Students’ Microscopic, Macroscopic, and Symbolic Representations of Chemical Reactions

This study examined the mental representations of chemical reactions used by six students (three male, three female) who achieved above-average grades in a college freshman chemistry class at a large midwestern university. The representations expressed by the students in structured interviews were categorized as microscopic, macroscopic, or symbolic representations of chemical reactions. The study revealed that the participants did make at least some use of each of the three representations; however, there were wide variations among participants in the sophistication of the various representations they used and in their understanding of the relationships between representations. Also, participants receiving very similar course grades sometimes demonstrated very different conceptual understandings of chemical reactions.     

Radiation immobilization of poly(methyloctylsiloxane) on silica for use in HPLC: a uniform layer model.

Poly(methyloctylsiloxane) (PMOS) was sorbed into the pores of HPLC silica by a solvent evaporation procedure, then irradiated with gamma rays from a cobalt-60 source to absorbed doses in the range from 0 to 200 kGy (1Gy = 1J kg-1). Non-irradiated and irradiated samples were characterized by solvent extraction, specific surface area determination, infrared spectroscopy and reversed-phase column performance. Solvent extraction data reveal that about 40% of the PMOS is not extractable prior to irradiation and this increases to about 75% with radiation doses of 50 kGy or higher. Column performance was improved by the radiation treatment, reaching a maximum efficiency in the dose range of 80-140 kGy while the peak symmetry changed from As = 1.7 to 1.1. The improvement is attributed to the increased mass of polymer immobilized by the radiation treatment and to a more uniform distribution of the immobilized polymer in the silica pore system. A multi-layer stationary-phase model is presented in which the first layer consists of an adsorbed monolayer of PMOS and the second layer is immobilized by gamma radiation.     

Tabular electrical conductivity for aluminium

A new Sesame-type table for the electrical conductivity of aluminium is described. The table is based on density functional theory calculations and ranges from 10⁻³ to 1 times solid density (2.7 g/cm³), and from 10⁻² to 10³ eV in temperature. The table is compared with other those of simulations and to experiments and is generally in good agreement. The high-temperature, classical limit of the conductivity is recovered for the highest temperatures and lowest densities. The table is critically evaluated, and directions for improvements are discussed.     

Defining the Role of Isoeugenol from Ocimum tenuiflorum against Diabetes Mellitus-Linked Alzheimer’s Disease through Network Pharmacology and Computational Methods

The present study involves the integrated network pharmacology and phytoinformatics-based investigation of phytocompounds from Ocimum tenuiflorum against diabetes mellitus-linked Alzheimer’s disease. It aims to investigate the mechanism of the Ocimum tenuiflorum phytocompounds in the amelioration of diabetes mellitus-linked Alzheimer’s disease through network pharmacology, druglikeness and pharmacokinetics, molecular docking simulations, GO analysis, molecular dynamics simulations, and binding free energy analyses. A total of 14 predicted genes of the 26 orally bioactive compounds were identified. Among these 14 genes, GAPDH and AKT1 were the most significant. The network analysis revealed the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway to be a prominent pathway linked to GAPDH with 50.53% probability. Upon the molecular docking simulation with GAPDH, isoeugenol was found to possess the most significant binding affinity (−6.0 kcal/mol). The molecular dynamics simulation and binding free energy calculation results also predicted that isoeugenol forms a stable protein–ligand complex with GAPDH, where the phytocompound is predicted to chiefly use van der Waal’s binding energy (−159.277 kj/mol). On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that isoeugenol from Ocimum tenuiflorum could be taken for further in vitro and in vivo analysis, targeting GAPDH inhibition for the amelioration of diabetes mellitus-linked Alzheimer’s disease.     

A mild,copper-catalysed amide deprotection strategy: use of tert-butyl as a protecting group

Mild methods for the deprotection of organic substrates are of fundamental importance in synthetic chemistry. A new room temperature method using a catalytic amount of Cu(OTf)₂ is reported. This allows use of the tert-butyl group as an amide protecting group. The methodology is also extended to Boc-deprotection.     

An enantioselective fluorescent sensor for sugar acids

Chiral fluorescent boronic acid 1 was found to be a highly enantioselective, chemoselective, and sensitive sensor for sugar acids, such as tartaric acid. Enantioselectivities (K(R)/K(S)) of up to 550:1, chemoselectivity up to 11,000:1, and sensitivities in the micromolar range with sensor 1 were observed. Single-crystal X-ray analysis was used to confirm the structure of the fluorescent species.     

Dihedral angle restriction within a peptide-based tertiary alcohol kinetic resolution catalyst

Kinetic resolution of several tertiary alcohols has been evaluated with a peptide-based catalyst that was designed to probe the role of dihedral angle restrictions for certain bonds within the catalyst. In particular, the nucleophilic residue (π-Me)-His has been replaced with the (β-Me)-(π-Me)-His. A synthesis of the key residue is presented, along with characterization data that suggests the substituent exerts a substantial ground state conformational effect. In addition, kinetic resolution data indicate that the H- to Me-substitution confers enhanced stereoselectivity in several tertiary alcohol resolutions.