Edaravone-loaded poly(amino acid) nanogel inhibits ferroptosis for neuroprotection in cerebral ischemia injury

Neurological injury caused by ischemic stroke is a major cause of permanent disability and death. The currently available neuroprotective drugs fail to achieve desired therapeutic efficacy mainly due to short circulation half-life and poor blood−brain barrier (BBB) permeability. For that, an edaravone-loaded pH/glutathione (pH/GSH) dual-responsive poly(amino acid) nanogel (NG/EDA) was developed to improve the neuroprotection of EDA. The nanogel was triggered by acidic and EDA-induced high-level GSH microenvironments, which enabled the selective and sustained release of EDA at the site of ischemic injury. NG/EDA exhibited a uniform sub-spherical morphology with a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 112.3 ± 8.2 nm. NG/EDA efficiently accumulated at the cerebral ischemic injury site of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) mice, showing an efficient BBB crossing feature. Notably, NG/EDA with 50 µM EDA significantly increased neuron survival (29.3%) following oxygen and glucose deprivation by inhibiting ferroptosis. In addition, administering NG/EDA for 7 d significantly reduced infarct volume to 22.2% ± 7.2% and decreased neurobehavioral scores from 9.0 ± 0.6 to 2.0 ± 0.8. Such a pH/GSH dual-responsive nanoplatform might provide a unique and promising modality for neuroprotection in ischemic stroke and other central nervous system diseases.

Influence of Ca/P ratio on the catalytic performance of hydroxyapatite for decarboxylation of itaconic acid to methacrylic acid

Methacrylic acid,an important organic chemical,is commercially manufactured starting from fossil feedstock.The decarboxylation of itaconic acid derived for biomass is a green route to the synthesis of methacrylic acid.In view of the problems existing in the researches on this route such as use of noble metal catalyst,harsh reaction conditions and low desired-product yield,we prepared a series of hydroxyapatite catalysts with different Ca/P molar ratios and evaluated their catalytic performance.The results showed that the hydroxyapatite catalyst with a Ca/P molar ratio of 1.58 had the best catalytic activity.The highest yield of MAA up to 61.2%was achieved with basically complete conversion of itaconic acid under the suitable reaction conditions of 1 equivalent of NaOH,2 MPa of N_(2),250℃,and 2 h.On this basis,a reaction network for the decarboxylation of itaconic acid to methacrylic acid catalyzed by hydroxyapatite was established.With the aid of catalyst characterization using X-ray powder diffraction,NH3/CO2 temperature-programmed desorption,N_(2)physisorption,inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry,and scanning electron microscopy,we found that the distribution of surface acid sites and basic sites,crystal growth orientation,texture properties and morphology of hydroxyapatite varied with the Ca/P molar ratio.Furthermore,the change of the crystal growth orientation and its influence on the surface acidity and alkalinity were clarified.

CONFORMATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POLY(ACRYLIC ACID) AND POLY(METHACRYLIC ACID)

A full-relaxation optimization of molecule and the Dreiding force field are employed to obtain the geometry parameters and the conformational energy surfaces of meso or racemic dyad of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA). Three different carbonyl-bond orientations of side-groups resulted in the differences in depth of potential wells in their energetic contours for a meso or a racemic dyad. These discrepancies are interpreted as a result of various fine structures corresponding to grid search conformations as well as thereby different interactions. The analysis on the most stable conformations of PMAA confirmed that the ester groups are nearly perpendicular to the plane defined by the two adjacent skeletal bonds but may possibly change their relative orientations to meet the requirement of lower energy during the conformational state transition. For each polymer, two global energy maps of a meso and a racemic dyad were finally constructed from the superposition of energy data for the three kinds of side-group orientations by the Boltzmann factors. From an ensemble average, the proposed scheme with three rotational isomeric states (RIS) allowed us to access the experimentally unperturbed dimensions of PAA chain via the configurational statistical mechanics. Although the calculation was based on the short-range, local interactions, it was interested to note that the experimental characteristic ratios just fell within the range calculated for atactic chains.

