The capability of saliva protein analysis, based on membrane protein purification and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), for detecting benign and malignant breast tumors is presented in this paper. A total of 97 SERS spectra from purified saliva proteins were acquired from samples obtained from three groups: 33 healthy subjects; 33 patients with benign breast tumors; and 31 patients with malignant breast tumors. Subtle but discernible changes in the mean SERS spectra of the three groups were observed. Tentative assignments of the saliva protein SERS spectra demonstrated that benign and malignant breast tumors led to several specific biomolecular changes of the saliva proteins. Multiclass partial least squares–discriminant analysis was utilized to analyze and classify the saliva protein SERS spectra from healthy subjects, benign breast tumor patients, and malignant breast tumor patients, yielding diagnostic sensitivities of 75.75%, 72.73%, and 74.19%, as well as specificities of 93.75%, 81.25%, and 86.36%, respectively. The results from this exploratory work demonstrate that saliva protein SERS analysis combined with partial least squares–discriminant analysis diagnostic algorithms has great potential for the noninvasive and label-free detection of breast cancer.

Currently used aqueous electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries suffer from narrow potential windows of <1.5 V. In this paper, we are the first to discover the new deep eutectic solvent (DES) electrolyte of the methylsulfonylmethane–lithium perchlorate–water system, which is a safe, environmentally friendly, and low-cost “water-in-salt” aqueous electrolyte. It is found that the lithium ion can coordinate with the oxygen atom in the SO double bond, perchlorate, and water molecule, retaining fluidity at room temperature when the molar ratios of MSM:LiClO4:H2O are 1.8:1:z (z > 0.3). This DES electrolyte performs with a satisfying electrochemical stability window (∼3.5 V), which enables the LiMn2O4/Li4Ti5O12 aqueous lithium-ion battery with both high energy density (>160 W h kg–1) and high capacity retention (72.2% after 1000 cycles). Overall, our study of this new deep DES electrolyte can enrich room-temperature “water-in-salt” aqueous electrolyte and offers new insights into exploring green aqueous electrolyte systems for lithium-ion batteries.

Fullerene skeleton modification has been investigated through selective cleavage of the fullerene carbon-carbon bonds under mild conditions. Several cage-opened fullerene derivatives including three [59]fullerenones with an 18-membered-ring orifice and one [59]fullerenone with a 19-membered-ring orifice have been prepared starting from the fullerene mixed peroxide 1, C60(OOtBu)6. The prepositioned tert-butyl peroxy groups in 1 serve as excellent oxygen sources for formation of hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. The cage-opening reactions were initiated by photoinduced homolysis of the tBu-O bond, followed by sequential ring expansion steps. A key step of the ring expansion reactions is the oxidation of adjacent fullerene hydroxyl and amino groups by diacetoxyliodobenzene (DIB). Aminolysis of a cage-opened fullerene derivative containing an anhydride moiety resulted in multiple bond cleavage in one step. A domino mechanism was proposed for this reaction. Decarboxylation led to elimination of one carbon atom from the C60 cage and formation of [59]fullerenones. The cage-opened [59]fullerenones were found to encapsulate water under mild conditions. All compounds were characterized by spectroscopic data. Single-crystal structures were also obtained for five skeleton-modified derivatives including two water-encapsulated fulleroids.

tert-Butylperoxy radicals generated by TBHP and Ru(PPh3)3Cl2 or other catalysts adds to C60 and C70 to form stable multiadducts, C60(O)(OOtBu)4 and C70(OOtBu)10. The four tert-butylperoxy groups in the C60 mixed peroxide are located around a pentagon, and the epoxy O occupies the remaining 6,6-bond connected to the same pentagon. The C70 decaadduct shows an unprecedented C2 symmetry with the 10 tert-butylperoxy groups added around the central part of C70 by consecutive 1,4-addition. The compounds are fully characterized by spectroscopic data.

Cytochrome P450 enzymes are capable of catalyzing a great variety of synthetically useful reactions such as selective C-H functionalization. Surrogate redox partners are widely used for reconstitution of P450 activity based on the assumption that the choice of these auxiliary proteins or their mode of action does not affect the type and selectivity of reactions catalyzed by P450s. Herein, we present an exceptional example to challenge this postulate. MycG, a multifunctional biosynthetic P450 monooxygenase responsible for hydroxylation and epoxidation of 16-membered ring macrolide mycinamicins, is shown to catalyze the unnatural N-demethylation(s) of a range of mycinamicin substrates when partnered with the free Rhodococcus reductase domain RhFRED or the engineered Rhodococcus-spinach hybrid reductase RhFRED-Fdx. By contrast, MycG fused with the RhFRED or RhFRED-Fdx reductase domain mediates only physiological oxidations. This finding highlights the larger potential role of variant redox partner protein-protein interactions in modulating the catalytic activity of P450 enzymes.

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tert-Butylperoxy radicals add to C(60) selectively to form multi-adducts C(60)(O)(m)(OO(t)Bu)(n) (m = 0, n = 2, 4, 6; m = 1, n = 0, 2, 4, 6) in moderate yields under various conditions. Visible light irradiation favors epoxide formation. High concentration of tert-butylperoxy radicals mainly produces the hexa-homoadduct C(60)(OO(t)Bu)(6) 6; low concentration and long reaction time favor the epoxy-containing C(60)(O)(OO(t)Bu)(4) 7. The reaction can be stopped at the bis-adducts with limited TBHP. A stepwise addition mechanism is discussed involving mono-, allyl-, and cyclopentadienyl C(60) radical intermediates. m-CPBA reacts with the 1,4-bis-adduct to form C(60)(O)(OO(t)Bu)(2) and C(60)(O)(3)(OO(t)Bu)(2). The C-O bond of the epoxy ring in 7 can be cleaved with HNO(3) and CF(3)COOH. Nucleophilic addition of NaOMe to 7 follows the S(N)1 and extended S(N)2' mechanism, from which four products are isolated with the general formula C(60)(O)(a)(OH)(b)(OMe)(c)(OO(t)Bu)(d). Visible light irradiation of the hexa-adduct 6 results in partial cleavage of both the C-O and O-O bonds of peroxide moieties and formation of the cage-opened compound C(60)(O)(O)(2)(OO(t)Bu)(4). All the fullerene derivatives are characterized by spectroscopic data. A single-crystal structure has been obtained for an isomer of C(60)(O)(OH)(2)(OMe)(4)(OO(t)Bu)(2).