New approximations for calculating dispersion coefficients

Improved approaches for finding approximate values of dispersion coefficients are proposed. They are based on scaling the values of time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) dispersion coefficients by factors that use the ratio of the estimated true value and the TDHF value of static dipole polarizabilities. It is shown that for a set of 14 atoms and molecules the average absolute-value deviation of the estimated two-body isotropic dispersion coefficients with respect to the dipole oscillator strength distribution results is smaller than 1.0% for two of our approaches. For three-body isotropic dispersion coefficients the corresponding deviations are smaller than 1.2%. Our approximations work particularly well compared to approximations proposed by other researchers in cases where the TDHF results differ from the reference values by more than 10%.     

A new method for calculating activity coefficients of mixed electrolytes

In present work, a new method is developed from which activity coefficients for both electrolytes in admixture can be obtained simultaneously from the fitting of experimental activity coefficients of one of the electrolyte. The calculated results for the system HCl+KCl at 25°C are reported and discussed.     

A simple and efficient fluorescent sensor for histidine

A simple coordination complex terpyridine-CuCl(2) is found to be an efficient fluorescent sensor for histidine in aqueous solution with up to 1004 fold fluorescence enhancement.     

A simple terminator for high efficiency liquid chromatography columns

A comparison is made between a flat bottom column terminator and a cone terminator on. 1.27 cm O.D. and 2.54 cm O.D. columns. The cone terminator results in a doubling of the column efficiency, is simple and inexpensive, and is universally adaptable to any diameter column.     

A simple, efficient, and selective deuteration via a flow chemistry approach

A simple and efficient deuteration methodology has been established for a wide variety of substrates using a continuous flow hydrogenation reactor. The described procedure is many times faster (1 mg min⁻¹) compared to literature methods and the purity of the crude product can be as high as 99%. The deuterium source is D₂O, the consumption of which is very low.     

A simple and efficient approach to the synthesis of highly functionalized fused benzochromenes

Protonation of the reactive intermediates produced in the reaction between tert-butyl isocyanide and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate or dibenzoylacetylene, by 1-naphthol, 2-naphthol, 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene, 2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene or 4-methyl-8-hydroxycoumarin leads to vinylnitrilium cations, which undergo carbon-centered Michael type addition with the conjugate base of the naphthols to produce highly functionalized benzochromenes.     

Longest distance shifting: A simple and efficient approach for the alignment of shifted chromatographic peaks

The preprocessing of chromatograms, such as the alignment of retention time shifts, is often a crucial step in the proper data analysis chain. Here, an efficient approach to align shifted chromatographic signals, longest distance shifting, is presented and highlighted. The performance of this novel strategy was demonstrated by using both simulated chromatograms that covered the different kinds of retention time shifts and the real experimental chromatograms of Pudilan Xiaoyan Tablets obtained by high‐performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection. The averaged correlation coefficient for experimental chromatograms were in the range of 0.9517–0.9840 and the peak factor was 0.9989. As a comparison, all the chromatograms have also been aligned using correlation optimized warping and Interval Correlation Optimized Shifting algorithms. The obtained results indicate that the longest distance shifting algorithm is simpler, faster and more effective, and will be potentially suitable for the alignment of other types of signals.     

Atmospheric hydrocarbon activation by the hydroxyl radical: a simple yet accurate computational protocol for calculating rate coefficients

The overall rate coefficient at standard temperature and pressure for the hydrogen abstraction reaction by the hydroxyl radical (HO˙) from common saturated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is derived theoretically using electronic structure calculations and transition state theory (TST). The computational approach used is based on relatively efficient methods, and hence is applicable to a large number of compounds with only a modest use of computer resources. The key methods used are density functional theory (for the calculation of barrier heights) and simple transition state theory (TST), including a simple correction for tunnelling. All thermally relevant conformers of the reactant and the abstraction TS are included in the study. For all compounds in a test set of thirty-four, the calculated rate coefficient agrees with the experimental value to within better than an order of magnitude, and to within better than a factor of three for all but six cases, so that the accuracy is of predictive utility.     

