RSC Advances Blog

A straightforward route to synthesize pyrrolylBODIPY dyes, which can be used for fluorescent imaging, from acid chloride and excess pyrrole has been developed by scientists in China.

Pyrrolyldipyrromethenes contain the same core structure as the natural red pigment prodigiosin, and have received a lot of interest due to their broad range of biological activities.  When pyrrolyldipyrromethene is complexed with boron, the result is long wavelength absorbing and emitting fluorescent dyes.  In the synthesis of these dyes, the key step is the synthesis of the 2,2′-bipyrrole unit which often involves multiple steps and the use of expensive catalysts.

In this work, Erhong Hao, Lijuan Jiao and colleagues from Anhui Normal University, China, report that by reacting acyl chloride and excess pyrrole in dichloromethane under an oxygen atmosphere, to give the pyrrolylBODIPY dyes after about 10 hours. The application of these dyes to the fluorescent imaging of living-cells was then tested and the results suggested that the dyes were non-toxic and could easily be taken up by the cells. 

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One-pot efficient synthesis of pyrrolylBODIPY dyes from pyrrole and acyl chloride, Min Zhang, Erhong Hao, Yajun Xu, Shengzhou Zhang, Hongnian Zhu, Qi Wang, Changjiang Yu and Lijuan Jiao, RSC Adv., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2RA22203E

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There has recently been a lot of effort devoted to developing scaffolds that can mimic naturally occurring microenvironments to promote tissue regeneration.  These scaffolds need to provide not only a three-dimensional (3D) structural support but also nanotextured surfaces which comprise of a fibrous network for cell adhesion and signaling.

In this review article Shang-Tian Yang and colleagues from The Ohio State University, USA , look at the influence of 3D microstructures and nanotopographies on cellular functions – cell adhesion, proliferation, morphogenesis and differentiation.  The authors then discuss the recent developments in fabrication methods to produce 3D fibrous scaffolds and examples of their applications.

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Three-dimensional fibrous scaffolds with microstructures and nanotextures for tissue engineering, Robin Ng, Ru Zang, Kevin K. Yang, Ning Liu and Shang-Tian Yang, RSC Adv., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2RA21085A

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Hydrophobin proteins (also known as fungal adhesion proteins) adsorbed and formed a lubricating monolayer film on a stainless steel surface.

The use of water as a lubricant in certain applications holds several advantages due to its environmentally-safe and non-toxic nature, but employing it is challenging due to its low viscosity.  In this study, scientists from Finland and Germany led by Timo Hakala looked at using hydrophobin proteins to aid water lubrication between two stainless steel surfaces. 

The protein layer that was formed on the steel significantly reduced the friction and wear on the two steel surfaces.  A higher water content in the film could be achieved by attaching a carbohydrate moiety to the protein, which resulted in a decrease in the friction and wear on the steel.  The water content could be controlled by varying the conditions. 

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Adhesion and tribological properties of hydrophobin proteins in aqueous lubrication on stainless steel surfaces, Timo J. Hakala, Päivi Laaksonen, Vesa Saikko, Tiina Ahlroos, Aino Helle, Riitta Mahlberg, Hendrik Hähl, Karin Jacobs , Petri Kuosmanen, Markus B. Linder and Kenneth Holmberg, RSC Adv., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2RA21018E

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Scientists from Singapore have investigated the effect of various salts on facilitated transport membranes for carbon dioxide (CO₂) separation.

The addition of salts to polymeric membranes has proven to be a practical way to improve their permselectivity for gas separation. In this work, Rong Wang and Lizhi Zhang from the Nanyang Technical University looked into whether or not this could be applied to CO₂separation.  They found that with the addition of NaF salt, the permeance of N₂ was significantly reduced (by a factor 9.4) – far more so than for CO₂ (reduced by a factor of 1.5). 

The authors also introduced polyoxometalates (POMs) as oxysalts into the membranes.  Whilst the permeance of CO₂through the membranes was much lower, the permselectivity of CO₂ over N₂was much greater.  Due to their unique properties, POMs can be considered as attractive additives to membranes for CO₂ separation.

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Salting-out effect on facilitated transport membranes for CO₂separation: From fluoride salt to polyoxometalates, Lizhi Zhang and Rong Wang, RSC Adv., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2RA20882B