Quantum Chemistry Comes of Age

On December 10, 1998, the 102nd anniversary of Alfred Nobels death, in Stockholms Konserthus (Concert Hall), Swedens King Carl XVI Gustav awarded one half of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (3,800,000 kronor, about $489,000) to Professor John A. Pople, 73, of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry.The remaining half of the prize, the ne plus ultra of chemistry, was awarded to Professor Walter Kohn, 75, of the University of California, Santa Barbara for his development of the density-functional theory [1–9]. Because of health problems in his family, Kohn was unable to attend the ceremony but presented his Nobel lecture in Stockholm on January 28, 1999. According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: The laureates have each made pioneering contributions in developing methods that can be used for theoretical studies of the properties of molecules and the chemical processes in which they are involved [7].     

A direct hydrogen-1 and phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance cation solvation study of Al(ClO4)3, Ga(ClO4)3, In(ClO4)3, UO2(ClO4)2, and UO2(NO3)2 in water-acetone-dimethylsulfoxide and water-acetone-hexamethylphosphoramide mixtures

A competitive solvation study of Al(ClO₄)₃, Ga(ClO₄)₃, In(ClO₄)₃, UO₂(ClO₄)₂, and UO₂(NO₃)₂ in water-acetone-dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and water-acetone-hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPT) mixtures has been carried out by direct H¹ and P³¹ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. At low temperature, proton and ligand exchange are slow enough in these systems to permit the observation of signals for bulk and coordinated molecules of water and the organic bases (DMSO and HMPT). Both DMSO and HMPT compete effectively with water for coordination sites in the Al³⁺, Ga³⁺, and In³⁺ systems, with steric effects dominating the HMPT results. Both Al³⁺ and In³⁺ are able to bind a maximum of two to three HMPT molecules, for example. In contrast, UO²⁺ is solvated selectively by the organic molecules to the allowed maximum of 4 molecules per cation. H¹ and P³¹ NMR spectral results support the formation of only the mono-, tri-, and tetra-HMPT solvation complexes.     

NMR studies of interionic interactions in N-methylformamide

The NMR chemical shifts of alkali and thallium(I) salts with various monovalent anions have been measured in N-methylformamide solution. Lithium-7 chemical shifts are virtually concentration and counter-ion independent, presumably due to an absence of direct cation-anion interactions. The sodium-23, potassium-39 and cesium-133 chemical shifts of the salts studied depend on the anion and vary linearly with the concentration. The observed behavior can be accounted for by the formation of collisional ion pairs. On the other hand, the thallium-205 chemical shifts of thallium(I) nitrate and perchlorate were anion-dependent and varied non-linearly with the salt concentration. These results are indicative of contact ion pair formation; formation constants were calculated to be 2.6±0.4 M ^–1 for TlNO ₃ and 1.7±0.5 M ^–1 for TlClO ₄ . The cesium-133 NMR spectra of several mixed electrolyte systems also have been measured in N-methylformamide solution. The¹³³Cs chemical shifts also change linearly with the concentrations of the salts added to 0.10 M CsI/NMF solutions. The influence of the anions on the chemical shifts is the same as that observed for cesium salts alone.     

Isolation and Absolute Configuration of β,β-Carotene Diepoxide

The 5,6:5′,6′-diepoxy-5,6:5′,6;-tetrahydro-β,β-carotene, isolated from tubers of a white-fleshed variety of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas LAM .) has been assigned the (5R,6S,5′R,6′S)-chirality on the basis of its HPLC, UV/VIS, and CD data.     

Deactivation of vibrationally excited ozone by O(3P) atoms

Using laser-induced fluorescence of ozone (to measure the rate of disappearance of O₃²) and NO₂ titration (to determine O atom concentrations), we have determined bimolecular rate constants for the deactivation by O(³P atoms) of ozone in excited stretching and bending modes. These experiments do not distinguish between deactivation by (a) the exchange of vibrational and translational energy or (b) the chemical reaction O₃ + O → 2O₂. If the non-reactive pathway (a) is assumed to dominate, then O(³P) is 150 times more effective than O₂ in deactivating O²₃. If chemical reaction (b) is dominant, the bimolecular rate constant for O²₃ + O(³P) is larger by a factor of 150–1500 than that for ground-state ozone.     

