flooding technology for EOR.

Double open mouse-like terpyridine parts based amphiphilic ionic molecules displaying strengthened chemical adsorption for anticorrosion of copper in sulfuric acid solution

In this study,the benign target double terpyridine parts based amphiphilic ionic molecules(AIMs 1,2)and the reference single terpyridine segment included AIMs(AIMs 3,4)were synthesized through a multi-step method,and the molecular structures were fully characterized.The excellent anticorrosion of the target AIMs for copper surface in H_(2)SO_(4) solution was demonstrated by the electrochemistry analysis,which was more superior over those of the reference AIMs.The standard adsorption free energy changes of the target AIMs calculated by the adsorption isotherms were lower than -40 kJ·mol^(-1),suggesting an intensified chemical adsorption on metal surface.The molecular modeling and molecular dynamic computation of the studied AIMs were performed,demonstrating that the target AIMs exhibited lower highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps and greater adsorption energies than the reference ones.The chemical adsorption of the AIMs on metal surface was revealed by various spectroscopic methods including scanning electron microscopy,atomic force microscopy,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy,Raman and X-ray diffraction.

A review on phospholipids and their main applications in drug delivery systems

Phospholipids have the characteristics of excellent biocompatibility and a especial amphiphilicity.These unique properties make phospholipids most appropriate to be employed as important pharmaceutical excipients and they have a very wide range of applications in drug delivery systems.The aim of this review is to summarize phospholipids and some of their related applications in drug delivery systems,and highlight the relationship between the properties and applications,and the effect of the species of phospholipids on the efficiency of drug delivery.We refer to some relevant literatures,starting from the structures,main sources and properties of phospholipids to introduce their applications in drug delivery systems.The present article focuses on introducing five types of carriers based on phospholipids,including liposomes,intravenous lipid emulsions,micelles,drug-phospholipids complexes and cochleates.

Aliphatic Hyperbranched Poly(amido amine)s (PAMAMs): Preparation and Modification

A series of water soluble aliphatic hyperbranched poly(amido amine)s(PAMAMs) with the same or similar chemical structure of poly(amido amine) dendrimer was successfully synthesized from commercially available AB and C_n types of monomers by one-pot polymerization via the couple-monomer methodology(CMM). The AB type monomer used in this paper was methyl acrylate, and C_n monomers were multi-amino compounds such as ethylenediamine(EDA), diethylenetriamine(DETA), triethylenetetraamine(TETA), tetraethylenepentaamine(TEPA) and pentaethylenehexamine(PEHA). The reaction mechanism was investigated by means of the mass spectra of the reaction intermediates. Adjusting the feed ratio of AB to C_n, hyperbranched polymers with different terminal groups and properties were obtained. FTIR, NMR, DSC, and TGA were used to characterize the polymers. It was found that the polymers′ properties such as solubility, thermal behaviour and encapsulation capability varied with changing the feed ratio of AB to C_n. Benzoyl and palmitoyl groups were introduced into these macromolecules by acidylation to form amphiphilic hyperbranched polymers which have a high capability to encapsulate water soluble dyes such as Congo red. It is expected that the hyperbranched PAMAMs can play an important role in the industrial applications, such as coatings, cross-linking and phase-transferring agents because of their versatility and availability.

Thermodynamic Dual Descriptor

A new definition of the dual descriptor,namely,thethermodynamic dual descriptor,is developed within the grand canonicalpotential formalism.This new definition is formulated to describe the same △f_r(r)=β/2C[f^+(r)-f^-(r)](C>0) physical phenomenon as the original definition proposed by Morell,Grand,and Toro-Labbé(J.Phys.Chem.A2005,109,205),which is characterized by a second-order response of the electron density towards an electron flux.To formulate the new definition,we performed two successive partial derivatives of the average electron density,one with respect to the average number of electrons,and the other with respect to the chemical potential of the electron reservoir.When the derivative is expressed in terms of the three-state ensemble model,in the regime of low temperatures up to temperatures of chemical interest,one finds that the thermodynamic dual descriptor can be expressed as?f_T(r)=(β/2)C[f^+(r)-f^-(r)],whereβ=1/k_BT,Cis a global quantity that depends on the temperature and global electronic properties of the molecule(the first ionization potential and the electron affinity),C=1 for systems with zero fractional charge,and C=C_ω>0(albeit very close to zero)for systems with nonzero fractional charge,,and f^+(r)and f^-(r)are the nucleophilic and electrophilic Fukui functions,respectively.The quantity within the square brackets is the original definition of the dual descriptor.As the local terms(the ones containing regioselectivity information)are equal to those of the dual descriptor,?f_T(r)has the same regioselectivity information,multiplied by the global quantity(β/2)C.This implies that the regioselectivity information contained in the original dual descriptor is preserved at all temperatures different from zero,and for any value of C>0.One of the most important features of this new definition is that it avoidsthe undesired Dirac delta behavior observed when the second order partial derivative of the average density is taken with respect to the average number of electrons,using the exact density dependence of the average number of electrons.

