Gongyuan Zhao

Aqueous zinc–iodine batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as promising candidates for grid‐scale energy storage due to their low cost, high safety, notable specific capacity, and environmental benignity. However, their practical application is hindered by several challenges associated with the iodine cathode, including insulating property of iodine and shuttle effect of polyiodide intermediates, which collectively lead to poor electrochemical performance. Herein, we report a rational strategy for synthesizing a polyaniline‐coated, nitrogen‐ and oxygen‐codoped porous carbon composite (denoted as PANI/NOCN) as a high‐performance cathode host for AZIBs. The as‐prepared PANI/NOCN composite features a mechanically robust, hierarchically porous nanostructure with a high specific surface area. Furthermore, the conductive polyaniline coating establishes efficient charge‐transfer pathways and provides additional chemisorption sites for polyiodides. This architecture effectively accommodates iodine species and suppresses the polyiodide shuttle effect. The PANI/NOCN@I ₂ cathode delivers a high reversible discharge capacity of 115 mAh g ⁻¹ at 10 A g ⁻¹ and retains 90 mAh g ⁻¹ after 2000 cycles, demonstrating excellent rate capability and cycling stability. This work demonstrates that the synergistic combination of heteroatom doping and conductive polymer coating is an effective strategy for designing advanced cathode hosts, offering valuable insights for the development of high‐performance AZIBs.

Plant pathogenic fungi cause major crop losses, demanding new fungicides with novel chemotypes. Here, we designed and synthesized camptothecin (CPT) derivatives through systematic A-, B-, and E-ring modifications and evaluated their in vitro activities against six phytopathogenic fungi. Most derivatives showed enhanced broad-spectrum inhibition. Notably, compound B5 showed exceptional efficacy, with EC₅₀ values ranging from 4.73 ng/mL to 0.102 μg/mL against these pathogens. Furthermore, in vivo assays demonstrated that B5 exhibited superior curative and protective activity against Magnaporthe oryzae infections in rice leaves compared to the commercial fungicides Carbendazim and Boscalid. Preliminary mechanistic studies demonstrated that B5 exerts its antifungal effects through the inhibition of spore germination, disruption of hyphal morphology, impairment of cell wall and membrane integrity, and induction of reactive oxygen species accumulation. QSAR analysis further identified key mass/electronic descriptors governing activity, providing guidance for the rational optimization of CPT-based fungicides.

Electrochemical catalytic acceptorless dehydrogenation (ECAD) represents an emerging green organic transformation that enables the direct synthesis of unsaturated compounds. This work describes the first electrocatalyst-free and oxidant-free ECAD of N-heterocycles such as dihydropyrimidinones (DHPMs), dihydropyrimidines, and dihydropyridines (DHPs) under ambient conditions. By utilizing an undivided-cell configuration, various dihydro-heterocycles (40 examples in total) were effectively converted into the corresponding products with yields up to 99% at the anode, while generating molecular hydrogen at the cathode. Furthermore, the methodology demonstrated applicability to gram-scale synthesis, highlighting its scalability and industrial practicality. We present a mild, metal-free, and scalable strategy for constructing aromatic N-heterocycles, contributing to the advancement of sustainable organic synthesis.

Using 4-bromoindole-3-carboxylic acid derivatives (amides or esters) as substrates, this paper successfully developed a trace water-promoted, palladium-catalyzed "one-pot" reaction strategy for synthesizing 4-amino/alkoxyindole-3-carboxylic acid products. With PdCl₂ (5 mol %) as the precatalyst, Xantphos as the ligand, and cesium pivalate as the additive, this synthetic method innovatively integrates nucleophilic substitution of amides/esters with Pd-catalyzed C-N or C-O cross-coupling into a single reaction system, achieving efficient synergy of multistep transformations. This approach facilitates a modular and rapid assembly of multisubstituted indole-3-carboxylic acids, exhibiting broad functional group compatibility while maintaining good reaction yields.

Fungal pathogens severely impair the essential physiological and biochemical processes of plants, triggering infections, undermining plant vitality, and ultimately leading to diminished agricultural productivity. To explore new and efficient antifungal agents to deal with the serious destruction of important silvicultural species, a series of new indole derivatives containing the imidazo[2,1-b]heterocycle were designed and synthesized, and their antifungal activities against several fungal species, such as Cytospora chrysosperma (C. c), Sphaeropsis sapinea(S. s), Alternaria. alternata (A. a), Rhizoctonia solani (R. s), Magnaporthe oryzae (M. o), Botrytis cinerea (B. c), and Fusarium oxysporum (F. o), were evaluated by the mycelial growth rate method. The results showed that the EC₅₀ of DL-21 reached 4.13 μg/mL against C. c. Most of the compounds showed more than 60% inhibition against S. s, and among them, the EC₅₀ of DL-27 reached 11.73 μg/mL, which is of great significance for the protection of tree species. The results of SEM and related experiments on the effects on cell membranes demonstrated that the compounds caused damage to the integrity of the mycelium and cell membranes, thereby inhibiting mycelial growth and disrupting the permeability of the cell membranes. The results of the reactive oxygen species assay showed that mycelium treated with the compounds altered the production of endogenous reactive oxygen species. The QSAR model demonstrated that structural factors (positively correlated with biological activity) and molecular polarizability descriptors (negatively correlated with biological activity) may control the activity of these compounds. In vivo tests demonstrated that at identical concentrations, DL-27 exhibited superior control efficacy against poplar leaf infections compared with the commercially available fungicide carbendazim. Research demonstrates that indole derivatives incorporating imidazo[2,1-b]heterocycle structures exhibit marked antifungal efficacy against phytopathogenic fungi, positioning them as promising candidates for novel fungicide development.

3-Alkylideneoxindole derivatives, which constitute the core structural framework of current pharmaceuticals, are widely present as bioactive components in numerous natural molecules. Herein, a Pd-catalyzed cascade synthetic method for the construction of 3-alkylideneoxindoles has been developed, and the reaction sequence comprises aryl C–H activation/intramolecular carbopalladation/Heck cross-coupling. Utilizing 10 mol% Pd(OAc)₂ as the catalyst, 2 equiv. AgOAc as the oxidant, and 1 equiv. Mg(OAc)₂ as the additive, a variety of N-alkyl or N-aryl anilides underwent reaction with alkenes in acetonitrile at 70 °C for 24 h to provide the corresponding (E)-3-alkylideneoxindole products with specific regio- and stereroselectivity in moderate to good yields; the best yield is 64%.