Crystal engineering of urea alpha-network via I...O2N synthon and design of SHG active crystal N-4-iodophenyl-N'-4'-nitrophenylurea

Crystalline nitrodiphenyl ureas adopt the N-H...O tape alpha-network only when stabilization accrues from the I...O(2)N or C[triple bond]C-H...O(2)N synthon, otherwise the ureanitro motif is preferred; soft, weak interactions can direct polar self-assembly in strong N-HO hydrogen-bonded crystals.     

Validation of the CALUX bioassay for the screening of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs in retail fish

The chemical-activated luciferase expression (CALUX) assay is a reporter gene assay that detects dioxin-like compounds based on their ability to activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and thus expression of the reporter gene. In this paper, the CALUX assay was examined for its application in the screening of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dioxin-like PCBs) in retail fish. The sample extracts were cleaned up on a sulfuric acid-silica gel column followed by an activated carbon column, and the AhR activity of the separated PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB fractions was determined using the assay. The quantitative limit for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) was 0.98 pg ml(-1) (0.19 pg assay(-1) in the standard curve, corresponding to 0.16 pg g(-1) of CALUX-based toxic equivalency (2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents) in the tested sample. Recovery tests in which dioxins were added to fish samples resulted in acceptable recoveries (77-117%). The CALUX assay performed well in the analysis of dioxins in fish samples and a comparative study revealed a strong correlation between the CALUX assay and high-resolution gas chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis for the determination of PCDD/Fs (r = 0.89) and dioxin-like PCBs (r = 0.91) in retail fish (n = 22). These data revealed that the CALUX assay would be a useful screening method for PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs in retail fish.     

Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Anti-Proliferative Potential of the Pyrazole Scaffold in the Design of Anticancer Agents

The current work presents an objective overview of the impact of one important heterocyclic structure, the pyrazole ring, in the development of anti-proliferative drugs. A set of 1551 pyrazole derivatives were extracted from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) database, together with their growth inhibition effects (GI%) on the NCI’s panel of 60 cancer cell lines. The structures of these derivatives were analyzed based on the compounds’ averages of GI% values across NCI-60 cell lines and the averages of the values for the outlier cells. The distribution and the architecture of the Bemis–Murcko skeletons were analyzed, highlighting the impact of certain scaffold structures on the anti-proliferative effect’s potency and selectivity. The drug-likeness, chemical reactivity and promiscuity risks of the compounds were predicted using AMDETlab. The pyrazole ring proved to be a versatile scaffold for the design of anticancer drugs if properly substituted and if connected with other cyclic structures. The 1,3-diphenyl-pyrazole emerged as a useful scaffold for potent and targeted anticancer candidates.     

Structural model of glassy CdGeAs2

Attempts to construct structural models of glassy CdGeAs₂ are described. Microcrystal models with normal and appropriately distorted crystallites gave poor fits with the experiment. Relaxed random network models, in which force constants and equilibrium distances and angles obtained by an energy relaxation of the crystal were used to minimize their free energy, provided excellent agreement with experiment if only even-numbered rings and, therefore, no wrong bonds were allowed to form.     

Surface Modification Strategy for Enhanced NO2 Capture in Metal–Organic Frameworks

The interaction strength of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) with a set of 43 functionalized benzene molecules was investigated by performing density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The functional groups under study were strategically selected as potential modifications of the organic linker of existing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in order to enhance their uptake of NO₂ molecules. Among the functional groups considered, the highest interaction energy with NO₂ (5.4 kcal/mol) was found for phenyl hydrogen sulfate (-OSO₃H) at the RI-DSD-BLYP/def2-TZVPP level of theory—an interaction almost three times larger than the corresponding binding energy for non-functionalized benzene (2.0 kcal/mol). The groups with the strongest NO₂ interactions (-OSO₃H, -PO₃H₂, -OPO₃H₂) were selected for functionalizing the linker of IRMOF-8 and investigating the trend in their NO₂ uptake capacities with grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations at ambient temperature for a wide pressure range. The predicted isotherms show a profound enhancement of the NO₂ uptake with the introduction of the strongly-binding functional groups in the framework, rendering them promising modification candidates for improving the NO₂ uptake performance not only in MOFs but also in various other porous materials.