Copper is one of the essential trace elements in human. It plays an indispensable role in a variety of physiological activities, including electron transport, mitochondrial functions, and the activity of many enzymes. Either deficiency or excess of copper can cause serious or even fatal harm. Therefore, the uptake, intracellular distribution and metabolism of copper are strictly regulated. Disruption of the homeostasis of copper can lead to anemia, Wilson's disease and Menkes' disease, and seriously affects the brain functions. Recent researches reveal that copper is also associated with the tumor growth and the immune system. This article reviews the biological functions of copper, the function of copper proteins, and the transport and storage mechanisms of copper, and also summarizes the relationship between copper and diseases.

Gallium is located at the fourth period and the IIIA group. It plays a significant role in clinical diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Ga(Ⅲ) usually acts as a competitive inhibitor of Fe(Ⅲ) in organisms, as it shares most chemical characteristics except redox activity with Fe(Ⅲ). It can disrupt iron homeostasis in tumor or in microorganisms, thereby achieving antineoplastic or anti-microbial effects. In the aspect of cancer diagnosis and treatment, Ga(Ⅲ) can be taken up by cells through transferrin or independent transportation. On the one hand, its radioactive isotope (⁶⁷Ga or ⁶⁸Ga) concentrates in cancer tissues, realizing radiographic diagnosis of tumors. On the other hand, non-radioactive gallium kills cancer cells by inhibiting the normal function of ribonucleotide reductase (RR) and causing mitochondrial oxidative stress. In terms of antibacterial activity, Ga competes with Fe in biochemical reactions which enables it to destroy biofilms of bacteria and cause their death. In this review, we introduce the application of gallium in antineoplastic and antibacterial fields with the chemical mechanism revealed. And the development of Ga-based drugs will also be expected.

From molecules to cells, the energy demand is ubiquitous in our society. Synthesis and utilization of high-energy chemicals is a major challenge scientifically and economically. The current chemical synthesis of high-energy compounds often generates pollution and consumes a lot of energy. With the existence of by-products, it's hard to separate target products. Compared to chemical synthesis, biosynthesis is considered environmentally friendly and cost-effective energy, and is in accord with the Carbon Neutralization goal. Biosynthesis of high-energy chemicals is one of the fastest growing fields. This article will choose 4 chemicals, in terms of energy source, energetic materials and bio-high-energy compounds, to briefly introduce the correspondent biosynthesis pathway and key metalloenzyme.

Esterases (serine proteases) were used in organisms to catalyze the hydrolysis of many compounds containing esters, amides, thioesters, or acetyl groups. In vivo, esterases play an important role in the regulation of physiological events and the hydrolysis or activation of various drugs and in many pathological events (such as liver cancer), which may be closely related to its unique detoxification function. Therefore, the development of a new and effective esterase detection platform is of great significance for biological and medical research. Compared with traditional methods, fluorescent probes have many advantages such as high sensitivity, good selectivity, rapid response, low cost, and easy operation. Therefore, fluorescent probes can be applied for esterase detection. Herein, the research status and latest progresses of esterase fluorescent probes were introduced.

Nanozymes is a kind of nanomaterial with natural enzyme activity. Compared with natural enzymes, nanozymes have the advantages of simple preparation, low cost, high stability, and easy storage. Since Academician Yan Xiyun, a Chinese scientist, first discovered that Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles had peroxidase-like activity in 2007, the research on nanozymes has been rising rapidly. Nanozymes can simulate natural enzymes to achieve catalytic reactions in the physiological environment or in vivo, improve the tumor microenvironment, and achieve tumor treatment by generating reactive oxygen species.

Despite the great success of platinum-based drugs in clinical cancer treatments, the side effects and drug resistance greatly limit their clinical application and curative effect. Possessing the stable structure and unique three-dimensional configuration, iridium (Ⅲ) complexes can effectively jump out of the limitations of traditional platinum-based drugs. On the other hand, mitochondrial science is one of the most active interdiscipline. As a predictable therapeutic target, mitochondrial-targeting antitumor agents have prominent advantages in overcoming tumour drug resistance. Herein, we introduce the mechanism of platinum chemotherapeutic drug resistance. Based on the recent research of our group, we also briefly summarize the research progress of mitochondrial-targeting iridium(Ⅲ) complexes to overcome the tumor drug resistance.

