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Liyan Zhao

Publications and source records attributed to Liyan Zhao.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Digital logic circuit based on a single molecular system of salicylidene Schiff base.

The salicylidene Schiff base N-3,5-dichloro-salicylidene-(S)-alpha-phenylethylamine (SPEA) has been synthesized and characterized. Stimulated by one optical input (UV light) and two chemical inputs (OH(-) and Zn(2+)), SPEA undergoes reactions of photochemistry, deprotonation, and complexation. Tailing these reactions by means of the UV-vis absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra, two obvious optical outputs, an absorption band at 323 nm and a fluorescent emission peak at 460 nm, have been obtained. On the basis of encoding binary digits in these inputs and outputs applying positive logic conventions, one monomolecular circuit, which integrates one OR, two NOT, and four AND gates, has been achieved.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Different effects of microwave and ultrasound on the stability of (all-E)-astaxanthin.

Both microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) have been widely applied in the extraction of a variety of biologically active compounds including carotenoids due to their lower pollution to environment, high extraction efficiency, lower cost, and shorter extraction time as compared to conventional extraction techniques. However, there are few reports on their effects on the stability of these compounds. In the present study, the stability of (all-E)-astaxanthin, one of the carotenoids, was examined under the action of both ultrasound and microwave. Results showed that microwave induced the isomerization of (all-E)-astaxanthin to its Z analogues, preferentially to (13Z)-astaxanthin as analyzed by HPLC coupled with diode array detection and LC-MS; and the percentage of the isomerization increased with increasing both treatment time and microwave power. In contrast to the microwave, the ultrasound degraded (all-E)-astaxanthin to unidentified colorless compound(s) as suggested by HPLC analysis and UV/vis measurements, and the degradation likewise increased as both treatment time and ultrasonic power increased. The results presented here emphasized that both MAE and UAE techniques should be carefully used in the extraction of unstable compounds such as (all-E)-astaxanthin.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed2006

Multistate/multifunctional switches based on photochromic Schiff base.

The salicylidene Schiff base derivative, namely, N-salicylidene-(S)-alpha-naphthylethylamine (SNEA) has been synthesized to study the characterization of multistate/multifunctional switches. Upon the stimulations of optical inputs (UV light and visible light) and chemical inputs (pH and Zn(2+)), SNEA undergoes reversible photochromism, deprotonation and complexation reactions. In this case, four chemical species are involved. These interconversions of SNEA between four states have been systematically investigated by the absorption and the emission spectra. Spectroscopic studies indicate that the photochromic switch, pH switch and fluorescent switch can be realized using the single molecular entity of SNEA.

Cations, Divalent↗
PubMed2006

A method for rapidly confirming protein N-terminal sequences by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

The N-terminal sequence is important for the identification of a protein and the confirmation of its N-terminal processing. Although mass spectrometry (MS) is a sensitive and high-throughput method to sequence and identify peptides and proteins, N-terminal peptides, diluted among most of the peptides that do not originate at the N-termini, are not easy to identify directly with MS. To develop a simple and rapid method to identify and sequence the N-terminal peptide of a protein, a new strategy based on specific sulfonation of terminal amino groups and selective monitoring of the sulfonated peptide was introduced. After a protein had been guanidinated, 2-sulfobenzoylated, and reduced, it was digested with trypsin and analyzed by MS. Because of the strong acidity of sulfonic groups and the specific sulfonation of alpha-amino groups, the sulfonated N-terminal peptide dominated as base peak in the negative mode peptide mass fingerprint (PMF) and was easy to identify. The N-terminal peptide was then selected as precursor ion for tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) analysis. Four proteins were tested with this method and their N-terminal peptides were successfully recognized and sequenced. The results suggest that the addition of a sulfonic acid group facilitates the identification and de novo sequencing of N-terminal peptides.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Isomerization of trans-astaxanthin induced by copper(II) ion in ethanol.

Carotenoids are unstable and susceptible to disruption by environmental factors such as heat, light, and solvents. However, there is little information on the effect of metal ions on stability of carotenoids, especially those essential elements in human nutrition. Astaxanthin is one of the few carotenoids containing four oxygen donors. Usually, these oxygen donors can coordinate with heavy metal ions such as Cu(II) and Fe(III). In the present study, the interaction of trans-astaxanthin with Cu(II) was examined. It was found that Cu(II) markedly induces the conversion of trans-astaxanthin to its cis forms, which mainly consist of 9-cis-astaxanthin and 13-cis-astaxanthin as suggested by UV-visible spectra and HPLC measurements. Increasing either incubation time of Cu(II) and trans-astaxanthin in ethanol or the Cu(II)/astaxanthin ratio results in an increased percentage of cis isomers derived from trans-astaxanthin. All these results provide important information on the effects of dietary factors on the bioavailability and bioactivity of trans-astaxanthin.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed2005

Molecular dynamics studies of the stability of water/n-heptane interfaces with adsorbed naphthenic acids.

