Studies on Hydrogen Bonding Network Structures of Konjac Glucomannan

In this paper, the hydrogen bonding network models of konjac glucomannan （KGM） are predicted in the approach of molecular dynamics （MD）. These models have been proved by experiments whose results are consistent with those from simulation. The results show that the hydrogen bonding network structures of KGM are stable and the key linking points of hydrogen bonding network are at the O（6） and O（2） positions on KGM ring. Moreover, acety has significant influence on hydrogen bonding network and hydrogen bonding network structures are more stable after deacetylation.     

X-RAY STUDIES ON THE STRUCTURE OF DES-PENTAPEPTIDE INSULIN AT 2.4 RESOLUTION——THE DPI MOLECULE AND ITS STRUCTURAL RELATIONSHIP WITH INSULIN

The structure of the monomeric insulin analogue des(B26—B30) insulin is presented.; A detailed comparison with the 2Zn insulin structures shows that while there are some large changes in the structure, the basic secondary structural units maintain their integrity. The DPI structure is broadly similar to molecule Ⅰ in the 2Zn structure, and in this respect is like other crystal forms of insulin. In addition to changes on the surface of the structure there are some subtle but extensive changes in the heart of the molecule. The molecules are closely packed in the crystal with many and varied contacts, including a complex network of protein-cadmium interactions and a considerable number of water mediated contacts. The molecular surface has an unusually large number of hydrophobic groups which tend to cluster in a thick band running around the protein. The crystal structure is well ordered, indeed the clarity of some side chains and the definition of the water molecules is superior to that found in the mor     

Interlayer-type Crystal Structure of N-（1-Adamantyl） urea

1 INTRODUCTION In the context of supramolecular chemistry, mo- lecules are joined together by intermolecular interac- tions to form a supramolecule whose physical pro- perties largely depend on the orientation and packing of molecules in the crystal structures[1]. The adaman- tane is a kind of cage alkane with high symmetry and stable framework. Its derivatives are extensively applied in the fields of medicine, macromolecular materials, aviation and so on due to the unique structures and …     

Influence of functional groups on the self-assembly of liquid crystals

Functional groups in the molecule play an important role in the molecular o rganization process.To reveal the influence of functional groups on the self-assembly at interface,herein,the self-assembly structures of three liquid crystal molecules,which only differ in the functional groups,are explicitly characterized by using scanning tunneling microscopy(STM).The high-resolution STM images demonstrate the difference between the supramolecular assembly structures of three liquid crystal molecules,which attribute to the hydrogen bonding interaction and π-π stacking interaction between different functional groups.The density functional theory(DFT) results also confirm the influence of these functional groups on the self-assemblies.The effort on the self-assembly of liquid crystal molecules at interface could enhance the understanding of the supramolecular assembly mechanism and benefit the further application of liquid crystals.     

A Study on the Preparation of Konjac Glucomannansilk Fibroin Composite Aerogels and Its Adsorption of Water Pollutant Cr(Ⅲ)

It is emergent to develop a green waste water adsorbent with high efficiency.Therefore,a type of low-cost,green and environmentally friendly konjac glucomannan(KGM)-silk fibroin(SF)composite aerogels were compounded via simple chemical grafting and vacuum freeze drying,and a study on its adsorption capacity was also conducted.The characterizations of FT-IR,SEM,XRD and DSC indicate that the modified aerogels show a porous network space structure and there is a strong hydrogen bond effect between the KGM and SF molecules,which improves the density,compressive strength and thermal stability of aerogel materials.The adsorption experiments show that KGM-SF aerogels can effectively adsorb the water pollutants Cr(Ⅲ)with a maximal adsorption capacity of 82 mg·g^-1.In addition,the adsorption isotherm and dynamic model analysis are used to elaborate the adsorption mechanism of KGM-SF aerogels and explain that the composite aerogels can be single molecule chemisorption.KGM-SF aerogels have potential adsorption capacity.     

