Electroreduction of CO2 into multi-carbon (C2+) products (e.g. C2+ alcohols) offers a promising way for CO2 utilization. Use of strong alkaline electrolytes is favorable to producing C2+ products. However, CO2 can react with hydroxide to form carbonate/bicarbonate, which results in low carbon utilization efficiency and poor stability. Using acidic electrolyte is an efficient way to solve the problems, but it is a challenge to achieve high selectivity of C2+ products. Here we report that the amine modified copper nanoparticles exhibit high selectivity of C2+ products and carbon utilization at acidic condition. The Faradaic efficiency (FE) of C2+ products reach up to 81.8% at acidic media (pH=2) with a total current density of 410 mA cm-2 over n-butylamine modified Cu. Especially the FE of C2+ alcohols is 52.6%, which is higher than those reported for CO2 electroreduction at acidic condition. In addition, the single-pass carbon efficiency towards C2+ production reach up to 60%. Detailed studies demonstrate that the amine molecule on the surface of Cu cannot only enhance the formation, adsorption and coverage of *CO, but also provide a hydrophobic environment, which result in the high selectivity of C2+ alcohols at acidic condition.

Ultrasonic irradiation holds potential for the selective oxidation of non-volatile organic substrates in the aqueous phase by harnessing hydroxyl radicals as chemical initiators. Here, a mechanistic description of hydroxyl radical-initiated glyoxal oxidation is constructed by gleaning insights from photolysis and radiation chemistry to explain the yields and kinetic trends for oxidation products. The mechanistic description and kinetic measurements reported herein reveal that increasing the formation rate of hydroxyl radicals by changing the ultrasound frequency increases both the rates of glyoxal consumption and the selectivity towards C2 acid products over those from C-C cleavage. Glyoxal consumption also occurs more rapidly and with greater selectivity towards C2 acids under acidic conditions, which favor the protonation of carboxylate intermediates into their less reactive acidic forms. Leveraging such pH and frequency effects is crucial to mitigating product degradation by secondary reactions with hydroxyl radicals and oxidation products (specifically hydrogen peroxide and superoxide). These findings demonstrate the potential of ultrasound as a driver for the selective oxidation of aldehyde functions to carboxylic acids, offering a sustainable route for valorizing biomass-derived platform molecules.

An efficient and rapid protocol for the oxidative halogenation of tryptamines with 10 % aqueous NaClO has been developed. This reaction is featured by its operational simplicity, metal-free conditions, no purification, and high yield. Notably, the resulting key intermediates are suitable for further functionalization with various nucleophiles, including amines, N-aromatic heterocycles, indoles and phenols. The overall transformation exhibits broad functional-group tolerance and is applicable to the late-stage functionalization of complex biorelevant molecules.

Starches-rich and protein-rich cereal samples commonly need tedious sample preparation steps before instrumental analysis. This study developed a miniaturized centrifugal integrated cold-induced phase separation (CIPS) method for convenient sample preparation. A small-sized centrifuge tube (2 mL) and a low-temperature centrifuge, both of which are easily accessible, make up the basic components of the system. Unlike conventional sample preparation methods that need a step-by-step extraction, enrichment, purification, and centrifugation, this centrifugal integrated CIPS method can be performed by a one-step combination protocol under a low-temperature centrifuge. As a proof-of-concept study, satisfactory recoveries and enrichment factors were demonstrated for the extraction of fumonisins and ochratoxins from cereals. A sensitive and selective quantification method was yielded by combining LC-HRMS using tSIM acquisition mode, with good linearity (R2 > 0.998), accuracy (82.9-106.5%), and precision (<13.4%). This strategy is convenient, low-cost, repeatable, and easy to semi-automate, further expanding the extraction potential for other acidic mycotoxins.

Treatment of naphthenic acids (NAs) in wastewater is necessary due to its high toxicity and difficult degradation. In the heterogeneous Fenton-like advanced oxidation of organic pollutant system, the insufficient accessibility of oxidizing agent and NAs greatly hamper the reaction efficiency. CO2-responsive phase transfer materials derived from polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based deep eutectic solvents were specific targeted at the immiscible-binary phase system. The NAs oxidative degradation process was optimized including the kinds of catalyst (Molecular weight of PEG, constitute of DESs, and dosage.), temperature, flow rate of CO2, et al. With the help of fluorescence properties of catalyst, the hydrophilic-hydrophobic interaction was visual-monitored and further studied. The amphipathic property of PEG-200/Sodium persulfate/Polyether amine 230 (PEA230) greatly reduced the aqueous/organic phase transfer barrier between sodium persulfate and NAs (up to 84 %), thus accreting oxidation rate. The surface tension decreased from 35.364 mN/m to 28.595 mN/m. To control the reaction rate, the CO2 respond structure of amido played an important role. In addition, the interfacial transfer intermediates and oxidation pathways were also explored by nuclear magnetic resonance, flourier transform infrared spectroscopy, surface tension, and radical inhibition experiments. The mechanism of advanced oxidation of NAs catalyzed by CO2-responsive phase transfer catalyst was proposed, which would made up for the deficiency of the system theory of heterogeneous chemical oxidation of organic pollutants.

