Mesoporous poly(ionic liquid)s (MPILs) are promising candidates for CO2 capture and CO2 conversion; however, no quaternary ammonium-based MPIL has been reported for cycloaddition of CO2 to epoxides. Herein, a series of novel sponge-like crosslinked quaternary ammonium-based MPILs containing rich exposed anions and a large surface area were successfully prepared by free-radical polymerization and subsequent supercritical CO2 drying (SCD). It was discovered that the SCD treatment was vital to form the mesoporous structure of MPILs. These MPILs behaved like a CO2 sponge and facilitated high CO2 adsorption, which accelerated the cycloaddition process. Among these MPILs, poly(N,N′-(methylene)bis(N,N-dimethyl-1-(4-vinylphenyl)methanaminium)chloride) with a halogen anion-enriched skeleton showed the best catalytic performance for CO2 cycloaddition with various epoxides under mild conditions, i.e. 1 atm, 90 °C, solvent-free, metal-free, and additive-free conditions. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that the activation energy was lower for the rate-determining epoxy ring-opening step when the quaternary ammonium monomer was used as compared to the case when the imidazolium monomer was used, revealing the lower CO2 cycloaddition temperature with the quaternary ammonium-based MPIL. Moreover, the catalyst can be separated easily and reused with high stability.

DNA conjugated gold nanorods (AuNRs) are widely applied for nanostructure assembly, gene therapy, biosensing, and drug delivery. However, it is still a great challenge to attach thiolated DNA on AuNRs, because the positively charged AuNRs readily aggregate in the presence of negatively charged DNA. This article reports an mPEG-SH/Tween 20-assisted method to load thiolated DNA on AuNRs in 1 h. Tween 20 and mPEG-SH are used to synergistically displace CTAB on the surface of AuNRs by repeated centrifugation and resuspension, and thiolated DNA are attached to AuNRs in the presence of 1 M NaCl, 100 mM MgCl2, or 100 mM citrate. AuNRs with different sizes and aspect ratios can be functionalized with DNA by this method. The number of DNA loaded on each AuNR can be easily controlled by the concentrations of mPEG-SH and Tween 20 or the ratio between DNA and AuNR. Functionalized AuNRs were used for nanoparticle assembly and cancer cell imaging to confirm that DNA anchored on the surface of AuNRs retains its hybridization and molecular recognition capability. The new method is easy, rapid, and robust for the preparation of DNA functionalized AuNRs for a variety of applications such as cancer therapy, drug delivery, self-assembly, and imaging.

Twenty-one novel benzothiophene-substituted oxime ether strobilurins, which employed a benzothiophene group to stabilise the E-styryl group in Enoxastrobin (an unsaturated oxime strobilurin fungicide developed by Shenyang Research Institute of Chemical Industry, China) were designed and synthesised. The biological assay indicated that most compounds exhibited good or excellent fungicidal activities, especially against Colletotrichum lagenarium and Puccinia sorghi Schw. In addition, methyl 3-methoxypropenoate oxime ethers and N-methoxy-carbamic acid methyl esters exhibited good in vivo fungicidal activities against Erysiphe graminis, Colletotrichum lagenarium and Puccinia sorghi Schw. under the tested concentrations. Notably, (E,E)-methyl 3-methoxy-2-(2-((((6-chloro-1-(1H-benzo[b]thien-2-yl)ethylidene)amino)oxy)methyl)phenyl)propenoate (5E) exhibited more potent in vivo fungicidal activities against nearly all of the tested fungi at a concentration of 0.39 mg/L compared to Enoxastrobin.A series of novel benzothiophene–substituted oxime ether strobilurins were designed and synthesized. These compounds were tested for their antifungal activity. The title compounds showed potent antifungal activities.

•A series of novel monodisperse oligofluorenes are designed and synthesized.•OLEDs are fabricated with the structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PVK/oligomers/CsF/Al.•The relationship between the molecular structure and properties is investigated.•OLEDs based on these oligofluorenes emit deep-blue light peaked at ca. 392–420 nm.A series of new monodisperse oligofluorenes mainly based on 9,9-bis(2-methylbutyl)fluorene units whose rigid core has been extended with 1-(trifluoromethyl)benzene termini (F1, F2, F3) or hydrogen termini (8, 12) are designed and synthesized. The effects of conjugated length and end-capper groups on thermal, optical and electrochemical properties are studied. The oligofluorenes exhibit a narrower bandgap, higher HOMO, lower LUMO and red-shift on absorption/emission spectra with increasing number of fluorene units. Based on the comparing data of the compounds which have the same number of fluorene units, oligomers terminaled with electron-withdrawing group have a higher Tg, narrower bandgap and red-shifts on absorption/emission spectra. Furthermore, in order to investigate the possibility of using these molecules as emitters in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), solution-processed OLEDs with structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PVK:oligomers/CsF/Al are fabricated. All devices based on the oligomers emit deep-blue light peaked at ca. 392–420 nm. Among these devices, the device based on hydrogen-terminated compound (12) displays the best performance with a high maximum luminance of 670 cd/m2, a low turn-on voltage of 4.20 V, and a maximum luminance efficiency of 0.38 cd/A.Download high-res image (109KB)Download full-size image