WATER STRUCTURE IN DESPENTAPEPTIDE (B26—B30) INSULIN CRYSTAL AT 1.5  RESOLUTION

The water structure in despentapeptide (B26-B30) insulin crystal is presented in this paper. Ac-cording to inspection of the final F_0-extended (2F_0-F_c) Fourier map, 81 water molecules (about twothirds of solvent) with electron density greater tLan 0.4 e/A~3 are included in the water model to bediscussed. In a hydrogen bond length range of 2.4--3.2 A, 51 water molecules, that is, 63% of thetotal 81, are hydrogen bonded to protein, of which 12 link the adjacent protein molecules through one-water bridges and more through two-water bridges. There is a tight water network in a long crevice be-tween protein molecules; two Cd atoms, like two piles, prop up the network through three water molecules(Cd ligands) at either end of the network, indicating that Cd ions and water networks play an importantrole in close packing of protein molecules in the crystal.     

Geometrical Structures and Activities of Free Radical Scavenging Studies of Baicalein and Scutellarein

In order to study the free radical scavenging capacity and molecular structures of baicalein and scutellarein,the structure-activity relationship of these two molecules was analyzed.The geometric structures of the compounds were optimized by DMol3 code based on density functional theory.The theoretical parameters of the atomic charge distribution,the distribution of molecular frontier orbital,the energy difference and Fukui functions were calculated.Meantime,superoxide anion free radical and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical(DPPH)methods were used to determine the scavenging capacity of the compounds.The results showed that the scavenging rate of DPPH radicals and superoxide anion radicals increased with the increase of sample concentration,and had a dose-effect relationship.The radical-scavenging activities in the order of baicalein>scutellarein>BHT were showed.The p-π conjugation of the hydroxyl oxygen atom influenced the certain ability to repelling electrons in the molecular structures of baicalein and scutellarein based on the data of the atomic charge distribution,the distribution of molecular frontier orbital,the energy difference and Fukui functions.Hydroxyl groups were more susceptible to attack and exhibit free radical scavenging activity.The oxygen atom in the phenolic hydroxyl group of the molecule structure of the samples may be the reaction active sites where the electrophilic reaction occurred.These results offer useful theoretical bases for the research and application of antioxidant activities of substances containing such molecular structures.     

Hydrogen Adsorption on Ti Decorating Benzene Grafted Tetrahydrido-silsequioxanes

A novel type of Ti decorating benzene grafted tetrahydrido-silsequioxane struc-tures was designed and investigated using density functional theory(DFT).The hydrogen adsorption properties of this new material were investigated at the same level of theory.The results reveal that up to four hydrogen molecules(with the restrict of 18 electrons rule) can be adsorbed on each Ti atom of(TiC6H5)m-H4-mSi4O6(m = 1-4) molecular systems with the average binding energies of 0.691,0.692,0.693 and 0.695 eV for m = 1-4,respectively.The variations of HOMO- LUMO energy gaps verify that the host structures with four H2 molecules adsorbed own the best kinetics stability.The interaction mechanism of H2 molecules with the host materials mainly attributes to the well-known "kubas interactions".All the results indicate that the complex structures designed here may be used as hydrogen storage materials at ambient conditions.     

Effects of the structure of the branches on the two-photon absorption properties for the multi-branched molecules with nitrogen (N) as coupling center

In order to investigate the effects of the structure of branches on the TPA properties for multi-branched molecules, the TPA cross section is calculated by using ZINDO/SOS method. The investigated mole- cules have different branches (chomorfores based on stilbene, dithienothiophene and flourene) with nitrogen(N) as coupling center. The results show that the cooperative enhancement in multi-branched molecules depends on the structures of the branches and the structures of branches play an important role in the enhancement of the TPA cross section. The designed molecules with stilbene and dithie- nothiophene as branched possess relatively larger two-photon absorption cross sections.     

