JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<ul>
    <li><a href="#" class="pa">..1</a>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#" class="pa">..2</a>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#" class="pa">..3</a>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#" class="pa">..4</a>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#" class="pa">..5</a>
    </li>
</ul>

CSS

.col {
    background : #f00;
}

JavaScript

$('li:gt(1):lt(5)').addClass('col');