The Main Directions of Antimicrobial Peptides Use and Synthesis Overview

In this review, various classes of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) were collected. Majority of these peptides are an integral part of the innate immunity of living systems;most of them are non-toxic to the human body, but have a detrimental effect on viruses, bacteria, parasites, tumors and fungi, which makes them indispensable in the fight against infections, while pathogenic strains have already acquired resistance to a wide range of antibiotics. Urgent need to develop new AMPs, many laboratories around the world are now developing AMPs. For this, first, a classification of AMPs has been drawn up;secondly, the main mechanisms of AMP action on the cells of the human body and their destructive action on pathogens are being studied. According to the new classification, AMPs are sorted into antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antineoplastic, etc. classes. The main factor ensuring the attachment of AMP to the membrane of a normal cell is its charge, and the hydrophobicity of AMP contributes to the formation of pores in the membrane of the microorganism;for this reason, the activity of AMP is related to its amphiphilicity. Thus, the placement of histidine with buffering properties into AMPs provides damage to microorganisms without hemolysis of host cells;the same purpose is served by obtaining hydrophobic sites in the newly synthesized AMP. The material presented in this work helps the synthesis of new effective AMPs capable of stopping the development of severe infectious processes, with Allah Support.

Application of nanomaterial for enhanced oil recovery

Nanofluid offers more opportunities and challenges over the traditional surfactant and polymer solutions during enhanced oil recovery(commonly referred to as tertiary oil recovery)due to its remarkable properties.This review mainly discusses the preparation methods of amphiphilic nanoparticles due to their higher interface activity than sole hydrophilic or hydrophobic nanoparticles(SHNPs).The nanofluids’stability is reviewed in this work.Moreover,the mechanisms of nanofluids in enhancing oil recovery(N-EOR)in terms of interfacial tension reduction,wettability alteration,foam stabilization,emulsion stabilization,structural disjoining pressure,and depressurization-increasing injection are mainly summarized and reviewed.Also,the synergistic effects of nanofluids and traditional surfactants and polymers are discussed.Finally,nanofluids’challenges and prospects are also outlined.The nanofluids can still be regarded as an outstanding candidate for enhancing oil recovery significantly in the future although there are limitations on their applications from laboratory scale to field scale.

Electron paramagnetic resonance study of amphiphiles partitioning behavior in desiccation-tolerant moss during dehydration

Desiccation tolerance is a crucial characteristic for desert moss surviving in arid regions. Desiccation procedure always induces amphiphiles transferring from the polar cytoplasm into lipid bodies. The behavior of amphiphiles transferring can contribute to the enhancement of desiccation tolerance and the reduction of plasma membrane integrity simultaneously. The effects of amphiphiles partitioning into the lipid phase during water loss has been studied for pollen and seeds using electron paramagnetic resonance （EPR） spectroscopy. However, desiccation-tolerant high plants occur among mosses, several angiosperms and higher plants seeds or pollens. They have different strategies for survival in dehydration and rehydration. A desiccation-tolerant moss Tortula desertorurn was used to investigate the behaviors of amphiphilic molecules during drying by spin label technology. There are small amount of amphiphilic probes partitioning into membrane during moss leaves dehydration, comparing with that in higher plants. Cytoplasm viscosity changed from 1.14 into glass state only dehydration less than 60 min. Moss leaves lost plasma membrane integrity slightly,from 0.115 to 0.237, occurred simultaneously with amphiphiles partition. The results showed the more advantages of mosses than higher plants in adapting fast dehydration. We propose that EPR spin label is feasible for studying the amphiphiles partitioning mechanisms in membrane protection and damage for desiccation-tolerant mosses.

