Environmental Friendly Reagent Research Articles

Facile Preparation of Three-Dimensional Wafer with Interconnected Porous Structure for High-Performance Capture and Nondestructive Release of Circulating Tumor Cells.

Efficient isolation and downstream bioinformation analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in whole blood contribute to the early diagnosis of cancer and investigation of cancer metastasis. However, the separation and release of CTCs remain a great challenge due to the extreme rarity of CTCs and severe interference from other cells in complex clinical samples. Herein, we developed a low-cost and easy-to-fabricate aptamer-functionalized wafer with a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected porous structure by grafting polydopamine (PDA), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and aptamer in sequence (Ni@PDA-PEG-Apt) for the capture and release of CTCs. The Ni@PDA-PEG-Apt wafer integrated the features of Ni foam with a 3D interconnected porous structure offering enough tunnels for cells to flow through and enhancing aptamer-cell contact frequency, the spacer PEG with flexible and high hydrophilic property increasing anti-interference ability and providing the wafer with more binding sites for aptamer, which result in an enhanced capture specificity and efficiency for CTCs. Because of these advantages, the Ni@PDA-PEG-Apt wafer achieved a high capture efficiency of 78.25%. The captured cancer cells were mildly released by endonuclease with up to 61.85% efficiency and good proliferation. Furthermore, tumor cells were injected into mice and experienced circulation in vivo. In blood samples after circulation, 65% of target tumor cells can be efficiently captured by the wafer, followed by released and recultured cells with high viability. Further downstream metabolomics analysis showed that target cancer cells remained with high biological activity and can be well separated from MCF-10A cells based on metabolic profiles by the PCA analysis, indicating the great potential of our strategy for further research on the progression of cancer metastasis. Notably, not only is the wafer cheap with a cost of only 3.58 U.S. dollars and easily prepared by environmental-friendly reagents but also the process of capturing and releasing tumor cells can be completed within an hour, which is beneficial for large-scale clinical use in the future.

Selective depression of millerite (β-NiS) by polysaccharides in alkaline solutions in Cu-Ni sulphides flotation separation

The presence of a nickel sulphide mineral – millerite (β-NiS) has a significant impact on the Cu/Ni flotation separation efficiency in the plant operations. In this study, the feasibility of using corn dextrin as a representative of polysaccharides to depress millerite (β-NiS) in the differential Cu-Ni sulphides flotation at pH 9 and pH 12 was examined. Micro-flotation tests showed that dextrin can depress xanthate-treated millerite without deteriorating chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) recovery when using potassium ethyl xanthate (KEX) as a collector, resulting in efficient Cu/Ni separation at both pH 9 and pH 12. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed that dextrin adsorption on millerite at alkaline pH was identified as a chemisorption process. Dextrin’s hydroxyl functional group can interact with the metal hydroxide on the mineral surface. At pH 12, dextrin can adsorb on xanthate-treated millerite while negligible adsorption was observed on xanthate-treated chalcopyrite. Mineral dissolution tests and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) extraction tests suggested the preferential adsorption of dextrin on millerite over chalcopyrite might be associated with the predominant passivation layer of nickel hydroxide formed on the millerite surface at alkaline pH due to the extensive nickel dissolution. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging was used to visually investigate the adsorption of dextrin on millerite and xanthate-treated chalcopyrite at pH 12. Overall, this study provided a feasible depression strategy for millerite in the copper concentrate using a cost-effective and environmental-friendly reagent.

KB3H8: an environment-friendly reagent for the selective reduction of aldehydes and ketones to alcohols.

Selective reduction of aldehydes and ketones to their corresponding alcohols with KB3H8, an air- and moisture-stable, nontoxic, and easy-to-handle reagent, in water and THF has been explored under an air atmosphere for the first time. Control experiments illustrated the good selectivity of KB3H8 over NaBH4 for the reduction of 4-acetylbenzaldehyde and aromatic keto esters.

Study on Migration and Transformation of Cd in BHMTPMPA Remediation Soil

Organic phosphonic acid has good chelation ability, easy biodegradation, and belongs to environmental friendly reagent. It can be used as eluent to remediate soil contaminated by heavy metal Cd. This paper studied the migration and transformation process of Cd in organic phosphonic acid BHMTPMPA remediation soil. The results showed that the concentration of exchangeable Cd in 1-7 layer of soil column was significantly higher than that in control, and the concentration of exchangeable Cd in 8-10 layer was not significantly different. The activation effect of BHMTPMPA on Cd in soil column is mainly concentrated in the depth of 0-70 cm soil layer. The exchangeable states in layer 2 Cd the highest concentration, and the exchangeable states in other soil layers Cd no obvious migration occurs, which indicated that the migration mainly occurred in the depth of 0-20 cm soil layer, and the Cd of other forms in the soil column did not occur obvious migration phenomenon.

