Isolation of Fluorescent 2π-Aromatic 1,3-Disiladiboretenes.

Herein, we reported the isolation of 2π-aromatic disiladiboretenes (L2Si2B2Ph2) [L = ArC(NtBu)2, Ar = Ph (1), Mes (2)], which have been synthesized from the straightforward reduction of silylene-borane adducts (LSiX → BX2Ph) [X = Cl, Br] with potassium graphite (KC8). X-ray diffraction analysis of 1 and 2 revealed that the Si2B2 units are completely planar, and DFT calculations suggested delocalization of 2π-electrons over the Si2B2 rings. Moreover, their photophysical properties and reactivity toward sulfur were also investigated in detail.

Air-Stable Organoradical Boron Reagents.

Both organic radicals and organoboron reagents have been broadly investigated, but the combination of them via direct C-H borylation as organic radical building blocks has never been achieved. Herein, a series of organoradical boron reagents, such as TTM-Bpin and TTM-BOH, were synthesized through the key step of C-H borylation of substrate TTM-H ((2,6-dichlorophenyl) bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl) radical for the first time. They are air stable enough to be stored in the solid state for several months under dark conditions, and fully investigated through single crystal analysis, EPR and DFT calculations. Furthermore, they can smoothly work in the standard Suzuki-Miyaura coupling (SMC) reaction with retention of the carbon radical center. Meanwhile, these radical species bearing different boron units display fluorescent character and are potentially applied for the collective synthesis of luminescent organic radicals, as well as other functionalized open-shell materials.

ortho-Terphenylene Viologens with Through-Space Conjugation for Enhanced Photocatalytic Oxidative Coupling and Hydrogen Evolution.

A series of novel ortho-terphenylene viologen derivatives (o-TPV2+) with through-space conjugation (TSC) via the combination of ortho-terphenylene skeletons with viologen structure is reported. Their optoelectronic properties can be adjusted by N-arylation or N-alkylation reactions. Compared with other viologen derivatives, o-TPV2+ not only exhibits strong photoluminescence but also retards the charge recombination process and stabilizes the diradical state without forming a quinoid structure due to the special TSC effect. Based on their special redox characteristics, o-TPV2+ was applied to the photocatalytic oxidative coupling of benzylamine with 96% yield. In addition, pTA-o-TPV2+ (tethered with p-toluic acid)-modified g-C3N4 was used for visible-light-driven hydrogen production for the first time, exceeding 15 times the rate over unmodified g-C3N4.

Bacteria-Triggered Solar Hydrogen Production via Platinum(II)-Tethered Chalcogenoviologens.

Multifunctional solar energy conversion offers a feasible strategy to solve energy, environmental and water crises. Herein, a series of platinum(II)-tethered chalcogenoviologens (PtL+ -EV2+ , E=S, Se, Te) is reported, which integrate the functions of photosensitizer, electron mediator and catalyst. PtL+ -EV2+ (particularly for PtL+ -SeV2+ )-based one-component solar H2 production could be triggered not only by EDTA, but also by facultative anaerobic and aerobic bacteria relying on a simplified mechanism, along with efficient antibacterial activities. In addition, by using real pool water, PtL+ -SeV2+ achieved multiple functions, including H2 production, antibacterial action and acid removal, which supplied a new strategy to solve various problems in real life via a single system.

Phosphorescent Bismoviologens for Electrophosphorochromism and Visible Light-Induced Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling.

A series of novel bismuth-bridged viologen analogues, bismoviologens (BiV2+), synthesized through a combination of a bismuth atom and viologen skeleton is reported. Their optical and electrochemical properties were fine-tuned through the N-arylation or N-alkylation reactions. Bismolviologens not only showed good redox properties but also exhibited phosphorescence under ambient conditions (in air at room temperature). This phenomenon makes BiV2+ the first examples of phosphorescent viologen analogues reported to date. On the basis of the excellent and unique redox and optical properties of BiV2+, their electrophosphorochromic devices were fabricated. Furthermore, BiV2+ was used for the first time as both a photocatalyst and electron mediator in visible light-induced cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions.

Crystalline Boragermenes.

Boragermene 3 featuring a double bond between the Ge and dicoordinate B atoms has been synthesized for the first time by reacting the cyclic (alkyl)(boryl)germylene-PMe3 adduct 1 with Cl2 BN(SiMe3 )2 followed by reductive dehalogenation with KC8 . Addition of a Lewis base (Me NHC) to 3 leads to the formation of the corresponding adduct 4, which shows double bond character between the Ge and tricoordinate B atoms. Compound 3 undergoes hydrogenation with H2 concomitant with a complete scission of the Ge=B bond.