Hierarchical Self-organization of Complex Systems

Researches on organization and structure in complex systems are academic and industrial fronts in mod-ern sciences. Though many theories are tentatively proposed to analyze complex systems, we still lack a rig-orous theory on them. Complex systems possess various degrees of freedom, which means that they should exhibit all kinds of structures. However, complex systems often show similar patterns and structures. Then the question arises why such similar structures appear in all kinds of complex systems. The paper outlines a theory on freedom degree compression and the existence of hierarchical self-organization for all complex sys-tems is found. It is freedom degree compression and hierarchical self-organization that are responsible for the existence of these similar patterns or structures observed in the complex systems.     

First-Principle Studies on Adsorption of Cu^＋ and Hydrated Cu^＋ Cations on Clean Si（111） Surface

To study the adsorption behavior of Cu+ in aqueous solution on semiconductor surface, the interactions of Cu+ and hydrated Cu+ cations with the clean Si(111) surface were investigated via hybrid density functional theory(B3LYP) and Mller-Plesset second-order perturbation(MP2) method. The clean Si(111) surface was described with cluster models(Si14H17, Si16H20 and Si22H21) and a four-silicon layer slab under periodic boundary conditions. Calculation results indicate that the bonding nature of adsorption of Cu+ on Si surface can be viewed as partial cova- lent as well as ionic bonding. The binding energies between hydrated Cu+ cations and Si(111) surface are large, suggesting a strong interaction between them. The coordination number of Cu+(H2O)n on Si(111) surface was found to be 4. As the number of water molecules is larger than 5, water molecules form a hydrogen bond network. In aqueous solution, Cu+ cations will safely attach to the clean Si(111) surface.     

Studies on the Adsorption of Asymmetrical Triblock Copolymers by Scheutjens-Fleer Theory and Monte Carlo Simulation

The adsorption of asymmetrical triblock copolymers from a non-selective solvent on solid surface has been studied by using Scheutjens-Fleer mean-field theory and Monte Carlo simulation method on lattice model. The main aim of this paper is to provide detailed computer simulation data, taking A8-kB20Ak as a key example, to study the influence of the structure of copolymer on adsorption behavior and make a comparison between MC and SF results. The simulated results show that the size distribution of various configurations and density-profile are dependent on molecular structure and adsorption energy. The molecular structure will lead to diversity of adsorption behavior. This discrepancy between different structures would be enlarged for the surface coverage and adsorption amount with increasing of the adsorption energy. The surface coverage and the adsorption amount as well as the bound fraction will become larger as symmetry of the molecular structure becomes gradually worse. The adsorption layer becomes thicker with increasing of symmetry of the molecule when adsorption energy is smaller but it becomes thinner when adsorption energy is higher. It is shown that SF theory can reproduce the adsorption behavior of asymmetrical triblock copolymers. However, systematic discrepancy between the theory and simulation still exists.The approximations inherited in the mean-filed theory such as random mixing and the allowance of direct back folding may be responsible for those deviations.     

First-principles Study on the Properties of CaO(100) Surface Adsorbing Carbon Dioxide

The increasing carbon dioxide emissions have a huge impact on the global environment. Carbonation reaction of CaO is regarded as a potential method to capture carbon dioxide. The density functional theory calculations have been performed to investigate the adsorption of CO_2 on CaO(100) surface. This paper systematically studied the adsorption of CO_2 at different adsorption sites on CaO(100) surface and the influence of adsorption angle on adsorption energy. Based on the studying of adsorption sites, adsorption energy and electronic structure of the CO_2/CaO(100) systems, chemical adsorption mainly happens when CO_2 molecules are absorbed on the CaO(100) surfaces, but physical adsorption may also happen. The research found that CO_2 molecules reacted with surface O atom through C, forming monodentate surface carbonate species and tridentate carbonate. Among them, low-coordinated monodentate ligands have a higher stability than tridentate ligands due to the shorter C–OS bond length of monodentate ligands.     