The effects of environmental friendly reagents on molecular detection of biopsy specimens processed by ultrasonic tissue processor

目的： 探讨使用新型超声组织处理仪配套环保试剂处理小活检组织对分子病理检测结果的影响。 方法： 选取63例送检冷冻诊断的新鲜组织，模拟小活检取材，其中肺癌12例、乳腺癌20例、结节性甲状腺肿3例、甲状腺乳头状癌3例、淋巴结反应性增生14例、卵巢高级别浆液性癌3例，每例取组织4条（2条/包埋盒，每例共2个包埋盒，大小为0.5 mm×1.0 cm）；结肠腺癌2例、胃腺癌4例、增殖期子宫内膜1例、皮肤鳞状细胞癌1例，每例取4块（2块/包埋盒，每例共2个包埋盒，大小为2 mm×2mm）。按处理流程的不同将每例样本分两组：常规组使用常规处理流程及试剂制作蜡块，实验组使用配套环保试剂的新型超声快速组织处理仪处理流程制作蜡块。两组蜡块切片同时进行HE和免疫组织化学染色，对比染色结果；HE质量控制合格后取32例进行荧光原位杂交HER2检测，31例提取DNA并进行DNA质量分析、10例行荧光定量PCR检测、13例行毛细管凝胶电泳检测和10例行Sanger测序检测。 结果： 部分实验组组织HE染色颜色较常规组色彩艳丽、层次更鲜明；个别免疫组织化学染色指标较常规组深，但不影响结果的判读，两种处理方法结果判读一致；实验组与常规组相比，乳腺浸润性导管癌、胃腺癌、肺浸润性腺癌行荧光原位杂交HER2制片的最适消化时间稍长（P<0.05），制片评分除肺浸润性腺癌实验组较常规组低外（P<0.05），乳腺浸润性腺癌、胃腺癌差异均无统计学意义（P>0.05）；DNA质量分析显示实验组100、200、300 bp大小DNA片段含量均较常规组低（P<0.05），无论实验组或常规组，DNA含量在100、200、300 bp大小呈逐渐减少趋势（P<0.01）；实验组和常规组行荧光定量PCR检测、毛细管凝胶电泳检测和Sanger测序检测的结果一致。 结论： 使用配套环保试剂的新型超声快速组织处理仪处理样本可高效缩短组织处理时间，虽然存在DNA片段化，但并不影响荧光原位杂交结果的判读和荧光定量PCR、毛细管凝胶电泳和Sanger测序的检测结果。.

Combination of environmental friendly reagent and ultrasonic assisted rapid processing for protein and molecular detection in tumor biopsy specimens

Objective: To investigate the impact of ultrasonic assisted rapid processing technique combined with the environment friendly reagent (which can be utilized in fixing,dehydrating and clearing) on processing tumor biopsy specimens and the subsequent target detection. Methods: Postoperative tissue samples of 56 cases of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, liver mass, bladder mass, uterus mass were obtained at the National Cancer Center, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from February to April, 2017. Three specimens ranging in size from 1 to 3 mm were collected from each sample, and were separated into control group (traditional tissue-processing method); experiment group 1 (3.7% neutral buffered formaldehyde fixation, composite environment friendly reagent and ultrasonic assisted rapid processing) and experimental group 2 (composite environment friendly reagent direct fixation, higher temperature and longer time for tissue processing). Two pathologists blinded to the experimental groups scored totally the nuclear, cytoplasmic, and membrane staining of 43 cases of immunohistochemistry (IHC), four HER2 fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), 20 extracted DNA quality and four EGFR gene mutation detection in lung adenocarcinoma; the results were compared with the control group. Results: There was no difference in the IHC staining, HER2 FISH, the DNA quality, and EGFR genetic results between experimental group 1 and control group. For experiment group 2, comparing results of IHC staining, HER2 FISH and the quality of DNA, there was no obvious difference from control group and experiment group 1, but might show an increase in the background of IHC staining. The difference between the treatment temperature and time in the experimental group 2 did not affect the results of the gene mutation detection. Conclusions: Environment freindly reagent and ultrasonic assisted rapid processing equipment could be used for rapid processing and diagnosis for tumor biopsies. Using complex environment-friendly reagents supplement fixation, higher treatment temperature and longer treatment time do not significantly affect the IHC, FISH and molecular detection accuracy.