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is well-known as an air pollutant, but SO₂ can also be generated endogenously in organisms and participate in the metabolic cycle as a signal molecule, which has much to do with our health. Low concentration SO₂ can dilate blood vessels, inhibit inflammation, fight oxidation and regulate lipid metabolism, while high concentration SO₂ can cause some respiratory diseases, nervous system disorders and even cancer. Thus, a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of SO₂ is essential to the maintenance of homeostasis and health of biological systems in vivo. In this paper, by clue of the SO₂ in living organisms, circulation of novel signal molecules exemplified by SO₂ in living organisms and the evolution of detection methods are described from three aspects: endogenous generation, physiological functions in living organisms and modern fluorescence detection methods.

Biomineralization is an important biological process of organisms to produce organic-inorganic composites with hierarchical structures, where the biological matrix plays a predominant role in the regulation of nucleation, orientation, growth, and self-assembly of inorganic materials. According to the principle of biomineralization, bionic organic-inorganic composites with well-defined structure and excellent properties can be thus synthesized under a biomatrix-mediated process. Intriguingly, it is now possible to obtain new functionalized organisms by means of biomimetic mineralization through synergistic integration of structure and function of both materials and organisms, which has become an emerging direction. This review first introduces the basic theory and phenomenon of biological mineralization in nature. Then, by introducing the structure and function of biological minerals, we propose the concept of biomimetic construction of new functional life, and systematically introduce the methods involving the construction of new material-organisms hybrid. On this basis, such biomineralization-based engineering strategy provides a new way to produce materials-organisms hybrids as new life forms, and shows immense potentials in environmental protection, energy, medicine and other fields. Finally, the limitations and problems existing in this field are discussed, and promising prospects of intelligent construction of materials-organisms hybrids are also presented. We believe the biomineralization-based engineering of organisms can promote the continuous fusion of disciplinary boundaries and provide a new development direction in the fields of materials science, chemical biology, bioinorganic chemistry and medicine.

Compared with organic and polymeric nanomaterials, inorganic nanomaterials have the advantages of stable chemical properties, good mechanical properties, excellent biocompatibility, and osteoinductive properties. Inorganic nanomaterials are commonly used as the main material in the regulation of bone metabolism. Herein, the roles and mechanisms of inorganic nanomaterials (such as hydroxyapatite, rare earth nanomaterials, gold nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes) in the regulation of bone metabolism on the cellular, molecular, and animal levels are summarized. The challenges faced during the application of inorganic nanomaterials toward the regulation of bone metabolism are also presented.

In recent years, the emergence and spread of human coronavirus has brought serious crises and great challenges to the global public health system. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a broad-spectrum vaccine against coronavirus. Vaccine has two functions: antigen delivery and immune regulation. In most cases, the pure antigen cannot induce robust immune response to fight against infections. Vaccine adjuvant is an exogenous immunostimulatory added to vaccine and is a critical part in immunity shaping and antigen delivery. With the increasing knowledge of metalloimmunology, in addition to traditional aluminum-contained vaccine adjuvant, other kinds of inorganic adjuvants have attracted much attention for their unique immunological characteristics. Herein, several typical inorganic nanoparticles and their applications in coronavirus vaccines are introduced. The review aims to provide ideas for the development of personalized vaccines and new inorganic nanoadjuvants in the future.

Under the new situation of education development, curriculum ideological and political education in colleges and universities faces new demands and challenges. Based on the view of students and the characteristics of chemistry science, this paper discusses the ideological and political problems in university chemistry, and proposes a number of corresponding solutions. In order to further promote the course ideology and politics, we should consider the students' value demands and improve the pertinence of the value orientation in the teaching contents; in the instructional evaluation, we should set up the communication channels between teachers and students, improve the accuracy of the evaluation activities, and enhance students' recognition of the course ideology and politics. As for the students, delivering the teaching content effectively can be achieved by changing students' learning motivation.

