Highly selective solar-driven methanol from CO2 by a photocatalyst/biocatalyst integrated system.

The successful development of a photocatalyst/biocatalyst integrated system that carries out selective methanol production from CO2 is reported herein. The fine-tuned system was derived from a judicious combination of graphene-based visible light active photocatalyst (CCG-IP) and sequentially coupled enzymes. The covalent attachment of isatin-porphyrin (IP) chromophore to chemically converted graphene (CCG) afforded newly developed CCG-IP photocatalyst for this research endeavor. The current work represents a new benchmark for carrying out highly selective methanol formation from CO2 in an environmentally benign manner.

Solar Carboxylation Using CO2: Interfacially Synthesized Flexible Covalent Organic Frameworks Film as a Photocatalyst for Highly Selective Solar Carboxylation of Arylamines with CO2.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion into value-added chemicals/fuels by utilizing solar energy is a sustainable way to mitigate our dependence on fossil fuels and stimulate a carbon-neutral economy. However, the efficient and affordable conversion of CO2 is still an ongoing challenge. Here, we report an interfacially synthesized visible-light-active Ni(II)-integrated covalent organic frameworks (TaTpBpy-Ni COFs) film as a photocatalyst for efficient CO2 conversion into carboxylic acid under ambient conditions. Notably, the TaTpBpy-Ni COFs film showed excellent photocatalytic activity for the carboxylation of various arylamines with CO2 to the corresponding arylcarboxylic acid via C-N bond activation under solar-light irradiation. Moreover, this carboxylation protocol exhibits mild reaction conditions and good functional group tolerance without the necessity of using stoichiometric metallic reductants. This work shows a benchmark example of not only the interfacially synthesized COFs film used as a photocatalyst for solar-light energy utilization but also the selective solar chemical production system of arylcarboxylic acid directly from CO2.

Genome sequence of Paenibacillus terrae HPL-003, a xylanase-producing bacterium isolated from soil found in forest residue.

This article reports on the full genome sequence of Paenibacillus terrae HPL-003, which is a gram-positive, endospore-forming, xylanase-producing bacterium isolated from soil found in forest residue on Gara Mountain. The strain HPL-003 contains 6,083,395 bp with a G+C content of 46.77 mol%, 2,633 protein-coding genes, and 117 structural RNAs.

A photocatalyst-enzyme coupled artificial photosynthesis system for solar energy in production of formic acid from CO2.

The photocatalyst-enzyme coupled system for artificial photosynthesis process is one of the most promising methods of solar energy conversion for the synthesis of organic chemicals or fuel. Here we report the synthesis of a novel graphene-based visible light active photocatalyst which covalently bonded the chromophore, such as multianthraquinone substituted porphyrin with the chemically converted graphene as a photocatalyst of the artificial photosynthesis system for an efficient photosynthetic production of formic acid from CO(2). The results not only show a benchmark example of the graphene-based material used as a photocatalyst in general artificial photosynthesis but also the benchmark example of the selective production system of solar chemicals/solar fuel directly from CO(2).

Band Gap Engineering in Solvochromic 2D Covalent Organic Framework Photocatalysts for Visible Light-Driven Enhanced Solar Fuel Production from Carbon Dioxide.

Solar light-driven fuel production from carbon dioxide using organic photocatalysts is a promising technique for sustainable energy sources. Band gap engineering in sustainable organic photocatalysts for improving efficiency and fulfilling the requirements is highly anticipated. Here, we present a new strategy to engineer the band gap in covalent organic framework (COF) photocatalysts by varying the push-pull electronic effect. To implement this strategy, we have designed and synthesized four different COFs using a tripodal amine 4,4',4″-(1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triyl)tris(([1,1'-biphenyl]-4-amine)) [Ttba] with 1,3,5-triformylbenzene (COF-1), 2,4,6-triformylphloroglucinol (COF-2), 2,4,6-triformylphenol (COF-3), and 2,4,6-triformylresorcinol (COF-4). On varying the number of hydroxyl units in the aldehyde precursor, the resulting COFs allow the fine-tuning of their band gap and band edge positions and result in different morphologies with varying surface areas. The enhanced optical properties of COF-3 and COF-4 with very suitable band gaps of 2.02 and 1.95 eV, respectively, enable them to demonstrate a high-efficiency photobiocatalytic system for NADH photoregeneration and enhanced visible light-driven formic acid production at a rate of 226.3 µmol g-1 in 90 min. The triazine core enables efficient charge separation, while the hydroxyl groups induce an electronic push-pull effect, regulating their photocatalytic efficiency. The results demonstrated the morphology-guided enhanced surface area and dual keto-enol tautomerism-induced push-pull effect in asymmetrical charge distribution as key features in the fine-tuning of the photocatalysts.

Reactivation potency of fluorinated pyridinium oximes for acetylcholinesterases inhibited by paraoxon organophosphorus agent.

For the purpose of developing new oxime reactivators of acetylcholinesterases (AChE) that have been inhibited by organophosphorus agents, emphasis was given to the finding that the lipophilic nature of fluorinated compounds is responsible for their enhanced transport across the blood brain barrier (BBB). As a result, we have designed and synthesized the fluorinated oxime derivatives, which quantum mechanical calculations suggest should have a greater lipophilicity and BBB permeability than their non-fluorinated analogs. Among the compounds explored in this study, 4 was found to have the highest potency for reactivation of paraoxon-inhibited housefly (HF) AChE.

Fluorinated pyridinium oximes as potential reactivators for acetylcholinesterases inhibited by paraoxon organophosphorus agent.