SERS based determination of vanillin and its methyl and ethyl derivatives using flower-like silver nanoparticles on a silicon wafer.

A surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method is described for the determination of vanillin, methyl vanillin and ethyl vanillin at trace levels. Flower-like silver nanoparticles on a silicon wafer are used as the SERS substrate, and the analytes can be specifically and non-destructively recognized by their specific Raman bands. The molecules can be recognized rapidly by identifying the characteristic bands. The SERS spectra of vanillin (C8H8O3) were used as mid-contrast, and specific bands of methyl vanillin and ethyl vanillin (C9H10O3) were acquired at 775 cm-1, 1350 cm-1 and 1282 cm-1, 1382 cm-1, respectively. In addition, by using an improved principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm, the organic molecule can be quantitatively determined. Dissolved in water, vanillin, methyl vanillin and ethyl vanillin still can be detected at a concentration of 10-8 M, at which their characteristic Raman peaks are still visible. The method was successfully applied to the determination of vanillin in milk powder products. Graphical abstract Vanillin can be identified at trace levels by laser irradiation of milk and by using flower-like silver nanoparticles as the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. Vanillin and its methyl and ethyl derivatives can be quantitatively analyzed by the principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm.

A Cyclic (Alkyl)(boryl)germylene Derived from a Cyclic (Alkyl)(amino)germylene.

A cyclic (alkyl)(amino)germylene undergoes a ring expansion reaction with dibromomesitylborane (MesBBr2 ) to afford a six-membered dibromogermane derivative. In the presence of Lewis bases (PMe3 or Me NHC), reduction of the latter with two equivalents of potassium graphite (KC8 ) gives rise to cyclic (alkyl)(boryl)germylene-Lewis base adducts. Upon heating, the germylene-PMe3 adduct reacts with H2 to yield a germane, probably via a base-free germylene featuring a small HOMO-LUMO gap.

Borane-Catalyzed Cross-Metathesis Strategy for Facile Transformation of Cyclic (Alkyl)(Amino)Germylenes.

A borane B(C6 F5 )3 -catalyzed metathesis reaction between the Si-C bond in the cyclic (alkyl)(amino)germylene (CAAGe) 1 and the Si-H bond in a silane (R3 SiH; 2) is reported. Mechanistic studies propose that the initial step of the reaction involves Si-H bond activation to furnish an ionic species [1-SiR3 ]+ [HB(C6 F5 )3 ]- , from which [Me3 Si]+ [HB(C6 F5 )3 ]- and an azagermole intermediate are generated. The former yields Me3 SiH concomitant with the regeneration of B(C6 F5 )3 whereas the latter undergoes isomerization to afford CAAGes bearing various silyl groups on the carbon atom next to the germylene center. This strategy allows the straightforward synthesis of eight new CAAGes starting from 1.

Metal-Free Regio- and Chemoselective Hydroboration of Pyridines Catalyzed by 1,3,2-Diazaphosphenium Triflate.

N-Heterocyclic phosphenium triflates (NHP-OTf) 1 serve as efficient catalysts for the regio- and chemoselective hydroboration of pyridines under ambient condition with good functional group tolerance. Mechanistic studies indicate that a boronium salt, [(Py)2·Bpin]OTf 4, is generated concomitant with NHP-H 5 via hydride abstraction from HBpin by 1 in the initial reaction step. Hydride reduction of the activated pyridine in [(Py)2·Bpin]OTf 4 by NHP-H 5 affords the 1,4-hydroboration product selectively. Thus, the phosphenium species act as a hydrogen transfer reagent in the catalytic cycle.

Bis(N-heterocyclic olefin) Derivative: An Efficient Precursor for Isophosphindolylium Species.

We have developed bis(N-heterocyclic olefin) derivatives 2 and demonstrated that 2 can be utilized as precursors for the synthesis of isophosphindolylium species 3. X-ray diffraction and density functional theory studies indicate the aromatic property of the PC4 five-membered ring in 3. Despite its cationic nature, the P center in 3b exhibits nucleophilic character and thus readily forms a bond with CuCl to afford a copper phosphenium complex 4, demonstrating the potential utility of 3 as a σ-donor ligand.

Highly Selective Hydrogenation of Aromatic Ketones and Phenols Enabled by Cyclic (Amino)(alkyl)carbene Rhodium Complexes.