Nitroxide-Mediated Photo-Controlled/Living Radical Polymerization of Methacrylic Acid

The photo-controlled/living radical polymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) was performed at room temperature by irradiation with a high-pressure mercury lamp using azo initiators and 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl as the mediator in the presence of (4-tert-butylphenyl)diphenylsulfonium triflate (tBuS) as the accelerator. Whereas the bulk polymerization yielded polymers with a bimodal molecular weight distribution in both the absence and presence of tBuS, the solution polymerization in methanol produced unimodal polymers with the molecular weight distribution of 2.0 - 2.3 in the presence of tBuS. The molecular weight distribution of the resulting poly (MAA) decreased with an in- crease in tBuS. The dilution of the monomer concentration also reduced the molecular weight distribution. The use of the initiator with a low 10-h half-life temperature also effectively controlled the molecular weight. The livingness of the polymerization was confirmed by obtaining linear increases in the first-order conversion versus time, the molecular weight versus the conversion, and the molecular weight versus the reciprocal of the initiator concentration.

Highly efficient Rod-shape Poly(methacrylic acid-co-styrene-codivinylbenzene)High-performance Liquid Chromatographic Column

A highly efficient copolymer (methacrylic acid - co - styrene - divinylbenzene) in situ making high-performance liquid chromatographic column was prepared and evaluated. The column efficiency calculated in terms of height equivalent to a theoretical plate was 25 mu m and rapid separations of small molecules such as substituted aromatic hydrocarbons and aromatic acids were achieved within five minutes.

PROPERTIES AND SYNTHESIS OF NEW SUPPORTS FOR IMMOBILIZATION OF ENZYMES BY COPOLYMERIZATION OF VINYLENE CARBONATE AND METHACRYLIC ACID

Methacrylic acid first was neutralized with an aqueous solution of NaOH to pH = 6.0 similar to 7.0, vinylene carbonate (VCA) was added to the solution, then monomers were copolymerized in paraffin oil by means of reverse-phase suspension polymerization and hydrophilic copolymeric supports were prepared. The properties of the supports were determined using trypsin and results show that the amount of enzymes coupled to the supports and the specific activity of immobilized trypsin are related to the content of VCA structure units, reaction time and concentration of enzyme solution, etc.

The Effect of Methacrylic Acid and Maleic Acid on the Isothermal Kinetics of Acrylic Acid Crosslinking Co-polymerization under Conventional and Microwave heating

The kinetics of free-radical crosslinking co-polymerization(FRCCP)of acrylic acid(AA)with both methacrylic acid(MA)(PAMA hydrogel)and maleic acid(MAL)(PAMAL hydrogel)was investigated under the conditions of isothermal conventional heating(CH)and under the conditions of microwave heating(MWH)with controlled cooling.The kinetics curves of FRCCP of PAMA and PAMAL hydrogels under the conditions of CH are described with the kinetics model of second order chemical reaction,whereas the kinetics curves under the conditions of CH are described with the kinetics model of Polany-Winger.It is proved that MWH leads to the changes in the rate of FRCCP and to the changes in the values of the kinetic parameters activation energy(Ea)and pre-exponential factor(lnA).It was found the existence of relationship between the values of the kinetic parameters calculated for MWH and CH for PAMA and PAMAL hydrogel synthesis process,which is well-known as compensation effect.The effect of MWH on the kinetics of FRCCP for PAMA and PAMAL hydrogel formation were explained by applying the model of activation by selective energy transfer(SET).The changes in kinetics model,rate of FRCCP and kinetics parameters,caused with the MWH can found wide application in designing novel technologies for obtaining polymers and for synthesis of polymers with novel physico-chemical properties.The suggested mechanism of activation for polymerisation under the conditions of MWH also enables development of novel reaction systems and technologies for polymers productions.