Imitating trumpet shells: Mbius container molecules

Mbius container molecules C64H8,C60N4H4,and C58N6H2 with topological one-sided characteristics were constructed at the first time by imitating natural trumpet shells.The structure is an open cage with an inner hexagonal bridge.The bridge joints the outer and inner surfaces of the cage to form a new one-sided Mbius structure.The optimized structures of the three molecules in the singlet(the ground state),triplet and quintet states are obtained using the density functional theory(B3LYP).For the ground state...     

Multiple Ionic-Covalent Couplings in Molecules and Clusters

The electronic states of molecules made of electropositive and electronegative components result from the interference between the covalent configurations and the ionic configurations. This work shows complex aspects of these ionic-covalent couplings in small molecules such as Li2H, Li2F, and Li4F. The extension of this type of analysis to the adsorption of the electrophilic molecules on the metal clusters or on the metal surfaces is supposed to lead to a radically new interpretation of the observed physical and chemical properties.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Interactions between Konjac Glucomannan and Carrageenan

The interactions between konjac glucomannan and carrageenan were studied with the method of molecular dynamics simulation. Part representative structure segments of KGM and two unit structures of κ-carrageenan （Fig. 2） were used as mode, and the force-field was AMBER2. The stability and sites of konjac glucomannan/carrageenan interactions in water were researched at 373 K with the following results： the potential energy （EPOT） of the mixed gel was dropped, while those of single-konjac glucomannan gel and single carrageenan were increased. The surface area （SA） of KGM in the mixed system was decreased to 1002.2A^°^2, and that of carrageenan to 800.9 A^°^2. The variations of two parameters showed that the stability of compound gel konjac glucomannan/carrageenan was improved, which is consistent with the previous studies. The sites of interactions in the mixed gel were the -OH groups on C（2）, C（4） and C（6）, the acetyl group in KGM mannose, and the -OH group on C（6） in carrageenan. The hydrogen bond was formed directly or indirectly by the bridge of waters.     

Molecular Dynamics Studies of the Kinetics of Phase Changes in Clusters IV： Crystal Nucleation from Molten （NaCl）256 and （NaCl）500 Clusters

Molecular dynamics computer simulation based on the Born-Mayer-Huggins potential function has been carried out to study the effects of duster size and temperature on the nucleation rate of sodium chloride dusters in the temperature range of 580 K to 630 K. Clusters with 256 and 500 NaCl molecules have been studied and the results have been compared with those obtained from 108 molecule dusters. The melting point (MP) of the clusters were observed to increase with the size of the clusters and can be well described by a linear equation MP =1107(37)-1229(23)N^-1/3(N is the number of molecules in the duster).The nucleation rate was found to decrease with increasing the duster size or temperature. Various nucleation theories have been used to interpret the nucleation rates obtained from this molecular dynamics simulation. It is possible to use a constant diffuse interface thickness to interpret the nucleation rate from the diffuse interface theory in the temperature range of this study. However, the interfacinl free energy estimated from classical nucleation theory and diffuse interface theory increases too fast with increasing the temperature while that from Gran-Gunton theory does not change with changing temperatures.The sizes of critical nuclei estimated from all the theories are smaller than those estimated from our simulations.     

Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Structures and Properties of Konjac Glucomannan Film

To understand the effect of plasma treatment on the Konjac glucomannan film, the nitrogen plasma was injected into the film by ion beam injection machine in this study. The structures and properties of Konjac glucomannan film after plasma treatment were analyzed by Infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectrum, X-ray, ect. The result showed that nitrogen groups appeared in the KGM molecular chain and part of this chain fractured, and the number of hydrogen bonds increased after the treatment of plasma. The form of KGM molecule remained amorphous non-crystalline state, but the crystalline region was increased and became more ordered. The mechanical property of tensile strength and breaking elongation was improved, while the WVP was decreased. The nitrogen groups were grafted on the KGM molecular chain after plasma treatment, which led to the improvement of the properties of KGM film.