Air-stable Rh complexes ligated by strongly σ-donating cyclic (amino)(alkyl)carbenes (CAACs) show unique catalytic activity for the selective hydrogenation of aromatic ketones and phenols by reducing the aryl groups. The use of CAAC ligands is essential for achieving high selectivity and conversion. This method is characterized by its good compatibility with unsaturated ketones, esters, carboxylic acids, amides, and amino acids and is scalable without detriment to its efficiency.

Iron-catalyzed N-arylsulfonamide formation through directly using nitroarenes as nitrogen sources.

One-step, catalytic synthesis of N-arylsulfonamides via the construction of N-S bonds from the direct coupling of sodium arylsulfinates with nitroarenes was realized in the presence of FeCl2 and NaHSO3 under mild conditions. In this process, stable and readily available nitroarenes were used as nitrogen sources, and NaHSO3 acted as a reductant to provide N-arylsulfonamides in good to excellent yields. A broad range of functional groups were very well-tolerated in this reaction system. In addition, mechanistic studies indicated that the N-S bond might be generated through direct coupling of nitroarene with sodium arylsulfinate prior to the reduction of nitroarenes by NaHSO3. Accordingly, a reaction mechanism involving N-aryl-N-arenesulfonylhydroxylamine as an intermediate was proposed.

Cyclic (Amino)(aryl)carbenes (CAArCs) as Strong σ-Donating and π-Accepting Ligands for Transition Metals.

Cyclic (amino)(aryl)carbenes (CAArCs) result from the replacement of the alkyl substituent of cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbenes (CAACs) by an aryl group. This structural modification leads to enhanced electrophilicity of the carbene center with retention of the high nucleophilicity of CAACs, and therefore CAArCs feature a small singlet-triplet gap. The isoindolium precursors are readily prepared in good yields, and deprotonation at low temperature, in the presence of [RhCl(cod)]2 and [(Me2S)AuCl] lead to air-stable rhodium and gold CAArC-supported complexes, respectively. The rhodium complexes promote the [3+2] cycloaddition of diphenylcyclopropenone with ethyl phenylpropiolate, and induce the addition of 2-vinylpyridine to alkenes by CH activation. The gold complexes allow for the catalytic three-component preparation of 1,2-dihydroquinolines from aniline and phenyl acetylene. These preliminary results illustrate the potential of CAArC ligands in transition-metal catalysis.

A short-read multiplex sequencing method for reliable, cost-effective and high-throughput genotyping in large-scale studies.

Accurate genotyping is important for genetic testing. Sanger sequencing-based typing is the gold standard for genotyping, but it has been underused, due to its high cost and low throughput. In contrast, short-read sequencing provides inexpensive and high-throughput sequencing, holding great promise for reaching the goal of cost-effective and high-throughput genotyping. However, the short-read length and the paucity of appropriate genotyping methods, pose a major challenge. Here, we present RCHSBT-reliable, cost-effective and high-throughput sequence based typing pipeline-which takes short sequence reads as input, but uses a unique variant calling, haploid sequence assembling algorithm, can accurately genotype with greater effective length per amplicon than even Sanger sequencing reads. The RCHSBT method was tested for the human MHC loci HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DQB1, and HLA-DRB1, upon 96 samples using Illumina PE 150 reads. Amplicons as long as 950 bp were readily genotyped, achieving 100% typing concordance between RCHSBT-called genotypes and genotypes previously called by Sanger sequence. Genotyping throughput was increased over 10 times, and cost was reduced over five times, for RCHSBT as compared with Sanger sequence genotyping. We thus demonstrate RCHSBT to be a genotyping method comparable to Sanger sequencing-based typing in quality, while being more cost-effective, and higher throughput.

Reactivity of Cyclic (Alkyl)(amino)germylene towards Copper(I) and Gold(I) Complexes.

The reactions of cyclic (alkyl)(amino)germylenes (CAAGe) with copper(I) and gold(I) complexes were investigated. CAAGe (1) reacts with CuBr(SMe2 ) leading to a tetrameric germylene complex [CAAGeCuBr]4 (2), whereas CAAGe (3) undergoes Au-Cl bond insertion with LAuCl (L=phosphine or N-heterocyclic carbene) to afford germanium gold(I) complexes (5 and 6). Chlorine abstraction of 6 gives the cationic germylene gold(I) complex 7.

Cu(ii)-mediated direct intramolecular cyclopropanation of distal olefinic acetate: access to cyclopropane-fused γ-lactones.