Swelling and Drug Release Characteristics of Poly （methacrylic acid-co-poloxamer） hydrogels

Poly (methacrylie acid co-poloxamer) hydrogel networks were synthesized by free-radical solution polymerization, and the dynamic swelling and in vitro release properties of model drugs, dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DMP) and vitamin B12 (VB12) were studied. These gels exhibited pH-dependant swelling and sustained drug release properties, and the water uptake rate and drug release rate in neutral or basic media were higher than that in acidic media. The results showed that the water uptake followed non-Fickian or zero order process in neutral or basic media, and the release of model drugs from hydrogels of appropriate composition was of zero order kinetics over a period of several hours.

SOLID PHASE GRAFT COPOLYMERIZATION OF POLYPROPYLENE AND METHACRYLIC ACID

The solid phase graft copolymerization of polypropylene (PP) andmethacrylic acid (MAA) was investigated. benzoyl peroxide(BPO) wasused as initia- tor. The influence of the reactive time,concentration of initiator and monomer on degree of graft and meltflow index of graft copolymer(PP-MAA) was discussed. The effect ofgraft copolymer on mechanical properties of The glass fibre (GF)reinforced PP composites was also Studied. It is proved that graftcopolymer could obviously Increase the interfacial adhesive strengthbetween PP and GF.

Poly(lactic acid)-aspirin microspheres prepared via the traditional and improved solvent evaporation methods and its application performances

Drug-loaded microspheres are significant for the development of modern pharmaceutical products. It is well known that the taken of aspirin for long-term increases the risk of serious gastrointestinal complications, therefore a controllable delivery of aspirin is of importance to lighten those side effects. In this work, poly(lactic acid)(PLA) was chosen as the carrier to prepare PLA-aspirin microspheres by using the traditional and the improved solvent evaporation methods. It was found that no matter which experimental condition was, the encapsulation efficiency of aspirin was higher by using the improved method than that of the traditional method. Specifically, when the concentration of polyvinyl alcohol = 1%(mass),the polymer concentration = 1:20, the oil/water rate = 1:2.5, PLA-aspirin microspheres were obtained via the improved method with a high yield of 82.83%(mass) and an encapsulation efficiency of 44.09%. PLAaspirin microspheres were then prepared continuously using the improved method, which further enhanced the encapsulation efficiency to 54.56%. Approximate 85% aspirin released from microspheres within 7 days. Obvious degradation which was represented by reduction on hardness was observed by soaking microspheres in PBS for 60 days. This work is of interest because it provides a continuous route to prepare PLA-aspirin microspheres continuously with a high drug encapsulation efficiency.

Process design and economic analysis of methacrylic acid extraction for three organic solvents

In this work,a techno-economic study for the solvent based extraction of methacrylic acid from an aqueous solution is presented.The involved phase equilibrium calculations in process design are verified by measured experimental data.First,experiments are conducted with different solvent candidates to measure LLE(liquid–liquid equilibrium)data and to establish the effects of extraction temperature and dosage of solvent.Next,the binary interaction parameters for the UNIQUAC model to be used for equilibrium calculations are fine-tuned with measured data.Then,a process for the solvent based extraction of methacrylic acid recovery is designed and verified through simulation with the regressed UNIQUAC model parameters.The optimal configuration of the process flowsheet is determined by minimizing the total annualized cost.Among the three solvent candidates considered-cyclohexane,hexane and toluene-the highest efficiency and the lowest total annualized cost is found with toluene as the solvent.

