A Double-Pronged Sword: XJB-5-131 Is a Suppressor of Somatic Instability and Toxicity in Huntington’s Disease

Due to large increases in the elderly populations across the world, age-related diseases are expected to increase dramatically in the coming years. Among these, neurodegenerative diseases will be among the most devastating in terms of their emotional and economic impact on patients, their families, and associated subsidized health costs. There is no currently available cure or rescue for dying brain cells. Viable therapeutics for any of these disorders would be a breakthrough and provide relief for the large number of affected patients and their families. Neurodegeneration is accompanied by elevated oxidative damage and inflammation. While natural antioxidants have largely failed in clinical trials, preclinical phenotyping of the properties of the unnatural, mitochondrial targeted nitroxide, XJB-5-131, bodes well for further translational development in advanced animal models or in humans. Here we consider the usefulness of synthetic antioxidants for the treatment of Huntington’s disease. The mitochondrial targeting properties of XJB-5-131 have great promise. It is both an electron scavenger and an antioxidant, reducing both somatic expansion and toxicity simultaneously through the same redox mechanism. By quenching reactive oxygen species, XJB-5-131 breaks the cycle between the rise in oxidative damage during disease progression and the somatic growth of the CAG repeat which depends on oxidation.

Bioremediation of Crude Glycerol by a Sustainable Organic–Microbe Hybrid System

Klebsiella pneumoniae with crude glycerol-utilizing and hydrogen (H2)-producing abilities was successfully isolated from return activated sludge from Shatin Sewage Treatment Works. The H2 production strategy used in this study was optimized with crude glycerol concentrations, and 1,020 μmol of H2 was generated in 3 h. An organic–microbe hybrid system was constructed with metal-free hydrothermal carbonation carbon (HTCC) microspheres to enhance the H2 production under visible light (VL) irradiation. Under optimized VL intensity and HTCC concentration, an elevation of 35.3% in H2 production can be obtained. Electron scavenger study revealed that the photogenerated electrons (e–) from HTCC contributed to the additional H2 production. The variation in intercellular intermediates, enzymatic activity, and reducing equivalents also suggested that the photogenerated e– interacted with K. pneumoniae cells to direct the metabolic flux toward H2 production. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using an organic–microbe hybrid system as a waste-to-energy technology.

Thermochemical Aerobic Oxidation Catalysis in Water Proceeds via Coupled Electrochemical Half-Reactions

Heterogeneous aqueous-phase aerobic oxidations are an important emerging class of catalytic transformations, particularly for upgrading next generation bio-derived substrates. The mechanism of these reactions and the precise role of O2 in particular remains unclear. Herein, we test the hypothesis that thermochemical aerobic oxidation proceeds via two coupled electrochemical half-reactions for oxygen reduction and substrate oxidation. We collect electrochemical and thermochemical data on common noble metal catalysts under identical reaction/transport environments, and find that the electrochemical polarization curves of the O2 reduction and the substrate oxidation half-reaction closely predict the mixed potential of the catalyst measured in operando during thermochemical catalysis across 13 diverse variables spanning reaction conditions, catalyst composition, reactant identity, and pH. Additionally, we find that driving the oxidation half-reaction reaction electrochemically in the absence of O2 at the mixed potential leads to very similar rates and selectivities as for the thermochemical reaction in all cases examined. These findings strongly indicate that the role of O2 in thermochemical aerobic oxidation is solely as an electron scavenger that provides an incipient electrochemical driving force for substrate oxidation. These studies provide a quantitative and predictive link between thermochemical and electrochemical catalysis, thereby enabling the rational design of new thermochemical liquid-phase aerobic oxidation schemes by applying the principles of electrochemistry.