Cyclopropane-fused ring scaffolds represent one of the most appealing structural motifs in organic chemistry due to their wide presence in bioactive molecules and versatility in organic synthesis. These skeletons are typically prepared from olefinic diazo compounds via transition-metal catalysed intramolecular carbenoid insertion, which suffers from prefunctionalization of starting materials and limited substrate scope. Herein, we disclose a practical copper-mediated direct intramolecular cyclopropanation of distal olefinic acetate to synthesize cyclopropane-fused γ-lactones and lactams. This cascade reaction is postulated to proceed through a hydrogen atom transfer event induced radical cyclization and copper-mediated cyclopropanation sequence. The protocol features high atom- and step-economy, excellent diastereoselectivity, broad tolerance of functional groups, and operational simplicity.

Efficient Photoinduced Electron Transfer from Pyrene-o-Carborane Heterojunction to Selenoviologen for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and Reduction of Alkynes.

A series of pyrene or pyrene-o-carborane-appendant selenoviologens (Py-SeV2+ , Py-Cb-SeV2+ ) for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and reduction of alkynes is reported. The efficient photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from electron-rich pyrene-o-carborane heterojunction (Py-Cb) with intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) characteristic to electron-deficient selenoviologen (SeV2+ ) (kET = 1.2 × 1010 s-1 ) endows the accelerating the generation of selenoviologen radical cation (SeV+• ) compared with Py-SeV2+ and other derivatives. The electrochromic/electrofluorochromic devices' (ECD and EFCD) measurements and supramolecular assembly/disassembly processes of SeV2+ and cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) results show that the PET process can be finely tuned by electrochemical and host-guest chemistry methods. By combination with Pt-NPs catalyst, the Py-Cb-SeV2+ -based system shows high-efficiency visible-light-driven HER and highly selective phenylacetylene reduction due to the efficient PET process.

Multiscale photoacoustic tomography of neural activities with GCaMP calcium indicators.

SIGNIFICANCE: Optical imaging of responses in fluorescently labeled neurons has progressed significantly in recent years. However, there is still a need to monitor neural activities at divergent spatial scales and at depths beyond the optical diffusion limit. AIM: To meet these needs, we aim to develop multiscale photoacoustic tomography (PAT) to image neural activities across spatial scales with a genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP. APPROACH: First, using photoacoustic microscopy, we show that depth-resolved GCaMP signals can be monitored in vivo from a fly brain in response to odor stimulation without depth scanning and even with the cuticle intact. In vivo monitoring of GCaMP signals was also demonstrated in mouse brains. Next, using photoacoustic computed tomography, we imaged neural responses of a mouse brain slice at depths beyond the optical diffusion limit. RESULTS: We provide the first unambiguous demonstration that multiscale PAT can be used to record neural activities in transgenic flies and mice with select neurons expressing GCaMP. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the combination of multiscale PAT and fluorescent neural activity indicators provides a methodology for imaging targeted neurons at various scales.

Genomic architecture of fetal central nervous system anomalies using whole-genome sequencing.

Structural anomalies of the central nervous system (CNS) are one of the most common fetal anomalies found during prenatal imaging. However, the genomic architecture of prenatal imaging phenotypes has not yet been systematically studied in a large cohort. Patients diagnosed with fetal CNS anomalies were identified from medical records and images. Fetal samples were subjected to low-pass and deep whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for aneuploid, copy number variation (CNV), single-nucleotide variant (SNV, including insertions/deletions (indels)), and small CNV identification. The clinical significance of variants was interpreted based on a candidate gene list constructed from ultrasound phenotypes. In total, 162 fetuses with 11 common CNS anomalies were enrolled in this study. Primary diagnosis was achieved in 62 cases, with an overall diagnostic rate of 38.3%. Causative variants included 18 aneuploids, 17 CNVs, three small CNVs, and 24 SNVs. Among the 24 SNVs, 15 were novel mutations not reported previously. Furthermore, 29 key genes of diagnostic variants and critical genes of pathogenic CNVs were identified, including five recurrent genes: i.e., TUBA1A, KAT6B, CC2D2A, PDHA1, and NF1. Diagnostic variants were present in 34 (70.8%) out of 48 fetuses with both CNS and non-CNS malformations, and in 28 (24.6%) out of 114 fetuses with CNS anomalies only. Hypoplasia of the cerebellum (including the cerebellar vermis) and holoprosencephaly had the highest primary diagnosis yields (>70%), while only four (11.8%) out of 34 neural tube defects achieved genetic diagnosis. Compared with the control group, rare singleton loss-of-function variants (SLoFVs) were significantly accumulated in the patient cohort.