Chirally modified cobalt-vanadate grafted on battery waste derived layered reduced graphene oxide for enantioselective photooxidation of 2-naphthol: Asymmetric induction through non-covalent interaction

Potential Application Prospects of Biomolecule-Modified Two-Dimensional Chiral Nanomaterials in Biomedicine

Chirality, one of the most fundamental properties of natural molecules, plays a significant role in biochemical reactions. Nanomaterials with chiral characteristics have superior properties, such as catalytic properties, optoelectronic properties, and photothermal properties, which have significant potential for specific applications in nanomedicine. Biomolecular modifications such as nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, and polysaccharides are sources of chirality for nanomaterials with great potential for application in addition to intrinsic chirality, artificial macromolecules, and metals. Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, as opposed to other dimensions, due to proper surface area, extensive modification sites, drug loading potential, and simplicity of preparation, are prepared and utilized in diagnostic applications, drug delivery research, and tumor therapy. Current advanced studies on 2D chiral nanomaterials for biomedicine are focused on novel chiral development, structural control, and materials sustainability applications. However, despite the advances in biomedical research, chiral 2D nanomaterials still confront challenges such as the difficulty of synthesis, quality control, batch preparation, chiral stability, and chiral recognition and selectivity. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the origins, synthesis, applications, and challenges of 2D chiral nanomaterials with biomolecules as cargo and chiral modifications and highlight their potential roles in biomedicine.

Selectivity regulation of CO2 photoreduction via the electron configuration of active sites on single-atom photocatalysts

The major challenge in the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 is to achieve high conversion efficiency while maintaining selectivity for a single product. Photocatalysts containing single-metal Cu2+ with 3d9 and Zn2+ with 3d10 on g-C3N4 were prepared using a high-energy ball mill. Single-atom Zn inner electron configuration is stable (3d10) and the peripheral empty orbitals act as electron traps to trap photo-generated electrons and improve the efficiency of charge separation; Zn is an active site to enhance the adsorption and activation of CO2. The stable electron configuration can reduce the energy required for the overall reaction and increase the activity while changing the reaction pathway to form CO. As a result, the 0.5 mol% Zn/g-C3N4 (Zn-CN-0.5) photocatalyst achieves ∼100 % selectivity for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO at a rate of ∼21.1 μmol·g-1·h-1. In contrast, the 0.5 mol% Cu/g-C3N4 (Cu-CN-0.5) photocatalyst with an unstable electronic structure does not exhibit high selectivity.

Self-assembled bamboo-like carbon nanotubes based on chiral H8BINOL sensors to recognize cinchonidine efficiently by diastereoisomer complexes

Fluorescence recognition for the antimalarial cinchonidine could be achieved efficiently and rapidly through bamboo-like carbon nanotubes based on chiral conjugated H8BINOL derivatives. Herein, it was proved that the chiral fluorescence probe H8BINOL exhibited excellent fluorescence identification ability for cinchonidine. The structure and size of the S-1 (S-(3,3'-phenyl)-5,5'6,6',7',8,8'-octahydro-[1,1'-dinaphthalene]-2,2'-diol) and R-1 (R-(3,3'-phenyl)-5,5'6,6',7',8,8'-octahydro-[1,1'-dinaphthalene]-2,2'-diol) were studied by using the DLS, TEM, and SEM spectra, which exhibited a self-assembled bamboo-like carbon nanotube structure. In the CD (circular dichroism) test, cinchonidine was added to a pair of enantiomers of H8BINOL derivatives. The different configurations of H8BINOL derivatives showed significantly different Cotton effects for cinchonidine, indicating that cinchonidine formed diastereoisomer π-π complexes with different configurations of H8BINOL derivatives. From the AFM tests, it was revealed that cinchonidine could effectively quench the fluorescent spot of the probes quickly. The fluorescence titration tests demonstrated that 6.4 × 10-7 mol of cinchonidine could completely quench the fluorescence sensor of S-1 (2 × 10-5 M, 2 mL) through the formation of a 1 : 1 complex. The limit of detection (LOD) of S-1 was calculated to be 6.08 × 10-10, which indicates that S-1 has a high sensitivity and can be applied effectively to the practice of identifying cinchonidine. Meanwhile, the fluorescence sensor R-1 also exhibited the same sensibility with a low limit of detection (7.60 × 10-10).