The mechanism by which naphthenic acids stabilize water/oil interfaces has received extensive attention because of its industrial relevancy. In this work, we employed a molecular dynamics simulation to study its molecular origin. Two models were adopted, wherein naphthenic acid coverage of water/n-heptane interfaces, both spherical and flat, was hypothesized, respectively. It was found that the coalescence of two water clusters is entirely attributed to the diffusional motion of the components involved which requires the initial departure of the naphthenic acid molecules from the interface so that a water bridge can form. The naphthenic acids not only act as a steric barrier but also reduce the mobility of the water and n-heptane molecules making the formation of the water bridge rather difficult. In fact, our results show that the coalescence of two water clusters fully covered by naphthenic acid molecules is a low-probability event even at evaluated temperatures. In addition, the results from the flat interface models suggest that the emulsion stability is weakly dependent on the molecular weight of the naphthenic acids utilized. Order parameter calculations reveal liquid-crystal-like ordering of naphthenic acids at the water/n-heptane interfaces. All these observations are consistent with the corresponding experimental observations. The present work also suggests that the mobility of naphthenic acids is considerably enhanced with more n-heptane molecules present outside a water droplet. However, in such a case, coalescence could not occur as the water clusters are far apart from each other.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Dynamics of Re(2,2'-bipyridine)(CO)3Cl MLCT formation and decay after picosecond pulsed X-ray excitation and femtosecond UV excitation.

The dynamics of Re(2,2'-bipyridine)(CO)3Cl MLCT state formation and decay were determined after femtosecond UV laser excitation and picosecond pulsed X-ray excitation, in an N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution as well as in its solid form. At room temperature, after UV excitation, this MLCT excited state emits both in DMF solution and in the solid form. Transient absorption spectra were measured in solution at various delay times following excitation by a 160 fs, 390 nm laser pulse. There was a prompt absorption increase at around 460 nm occurring within the pump probe convolution (<1 ps), which was assigned to the formation of the 3MLCT state. This transient absorbance was constant over 100 ps. In contrast to the solution state, in the solid state, the emission maximum slightly red-shifts with increasing time after laser excitation. In both solid and solution the emission rises within the system response time. The solid sample exhibited a 1.4 ns emission decay that was not observed for the solution sample. The emission rise from a solid sample after 20 ps pulsed X-ray excitation was significantly slower than the system's time resolution. It is proposed that kinetically energetic electrons are ejected following X-ray induced ionisation, creating ionised tracks in which energetic cations and electrons take time to recombine yielding delayed 3MLCT states that emit.

Carbon Monoxide↗
PubMed2004

Simultaneous determination of albendazole and its major active metabolite in human plasma using a sensitive and specific liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric method.

A method for the simultaneous determination of albendazole (ABZ) and its major active metabolite albendazole sulfoxide (ABZ-SO) was developed and validated. The analytes were extracted from plasma samples by liquid-liquid extraction and analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with an electrospray ionization interface. Estazolam was used as the internal standard. The assay was linear in the concentration range 0.4-200 ng/ml for ABZ and 4.0-2000 ng/ml for ABZ-SO. The intra- and inter-run precision (R.S.D.), calculated from quality control (QC) samples was less than 7.1 and 9.4% for ABZ and ABZ-SO, respectively. The accuracy as determined from QC samples was within +/- 3% for the analytes. Recoveries of ABZ and ABZ-SO were greater than 77 and 53%, respectively, over the calibration curve range. The method developed was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic studies of ABZ and ABZ-SO after an oral dose of 400 mg albendazole to healthy volunteers.

Albendazole↗
PubMed2004

Molecular dynamics simulation of the coalescence of nanometer-sized water droplets in n-heptane.

Molecular dynamics simulations using a modified Drieding 2.21 force field were carried out to study the coalescence behavior of nanometer-sized water droplets in vacuum and in n-heptane. The coalescence mechanisms of the water droplets in the above-noted environments are fairly similar in a sense that the water droplets form a bridge linking the droplets before they merge. However, in the latter situation, due to the presence of n-heptane molecules in between the water droplets, the coalescence was observed to be slowed down considerably, especially in the first 10 ps of the process. However, once the bridge is formed, the water droplets, in both situations, spend about the same amount of time to form a single droplet. The maximum distance between the droplets above which coalescence does not occur was found to be 10 A. In terms of the dynamics, the diffusion coefficient of n-heptane in the emulsion system was very close to its value in the pure liquid form. This may be because n-heptane is the continuous phase. Nonetheless, the dynamic behavior of water in n-heptane is different from that of pure water during and after the coalescence. In particular, the self-diffusion coefficient of water molecules in n-heptane is about 20% higher than the experimental value of pure water. Due to the lack of strong attraction forces between water and n-heptane molecules, the n-heptane molecules were observed to orient themselves perpendicularly to the water/n-heptane interfaces so that the contacting area is minimized.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

On-line identification of phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids in a crude extract from Tylophora atrofolliculata by liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry.

Electrospray ionization multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(n)) and liquid chromatography coupled with sequential mass spectrometry (LC/MS(n)) were applied to identify trace-level phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids in crude extracts from Tylophora atrofolliculata. Based on the relationship between the characteristic fragmentation reactions and the structural features of related compounds of known structure from this plant, the bioactive crude extract was analyzed in detail by positive and negative ion ESI-MS(n), LC/UV-MS and LC/MS(n) techniques. A total of nine constituents in the crude extract were identified rapidly, including several isomers; seven of these constituents are new and two are known compounds. The structures of four of these constituents were subsequently confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and accurate mass measurements using high-resolution fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-HRMS).

Alkaloids↗