In view of the characteristics of structural chemistry, the exploration and practice of mixed teaching mode were carried out. The network teaching platform's independent study and the traditional face-to-face instruction superiority are carried out to complement each other. The visual expression of abstract knowledge points arouses the enthusiasm and initiative of students. The offline teaching plan is adjusted in time according to the learning effect. The application of hybrid teaching mode fully illustrates the leading role of teachers and the main role of students, and achieved better teaching results.

The Kelvin formula was taken as an example to discuss the application of new development concepts in physical chemistry teaching. The concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development is applied throughout the whole process of physical chemistry teaching and all the chapters of physical chemistry, which is further demonstrated by teaching design. It would promote the high-quality development of physical chemistry course, speed up the new pattern of physical chemistry curriculum construction in the new era, implement the new development concept, and play a demonstration role for the development of chemistry, science and even the entire higher education.

Based on the characteristics of general chemistry experiment course, this paper explored the joint point between the professional knowledge, as well as the ideological and political elements from three aspects of teaching goal design, laboratory teaching activity design, and teaching effectiveness evaluation. It outlined the implementation of ideological and political education in multiple dimensions, which allows students to develop the patriotism, scientific literacy, innovative consciousness, professional quality, social responsibility, dialectical thinking, and green developmental idea. By using laboratory teaching as the major approach, this practice integrated knowledge exploration, ability building and value shaping. The practice also pushed forward the important all-round education practices in the whole-process, so as to cultivate students to become the builders and successors of socialism in the new era with all-round development of morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics and labor.

Course ideology and politics needs to combine the characteristics of discipline development while meeting the needs of education. This article introduces the phased achievements of the organic chemistry bilingual teaching team of Nanjing University in the course ideological and political reform, and discusses the necessity of introducing the achievements of Chinese organic chemists into the basic organic chemistry teaching class. It will play a positive role in enhancing culture self-confidence, improving learning interests, shaping scientific spirit and quality and cultivating patriotism.

Carrying out the reform of curriculum ideological and political teaching is an effective way and measure for colleges and universities to realize the three-dimensional education and the fundamental task of morality and cultivation. The Polymer Material Preparation and Molding Innovation Laboratory is a compulsory professional comprehensive practical course for macromolecular materials and engineering major. It has the advantages of rich ideological and political elements and strong appeal of on-site practical teaching. This paper takes the innovation laboratory course of polymer material preparation and molding as an example, systematically discusses the significance, consideration, exploration and long-term mechanism of the curriculum ideological and political teaching reform in practical courses. Specific methods, advantages and significance of ideological and political education for the practical curriculum have been summarized.

Inorganic and analytical chemistry experiment is the first offering compulsory laboratory course of biological science specialty in Hanjiang Normal University, whose teaching calibre is of great significance to the follow-up specialty course study, and the cultivation of research capabilities and innovative thinking of the undergraduates. However, such course has some issues including unmatched schedule between theory and practice, unpreparedness for class and monotonous final examining mode. The "three-dimensional" teaching mode comprised of courseware transmission, question collection and ability enhancement were employed to improve the learning initiative and stimulate curiosity by highlighting the principal position of students and implementing the assessment mechanism to each link of the course learning. The development of the "three-dimensional" teaching mode is applicable in facilitating the teaching quality of inorganic and analytical chemistry experiment course for Hanjiang Normal University.

This paper analyzed some deficiencies in the current fine chemical laboratory teaching. In view of this, firstly, "curriculum ideological and political" was used to help students establish a correct outlook on life and profession; secondly, network resources were provided to enable students to study before class so as to spare more time for laboratory activity in the class; finally, we had made a preliminary reform on the fine chemical laboratory from experiment content, teaching method and assessment form. A better teaching effect has been achieved.

According to the course content and students' learning characteristics, the inorganic chemistry teaching group at School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, has adopted different teaching methods, constructed multi-modal teaching methods, and tried innovative classrooms to mobilize students' learning enthusiasm and cultivate students' independent learning ability. In this article, the different teaching methods based on the basic data of the teaching and learning of inorganic chemistry courses has been summarized from the perspective of the students. It has also analyzed the learning experience and feelings of students in the teaching of inorganic chemistry courses under the multi-modal construction. In the exploration of teaching reform, teachers and students can learn from each other, improve the teaching quality together, and finally create a "first-class course" suitable for improving students' comprehensive ability.

