Confinement Effect in Metal–Organic Framework Cu₃(<b>BTC</b>)₂ for Enhancing Shape Selectivity of Radical Difunctionalization of Alkenes

The radical difunctionalization of alkenes plays a vital role in pharmacy, but the conventional homogeneous catalytic systems are challenging in selectivity and sustainability to afford the target molecules. Herein, the famous readily available metal–organic framework (MOF), Cu3(BTC)2, has been applied to cyano-trifluoromethylation of alkenes as a high-performance and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst, which possesses copper(II) active sites residing in funnel-like cavities. Under mild conditions, styrene derivatives and various unactivated olefins could be smoothly transformed into the corresponding cyano-trifluoromethylation products. Moreover, the transformation brought about by the active copper center in confined environments achieved regio- and shape selectivity. To understand the enhanced selectivity, the activation manner of the MOF catalyst was studied with control catalytic experiments such as FT-IR and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy of substrate-incorporated Cu3(BTC)2, which elucidated that the catalyst underwent a radical transformation with the intermediates confined in the MOF cavity, and the confinement effect endowed the method with pronounced selectivities

A facile method to fabricate the durable and self-protective coating for marine applications

Endowing coatings with effective protective function for metal substrates is of great interest. An excellent example is slippery liquid infused surface (SLIS) which possesses potential applications owing to its unique liquid repellency and self-cleaning properties. However, their widespread applications are facing obstacles of complex preparation, poor protection and low durability. Herein, a facile and efficient liquid infusion method was proposed to construct SLIS by altering the heterogeneous microstructure on the SiOx layer of the coatings with direct UV irradiation. The coatings were fabricated by conducting an appropriate UV irradiation treatment on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film infused with methyl oleate (MO). The as-prepared transparent anti-fouling coatings showed outstanding anti-fouling properties against various contaminants such as algal (Chlorella), sand, rust (Fe2O3), paints (both water-based and oil-based) and daily life liquid pollutants (e.g., water, coffee, cola, soy sauce and milk). In addition, results revealed that the coatings exhibited a prominent anti-corrosion performance. Moreover, the coatings had excellent mechanical, chemical and thermal durability regarding the great repellency of the pollutants. We proposed this synergistic strategy between lubricant infusion and coating heterogeneous microstructure to widen new possibilities for fabricating coatings with promissing anti-corrosive and anti-fouling functionality

Database Resources of the National Genomics Data Center, China National Center for Bioinformation in 2021

The National Genomics Data Center (NGDC), part of the China National Center for Bioinformation (CNCB), provides a suite of database resources to support worldwide research activities in both academia and industry. With the explosive growth of multiomics data, CNCB-NGDC is continually expanding, updating and enriching its core database resources through big data deposition, integration and translation. In the past year, considerable efforts have been devoted to 2019nCoVR, a newly established resource providing a global landscape of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences, variants, and haplotypes, as well as Aging Atlas, BrainBase, GTDB (Glycosyltransferases Database), LncExpDB, and TransCirc (Translation potential for circular RNAs). Meanwhile, a series of resources have been updated and improved, including BioProject, BioSample, GWH (Genome Warehouse), GVM (Genome Variation Map), GEN (Gene Expression Nebulas) as well as several biodiversity and plant resources. Particularly, BIG Search, a scalable, one-stop, cross-database search engine, has been significantly updated by providing easy access to a large number of internal and external biological resources from CNCB-NGDC, our partners, EBI and NCBI. All of these resources along with their services are publicly accessible at https://bigd.big.ac.cn