Selective oxoammonium salt oxidations of alcohols to aldehydes and aldehydes to carboxylic acids

The oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes using stoichiometric 4-acetamido-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxoammonium tetrafluoroborate (1) in CH(2)Cl(2) at room temperature is a highly selective process favoring reaction at the carbinol center best able to accommodate a positive charge. The oxidation of aldehydes to carboxylic acids by 1 in wet acetonitrile is also selective; the rate of the process correlates with the concentration of aldehyde hydrate. A convenient and high yield method for oxidation of alcohols directly to carboxylic acids has been developed.     

Disease-Causing Mutation in Extracellular and Intracellular Domain of FGFR1 Protein: Computational Approach

In-depth computationally based structural analysis of human fibroblast growth factor type 1 (FGFR1) protein carrying disease-causing mutation was performed in this study. Gain or loss of function due to missense mutations in FGFR1 is responsible for a variety of disorders including Kallmann syndrome, Apert syndrome, Pfeiffer syndrome, Crouzon syndrome, etc. The mutant model of the human FGFR1 protein was subjected to various in silico analysis, and most deleterious SNPs were screened out. Furthermore, docking and long molecular dynamics simulations were carried out with an intention of studying the possible impact of these mutations on the protein structure and hence its function. Analysis of various structural properties—especially of those of the functionally important regions: the extracellular immunoglobulin domain and intracellular Tyrosine kinase domain—gave some insights into the possible structural characteristics of the disease mutant and the wild-type forms of the protein. In a nutshell, compared to the wild-type protein, the mutant structures V273M and S685F are associated with significant changes, and the functionally important regions seem to adopt such structures that are not conducive for the wild-type-like functionality.     

Synthesis,characterization and spectroscopic studies of pyrazinamide metal complexes

The present paper deals with the synthesis and characterization of Schiff base complexes of pyrazinamide an antitubercular drug. Metals selected for complexation are copper, silver, gold, zinc, mercury, iron and cobalt. The complexes have been suitably synthesized and isolated in pure powdered form. Analytical data agrees with the compositions M(L), M′(L)₂ and M″(L)₂·2H₂O, respectively where M = Ag, M′ = Cu, Au, Zn and Hg and M″ = Fe and Co, ligand metal ratios were also confirmed by monovariation method and Job’s method of continuous variation. Molar conductance values suggest the non ionic nature of the complexes. The tentative structure assigned to the complexes on the basis of stoichiometry and analytical data were further supported by spectral studies viz; IR, NMR, magnetic susceptibility and electronic spectra. A preliminary attempt has also been made to compare the potencies of metal complexes with parent drug. The Cu and Ag complexes are giving encouraging results. Particle size studies further suggest that the drug molecule undergoes reduction in size on complexation.     

Preparation and dielectric properties of oxide added NaCl-KCl polycrystals

Pure and ZnO and CdO added (separately) polycrystals of NaCl, KCl and (NaCl)_0.5(KCl)_0.5 were prepared by the melt method. Density, atomic absorption spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the ZnO and CdO have entered into the lattices of alkali halide crystals. The dielectric measurements indicate that the dielectric parameters increase with the increase in temperature. Also, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor values decreased whereas the electrical conductivities increased with the increase in frequency of the AC applied. Significant changes have been observed with the dielectric parameters caused by ZnO and CdO additions. Also, the depth profile study was carried out on CdO added crystals which indicates that the dopant addition creates different layers along the crystal with increase of dopant content from top to bottom.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the nano-scale room-temperature oxidation of aluminum single crystals

The oxidation of aluminum single crystals is studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with dynamic charge transfer between atoms. The simulations are performed on three aluminum low-index surfaces ((1 0 0), (1 1 0) and (1 1 1)) at room temperature. The results show that the oxide film growth kinetics is independent of the crystallographic orientation under the present conditions. Beyond a transition regime (100 ps) the growth kinetics follow a direct logarithmic law and present a limiting thickness of ∼3 nm. The obtained amorphous structure of the oxide film has initially Al excess (compared to the composition of Al₂O₃) and evolves, during the oxidation process, to an Al percentage of 45%. We observe also the presence of an important mobile porosity in the oxide. Analysis of atomistic processes allowed us to conclude that the growth proceeds by oxygen atom migration and, to a lesser extent, by aluminum atoms migration. In both cases a layer-by-layer growth mode is observed. The results are in good agreement with both experiments and earlier MD simulations.     

Large-scale atomistic simulations of nanostructured materials based on divide-and-conquer density functional theory

A linear-scaling algorithm based on a divide-and-conquer (DC) scheme is designed to perform large-scale molecular-dynamics simulations, in which interatomic forces are computed quantum mechanically in the framework of the density functional theory (DFT). This scheme is applied to the thermite reaction at an Al/Fe₂O₃ interface. It is found that mass diffusion and reaction rate at the interface are enhanced by a concerted metal-oxygen flip mechanism. Preliminary simulations are carried out for an aluminum particle in water based on the conventional DFT, as a target system for large-scale DC-DFT simulations. A pair of Lewis acid and base sites on the aluminum surface preferentially catalyzes hydrogen production in a low activation-barrier mechanism found in the simulations.     

Stability of the bulk phase of layered ZnO

Recently a novel phase of ZnO has been synthesized which is analogous to α-boron nitride, although more three dimensional, and consists of planar hexagonal sheets of ZnO. Examining the dynamic stability of the structure, we find unstable phonon modes over a considerable part of the Brillouin zone. Local-density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation level calculations have usually been able to predict the structural stability of s-p bonded systems. The failure in the present case is a surprise and is traced to the self-interaction error which incorrectly locates the localized Zn d states in the valence band of ZnO. Correcting for this with a Hubbard-like U on the Zn d states, the optimized structure is predicted to be stable. This highlights the fact that the large bond length contraction that one finds in going from sp(3)- to sp(2)-type bonding results in an increased necessity to correct for self-interaction errors.