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF AMPHIPHILIC GRAFT COPOLYMER CONTAINING MICROPHASE SEPARATED AND LONG POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE) SIDE CHAIN STRUCTURES

Acryloyl terminated Poly (ethyleneoxide)macromonomers (PEO-A) with different PEO chain lengths have been prepared by deactivation of PEO alkoxide with acryloyl chloride. A new kind of amphiphilic polystyrene-g-poly (ethylene oxide)graft copolymer containing both microphase separated and PEO side chain structures has been synthesized from radical copolymerization of PEO-A macromonomer with styrene. After careful purification by a newly-developed method called 'selective dissolution', the well-defined structure of the purified copolymers was confirmed by IR, ~1H-NMR and GPC. Various experimental parameters controlling the copolymerization were studied in detail. The results indicated that the feed ratio of styrene to macromonomer(S/M) was the most important determining factor for the composition of the copolymers. A detailed 'comb- model' was proposed to describe the molecular structure of the graft copolymers. Finally, this amphiphilic graft copolymers may readily form microphase separated structures as clearly indicated by transmission electron microscopy.

Amphiphilic sodium alginate-vinyl acetate microparticles for drug delivery

To overcome the fast or burst release of hydrophilic drugs from hydrophilic alginate-based carriers,hydrophobic molecule(vinyl acetate,VAc)was grafted on alginate(Alg),which was further used to prepare drug carriers.Amphiphilic Alg-g-PVAc hydrogel beads were firstly prepared by emulsification/internal gelation technique for the loading of bovine serum albumin(BSA).Then,chitosan was coated on the surface of beads to form novel amphiphilic Alg-g-PVAc/chitosan(Alg-g-PVAc/CS)microcapsules.The BSA-loading amphiphilic Alg-g-PVAc/chitosan(Alg-g-PVAc/CS)microcapsules display similar morphology and size to the hydrophilic alginate/chitosan(AC)microcapsules.However,the drug loading and loading efficiency of BSA in Alg-g-PVAc/CS microcapsules are higher,and the release rate of BSA from Alg-g-PVAc/CS microcapsules is slower.The results demonstrate that the introduction of hydrophobic PVAc on alginate can effectively help retard the release of BSA,and the higher degree of substitution is,the slower the release rate is.In addition,the complex membrane can also be adjusted to delay the release of BSA.As a whole,amphiphilic sodium alginate-vinyl acetate/CS microparticles could be developed for macromolecular drug delivery.

Synthesis and Characterization of Amphiphific Block Copolymer Containing PVP and Poly（5-benzyloxytrimethylene carbonate）

Amphiphilic copolymer of 5-benzyloxytrimethylene carbonate （BTMC） with poly （vinyl pyrrolidone） （PVP） was successfully synthesized using immobilized porcine pancreas lipase （IPPL） or SnOct2 as catalyst. Hydroxyl terminated PVP, synthesized with 2-mercaptoethanol as a chain transfer reagent, was employed as a rnacroinitiator. The resulting copolymers were characterized by GPC, ^1H NMR and IR. Increasing the BTMC/PVP-OH feed ratio （[B]/[P]） resulted in the increase of Mn of corresponding copolymers and the decrease of Mw/Mn. Immobilized enzyme has comparable catalytic activity to SnOct2 for the copolymerization.

An Oxidative Desulfurization Catalyst Based on Bimodal Mesoporous Silica Containing Quaternary Ammonium Heteropolyphosphamolybdenum