A different approach for calculating Franck-Condon factors including anharmonicity

An efficient new procedure for calculating Franck-Condon factors, based on the direct solution of an appropriate set of simultaneous equations, is presented. Both Duschinsky rotations and anharmonicity are included, the latter by means of second-order perturbation theory. The critical truncation of basis set is accomplished by a build-up procedure that simultaneously removes negligible vibrational states. A successful test is carried out on ClO2 for which there are experimental data and other theoretical calculations.     

A simple method for calculating reliable atomic charges in large molecules

Modifications are made to a previously developed scheme for calculating atomic charge which uses orbital electronegativity and which requires minimal calculational effort. The introduced changes are a result of deficiencies noted in the earlier method which were due to an inadequate accounting of effects from neighboring atom charges. Results obtained using the modified scheme for both model compounds as well as larger molecules of interest to biochemistry are compared to previous results and also to several levels of ab initio calculations. It is shown that a definite improvement is obtained and that the present method gives very good correlations with each calculational level. Comparisons are also made with other methods that use electronegativity theory. It is shown that the present scheme represents a definite improvement over alternate orbital electronegativity methods and is roughly comparable to a higher level scheme that utilizes atomic electronegativity values. A discussion comparing the latter method with the present one is included. Because of the small amount of calculational effort involved, the results indicate that the present method could be quite useful in providing reliable atomic charges for large molecular systems.     

A novel simple and efficient bromination protocol for activated arenes

An efficient, high yielding, and environmentally benign bromination using an alkali metal bromide as the bromine source is disclosed. Investigation of the protocol revealed that the method operates for activated arenes producing the corresponding monobrominated products in good to excellent yields.     

A simple and efficient approach for the synthesis of 2-aminated quinazoline derivatives via metal free oxidative annulation

A simple and efficient approach for the synthesis of 2-aminoquinazoline derivatives in moderate to good yields. This reaction employs mild reaction conditions, is metal-free and utilizes readily available starting materials making it a more viable reaction for scale up synthesis and ligand diversity. Notably, this methodology allows for the synthesis of 2-aminoquinazolines using a free amine or cyclic amine enabling structural diversity and good atom economy.     

A rapid and simple approach for glycoform analysis

Fast glycoform analysis is important for quality control of glycoproteins that account for over 40% of the approved biopharmaceuticals. Herein, we realized an Au nanoparticle-based lectin affinity chromatography (LAC) using simple standard laboratory equipment for fast glycoform analysis. Pisum sativum agglutinin (PA), a lectin derived from P. sativum, was covalently conjugated to Au nanoparticles via naturally formed carboxylic groups onto the surface of Au nanoparticles and amino groups of PA. Each model glycoprotein was separated into several fractions including the unbound, weakly bound, modestly bound, and strongly bound glycoforms based on affinity strength of the glycoform toward PA. A single run of Au nanoparticle-based LAC was finished within 18 min, which could be further decreased by centrifuging the mixture of the PA functionalized Au nanoparticles and the glycoproteins at a higher speed. To our knowledge, we are the first to use Au nanoparticles as LAC matrix.     

Up to fourth virial coefficients from simple and efficient internal-coordinate sampling: application to neon

A simple and efficient internal-coordinate importance sampling protocol for the Monte Carlo computation of (up to fourth-order) virial coefficients ?B(n) of atomic systems is proposed. The key feature is a multivariate sampling distribution that mimics the product structure of the dominating pairwise-additive parts of the ?B(n). This scheme is shown to be competitive over routine numerical methods and, as a proof of principle, applied to neon: The second, third, and fourth virial coefficients of neon as well as equation-of-state data are computed from ab initio two- and three-body potentials; four-body contributions are found to be insignificant. Kirkwood-Wigner quantum corrections to first order are found to be crucial to the observed agreement with recent ab initio and experimental reference data sets but are likely inadequate at very low temperatures.     

A simple method for calculating enantiomer ratio and equilibrium constants in biocatalytic resolutions

A computer programme for determination of equilibrium constant (K) and enantiomer ratio (E) in biocatalytic resolutions has been developed. The programme utilises experimental data, ee_s and ee_p measured at more than one conversion, and determines both K and E no matter whether the reaction is irreversible (K=0) or reversible (K>0). An estimation of errors in the calculations indicates that errors in E does not show a Gaussian distribution, while errors in K does. The usefulness of the programme has been tested in a lipase-catalysed transesterification of 1-phenoxy-2-propanol at various concentrations of acyl donor, with different solvents and at different water activities.