Thermochemical Aerobic Oxidation Catalysis in Water Proceeds via Coupled Electrochemical Half-Reactions

<div> <p><b>Heterogeneous aqueous-phase aerobic oxidations are an important emerging class of catalytic transformations, particularly for upgrading next generation bio-derived substrates. The mechanism of these reactions and the precise role of O₂ in particular remains unclear. Herein, we test the hypothesis that thermochemical aerobic oxidation proceeds via two coupled electrochemical half-reactions for oxygen reduction and substrate oxidation. We collect</b><b> electrochemical and thermochemical data on common noble metal catalysts under identical reaction/transport environments, and find that the electrochemical polarization curves of the O₂ reduction and the substrate oxidation half-reaction closely predict the mixed potential of the catalyst measured <i>in operando</i> during thermochemical catalysis across 13 diverse variables spanning </b><b>reaction conditions, catalyst composition, reactant identity, and pH</b><b>. Additionally, we find that driving the oxidation half-reaction reaction electrochemically in the absence of O₂ at the mixed potential leads to very similar rates and selectivities as for the thermochemical reaction in all cases examined. These findings strongly indicate that the role of O₂ in thermochemical aerobic oxidation is solely as an electron scavenger that provides an incipient electrochemical driving force for substrate oxidation. These studies provide a </b><b>quantitative and predictive link between thermochemical and electrochemical catalysis, thereby enabling the rational design of new thermochemical liquid-phase aerobic oxidation schemes by applying the principles of electrochemistry.</b></p> </div> <br>

Thermochemical Aerobic Oxidation Catalysis in Water Proceeds via Coupled Electrochemical Half-Reactions

<div> <p><b>Heterogeneous aqueous-phase aerobic oxidations are an important emerging class of catalytic transformations, particularly for upgrading next generation bio-derived substrates. The mechanism of these reactions and the precise role of O₂ in particular remains unclear. Herein, we test the hypothesis that thermochemical aerobic oxidation proceeds via two coupled electrochemical half-reactions for oxygen reduction and substrate oxidation. We collect</b><b> electrochemical and thermochemical data on common noble metal catalysts under identical reaction/transport environments, and find that the electrochemical polarization curves of the O₂ reduction and the substrate oxidation half-reaction closely predict the mixed potential of the catalyst measured <i>in operando</i> during thermochemical catalysis across 13 diverse variables spanning </b><b>reaction conditions, catalyst composition, reactant identity, and pH</b><b>. Additionally, we find that driving the oxidation half-reaction reaction electrochemically in the absence of O₂ at the mixed potential leads to very similar rates and selectivities as for the thermochemical reaction in all cases examined. These findings strongly indicate that the role of O₂ in thermochemical aerobic oxidation is solely as an electron scavenger that provides an incipient electrochemical driving force for substrate oxidation. These studies provide a </b><b>quantitative and predictive link between thermochemical and electrochemical catalysis, thereby enabling the rational design of new thermochemical liquid-phase aerobic oxidation schemes by applying the principles of electrochemistry.</b></p> </div> <br>

Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO-Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite by Electron Scavenging

Advances in nanotechnology have opened new doors to overcome the problems related to contaminated water by introducing photocatalytic nanomaterials. These materials can effectively degrade toxic contaminants, such as dyes and other organic pollutants, into harmless by-products such as carbon dioxide and water. Consequently, these photocatalytic nanomaterials have the potential to provide low-cost and environment-friendly alternatives to conventional water and wastewater treatment techniques. In this study, a nanocomposite of zinc oxide and graphene oxide was developed and evaluated for photocatalysis. This nanocomposite was characterized by XRD, FTIR, FESEM, Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), TEM and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The photocatalytic behavior of the nanocomposite was studied through the degradation of methyl orange under ultraviolet light. It is reported that the weight ratios of zinc oxide and graphene oxide do not considerably affect the photocatalytic performance, which gives this process more compositional flexibility. Moreover, hydrogen peroxide was used as an electron scavenger to increase the time-efficiency of the process. The photodegradation rate can be significantly improved (up to 24 times) with the addition of hydrogen peroxide, which increases the number of trapped electrons and generates more oxidizing species, consequently increasing the reaction rate.

Formamidine disulfide oxidant as a localised electron scavenger for >20% perovskite solar cell modules

A large FAS2+ ion in FAPbI3 scavenges localized electrons in defects, leading to perovskite solar cell module with remarkable performance values of 18.76% (25.74 cm2) and 15.87% (65.22 cm2), respectively.

Surface activation by electron scavenger metal nanorod adsorption on TiH2, TiC, TiN, and Ti2O3

Metal/oxide support perimeter sites are known to provide unique properties because the nearby metal changes the local environment on the support surface. In particular, the electron scavenger effect reduces the...