In this paper, the reform implementation of inorganic chemistry laboratory at the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Shaanxi Normal University was summarized. The reform content included teaching content, assessment mode, teaching platform, course ideology and politics and teaching summary. The typical case "Determination of molecular weight of carbon dioxide" was used to elaborate how the reform was implemented in detail. We hope this paper can provide useful information for the reform of related courses.

In combination with the experience and feeling of organic chemistry teaching for undergraduates in recent years, we have proposed the necessity of performing effective teacher-student communication during the teaching courses. The interactions before-class, in-class, and after-class in the actual teaching activities were analyzed and the effects between face-to-face communication and online interaction were compared. The findings indicate that each style of teacher-student communication has its natural advantages and inherent drawbacks. Only when they are combined and comprehensively utilized, and a blended teaching pattern for interaction is established can we realize the goal of "teaching benefits teachers as well as students". During the organic chemistry teaching course, efficient teacher-student interactions can help students to develop the way of thinking for organic chemistry and strengthen their skills for independent thinking and problem solving, which will build a strong basis for them to become innovative talents of organic chemistry in the future.

It is inaccurate to only predict the kinetic conditions of the reducing reagent and the thermodynamic stability of the resulting product during a reduction reaction. Other factors in the reaction need to be considered. Transition state theory can be used to comprehensively and accurately predict the stereoselectivity of the products formed during the reduction of substituted cyclohexanones. On the one hand, when the reducing agent attacks the carbonyl group to form a transition state, the steric hindrance and electronic effects determine the stereoselectivity of the reaction. On the other hand, the predominant conformation of the reactant, i.e., the torsional strain when the transition state is formed and the deflection angle relative to the standard cross conformation, cannot be ignored in regard to the stereoselectivity of the product. This article discusses the steric hindrance, electronic effects, and conformation during the formation of the transition state, and explains the stereoselectivity of the reduction products formed during the reduction of substituted cyclohexanones.

The synthesis and characterization of 5-bromo-1-methylgramine derivatives has been designed for comprehensive chemistry laboratory. 5-Bromo-1-methylgramine is synthesized by Hofmann alkylation, Mannich reaction, and salification reaction from 5-bromoindole. Then, a series of derivatives were obtained by reacting with different inorganic or organic acids. Combined with synthesis, characterization and analysis of the target compounds, the comprehensive experiment can not only improve the students' laboratory ability, but also stimulate their interest in scientific research and the spirit of innovation and exploration.

The scientific research of preparation of PANI supported nano Au catalysts and the study of catalytic properties was designed as a comprehensive experiment for students of applied chemistry. The innovation of scientific research and the feasibility of teaching were combined organically to promote the cultivation of innovative talents. In this experiment, polyaniline (PANI) support was prepared with aniline monomer (ANI) as raw material and ammonium persulfate (APS) as oxidant. Three kinds of gold loading methods, such as gold sol adsorption, PANI in situ reduction and ANI in situ reduction, were used to prepare PANI supported Au catalysts. The reduction of p-nitrophenol (4-NP) to p-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of NaBH₄ was used as a probe reaction to evaluate the catalytic performance of the catalysts. The experiment involved multiple contents, such as the preparation of catalysts, the structural characterization of catalysts and the evaluation of catalytic activities. Through this experiment, students could experience the whole process of scientific research in the subject of catalysis, master the preparation methods of catalytic materials. They also could proficiently use large-scale equipment, such as infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), to analyze the structure of the prepared catalysts. Through this experiment, the interest of learning of students could be stimulated and the scientific research literacy of students could be improved.