Ethyl 2‐(tert‐Butoxycarbonyloxyimino)‐2‐cyanoacetate (Boc‐Oxyma): An Efficient Reagent for the Racemization Free Synthesis of Ureas, Carbamates and Thiocarbamates via Lossen Rearrangement

AbstractBoc‐Oxyma (Ethyl 2‐(tert‐butoxycarbonyloxyimino)‐2‐cyanoacetate) has been reported previously as an efficient coupling reagent for the synthesis of amides, peptides, esters, thioesters and hydroxamic acids. It is known for its excellent racemization suppression capability, and also as an environment friendly reagent as it generates only Oxyma as solid byproduct that can be recovered easily and recycled for the synthesis of the same reagent. In this update, we report a simple, efficient, environment friendly, chemoselective and racemization free method for the synthesis of ureas, carbamates and thiocarbamates from hydroxamic acids via Lossen rearrangement by using Boc‐Oxyma. We have achieved racemization free di‐ and tri‐peptidyl ureas with very good yield by using this protocol. A rigorous mechanistic investigation is also incorporated.magnified image

Synthesis of novel 25-hydroxyprotopanaxadiol derivatives by methylation and methoxycarbonylation using dimethyl carbonate as a environment-friendly reagent and their anti-tumor evaluation

A previous study involving 25-hydroxyprotopanaxadiol (25-OH-PPD) illustrated that the anti-cancer activity increased by 1–3 times after C-3/C-12-OH was substituted by short-chain fatty acids. In addition, 25-OCH3-PPD was also one of our research interests; the unique difference in structure between 25-OH-PPD and 25-OCH3-PPD is that in C-25, the latter activity was 2–5 times higher than that of 25-OH-PPD. These data serves as the scientific basis of our continuing research. To further confirm the effect of short chain acylated and methylated products on the activity and to identify more potent, higher selectivity compounds, we modified 25-OH-PPD with a green environment-friendly and non-toxic chemical dimethyl carbonate (DMC), which plays the role of both solvent and reagent. This experiment yielded 14 derivatives. Their in vitro anti-tumor activities were tested on two different human tumor cell lines (HeLa and DU145) and one normal cell line (IOSE144) by standard MTT assay. The results showed that compounds 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, and 13 exhibited higher cytotoxic activity on two cell lines, with IC50 values within the range of 1.1–12μM. Compounds 12 and 13 exhibited the highest potent activity, with IC50 values of 1.1 and 1.2μM, respectively, on HeLa cells. Antitumor activity significantly increased after the hydroxyl groups are substituted by methyl. The results of the present study may provide useful data for evaluating the structure–activity relationships of other dammarane-type sapogenins and developing new antitumor agents.

Selective band gap manipulation of graphene oxide by its reduction with mild reagents

Graphene oxide (GO) can be used as an electron acceptor for polymeric solar cells but still band gap matching for electron donor and acceptor demands more study. The generation of the exciton in such materials is intimately related to the optical band gap. However, exciton dissociation is related to transport band gap that controls the device performance, particularly the open circuit voltage and short circuit current. Therefore, the modulation of the optical gap is useful because it results into tuning of the transport gap. The interest of the present work is to study the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) at room temperature, using environmental friendly reagents like glucose, fructose and ascorbic acid for the modulation of a band gap. It has been found that glucose and fructose function effectively only in presence of NH4OH. Although ascorbic acid can reduce GO alone, NH4OH speeds up the reaction. The optical band gap of GO can be reduced and tuned effectively from 2.7eV to 1.15eV.

Prediction of recovery of gold thiosulfate on activated carbon using artificial neural networks

Since a high toxicity of cyanide which use as a reagent in the gold processing plant, thiosulfate has been recognized as a environmental friendly reagent for leaching of gold from ore. After gold leaching process it's important for recovery of gold from solution using adsorption or extraction methods, One of these methods is activated carbon.The loading of gold from industrial thiosulfate solution that obtained from Zarshuran gold plant-Takab-Iran, onto activated carbon have been investigated. The affecting variables of the adsorption of gold on the carbon included, temperature, concentration of gold, size of activated carbon, pH and the ratio of amount of activated carbon to the volume of solution. The results have shown that at low concentration of gold, effective loading can be achieved at pH 10.5. The size of activated carbon has a significant effect on the loading of gold. In this research the recovery of gold on activated carbon has been predicted using artificial neural network. For this purpose temperature, pH, the proportion of solution volume to weight of activated carbon, gold concentration and time of adsorption were taken as input parameters, whereas, the recovery of gold on activated carbon from thiosulfate solution was considered as an output parameter. The network with LMBP algorithm with two hidden layer were used and the topology 5-4-13-1 showed the best ability for prediction.Moreover sensitive analyze were indicated parameters pH and temperature have substantial influence on adsorption.