A bimodal mesoporous silica(BMMS) modified with amphiphilic compound(C_(19)H_(42)N)_3(PMo_(12)O_(40))(CTA-PMO) was prepared by the two-step impregnation method. Firstly, H3PMo12O40 was introduced into the bimodal mesoporous silica via impregnation, then C_(19)H_(42)NBr(CTAB) was grafted on the surface of BMMS containing H3PMo12O40 based on the chemical reaction between quaternary ammonium compound and the phosphomolybdic acid, and then the catalyst CTAPMO/BMMS was obtained. The samples were characterized by XRD, N_2 adsorption and desorption, FTIR, 31P-NMR, 29Si-NMR and TEM analyses. It is shown that the catalyst has a typical bimodal mesoporous structure, in which the small mesopore diameter is about 3.0 nm and the large mesopore diameter is about 5.0 nm. The chemical interaction happens between the Keggin structure and silica group of BMMS. Compared with the mono-modal porous Hβ and SBA-15 zeolites modified with CTA-PMO, CTA-PMO/BMMS showed better catalytic activity in the oxidative conversion of dibenzothiophene(DBT), and the desulfurization rate can reach about 94% with the help of extraction, and the catalyst can be separated by filtration and reused directly. The catalytic oxidative desulfurization mechanism on CTA-PMO/BMMS was proposed and verified.

Preparation of Nano-porous Materials(Ⅰ) by Polymerization of Amphiphile Self-assemblies

The polymerization of amphiphilic self assemblies is a promising method to synthesize nano structured materials with novel properties. These materials have many attractive features for their application in biomedical area and materials science, such as catalysis, separation, surface modification, and therapeutics areas. A general review on the polymerization of lipids and surfactant self assemblies to amphiphilic self assemblies is given in this paper with 49 references. The polymerization and the subsequently resulted structure of lipids in different morphologies are summarized. The polymerization of polymerizable surfactants(surfmers) in emulsion and liquid crystalline phases are also discussed. The potential application of new nano porous materials is briefly described.

NOVEL AMPHIPHILIC FLUORESCENT GRAFT COPOLYMER: SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND ENCAPSULATION OF A HYDROPHOBIC AGENT

Novel amphiphilic fluorescent graft copolymer （PVP-PyAHy） was successfully synthesized by the free radical copolymerization of hydrophobic monomer N-（1-pyrenebutyryl）-N＇-acryloyl hydrazide （PyAHy） with hydrophilic precursor polymers of vinyl-functionalized poly（N-vinylpyrrolidone） （PVP） in DMF. The copolymer is amphiphilic and has intrinsic fluorescence. FT-IR, ^1H-NMR, TEM, gel permeation chromatography-multi-angle laser light scattering, UV-Vis spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to characterize this copolymer. The TEM observation shows that the copolymer PVP-PyAHy forms micelles in aqueous solution. Results of fluorometric measurements illustrate that the critical micelle concentration （CMC） value of PVP-PyAHy in aqueous solution is about 0.90 mg/mL. To examine the encapsulation ability of the copolymer in aqueous media, methyl yellow was employed as a model hydrophobic agent. The loading level of the polymer to methyl yellow is 8.8 mg/g. The cytotoxicity assays for Madin Darby Canine Kidney （MDCK） cells shows good biocompatibility of PVP-PyAHy in vitro. These results suggest the potential of this copolymer PVP-PyAHy as drugs delivery carrier and fluorescent tracer.

Synthesis and characterization of H-type amphiphilic liquid crystalline block copolymers by ATRP

H-type amphiphilic liquid crystalline block copolymers containing azobenzene were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization （ATRP）. Macroinitiators prepared by the esterification between poly（ethylene oxide） （PEG） and 2,2-dichloroacetyl chloride were utilized to initiate the polymerization of 6-[4-（4-ethoxyphenylazo）phenoxy]hexyl rnethacrylate （M6C）. The resulting macroinitiators and block copolymers were characterized by ^1H NMR, gel permeation chromatography （GPC）. Polarizing optical microscopy （POM） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） preliminarily revealed the liquid crystalline property of these block copolymers. This series of liquid crystalline block copolymers are promising in some areas, such as optical data storage, optical switch, and molecular devices.

SYNTHESIS OF AMPHIPHILIC COMB-SHAPED COPOLYMERS USED FOR SURFACE MODIFICATION OF PVDF MEMBRANES

The synthesis of a novel amphiphilic comb-shaped copolymer consisting of a main chain of styrene-(N-(4- hydroxyphenyl) maleimide)(SHMI) copolymer and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate(PEGMA) side groups was achieved by atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP).The amphiphilic copolymers were characterized by ~1H-NMR, Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography(GPC).From thermogravimetric analysis (TGA),the decomposition temperature of SHMI-g-PEGMA is lower ...