Structural determination of carvone, a component of spearmint, by means of gas electron diffraction augmented by theoretical calculations

The molecular structure and conformation of carvone, a compound with a minty odor, were investigated by means of gas electron diffraction supported by theoretical calculations. Electron diffraction patterns were recorded by heating the nozzle up to 128 °C to obtain enough scattering intensity. The infrared spectrum was also measured by using an absorption cell with a path length of 10 m. The obtained molecular scattering intensities were analyzed with the aid of theoretical calculations and infrared spectroscopy. It was revealed that the experimental data are well reproduced by assuming that carvone consists of a mixture of three conformers that have the isopropenyl group in the equatorial position and mutually differ in the torsional angle around the single bond connecting the ring and the isopropenyl group. It was also found that the puckering amplitude of the ring of carvone is close to those of menthol and isomenthol, a minty compound and its nonminty isomer. The determined structural parameters (r_g and ∠_α) of the most abundant conformer of carvone are as follows: 〈r(C-C)〉=1.520(3) Å; 〈r(CC)〉=1.360(5) Å; r(CO)=1.225(5) Å; 〈r(C-H)〉=1.104(4)Å; 〈∠CC-C〉=121.1(5)°; 〈∠C-C-C〉=110.4(5)°; ∠C-CO-C=117.1(14)°; 〈∠C-C-H〉=111.1(13)°. Angle brackets denote average values and parenthesized values are the estimated limits of error (3σ) referring to the last significant digit.     

On the physical adsorption of gases on carbon materials from molecular simulation

In this paper we present a series of work covering a range of aspects relating molecular simulation to experiment. The importance of surface mediation type effects to the adsorption of simple and complex gases is demonstrated. Coupled with the adsorption of simple gases is their projection area when used for surface area determination. The pressure dependence of a projection area is demonstrated for argon at 77 and 87.3 K. A simple model is used to account for the degree of graphitisation of a surface is demonstrated and used to account for the isosteric heat behaviour of non-graphitised carbon blacks. Turning from surfaces to porous solids, an alternative treatment of experiment data (either sub or super critical) is presented that avoids the ambiguity of excess amounts adsorbed. Using this method one is able to obtain pore size distributions and amounts adsorbed without relying on such things as helium expansion volumes. Since this type of method is usually applied to composite solids we also demonstrate the correct method for calculating the heat of adsorption using independent sets of simulations. The final topic covered in this paper is an example of the information that can be gained from the heat capacity of an adsorbed phase.     

The recent progress of wide bandgap donor polymers towards non-fullerene organic solar cells

The recent progress of wide bandgap (WBG) donor polymers for non-fullerene polymer solar cells (NF-PSCs) were reviewed in detail, which was classified by D-type and D-A type molecular backbones to discuss the related structure-property correlations and put forward an outlook for future innovations.     

Molecular modeling study of the differential ligand–receptor interaction at the μ, δ and κ opioid receptors

3D models of the opioid receptors , and were constructed using BUNDLE, an in-house program to build de novo models of G-protein coupled receptors at the atomic level. Once the three opioid receptors were constructed and before any energy refinement, models were assessed for their compatibility with the results available from point-site mutations carried out on these receptors. In a subsequent step, three selective antagonists to each of three receptors (naltrindole, naltrexone and nor-binaltorphamine) were docked onto each of the three receptors and subsequently energy minimized. The nine resulting complexes were checked for their ability to explain known results of structure-activity studies. Once the models were validated, analysis of the distances between different residues of the receptors and the ligands were computed. This analysis permitted us to identify key residues tentatively involved in direct interaction with the ligand.     

Molecular weight effect on the photoinduced birefringence and surface relief gratings formation of a methacrylate azopolymer

Samples of a methacrylic side-chain azopolymer were synthesized by a radical copolymerization of methyl-methacrylate with the methacrylic derivative of the commercial dye Disperse Red-13 (DR13). Copolymers with different molecular weight were obtained by varying the reaction time and the concentration of initiator. Samples with molecular weight averages (M_w) from 3 to 8 × 10⁴ g/mol and 1.4-1.7 polydispersity were obtained. The glass transition temperature of the samples increased linearly from the lower to the highest molecular weight. Optical quality cast films were prepared for all samples and photoinduced birefringence was successfully carried out in all samples as well as surface relief gratings could be inscribed in the cast films.     

Dynamic Study of Gemini Surfactant and Single-chain Surfactant at Air／Water Interface

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation are used to study the properties of gemini surfactant of ethyl-α,ω-bis(dodecyldimethylammonium bromide) (C12C2C12) and dodecyl-trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) at the air/water interface, respectively. In the two systems,t he surfactant concentrations are both 28 wt.%, and other conditions are also the same. After reaching the thermodynamic equilibrium, the concentration profiles, the radial distributions functions (RDF) and the mean squared displacement (MSD) are investigated. The results reveal that the surface activity of C12C2C12 surfactant is higher than DTAB surfactant.     

小肽修饰的PAMAM树枝状化合物的生物活性

合成了甘氨酸 (Gly) 天冬氨酸 (Asp)组成的肽链Gly Asp、Gly Asp Gly Asp、Gly Asp (Gly Asp) 2 .分别将天冬氨酸及上述合成的肽链引入到聚酰胺 胺型树枝状化合物 (PAMAM)的表面 .对所得化合物进行了分子模拟 ,结果表明Gly Asp (Gly Asp) 2 肽链在PAMAM表面可形成接近于 β sheet的构象 .由实验得知 ,经Asp、Gly Asp、Gly Asp Gly Asp、Gly Asp (Gly Asp) 2 修饰的PAMAM树枝状化合物对抗坏血酸还原FeⅢ 细胞色素C(cytc)的反应有干扰作用 ,导致该反应速率下降 .这说明所合成的化合物与cytc有较好的结合能力 .特别是Gly Asp (Gly Asp) 2 修饰的PAMAM ,其与cytc的结合常数为 1 6ⅹ 1 0 5.     

极性介质中醋酸乙烯酯的辐照引发分散聚合

用钴 60γ射线引发醋酸乙烯酯的分散聚合 ,通过选择各种极性溶剂体系 ,确立了醋酸乙烯酯在极性介质中稳定的分散聚合体系 .对异丙醇 水体系 ,聚合物分子量随剂量率的降低、稳定剂含量的增加、单体浓度的增大、反应温度的升高以及醇水比的降低而增加 .运用XPS、元素分析等表征聚合物粒子 ,及通过辐射接枝理论的分析 ,可以判断稳定剂所起的稳定作用主要是以物理吸附为主     

环己硅烷类液晶化合物的量子化学研究

运用AM1和PM3两种SCF-MO方法，通过能量梯度全优化计算，给出20种环己硅烷类（苯基乙烷系）液晶化合物的稳定几何构型、电子结构和基本性质．联系有机电子结构理论进行了细致的讨论．     

Molecular dynamics studies on octadecylammonium chloride at the air/liquid interface

Molecular dynamics simulations on surfactant octadecylammonium chloride at the air/liquid interface were performed. It was found that the alkyl chains of octadecylammonium would change to order with increasing the concentration of octadecylammonium at the air/liquid interface. Some functions, such as the concentration distributions, the radial distribution function and the mean squared displacement (MSD) were evaluated to investigate the structural properties of interface. We found that the salts can affect octadecylammonium aggregate at the interface: (1) univalent ions, such as chloride and sodium ions, affect slightly the structure of monolayer and (2) bivalent ions, such as sulfate or calcium ions, affect greatly, especially for the bivalent negative ions.