Yu Yi, Huaping Xu, Lu Wang, Wei Cao, and Xi Zhang Chem. Eur. J., 2013, 19, 9506-9510. A new kind of SeN dynamic covalent bond has been found that can form between the Se atom of a phenylselenyl halogen species and the N atom of a pyridine derivative, such as polystyrene-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine). This SeN dynamic covalent bond can be reversibly and rapidly formed or cleaved under acidic or basic conditions, respectively. Furthermore, the bond can be dynamically cleaved by heating or treatment with stronger electron-donating pyridine derivatives. The multiple responses of SeN bond to extern...

Huifeng Ren, Yaoting Wu, Yang Li, Wei Cao, Zhiwei Sun, Huaping Xu, and Xi Zhang Small, 2013, 9, 3981-3986. A photoresponsive polyelectrolyte multilayer film containing a diselenide functional group is fabricated using an unconventional layer-by-layer method. The polycation backbone is constructed through copolymerization of di-(1-hydroxylundecyl) diselenide and 1,4-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine with 2,4-diisocyanatotoluene. A common polyanion poly(styrene sulfonate) is selected as the polyanion. The obtained film can be gradually disrupted under the irradiation of mild visible light, and...

Xiaoming Miao, Wei Cao, Wenting Zheng, Jingyu Wang, Xiaoli Zhang, Jie Gao, Chengbiao Yang, Deling Kong, Huaping Xu, Ling Wang, and Zhimou Yang Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2013, 52, 7781-7785. Mimicking nature: The reversible formation of self-assembled nanostructures of selenium-containing peptides can be controlled by redox triggers (see scheme, VC=vitamin C). As a consequence, the catalytic activity of these peptides is switchable. These results should lead to the development of nature-mimicking smart materials with promising properties.

Shaobo Ji, Wei Cao, and Huaping Xu Part. Part. Syst. Charact., 2013, 30, 1034-1038. The presence of too many reactive oxygen species (ROS) will damage cells. To eliminate ROS, a nanocomposite film containing diselenide bonds is fabricated via the layer-by-layer assembly method, using adamantane-terminated diselenide block copolymer micelles and β-cyclodextrin-modified nanoparticles as building blocks. This film possesses potential stability under the normal physiological condition and can eliminate different kinds of ROS.

Wei Cao, Yuwei Gu, Myriam Meineck, and Huaping Xu Chem. Asian J., 2014, 9, 48-57. Research on anticancer therapies has advanced significantly in recent years. New therapeutic platforms that can further improve the health of patients are still highly demanded. We propose the idea of combining regular chemotherapy with radiation therapy to minimize side effects as well as increase drug-delivery efficiency. In this Focus Review, we seek to provide an overview of recent advances that can combine chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We begin by reviewing the current state of systems that can combin...

Wei Cao, Yuwei Gu, Myriam Meineck, Tianyu Li, and Huaping Xu J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 5132-5137. Nanomaterials capable of achieving tunable cargo release kinetics are of significance in a fundamental sense and various biological or medical applications. We report a competitive coordination system based on a novel tellurium-containing polymer and its ligand-regulated release manners. Tellurium was introduced to water-soluble polymers for the first time as drug delivery vehicles. The coordination chemistry between platinum and tellurium was designed to enable the load of platinum-base...

Lingwu Zeng, Yang Li, Tianyu Li, Wei Cao, Yu Yi, Weijia Geng, Zhiwei Sun, and Huaping Xu Chem. Asian J., 2014, 9, 2295-2302. We report the preparation of selenium-containing platinum-based anticancer drug EG-Se/Pt. EG-Se/Pt was obtained from the coordination of selenium-containing molecules (EG-Se) with cisplatin (CDDP). The structure of EG-Se/Pt was characterized by 1H and 77Se NMR spectroscopy, XPS, ESI-MS, and MALDI-TOF. In aqueous solution, EG-Se/Pt self-assembles to form spherical aggregates. EG-Se/Pt shows enhanced stability against dilution and high salt concentration compared wit...

Shaobo Ji, Wei Cao, Ying Yu, and Huaping Xu Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2014, 53, 6781-6785. Dynamic covalent bonds are extensively employed in dynamic combinatorial chemistry. The metathesis reaction of disulfide bonds is widely used, but requires catalysis or irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light. It was found that diselenide bonds are dynamic covalent bonds and undergo dynamic exchange reactions under mild conditions for diselenide metathesis. This reaction is induced by irradiation with visible light and stops in the dark. The exchange is assumed to proceed through a radical mechanism, ...

Tianyu Li, Yu Yi and Huaping Xu Acta Chim. Sinica, 2014, 72, 1079-1084. Coordinating assemblies was prepared via coordination between selenium-containing molecules and platinum-containing compounds. These assemblies can induce higher concentration of ROS in cancer cells than in normal cells, thus raising selective anti-cancer activity. This work broadens the applications of simple platinum-containing compounds and selenium-containing molecules in the field of cancer treatment, also develops a new route for preparation of selective anti-cancer drugs.

Xiaopeng Huang, Ruochen Fang, Dingguan Wang, Jian Wang, Huaping Xu, Yapei Wang and Xi Zhang Small, 2015, 11, 1537-1541. A selenium-containing small molecule is exploited to controllably tune the polymer amphiphilicity, leading to fabrication of appropriate polymer surfactants through which one-step double emulsions can be obtained in a facile, scalable, surfactant-free approach. After solvent evaporation, these resulting porous microparticles are shown to be the exceptional artificial GPx enzyme mimics.