Complete furanics-sugar separations with metal-organic framework NU-1000

Metal-organic framework NU-1000 selectively adsorbs furanics, while completely excluding the adsorption of monomeric sugars from the same aqueous mixture. The highly refined degree of molecular recognition exhibited by NU-1000 is exemplified with it selectively adsorbing 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, even in the presence of up to a 300-fold excess of glucose in solution

Spectroscopy by frequency entangled photon pairs

Quantum spectroscopy was performed using the frequency-entangled broadband photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. An absorptive sample was placed in front of the idler photon detector, and the frequency of signal photons was resolved by a diffraction grating. The absorption spectrum of the sample was measured by counting the coincidences, and the result is in agreement with the one measured by a conventional spectrophotometer with a classical light source.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Lett.

Aprepitant plus granisetron and dexamethasone for prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients with gastric cancer treated with S-1 plus cisplatin

Background: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a new combination antiemetic therapy comprising aprepitant, granisetron, and dexamethasone in gastric cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy with cisplatin and S-1. Methods: Gastric cancer patients scheduled to receive their first course of chemotherapy with cisplatin (60 mg/m2) and S-1 (80 mg/m2) were treated with a new combination antiemetic therapy aprepitant, granisetron, and dexamethasone on day 1; aprepitant and dexamethasone on days 2 and 3; and dexamethasone on day 4. The patients reported vomiting, nausea, use of rescue therapy, and change in the amount of diet intake, and completed the Functional Living Index-Emesis (FLIE) questionnaire. The primary endpoint was complete response (CR; no emesis and use of no rescue antiemetics) during the overall study phase (0-120 h after cisplatin administration). The secondary endpoints included complete protection (CP; CR plus no significant nausea); change in the amount of diet intake; and the impact of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) on daily life during the overall, acute (0-24 h), and delayed (24-120 h) phases. Results: Fifty-three patients were included. CR was achieved in 88.7, 98.1, and 88.7 % of patients in the overall, acute, and delayed phases, respectively. The corresponding rates of CP were 67.9, 96.2, and 67.9 %. Approximately half of the patients had some degree of anorexia. FLIE results indicated that 79.5 % of patients reported "minimal or no impact of CINV on daily life". Conclusions: Addition of aprepitant to standard antiemetic therapy was effective in gastric cancer patients undergoing treatment with cisplatin and S-1. © 2013 Springer Japan

Catalytic transformation of cellulose into platform chemicals

Conversion of biomass to renewable and valuable chemicals has attracted global interest in order to build up sustainable societies. Cellulose is the most abundant and non-food biomass; however, the low reactivity of cellulose has prevented its use in chemical industry except for the paper manufacturing. The heterogeneous catalysis for the conversion of cellulose has been expected to overcome this issue, because various types of heterogeneous catalysts can be designed and applied in a wide range of reaction conditions. Furthermore, solid catalysts are easily recovered and reused. In this review article, we show the present situation and perspective of heterogeneous catalysis for the transformation of cellulose into useful platform chemicals

Quantitative evaluation of ball-milling effects on the hydrolysis of cellulose catalysed by activated carbon

The synthesis of glucose from cellulose is a critical roadblock for establishing a new sustainable cycle of biorefinery to produce bio-based and environmentally-benign chemicals. We have previously demonstrated that the pre-treatment ball-milling of solid cellulose and a solid catalyst ( mix-milling) drastically improves the yield of glucose and oligosaccharides; however, the effect of this type of ball-milling has not been quantitatively evaluated. In this study, we performed several model reactions and found that the mix-milling method drastically enhanced the solid-solid reactions, such as the hydrolysis of insoluble cellulose to soluble oligomers on the solid catalyst, but not liquid-solid reactions. The kinetic study indicated that the rate constant of hydrolysis of cellulose to oligomers using mix-milling was 13-fold higher than that using individual milling. Owing to the fast depolymerisation of cellulose, we achieved a 72% yield of glucose with 97% conversion of cellulose and 74% selectivity at 418 K

Production of sugar alcohols from real biomass by supported platinum catalyst

The influence of lignin and inorganic salts on the catalytic activity was studied in the hydrolytic hydrogenation of real biomass by a supported Pt catalyst. The direct conversion of raw silver grass by Pt/carbon catalyst under H-2 pressure produced small amounts of sorbitol (2.8 wt%), xylitol (7.3 wt%), and other sugar alcohols. It has been suggested that lignin reduces the reactivity of cellulose, as lignin exists together with cellulose in the biomass and both compounds are insoluble in water. Moreover, even weak bases drastically change the product distribution with more by-products such as EG and PG. Bases enhance the decomposition of sugar intermediates and sorbitol. The removal of lignin and inorganic salts by alkaliexplosion and neutralization raises the contents of cellulose and hemicellulose, thus increasing the yields of sorbitol (13 wt%) and xylitol (14 wt%) in the hydrolytic hydrogenation reactions