Organic carbonyl electrode materials of lithium batteries have shown multifunctional molecule design and high capacity, but have the problems of poor cycling and low rate performance due to their high solubility in traditional carbonate‐based electrolytes and low conductivity. High‐performance organic lithium batteries with modified ether‐based electrolyte (2 m LiN(CF3SO2)2 in 1,3‐dioxolane/dimethoxyethane solvent with 1% LiNO3 additive (2m‐DD‐1%L)) and 9,10‐anthraquinone (AQ)/CMK‐3 (AQC) nanocomposite cathode are reported here. The electrochemical results manifest that 2m‐DD‐1%L electrolyte promotes the cycling performance due to the restraint of AQ dissolution in ether‐based electrolyte with high Li salt concentration and formation of a protection film on the surface of the anode. Additionally, the AQC nanocomposite improves the rate performance because of the nanoconfinement effect of CMK‐3 and the decrease of charge transfer impedance. In 2m‐DD‐1%L electrolyte, AQC nanocomposite delivers an initial discharge capacity of 205 mA h g−1 and a capacity of 174 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C. Even at a high rate of 2 C, its capacity is 146 mA h g−1. This strategy is also used for other organic carbonyl compounds with quinone substructures and they maintain high stable capacities. This sheds light on the development of advanced organic lithium batteries with carbonyl electrode materials and ether‐based electrolytes.

We here report a much improved electrochemical performance of sodium batteries with the 9,10-anthraquinone (AQ) cathode encapsulated in CMK-3, an ether-based electrolyte of high-concentration CF3SO3Na (NaTFS) as a sodium salt in triethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) solvent, and the Na anode.

Rechargeable lithium batteries with organic electrode materials are promising energy storage systems with advantages of structural designability, low cost, renewability, and environmental friendliness. Among the reported organic electrode materials, small organic carbonyl compounds are powerful candidates with high theoretical capacities and fast kinetics. However, these compounds are plagued by high solubility in aprotic electrolytes, which is considered as the main issue leading to capacity decay and short cycling life. Herein we review two major methods to solve this problem, including the preparation of small organic carbonyl salts and optimization of the electrolyte. The polarities of organic electrode materials can be enhanced by forming salts. Thus, the dissolution of the organic compounds in aprotic electrolytes with low polarity is depressed. Meanwhile, optimization of the electrolyte with increasing viscosity can also reduce the dissolution. These two strategies provide guidance for future studies of rechargeable lithium batteries with organic electrode materials.

Structural proteomics refers to large‐scale mapping of protein structures in order to understand the relationship between protein sequence, structure, and function. Chemical labeling, in combination with mass‐spectrometry (MS) analysis, have emerged as powerful tools to enable a broad range of biological applications in structural proteomics. The key to success is a biocompatible reagent that modifies a protein without affecting its high‐order structure. Fluorine, well‐known to exert profound effects on the physical and chemical properties of reagents, should have an impact on structural proteomics. In this Minireview, we describe several fluorine‐containing reagents that can be applied in structural proteomics. We organize their applications around four MS‐based techniques: a) affinity labeling, b) activity‐based protein profiling (ABPP), c) protein footprinting, and d) protein cross‐linking. Our aim is to provide an overview of the research, development, and application of fluorine‐containing reagents in protein structural studies.

Apatinib (APA) belongs to the targeted antineoplastic family of drugs by inhibiting the vascular endothelial cell growth factor receptor (VEGFR-2) of tyrosine kinase. APA encounters poor aqueous solubility problems, and its therapeutic dosage form, apatinib mesylate (ATM), is unstable and dissociates completely to APA in aqueous solution. Here, we synthesized and evaluated three new cocrystals of APA with adipic acid (APA + ADA), sebacic acid (APA + SEA), and D/L-mandelic acid (APA + D/L-MA), and four new salts with succinic acid (APA + SUA-H 2 O), salicylic acid (APA + SA), 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (APA + HNA), and saccharin (APA + SAC). All the solid forms were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic vapor sorption. The molecular components and structures were confirmed by single crystal Xray diffraction. APA + SEA is able to overcome the instability problem and has improved solubility compared with ATM. Hence, APA + SEA has the potential to be a superior candidate for this important drug.

Metal ions, usually bound by various amino-acid side chains in proteins, play multiple roles in protein folding, conformational change, cellular communication, and catalysis. Ca(II) and Mg(II), abundant among biologically relevant cations, execute their cellular functions associated with the conformational change of bound proteins. They bind with proteins where carboxylic acid residues are dominant ligands. To develop mass spectrometry for mapping protein-binding sites, we implemented a new carboxyl group footprinter, benzhydrazide, and refined it with isotope encoding. The method uses carbodiimide chemistry to footprint carboxylic residues, whereby 1ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide activates a carboxyl group followed by nucleophilic attack by benzhydrazide forming a stable labeled product. We tested the effectiveness of isotopeencoded benzhydrazide by studying Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ binding of calmodulin, an EF-hand protein.The footprinting results indicate that the four active sites for metal-ion binding (EF hands I, II, III, and IV) and the linker region (peptide 78-86) undergo conformational changes upon Ca(II) and Mg(II) binding, respectively. The outcome is consistent with previously reported results and 3-D structures, thereby validating a new reagent that is more reactive and discriminating for specific amino-acid protein footprinting. This reagent should be important for locating metal-binding sites of other metalloproteins.

Nicorandil (NCD) is a chemically unstable drug and sensitive to humidity, heat, and mechanical stress in manufacturing processes. In this work, the cocrystals of NCD with organic acids were designed and synthesized to enhance the stability of NCD. Cocrystals of NCD with 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, salicylic acid, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid were obtained. Hydrothermal stability study showed that cocrystals performed with remarkable stability advantages compared with pure NCD. On the basis of mechanism research, the stability improvements of NCD molecules can be attributed to the realignments of NCD molecules in cocrystals. After the formation of cocrystals, the novel packing styles of NCD break the selfcatalyzed decomposition process in pure NCD structure. Moreover, intrinsic dissolution rate characterizations showed that the formation of cocrystals could also optimize the dissolution behavior of NCD to realize the objective of sustained release.

Progesterone (Prog), a natural steroid hormone, is widely used in birth control pills and menopausal hormone replacement therapies. Phloroglucinol (SPF) and resveratrol (RSV) are also two kinds of active products that can be used during pregnancy. Drug–drug cocrystals of Prog with SPF and RSV were designed and successfully synthesized for purpose of bringing improvements of drug properties, including solubility, hydroscopic stability, and color stability. The cocrystals and their hydrate structures were systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. In addition, powder dissolution experiments of Prog, Prog-SPF, and Prog-RSV were conducted in aqueous solutions with the presence of different surfactants, and the result revealed that the Prog-SPF cocrystal exhibits a superior solubility compared with Prog and Prog-RSV. Furthermore, the Prog-SPF cocrystal also enhances the hydroscopic stability and color stability of SPF. Those findings may provide a promising formulation to overcome some weaknesses of the parent drugs.