3,4-Dichlorophenylacetic acid acts as an auxin analog and induces beneficial effects in various crops.

Auxins and their analogs are widely used to promote root growth, flower and fruit development, and yield in crops. The action characteristics and application scope of various auxins are different. To overcome the limitations of existing auxins, expand the scope of applications, and reduce side effects, it is necessary to screen new auxin analogs. Here, we identified 3,4-dichlorophenylacetic acid (Dcaa) as having auxin-like activity and acting through the auxin signaling pathway in plants. At the physiological level, Dcaa promotes the elongation of oat coleoptile segments, the generation of adventitious roots, and the growth of crop roots. At the molecular level, Dcaa induces the expression of auxin-responsive genes and acts through auxin receptors. Molecular docking results showed that Dcaa can bind to auxin receptors, among which TIR1 has the highest binding activity. Application of Dcaa at the root tip of the DR5:GUS auxin-responsive reporter induces GUS expression in the root hair zone, which requires the PIN2 auxin efflux carrier. Dcaa also inhibits the endocytosis of PIN proteins like other auxins. These results provide a basis for the application of Dcaa in agricultural practices.

The co-inoculation of Trichoderma viridis and Bacillus subtilis improved the aerobic composting efficiency and degradation of lignocellulose.

The aim of this study was to reveal the mechanism by which co-inoculation with both Trichoderma viridis and Bacillus subtilis improved the efficiency of composting and degradation of lignocellulose in agricultural waste. The results showed that co-inoculation with Trichoderma and Bacillus increased abundance of Bacteroidota to promote the maturation 7 days in advance. Galbibacter may be a potential marker of co-inoculation composting efficiency compost. The compost became dark brown, odorless, and had a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 16.40 and a pH of 8.2. Moreover, Actinobacteriota and Firmicutes still dominated the degradation of lignocellulose following inoculation with Trichoderma or Bacillus 35 days after composting. Bacterial function prediction analysis showed that carbohydrate metabolism was the primary metabolic pathway. In conclusion, co-inoculation with Trichoderma and Bacillus shortened the composting cycle and accelerated the degradation of lignocellulose. These findings provide new strategies for the efficient use of agricultural waste to produce organic fertilizers.

Active Sulfur-Host Material VS4 with Surface Defect Engineering: Intercalation-Conversion Hybrid Cathode Boosting Electrochemical Performance of Li-S Batteries.

Transition-metal sulfides as late-model electrocatalysts usually remain inactive in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries in spite of their advantages to accelerate the rapid conversion of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). Herein, a series of cobalt-doped vanadium tetrasulfide/reduced graphene oxide (x%Co-VS4/rGO) composites with an ultrathin layered structure as an active sulfur-host material are prepared by a one-pot hydrothermal method. The well-designed two-dimensional ultrathin 3%Co-VS4/rGO with heteroatom architecture defects (defect of Co-doping and defect of S-vacancies) can significantly improve the adsorption ability on LiPSs, the electrocatalytic activity in the Li2S potentiostatic deposition, and the active sulfur reduction/oxidation conversion reactions and greatly boost the electrochemical performances of Li-S batteries. On the one hand, the ultrathin 3%Co-VS4/rGO possesses good conductivity inheriting from rGO which contributes to the capacity of internal redox reactions on lithiation from VS4. On the other hand, the hybrid architectures provide strong adsorption and excellent electrocatalytic ability on LiPSs, which benefit from the surface defects caused by heteroatom doping. The S@3%Co-VS4/rGO cathode displays a high specific capacity of 1332.6 mA h g-1 at 0.2 C and a low-capacity decay of only 0.05% per cycle over 1000 cycles at 3 C with a primary capacity of 633.1 mA h g-1. Furthermore, when the sulfur loading (single-side coating) reaches 4.48 mg cm-2, it still can deliver 756.2 mA h g-1 after the 100th cycle at 0.2 C with 89.5% capacity retention. In addition, the in situ X-ray diffraction test reveals that the sulfur conversion mechanism is the processes of α-S8 → Li2S → ß-S8 (first cycle) and then ß-S8 ↔ Li2S during the subsequent cycles. The designing strategy with heteroatom doping and self-intercalation capacity adopted in this work would provide novel inspiration for fabricating advanced sulfur-host materials to achieve excellent electrochemical capability in Li-S batteries.

Cu2 O-Catalyzed Conversion of Benzyl Alcohols Into Aromatic Nitriles via the Complete Cleavage of the C≡N Triple Bond in the Cyanide Anion.

Nitrogen transfer from cyanide anion to an aldehyde is emerging as a promising method for the synthesis of aromatic nitriles. However, this method still suffers from a disadvantage that a use of stoichiometric Cu(II) or Cu(I) salts is required to enable the reaction. As we report herein, we overcame this drawback and developed a catalytic method for nitrogen transfer from cyanide anion to an alcohol via the complete cleavage of the C≡N triple bond using phen/Cu2 O as the catalyst. The present condition allowed a series of benzyl alcohols to be smoothly converted into aromatic nitriles in moderate to high yields. In addition, the present method could be extended to the conversion of cinnamic alcohol to 3-phenylacrylonitrile.

Light driven molecular lock comprises a Ru(bpy)2(hpip) complex and cucurbit[8]uril.