A series of fluorinated oxime compounds was designed and synthesized in order to probe the effect of fluorine substitution on reactivation of inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) by organophosphorus agents. Permeability measurements, using the Parallel Artificial Membrane Permeation Assays (PAMPA) method, were employed to experimentally demonstrate that membrane permeabilities of the series of oximes increase in proportional to the increase in the number of fluorine atoms. Among the compounds explored in this study, the mono-fluorinated carbamoyl aldoxime 4b was the most potent reactivator for paraoxon-inhibited red blood cell (RBC) AChE.

Reactivation of DFP- and paraoxon-inhibited acetylcholinesterases by pyridinium oximes.

Exposure to the organophosphorus nerve agents such as sarin, soman, cyclosarin, and VX causes acute intoxication by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase (AChE), where the serine residue of the active site can attack the phosphorous atom of the organophosphorus agents to form a strong P-O bond. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate new oxime antidotes to reactivate the inhibited AChE. We have designed and synthesized several new oximes, and have evaluated the substances that differ from the currently used oximes in linker between the two pyridinium rings. The potency of newly synthesized oximes was compared with two currently used AChE reactivators (2-PAM, HI-6). The reactivation potencies of the bis-pyridinium oximes connected with a (CH(2))(n) linker between the two quaternary nitrogen atoms were evaluated with housefly (HF) AChE inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphates (DFP) and by paraoxon. The bis-pyridinium oximes showed stronger activity compared with mono-pyridinium oxime, and the magnitude of reactivation potency depended on the length of the methylene linker. The potency order was (CH(2))<(CH(2))(2)<(CH(2))(3)>(CH(2))(4)>(CH(2))(7). A (CH(2))(3) linker was optimal in HF AChE inhibited by either DFP or paraoxon. Thus, bis-pyridinium oxime 5 which has (CH(2))(3) linker showed the highest activity in this series of compounds. Interestingly, 5 was not as active as 2-PAM, showing that the position of the oxime group on the pyridinium ring is also very important for the reactivation potency.

Highly Improved Solar Energy Harvesting for Fuel Production from CO2 by a Newly Designed Graphene Film Photocatalyst.

Our growing energy demands must be met by a sustainable supply with reduced carbon intensity. One of the most exciting prospects to realize this goal is the photocatalyst-biocatalyst integrated artificial photosynthesis system which affords solar fuel/chemicals in high selectivity from CO2. Graphene based photocatalysts are highly suitable for the system, but their industrial scale use requires immobilization for improved separation and recovery of the photocatalyst. Therefore for practical purposes, design and fabrication of film type graphene photocatalyst with higher solar energy conversion efficiency is an absolute necessity. As a means to achieve this, we report herein the successful development of a new type of flexible graphene film photocatalyst that leads to >225% rise in visible light harvesting efficiency of the resultant photocatalyst-biocatalyst integrated artificial photosynthesis system for highly selective solar fuel production from CO2 compared to conventional spin coated graphene film photocatalyst. It is an important step towards the design of a new pool of graphene film based photocatalysts for artificial photosynthesis of solar fuels from CO2.

New oxime reactivators connected with CH2O(CH2)nOCH2 linker and their reactivation potency for organophosphorus agents-inhibited acetylcholinesterase.

New bis-pyridinium oxime reactivators 6 with CH(2)O(CH(2))(2)OCH(2) and CH(2)O(CH(2))(4)OCH(2) linkers between the two pyridinium rings were designed and synthesized. In the in vitro test of their potency to reactivate AChE inhibited by organophosphorus agents at 5 x 10(-3)M concentration, the reactivation ability of 1,2-dimethoxy-ethylene-bis-N,N'-4-pyridiumaldoxime dichloride (6a) was 63% for housefly (HF) AChE inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphates (DFP), 51% for bovine red blood cell (RBC) AChE inhibited by DFP, 67% for HF-AChE inhibited by paraoxon, and 81% for RBC-AChE inhibited by paraoxon. Except in the case of DFP-inhibited HF AChE test of 2-PAM, the activities of 6a are much higher than the activities of 2-PAM and HI-6 which are AChE reactivators currently in use.

Cloning and characterization of a xylanase, KRICT PX1 from the strain Paenibacillus sp. HPL-001.

The KRICT PX1 gene (GB: FJ380951) consisting of 996bp encoding a protein of 332 amino acids (38.1kDa) from the recently isolated Paenibacillus sp. strain HPL-001 (KCTC11365BP) has been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The xylanase KRICT PX1 showed high activity on birchwood xylan, and was active over a pH range of 5.0 to 11.0, with two optima at pH 5.5 and 9.5 at 50 degrees C with K(m) value of 5.35 and 3.23, respectively. The xylanase activity was not affected by most salts, such as NaCl, LiCl, KCl, NH(4)Cl, CaCl(2), MgCl(2), MnCl(2), and CsCl(2) at 1mM, but affected by CuSO(4), ZnSO(4), and FeCl(3). One mM of EDTA, 2-mercaptoethanol, and PMSF did not affect the xylanase activity. TLC analysis of the catalyzed products after reaction with birchwood xylan revealed that xylobiose was the major product with smaller amounts of xylotriose and xylose. A similarity analysis of the amino acids in KRICT PX1 resulted 72% identity with xylanase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus (GB: ZP_03040360), 70% identity with intracellular xylanase from an uncultured bacterium (GB: AAP51133), 68% identity with endo-1-4-xylanse from Paenibacillus sp. (GB: ZP_02847150). In addition, the amino acid alignment of KRICT PX1 with glycosyl hydralase (GH) family 10 xylanases revealed a high degree of homology in highly conserved regions including the catalytic sites, and this was confirmed through PROSITE scan. These results imply that KRICT PX1 is a new xylanase gene, and this alkaline xylanase belongs to GH family 10.