Infrared spectroscopy is widely used in scientific research and industrial analysis for measuring the molecular structure and identifying the composition of compounds. The composition and microstructure of the system under study can be determined by monitoring the intensity and position of the infrared absorption peak, and the dynamics information can be further unraveled. With the development of technology, infrared spectrometers are gradually miniaturized and the measurements are simplified significantly. However, the infrared spectroscopic measurement is still not included in undergraduate physical chemistry experiment. Based on this and for the purpose of carrying out the idea of integration of research and teaching, the authors attempt to extend the innovation and entrepreneurship training program "kinetic research on azeotrope separation using ionic liquids as entrainers" to undergraduate physical chemistry, in hopes to fill the gap that the infrared spectroscopic measurement method is not integrated in the physical chemistry experiment. In this paper, methanol methyl acetate azeotropic system is selected as the research object, the understanding of whose microscopic structure could provide valuable insights for in polyvinyl alcohol industry. In addition, azeotropic system is also very important in the study of thermodynamic phase equilibrium in physical chemistry, but students usually do not have a direct and clear understanding of its microstructure at the molecular level. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the microstructure of azeotropic system by infrared spectroscopy.

In this work, nanomaterial was introduced into titrimetric analysis. Firstly, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with negative charges were prepared by reducing chloroauric acid with sodium citrate. Then, based on localized surface plasmon resonance of AuNPs, a novel Fajans method was designed to detect chloride ion using gold nanoparticles as the adsorption indicator to indicate the titration endpoint. The results showed that the method could accurately determine millimole chloride ion. Moreover, the gold and silver in waste liquid can be recycled through complexation reaction, precipitation reaction and redox reaction, which can reduce the cost and pollution. Through the practice of this experiment, students will study the frontier of the nanomaterial, and their interest in scientific research will be stimulated. Furthermore, the scientific research ability will be cultivated. Finally, the application of green chemistry is promoted in teaching.

An improved experiment for the preparation of ferrous ammonium sulfate has been introduced. In this method, carbon black was added during the reaction between iron filings and dilute sulfuric acid to form galvanic cells, in which the original reaction time was reduced from 1 h to 20 min. Upon pretreatment with a magnetic prior to atmospheric filtration, it only took 8 min to finish the filtration step to obtain the ferrous sulfate solution. By changing the experimental procedure, the time-consuming and inefficient original experiment was improved. The addition of carbon black quickly removed any organic pollutants after recycling, which expanded the comprehensive utilization value of the improved experiment. Through this experiment, students can understand the principle of preparing double salts, the role of primary batteries in improving the reaction rate in engineering, and the "maximization of value" in engineering design as well as enhance their perception of engineering.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a common method to analyze the structure of organic compounds, and it is also one of the important contents in the course of organic spectrum analysis. This paper introduces the idea of ¹H NMR analysis, combining theory with three examples of scientific research practice, using ¹H NMR to identify the structure of isomers in organic synthetic products, and determine the proportion of isomers by the integral area of peak group, in order to cultivate students' scientific literacy, stimulate students' interest in learning and improving the ability of spectrum analysis.

The nomenclature of organic compounds is an important component in the teaching of organic chemistry, in which nitrogenous compounds occupy a considerable proportion. In this paper, the nomenclature of nitrogenous compounds based on "Nomenclature of Organic Compounds-2017" is explained to assist teachers and students master the new version of organic compounds nomenclature in the teaching and learning of organic chemistry, and realize the rapid transition of the nomenclature rules.

In order to circumvent the difficulty in learning the micro-structure theory in inorganic chemistry, a series of interactive teaching activities via Orbital Viewer have been introduced. The implementation of interactive teaching activities in atomic orbitals and covalent bond can effectively enhance students' learning enthusiasm and motivation, enable students to establish reasonable micro-structure models and master the real model of different atomic orbitals and covalent bonds, and effectively stimulate students' learning enthusiasm, lay the foundation for further study of hybrid orbitals and molecular orbital theories.

Vitamin B₁₂ research process contains rich ideological and political elements. Based on exploring the discovery of vitamin B₁₂, the mechanism of treatment of pernicious anemia, VB₁₂ structure determination, artificial synthesis and biosynthesis, five ideological and political elements were condensed in this article, such as promoting traditional Chinese medicine, benefiting mankind with science, teamwork, perseverance and innovative spirit. It is expected to bring beneficial enlightenment for the development of course ideological and political education in related professional courses.