Here, complex 1 ([Ru(bpy)2(hpip)]2+-MV2+) and CB[8] can form a stable 1 : 1 inclusion complex in aqueous solution, resembling a U-shaped conformation. Upon light irradiation, two complex 1 were reversibly locked through the formation of a MV˙+ radical dimer that is stabilized in the cavity of CB[8] with Ru complexes as blockers, in which complex 1 was transformed from a U-shaped conformation to a interlocked complex. This study provided a feasible strategy for the fabrication of a photo-driven supramolecular machine resembling a "lock".

Enhancing Droplet Deposition on Wired and Curved Superhydrophobic Leaves.

Droplet deposition on superhydrophobic surfaces has been a great challenge owing to the shortness of the impact contact time. Despite recent research progress regarding flat superhydrophobic surfaces, improving deposition on ubiquitous wired and curved superhydrophobic leaves remains challenging as their surface structures promote asymmetric impacts, thereby shortening the contact times and increasing the likelihood of droplet splitting. Here, we propose a strategy to solve the deposition problems based on an analysis of the impact dynamics and a rational selection of additives. Combining the prominent extension property of flexible polymers with surface tension reduction of the surfactant, the well-chosen binary additives cooperatively solve retention and coverage problems by limiting the fragment and enhancing local pinning and wetting processes at a very low usage. This work advances the understanding of droplet deposition by rationally selecting additives based on the impact dynamics, which is believed to be useful in a variety of spraying, coating, and printing applications.

Dichlorido(2,9-diprop-oxy-1,10-phenanthroline-κN,N')cadmium(II).

In the title complex, [CdCl(2)(C(18)H(20)N(2)O(2))], the Cd(II) ion is coordinated by two N atoms from a bis-chelating 2,9-diprop-oxy-1,10-phenanthroline ligand and two Cl atoms in a distorted tetra-hedral environment. The two Cd-Cl bond distances are significantly different from each other and the N-Cd-N bond angle is acute. In the crystal structure, there are π-π stacking inter-actions between symmetry-related phenanthroline ring systems, with a centroid-centroid distance of 3.585 (3) Å.

Poly[bis-[µ(3)-2-(1H-tetra-zol-1-yl)acetato]cadmium(II)].

In the title compound, [Cd(C(3)H(3)N(4)O(2))(2)](n), the Cd(II) ion, located on a twofold rotation axis, is six-coordinated by two N atoms [Cd-N = 2.368 (2) Å] and four O atoms [Cd-O = 2.300 (1) and 2.260 (1) Å] from six 2-(1H-tetra-zol-1-yl)acetate (L) ligands in a distorted octa-hedral geometry. The metal centres are connected via the tridentate L ligands into a three-dimensional polymeric structure.

catena-Poly[[(2,9-dieth-oxy-1,10-phen-anthroline-κN,N')cadmium(II)]-di-µ-dicyan-amido-κN:N].

In the title polymer, [Cd(C(2)N(3))(2)(C(16)H(16)N(2)O(2))](n), the Cd(II) ion is coordinated by two N atoms from one 2,9-dieth-oxy-1,10-phenanthroline mol-ecule and four N atoms from four symmetry-related dicyanamide ions in a distorted octa-hedral geometry. In the 2,9-dieth-oxy-1,10-phenanthroline ligand, the O and C atoms of the eth-oxy groups are located almost in the plane defined by the phenanthroline ring system. Two dicyanamide ions bridge two Cd(II) ions, which are located on a twofold axis, forming a one-dimensional zigzag chain along the [001] direction. The 2,9-dieth-oxy-1,10-phenanthroline mol-ecules act as bidentate terminal ligands. There are π-π inter-actions between polymeric chains, characterized by a centroid-centroid distance of 3.7624 (2) Šbetween the phenanthroline rings of two neighbouring chains.

(2,9-Dieth-oxy-1,10-phenanthroline-κN,N')bis-(thio-cyanato-κN)cobalt(II).

In the title complex, [Co(NCS)(2)(C(16)H(16)N(2)O(2))], the Co(II) ion is coordinated by two N atoms from one 2,9-dieth-oxy-1,10-phenanthroline ligand and two N atoms from two different thio-cyanate ligands in a distorted tetra-hedral environment. The Co-N bonds involving the thio-cyanate ligands are significantly shorter than the other two Co-N bonds. The atoms of one of the eth-oxy groups are essentially coplanar with the phenanthroline ring [N=C-O-C = 178.8 (4)°], while the other eth-oxy group is slightly twisted from the phenanthroline ring plane [N=C-O-C = 167.2 (4)°]. In the crystal structure, there is a weak π-π stacking inter-action between two symmetry-related phenanthroline rings with a centroid-centroid distance of 3.706 (4) Å.

The first 1D twofold interpenetrating metal-organic network generated by 1D triple helical chains with nanosized cages.

Reaction of AgPF(6) with the asymmetric ligand 1,6-dihydro-2-methyl-6-oxo-(3,4'-bipyridine)-5-carbonitrile (1), afforded a significant silver coordination polymer {[Ag(2)(1)(3)](2).(CH(3)OH)(3).(PF(6))(4)}(n) (2) with unique 1D twofold interpenetrating metal-organic frameworks constructed by 1D triple helical chains with nanosized cages hosting counterions as guests. This compound exhibits high thermal stability and blue-shift emission with large intensity enhancement compared with that of the free ligand.