A magnetic composite (Fe3O4@SiO2@PNIPAM-co-NHMA) with high adsorption capacity and recoverability was developed for the enrichment and determination of flavonoids in Scutellaria Radix (SR). A magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) technique using Fe3O4@SiO2@PNIPAM-co-NHMA absorbent in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed for selectively enrichment and determination of the biologically active flavonoids in the aqueous extract of SR, including baicalein, baicalin, wogonoside and wogonin. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the magnetic adsorbent could adsorb up to 77.0 ± 0.98 % - 98.15 ± 0.15 % of four representative flavonoids from SR, with elution rates varying from 55.10 ± 0.25 % to 91.94 ± 1.85 %. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantitation (LOQ) were 0.01-0.35 μg/mL and 0.03-0.98 μg/mL, respectively. In addition, it remained effective after six replicates, demonstrating its potential as a recoverable adsorbent for enriching flavonoids in traditional Chinese medicine.

Nitrogen heterocycles are commonly found in bioactive natural products and drugs. However, the biocatalytic tools for nitrogen heterocycle synthesis are limited. Herein, we report the discovery of vanillyl alcohol oxidases (VAOs) as efficient biocatalysts for the one-pot synthesis of 2-aryl thiazolines from various 4-hydroxybenzaldehydes and aminothiols. The wild-type biocatalyst features a broad scope of 4-hydroxybenzaldehydes. Though the scope of aminothiols is limited, it could be improved via semi-rational protein engineering, generating a variant to produce previously inaccessible cysteine-derived bioactive 2-aryl thiazolines using the wild-type VAO. Benefiting from the derivatizable functional groups in the enzymatic products, we further chemically modified these products to expand the chemical space, offering a new chemoenzymatic strategy for the green and efficient synthesis of structurally diverse 2-aryl-thiazoline derivatives to prompt their use in drug discovery and catalysis.

Herein, we have developed a new approach for the synthesis of indolizine via Cu-catalyzed reaction of pyridine, acetophenone, and nitroolefin under mild conditions in high yields. This reaction involved the formation of C-N and C-C bonds and new indolizine compounds with high stereoselectivity and excellent functional group tolerance.

β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), as an important pseudo-stationary phase (PSP) in capillary electrophoresis (CE), frequently confronts challenges stemming from its limited water solubility, particularly when high concentrations are required for resolving complex analytes. Traditionally, researchers often resort to the use of (toxic) organic solvents to enhance the solubility of β-CD, establishing non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) for specific separations. However, such practices are hazardous to health and run counter to the principles of green analytical chemistry. In this study, we demonstrate a deep eutectic solvent (DES), Proline:Urea (PU), as a promising alternative to conventional organic solvents for β-CD-based CE separations. The DES exhibits a solubility of up to 30% for β-CD, a significant improvement compared to the 1.8% solubility in the aqueous phase. Utilizing this DES-type separation medium, we achieved simultaneous baseline separation of a complex analyte composed of eight structurally similar naphthoic acid derivatives. Furthermore, we conducted a systematic comparison of β-CD\'s performance in aqueous CE buffers, organic solvents, and DESs, highlighting the superiority of this novel and environmentally friendly CE separation medium.

The successful commercialization of algal biophotovoltaics (BPV) technology hinges upon a multifaceted approach, encompassing factors such as the development of a cost-efficient and highly conductive anode material. To address this issue, we developed an environmentally benign method of producing reduced graphene oxide (rGO), using concentrated Chlorella sp. UMACC 313 suspensions as the reducing agent. The produced rGO was subsequently coated on the carbon paper (rGO-CP) and used as the BPV device\'s anode. As a result, maximum power density was increased by 950% for Chlorella sp. UMACC 258 (0.210 mW m-2) and 781% for Synechococcus sp. UMACC 371 (0.555 mW m-2) compared to bare CP. The improved microalgae adhesion to the anode and improved electrical conductivity of rGO brought on by the effective removal of oxygen functional groups may be the causes of this. This study has demonstrated how microalgal-reduced GO may improve the efficiency of algal BPV for producing bioelectricity.