Gas-phase structure of (1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionato)(eta(2)-1,5-cyclooctadiene)copper(I), Cu(1,5-cod)(hfac), an important precursor for vapor deposition of copper

The molecular structure of Cu(1,5-cod)(hfac) in the gas phase has been determined by electron diffraction, restrained by parameters calculated ab initio (MP2/AE1 level) or using Density Functional Theory (BP86/AE1 level). The most stable structure is one in which one olefinic group of the cyclooctadiene ligand is coordinated to the square-planar copper atom [refined Cu-C distances 194.0(13) and 194.4(9) pm]. The second C=C double bond is weakly associated with the copper atom [Cu...C distances 267.2(23) and 276.9(25) pm], and the cyclooctadiene ligand has a twist-boat conformation, so that the complex has C(1) symmetry. The nature of the bonding between copper and each of the two olefin moieties has been assessed by topological analysis of the BP86/AE1 total electron density. A form with C(2) symmetry, lying between 2 and 7 kJ mol(-1) above the ground state, is a transition state for exchange of the two olefinic groups. There are also two higher energy conformers, both 10 kJ mol(-1) or more above the ground state. In one of these the cyclooctadiene ligand retains the twist-boat conformation, but the Cu(hfac) moiety is coordinated in the exo position with respect to the noncoordinated olefin, instead of endo, as in the most stable conformer. The molecular symmetry is C(1) in this isomer. In the remaining form the ligand has the chair conformation, and the molecular symmetry is C(s).     

Applying the principles of green chemistry in art: design of a cross-disciplinary course about ‘art in the Anthropocene: greener art through greener chemistry’

ABSTRACT

This cross-disciplinary course bridging the disciplines of art and chemistry provides an exceptional environment in which first-year students and beyond are engaged and challenged in new ways. This dual lab/studio-based course, titled “Art in the Anthropocene: Greener Art through Greener Chemistry,” enables students to use their imagination, creativity, and innovation to respond to environmental issues and concerns through art. Students are asked to reflect on the nature and implications of the actual physical materials that artists use and to achieve a renewed sense of social and ethical responsibility through the content of their artwork. The curriculum is designed so that teachers guide students on how chemical processes are used to make art materials in an environmentally friendly way. The overall goal is to apply green chemistry principles in the making of artworks that can be crafted with reclaimed, recycled, and naturally available materials, non-toxic solvents and paints, and using sustainable forms of energy while keeping ethical values in mind.     

Rule extraction from a mutagenicity data set using adaptively grown phylogenetic-like trees

A public bacterial mutagenicity database was classified into 2-D structural families using a set of specific algorithms and clustering techniques that find overlapping classes of compounds based upon chemical substructures. Structure-activity relationships were learned from the biological activity of the compounds within each class and used to identify rules that define substructures potentially responsible for mutagenic activity. In addition, this method of analysis was used to compare the pharmacologically relevant substructure of test compounds with their potential toxic substructures making this a potentially valuable in silico profiling tool for lead selection and optimization.     

Amphiphilic fluorous random copolymer self‐assembly for encapsulation of a fluorinated agrochemical

Amphiphilic self‐folding random copolymers exhibit different solution behaviors depending on the identity of the hydrophobic/hydrophilic units. Herein, it is demonstrated that changing the hydrophilic unit from poly(ethylene glycol) to the sugar trehalose causes increased discrepancy in the polarity difference with a fluorinated hydrophobic segment and changes the aggregation state of the polymer in water. The PEG‐fluorinated and trehalose/PEG‐fluorinated amphiphilic random copolymers were the most efficient at encapsulating a fluorinated agrochemical. The small‐molecule agrochemical exerts a strong influence on the self‐assembly of the polymers, demonstrating that fluorous interactions result in not only intramolecular self‐folding behavior but also intermolecular polymer association to form well‐defined nanoparticles. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 352–359     

Conformational analysis of a secondary hydroxamic acid in aqueous solution by NOE spectroscopy

Hydroxamic acids are metal‐binding compounds used by micro‐organisms and possess applications in medicine and industry. Hydroxamic acids favor two conformations, E and Z; metal binding is limited to the Z conformation. The Z conformation may be identifiable by NOE spectroscopy, but analysis is complicated by the potential for long‐range coupling as well as for relayed NOEs due to conformational switching. In this report, we re‐examine the reported conformational preference of N‐methyl acetohydroxamic acid (NMHA) in D₂O using NOE spectroscopy. We find that the favored conformation of NMHA in aqueous solution is the E conformation, contrary to an earlier report. NOE build‐up curves are proposed as a valuable tool to probe conformational behavior in similar systems. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The pH-Dependent Surface Activity of a Hydrocarbon/Fluorocarbon Catanionic Surfactant for Water/Hydrofluoroether Microemulsions: The Characterization of a New Acid/Soap Complex

The pH sensitivity of a hydrocarbon/fluorocarbon catanionic surfactant is investigated. The catanionic surfactant is sensitive to low pH, which results in the precipitation of an acid/soap complex. This complex is identified by IR, NMR and confirmed by x-ray crystallography.     

Synthesis of tertiary carbinamines

An efficient synthesis of tertiary carbinamines using a one-pot, three-component reaction employing TMSCl activation of an intermediate imine salt followed by addition of an organometallic is described. An optimized second generation chiral synthesis of select tertiary carbinamines utilizing the Ellman sulfinamine was subsequently developed on a multi-gram scale and is also described.     

Label-free quantitation: A new glycoproteomics approach

We demonstrate herein a method for quantifying glycosylation changes on glycoproteins. This novel method uses MS data of characterized glycopeptides to analyze glycosylation profiles, and several quality control tests were done to demonstrate that the method is reproducible, robust, applicable to different types of glycoproteins, and tolerant of instrumental variability during ionization of the analytes. This method is unique in that it is the first label-free quantitative method specifically designed for glycopeptide analysis. It can be used to monitor changes in glycosylation in a glycosylation site-specific manner on a single glycoprotein, or it can be used to quantify glycosylation in a glycoprotein mixture. During mixture analysis, the method can discriminate between changes in glycosylation of a given protein, and changes in the glycoprotein’s concentration in the mixture. This method is useful for quantitative analyses in biochemical studies of glycoproteins, where changes in glycosylation composition can be linked to functional differences; it could also be implemented in the pharmaceutical industry, where glycosylation profiles of glycoprotein-based therapeutics must be quantified. Finally, quantification of glycopeptides is an important aspect of glycopeptide-based biomarker discovery, and our quantitative approach could be a valuable asset to this field as well, provided the compositions of the glycopeptides to be quantified are identifiable using other methods.     

Gradients of the polarization energy in the effective fragment potential method

The effective fragment potential (EFP) method is an ab initio based polarizable classical method in which the intermolecular interaction parameters are obtained from preparative ab initio calculations on isolated molecules. The polarization energy in the EFP method is modeled with asymmetric anisotropic dipole polarizability tensors located at the centroids of localized bond and lone pair orbitals of the molecules. Analytic expressions for the translational and rotational gradients (forces and torques) of the EFP polarization energy have been derived and implemented. Periodic boundary conditions (the minimum image convention) and switching functions have also been implemented for the polarization energy, as well as for other EFP interaction terms. With these improvements, molecular dynamics simulations can be performed with the EFP method for various chemical systems.