Fluorine-containing compounds significantly enrich the diversity of inorganic chemical structures. Here, four alkaline-earth metal difluorophosphates with different space groups, namely NH4Mg(PO2F2)3 (Cmcm) (1), NH4Sr(PO2F2)3 (P1[combining macron]) (2), (NH4)2Ba(PO2F2)4 (P2/n) (3) and Ba(PO2F2)2 (I4[combining macron]2d) (4), were synthesized and their structures were determined for the first time. 4 is not only the first alkaline-earth-metal difluorophosphate, but also the first difluorophosphate reported to crystallize in the non-centrosymmetric space group I4[combining macron]2d of the tetragonal crystal system. All of the three-dimensional (3D) structures of the title compounds consist of isolated (PO2F2)-, AE-O and NH4+ units, while the differences of the cation radius result in various arrangements of the (PO2F2)- units, which leads to diverse crystal structures and the disparate optical anisotropy of the crystals. According to the deep-ultraviolet (DUV) transmittance spectrum, 3 exhibits a short DUV cut off edge ( less then 180 nm). Solid state 19F and 31P magic-angle spinning NMR spectroscopy was used to verify the presence of covalent P-F bonds in 3. The different size effects, as well as the coordination environments of the Mg2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ cations, on the structures as a whole have been discussed in detail. In addition, the calculated birefringence values were observed to differ from 0.011 to 0.033 for the four compounds.Metal-organic frameworks are promising host supporting matrices for catalytically active guests. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Roscovitine.html In particular, their crystallinity renders them desirable as their pores may act as atom-precise templates for the growth of nanoparticles or nanoclusters therein. This is very advantageous for studying the fundamentals of heterogeneous catalytic processes, especially for site-selective ones, in which the catalyst particle size and shape are of import. Furthermore, metal-organic frameworks may be decorated with organic functional groups, which affect a number of the frameworks' physical and chemical properties, while remaining isotopological, i.e. having identical structural features and thus templating characteristics. Effectively, this allows for the independent tuning of the Brønsted and Lewis acidity of the substrate while the geometry of the catalytically active guest remains identical. In this study, we systematically study the effect of amino functionalisation of UiO-66(Zr) as a supporting matrix for Cu nanoclusters on the direct reduction of carbon dioxide with hydrogen. In particular, we have found that through modulation of the acidity of the inorganic nodes, framework functionalisation effectively controls the reaction selectivity.Cationic zirconium-doped nitrogen clusters were produced by laser ablation of a Zr  BN mixture target and were detected by TOF mass spectrometry. It is found that the mass peak of the ZrN12+ cluster is dominant in the spectrum. The ZrN12+ cluster was further dissociated with 266 nm photons. Extensive structure searches of a cationic ZrN12+ cluster indicate that the ground state structure of ZrN12+ consists of a central Zr atom and six N2 pairs with Oh symmetry. The calculated binding energy of the ZrN12+ cluster is about 0.96 eV, which is in accordance with the result of the photodissociation experiment. The neutral ZrN12 cluster has almost the same geometry, but with D3h symmetry. NBO analysis showed that the molecular orbitals of ZrN12+/0 clusters are mainly composed of Zr 4d and N 2p orbitals. These findings provide rich information for understanding the geometries and the electronic properties of zirconium-doped N clusters, which will offer valuable guidance for the exploration of other metal doped nitrogen clusters.The steady-state concentration of singlet oxygen within a lake ([1O2]SS) is an important parameter that can affect the environmental half-life of pollutants and environmental fate modelling. However, values of [1O2]SS are often determined for the near-surface of a lake, and these values typically do not represent the average over the epilimnia of lakes. In this work, the environmental and physical factors that have the largest impact on [1O2]SS within lake epilimnia were identified. It was found that the depth of the epilimnion has the largest impact on depth-averaged [1O2]SS, with a factor of 8.8 decrease in [1O2]SS when epilimnion depth increases from 2 m to 20 m. The next most important factors are the wavelength-dependent singlet oxygen quantum yield relationship and the latitude of the lake, causing variations in [1O2]SS by factors of 3.2 and 2.5 respectively, over ranges of representative values. For a set of representative parameters, the depth-averaged value of [1O2]SS within an average epilimnion depth of 9.0 m was found to be 5.8 × 10-16 M and the near-surface value of [1O2]SS was found to be 1.9 × 10-14 M. We recommend a range of 6 × 10-17 to 5 × 10-15 M as being more representative of [1O2]SS values within the epilimnia of lakes globally and potentially more useful for estimating pollutant lifetimes than those calculated using [1O2]SS values that correspond to near-surface, summer midday values. This work advances our understanding of [1O2]SS inter-lake variability in the environment, and provides estimates of [1O2]SS for practitioners and researchers to assess environmental half-lives of pollutants due to reaction with singlet oxygen.Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim (Rutaceae), a medicinal herb and foodstuff, has previously been demonstrated as useful for the potential prevention of age-related cognitive dysfunction. However, the mechanisms and material basis remain elusively understood. The prevention of cognitive impairment by four fractions of Z. bungeanum was evaluated in d-galactose-induced aging mice, including petroleum ether (PE), methylene chloride (DCM), ethyl acetate (EA), and n-butanol (N-BAI). The results showed that mice treated with EA and N-BAI had significantly alleviated d-galactose-induced memory deficit. In addition, EA could clearly protect neurons from cell death, alleviate oxidative damage and inhibit the activation of microglia in aging mice. Our data also showed that the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, the expression of pyroptosis-related proteins, and the release of IL-1β and IL-18 could be remarkably inhibited by the EA fraction in aging mice and LPS/ATP-induced BV-2 microglial cells. Besides, the chemical composition of an active EA fraction was qualitatively analyzed by using HPLC-MS/MS.