Preparation and Thermo-Responsive Properties of Poly(Oligo(Ethylene Glycol)Methacrylate)Copolymers with Hydroxy-Terminated Side Chain

Thermo-responsive random copolymers,poly(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxyethyl methacrylate-co-(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate)(P(EO_(2)-co-EO_(4/5)))and poly(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxyethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol methacrylate(P(EO2-co-EG4/5))are synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP).The successful synthesis and the narrow polydispersity index(PDI)of two copolymers are indicated by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance(1H-NMR)and gel permeation chromatography(GPC)analyses.The transition behaviors of polymers in the aqueous solution are demonstrated by changes in turbidity and particle sizes.The transition behavior of P(EO2-co-EG4/5)is found to be milder than that of P(EO2-co-EO4/5).Moreover,the presence of hydrogen bonds without thermo-responsive properties established by hydroxyl groups in the end-side chain of P(EO_(2)-co-EG_(4/5))hinders the dehydration at the transition temperature(TT).Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectrometry(ATR-FTIR)analysis along with contact angle measurements reveals that both P(EO_(2)-co-EO_(4/5))and P(EO_(2)-co-EG_(4/5))films undergo phase transitions from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity above TT.By examining the swelling and collapse behaviors of the polymer films during phase transitions,it can be concluded that the end hydroxyl groups may establish hydrogen bonds with neighboring ether groups within the films,which remain intact throughout the phase transition process due to their strong bonding interactions.This leads to an increase in steric hindrance within swollen films thereby impeding dehydration processes and inducing hysteresis during phase transitions.

Synthesis,Characterization and Catalytic Application of H_3PW_(12)O_(40)/MCM-48 in the Esterification of Methacrylic Acid with n-butyl Alcohol

A novel environmental friendly catalyst, H3PW12O40/MCM-48, was prepared by impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized by means of XRD and FT-IR. The synthesis of n-butyl methacrylate catalyzed by H3PW12O40/MCM-48 was studied with methacrylic acid and n-butyl alcohol as reactants. H3PW12O40/MCM-48 is an excellent catalyst for synthesizing n-butyl methacrylate and Keggin structure of H3PW12O40 kept unchanged after being impregnated on surface of the molecular sieve support. Effects of n（methacrylic acid）：n（n-butyl alcohol）, catalyst dosage, cyclohexane（water-stripped reagent） and reaction time on yields of the product were investigated. The optimum conditions have been found, that is, molar ratio of acid to alcohol is 1：1.6, mass ratio of catalyst used to the reactants is 0.5% and reaction time is 2.0 h. Under these conditions, the yield of n-butyl methacrylate can reach 93.7%.

Ionic liquid-assisted preparation of hydroxyapatite and its catalytic performance for decarboxylation of itaconic acid

The synthesis of methacrylic acid from biomass-derived itaconic acid is a green route,for it can get rid of the dependence on fossil resource.In order to solve the problems on this route such as use of a preciousmetal catalyst and a corrosive homogeneous alkali,we prepared a series of hydroxyapatite catalysts by an ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal method and evaluated their catalytic performance.The results showed that the ionic liquid[Bmim]BF_(4) can affect the crystal growth of hydroxyapatite,provide fluoride ion for fluorination of hydroxyapatite,and adjust the surface acidity and basicity,morphology,textural properties,crystallinity,and composition of hydroxyapatite.The[Bmim]BF4 dosage and hydrothermal temperature can affect the fluoride ion concentration in the hydrothermal system,thus changing the degree of fluoridation of hydroxyapatite.High fluoride-ion concentration can lead to the formation of CaF_(2) and thus significantly decrease the catalytic performance of hydroxyapatite.The hydrothermal time mainly affects the growth of hydroxyapatite crystals on the c axis,leading to different catalytic performance.The suitable conditions for the preparation of this fluoridized hydroxyapatite are as follows:a mass ratio of[Bmim]BF4 to calcium salt=0.2:1,a hydrothermal time of 12 h,and a hydrothermal temperature of 130℃.A maximal methacrylic acid yield of 54.7%was obtained using the fluoridized hydroxyapatite under relatively mild reaction conditions(250℃ and 2 MPa of N_(2))in the absence of a precious-metal catalyst and a corrosive homogeneous alkali.

