Free-energy perturbation and quantum mechanical study of SAMPL4 octa-acid host–guest binding energies

We have estimated free energies for the binding of nine cyclic carboxylate guest molecules to the octa-acid host in the SAMPL4 blind-test challenge with four different approaches. First, we used standard free-energy perturbation calculations of relative binding affinities, performed at the molecular-mechanics (MM) level with TIP3P waters, the GAFF force field, and two different sets of charges for the host and the guest, obtained either with the restrained electrostatic potential or AM1-BCC methods. Both charge sets give good and nearly identical results, with a mean absolute deviation (MAD) of 4 kJ/mol and a correlation coefficient (R ²) of 0.8 compared to experimental results. Second, we tried to improve these predictions with 28,800 density-functional theory (DFT) calculations for selected snapshots and the non-Boltzmann Bennett acceptance-ratio method, but this led to much worse results, probably because of a too large difference between the MM and DFT potential-energy functions. Third, we tried to calculate absolute affinities using minimised DFT structures. This gave intermediate-quality results with MADs of 5–9 kJ/mol and R ² = 0.6–0.8, depending on how the structures were obtained. Finally, we tried to improve these results using local coupled-cluster calculations with single and double excitations, and non-iterative perturbative treatment of triple excitations (LCCSD(T0)), employing the polarisable multipole interactions with supermolecular pairs approach. Unfortunately, this only degraded the predictions, probably because of a mismatch between the solvation energies obtained at the DFT and LCCSD(T0) levels.     

Synthesis and Evaluation of 2,2‐Dimethylchroman Derivatives as Inhibitors of ICAM‐1 Expression on Human Endothelial Cells

We herein report the synthesis of novel 2,2‐dimethylchroman analogs and their effect on the modulation of tumor necrosis factor‐α‐induced expression of intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 in human endothelial cells. These compounds were found to be potent inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor‐α‐induced expression of intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 on human endothelial cells at very low concentration. The structure–activity relationship of these compounds has been studied. The IC₅₀ and maximum tolerable dose value of the lead compound 7d (X═NH, R═4Cl) of this study was found to be 9.5 and 150 μM, respectively. The present results indicate that our novel compound is potentially effective and therefore could be useful for further pharmaceutical studies.     

The smart meter and a smarter consumer: quantifying the benefits of smart meter implementation in the United States

The electric grid in the United States has been suffering from underinvestment for years, and now faces pressing challenges from rising demand and deteriorating infrastructure. High congestion levels in transmission lines are greatly reducing the efficiency of electricity generation and distribution. In this paper, we assess the faults of the current electric grid and quantify the costs of maintaining the current system into the future. While the proposed "smart grid" contains many proposals to upgrade the ailing infrastructure of the electric grid, we argue that smart meter installation in each U.S. household will offer a significant reduction in peak demand on the current system. A smart meter is a device which monitors a household's electricity consumption in real-time, and has the ability to display real-time pricing in each household. We conclude that these devices will provide short-term and long-term benefits to utilities and consumers. The smart meter will enable utilities to closely monitor electricity consumption in real-time, while also allowing households to adjust electricity consumption in response to real-time price adjustments.     

On the isospin effects in the geometry of vanishing flow in heavy-ion collisions

We study the behavior of the geometry of vanishing flow (GVF) and its system size dependence at different incident energies. We find that the geometry of vanishing flow is sensitive to the incident energy. We also study the role of isospin degree of freedom through Coulomb potential, symmetry energy and nucleon-nucleon cross sections. Our study reveals that isospin degree of freedom through nucleon-nucleon cross section plays a dominant role compared to Coulomb potential and symmetry energy.     

Interplay of phenyl-perfluorophenyl stacking,C-H...F,C-F...pi and F...F interactions in some crystalline aromatic azines

Analysis of phenyl-perfluorophenyl stacking synthon, C-H...F, C-F...pi interactions, and F...F tetramer in three closely related azine crystal structures shows the dominance of Ar-ArF synthon while other interactions are turned on/off depending on the H/F stoichiometry in the molecule.     

Coherent switching with decay of mixing: an improved treatment of electronic coherence for non-Born-Oppenheimer trajectories

The self-consistent decay-of-mixing (SCDM) semiclassical trajectory method for electronically nonadiabatic dynamics is improved by modifying the switching probability that determines the instantaneous electronic state toward which the system decoheres. This method is called coherent switching with decay of mixing (CSDM), and it differs from the previously presented SCDM method in that the electronic amplitudes controlling the switching of the decoherent state are treated fully coherently in the electronic equations of motion for each complete passage through a strong interaction region. It is tested against accurate quantum mechanical calculations for 12 atom-diatom scattering test cases. Also tested are the SCDM method and the trajectory surface hopping method of Parlant and Gislason that requires coherent passages through each strong interaction region, and which we call the "exact complete passage" trajectory surface hopping (ECP-TSH) method. The results are compared with previously presented results for the fewest switches with time uncertainty and Tully's fewest switches (TFS) surface hopping methods and the semiclassical Ehrenfest method. We find that the CSDM method is the most accurate of the semiclassical trajectory methods tested. Including coherent passages improves the accuracy of the SCDM method (i.e., the CSDM method is more accurate than the SCDM method) but not of the trajectory surface hopping method (i.e., the ECP-TSH method is not more accurate on average than the TFS method).     

AM1 study of structure-activity relationships in bicyclic aza-β-lactams

AM1 calculations on bicyclic aza-β-lactams 4 (1,3-diazetidin-2-ones) are carried out to investigate the effect of ring size (five versus six), position of olefin (Δ² versus Δ³), and electronegative atom (oxygen) in the tethered non-β-lactam ring on the structure of diazetidinone. The results are discussed in terms of structural trends related to β-lactamase and transpeptidase inactivation capability. The biological activity of novel aza-β-lactams 4 is comparable to that of β-lactams3 .     

Visible Light-Induced Synthesis of 2-Oxazolidinones through One-Pot Coupling of Benzylamines,Epoxides and CO2

The synthesis of 2-oxazolidinones from a three component coupling reaction of amines, epoxides, and CO₂. The reaction proceeds in the presence of 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine under visible light irradiation at atmospheric pressure. The optimized structures of all species involved in the reaction mechanism along with transition states have been described based on the DFT calculations. The developed methodology represents a promising approach of employing CO₂ as a naturally abundant and non-toxic carbon resource to produce profitable chemicals.