Effective one-step removal-inertization of hazardous metals (Cd and Hg) by environmental friendly reagents

[HMe2pipdt]I3 (Me2pipdt=N,N′-dimethyl-piperazine-2,3-dithione, 1) is capable to quantitatively dissolve elemental Cd and Hg to produce in a one-step reaction the [CdI(Me2pipdt)2]I3 (2) and [HgI2(Me2pipdt)] (3) complexes. Crystals of 2 and 3 have been structurally characterized and crystallize in the P-1 and C2/c space group respectively. In 2 Cd(II) shows a coordination geometry intermediate between the square pyramidal and the trigonal bipyramidal. In 3 Hg(II) adopts a distorted tetrahedral geometry which involves a S,S chelating ligand and two iodine atoms in the coordination sphere. Vibrational spectroscopy findings are in agreement with structural results showing in the far-infrared region to be a diagnostic probe in recognizing triiodides.

Facile Preparation of Water-Dispersible Adenosine-Functionalized Graphene Nanosheets

Water-dispersible graphene nanosheets were achieved by a simple three-step process. First, pristine graphite was oxidized and exfoliated to obtain graphene oxide, which was further acylated with thionyl chloride to introduce acyl chloride groups on the surfaces. Second, graphene oxide was covalently functionalized with an environment-friendly reagent, namely, adenosine. Subsequently, adenosine-functionalized graphene oxide was reduced to obtain graphene nanosheets by using NaBH4 as a reducing agent. This approach facilitates graphene nanosheets that have a combination of stable aqueous dispersions and an electrical conductivity that are much better in comparison to graphene oxide, offering a great flexibility for further applications.

Spectrophotometric flow-injection determination of total reducing sugars exploiting their alkaline degradation

An automated procedure exploiting alkaline degradation of carbohydrates is proposed for spectrophotometric determination of total reducing sugars, TRS (hydrolyzed sucrose plus reducing sugars), in samples relevant to the sugar industry. An environmental friendly reagent is used instead of the commonly used toxic (e.g. arsenate) or expensive (e.g. enzymes) reagents. The analytical steps of acidic sucrose hydrolysis and sugar alkaline degradation are in-line accomplished at about 95 °C. The formed colored solution is then spectrophotometrically monitored at 450 nm. The proposed system handles 60 samples per hour, and yields precise results, relative standard deviation being estimated as <5% for a typical sample (1.24%, w/v, TRS). Baseline drift has been not verified during 8-h working periods, emphasizing the system ruggedness. A linear response is observed between 0.1 and 2.0% (w/v) TRS. Results are in agreement with HPIC.

An improved synthesis of piperazino-piperidine based CCR5 antagonists with flexible variation on pharmacophore sites

An improved and efficient synthetic route towards piperidino-piperazine based CCR5 antagonists was developed. The new approach was flexible for introducing various substituents in the pharmacophore sites via Grignard reagent addition and reductive amination. l-Amino acids were used as a chiral pool to introduce and then induce the desired stereochemistries, meanwhile rendering the variable substitution. The efficient construction of the piperazino-piperidine nucleus was achieved in a highly convergent manner with a key building block of N 1-Boc-4-substituent-4-aminopiperidine, exhibiting significant advantages in terms of concise synthetic route and environmental-friendly reagents over the previously described stepwise synthesis, in which a modified Strecker reaction was involved with highly toxic reagents such as diethylaluminum cyanide.

Use of plasma polymerized highly polar organic compound films for sensor development

This work made use of cleaner technologies and environmental friendly reagents to produce polar organic films with adsorption properties to be used as sensors in the environmental field. The films were obtained by plasma deposition of 2-propanol. The films were characterized by infrared and Raman spectroscopies, contact angle measurements with different aqueous solutions, optical and Atomic Force Microscopies (AFMs). The films were hydrophilic and contact angles formed by drop of water were smaller than 70°. All the films showed affinity for 2-propanol aqueous solutions in a large concentration range (0.01–50 vol.%). The films with higher adsorption capacity were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). For these films the C/O atomic ratio was 4/1. Some films were analyzed through current–voltage ( I– V) and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements to investigate their application on sensing. It was noticed that there is adsorption and permeation of organic compounds. Therefore, this film can be used as selective membrane for sensors. The results indicated that the adsorption mechanism happens through the superficial OH competition.