High-performance and robust high-temperature polymer electrolyte membranes with moderate microphase separation by implementation of terphenyl-based polymers

Acid loss and plasticization of phosphoric acid(PA)-doped high-temperature polymer electrolyte membranes(HT-PEMs)are critical limitations to their practical application in fuel cells.To overcome these barriers,poly(terphenyl piperidinium)s constructed from the m-and p-isomers of terphenyl were synthesized to regulate the microstructure of the membrane.Highly rigid p-terphenyl units prompt the formation of moderate PA aggregates,where the ion-pair interaction between piperidinium and biphosphate is reinforced,leading to a reduction in the plasticizing effect.As a result,there are trade-offs between the proton conductivity,mechanical strength,and PA retention of the membranes with varied m/p-isomer ratios.The designed PA-doped PTP-20m membrane exhibits superior ionic conductivity,good mechanical strength,and excellent PA retention over a wide range of temperature(80–160°C)as well as satisfactory resistance to harsh accelerated aging tests.As a result,the membrane presents a desirable combination of performance(1.462 W cm^(-2) under the H_(2)/O_(2)condition,which is 1.5 times higher than that of PBI-based membrane)and durability(300 h at 160°C and 0.2 A cm^(-2))in the fuel cell.The results of this study provide new insights that will guide molecular design from the perspective of microstructure to improve the performance and robustness of HT-PEMs.

A NEW METHOD FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF METHACRYLIC ACID FROM ISOBUTYRALDEHYDE

Isobutyraldehyde was used as starting material via three steps: oxidation, chlorination and dehydro-chlorination to yield methacrylic acid. The total yield of methacrylic acid is 49.7%.

Polybutylacrylate/poly(methyl methacrylate) Core-Shell Elastic Particles as Epoxy Resin Toughener: Part I Design and Preparation

Polybutylacrylate (PBA)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) core-shell elastic particles (CSEP), whose rubbery core diameter ranged from 0.08 μm to 1.38μm, were synthesized by using conventional emulsion polymerization, multi-step emulsion polymerization, and soapless polymerization. Allyl methacylate (ALMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) were selected as crosslinking reagents for core polymerization. Methacrylic acid (MAA) was used as functional co-monomer with methyl methacrylate as shell component. The content of vinyl groups in PBA rubbery core increased with the amount of crosslinking reagents. The core-shell ratio affected great on the morphology of the complex particles. Furthermore, the amounts of carboxyl on the surface of core-shell particles, copolymerized with acrylic acid, were determined by potentiometric titration. Results showed that methylacrylic acid was distributed mostly on the surface of particles.

SYNTHETIC STUDIES ON BLOOD COMPATIBLE BIOMATERIALSⅡ. SYNTHESIS OF POLY(ETHYLENEGLYCOL MONOMETHYLLTHER ) METHACRYLATE AND ANTITHROMBOGENICITY OF ITS COPOLYMERS

Poly （ethyleneglycol monomethylether） methacrylate （PEGMM）was synthesized by means of the reaction of methacrylyl chloride with sodium monomethylpolyethyleneglycoxide and was characterized by FTIR,;H-NMR,and ultraviolet spectrometries. A series of poly （vinyl alcohol）-graft-PEGMM （PVA-g-PEGMM ）and methyl methacrylate-PEGMM copolymer （PMMA-PEGMM） were prepared and tested for antithrombogenicity in vitro. The results indicate that the antithrombogenicity of the copolymers basically increases with the increasing of the DP of polyoxyethylene （POE） chain and tends to a plateau after the DP around 114,i.e. the long chain structure of POE is favourable to the antithrombogenicityof its copolymers ;moreover, the extent of the improvement ofantithrombogenicity also relates to the PEGMM content of the copolymers and the kind of the matrix that the POE chains are located on. These results are consistent with the anticipation of the hypothesis of maintaining proteins normal conformations for blood compatible bioraaterials.