Effect of metal cations [Li+, Na+, K+, Be2+, Mg2+, and Ca2+] on the structure of 2‐(3′‐hydroxy‐2′‐pyridyl)benzoxazole: A theoretical investigation

Density functional theory calculations were performed at the B3LYP/6‐311++G(d,p) level to systematically explore the geometrical multiplicity and binding strength for the complexes formed by alkaline and alkaline earth metal cations, viz. Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Be²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Ca²⁺ (Mⁿ⁺, hereinafter), with 2‐(3′‐hydroxy‐2′‐pyridyl)benzoxazole. A total of 60 initial structures were designed and optimized, of which 51 optimized structures were found, which could be divided into two different types: monodentate complexes and bidentate complexes. In the cation‐heteroatom complex, bidentate binding is generally stronger than monodentate binding, and of which the bidentate binding with five‐membered ring structure has the strongest interaction. Energy decomposition revealed that the total binding energies mainly come from electrostatic interaction for alkaline metal ion complexes and orbital interaction energy for alkaline earth metal ion complex. In addition, the electron localization function analysis show that only the Be? O and Be? N bond are covalent character, and others are ionic character. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Experimental shift allowance in the deconvolution of SIMS depth profiles

We study the deconvolution of the secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) depth profiles of silicon and gallium arsenide structures with doped thin layers. Special attention is paid to allowance for the instrumental shift of experimental SIMS depth profiles. This effect is taken into account by using Hofmann's mixing‐roughness‐information depth model to determine the depth resolution function. The ill‐posed inverse problem is solved in the Fourier space using the Tikhonov regularization method. The proposed deconvolution algorithm has been tested on various simulated and real structures. It is shown that the algorithm can improve the SIMS depth profiling relevancy and depth resolution. The implemented shift allowance method avoids significant systematic errors of determination of the near‐surface delta‐doped layer position. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analytical depth resolution function for the MRI model

The mixing roughness information depth model is frequently used for the quantification of sputter depth profiles. In general, the solution of the convolution integral for any kind of in‐depth distributions is achieved by numerical methods. For a thin delta layer, an analytical depth resolution function is presented, which enables a simple and user‐friendly quantification of measured delta layer profiles in AES, XPS and SIMS. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Water PMF for predicting the properties of water molecules in protein binding site

Water is an important component in living systems and deserves better understanding in chemistry and biology. However, due to the difficulty of investigating the water functions in protein structures, it is usually ignored in computational modeling, especially in the field of computer‐aided drug design. Here, using the potential of mean forces (PMFs) approach, we constructed a water PMF (wPMF) based on 3946 non‐redundant high resolution crystal structures. The extracted wPMF potential was first used to investigate the structure pattern of water and analyze the residue hydrophilicity. Then, the relationship between wPMF score and the B factor value of crystal waters was studied. It was found that wPMF agrees well with some previously reported experimental observations. In addition, the wPMF score was also tested in parallel with 3D‐RISM to measure the ability of retrieving experimentally observed waters, and showed comparable performance but with much less computational cost. In the end, we proposed a grid‐based clustering scheme together with a distance weighted wPMF score to further extend wPMF to predict the potential hydration sites of protein structure. From the test, this approach can predict the hydration site at the accuracy about 80% when the calculated score lower than ?4.0. It also allows the assessment of whether or not a given water molecule should be targeted for displacement in ligand design. Overall, the wPMF presented here provides an optional solution to many water related computational modeling problems, some of which can be highly valuable as part of a rational drug design strategy. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Liquid crystalline properties of dissymmetric molecules IV. The substituent effect on thermal properties of nematic and smectic A phases in three aromatic ring systems with ester linkages

This paper describes the effect of substituent and ester linkage on smectic properties for some derivatives of 4-R -phenyl 4-(4-octyloxybenzoyloxy)benzoates (1), 4-octyloxyphenyl 4-(4-R-benzyloxy)benzoates (2), 4-(4-octyloxybenzoyloxy)phenyl 4- R -benzoates (3), and 4-R-phenyl 4-octyloxyphenyl terephthalates (4) where R = OCH₃, CH₃, OC₈H₁₇, C8H17, halogens, CF₃, OCF₃, CN, NO2, etc. The thermal properties are discussed in terms of the electrostatic nature of the substituents and the relative orientation of the ester groups with respect to both terminal substituents. The substituent effect on the layer structure of the smectic A phase is also examined by means of a small angle X-ray analysis.     

The effect of ethanol on the phase behaviour and micro-rheology of liquid crystals

The effect of ethanol on the phase behaviour and micro-rheology of lyotropic liquid crystals (LC) has been studied using a binary mixture of monoglyceride (MG) and aqueous ethanol. The phase behaviour study reveals the structural modulation of surfactant aggregates with increasing ethanol concentration, namely a bicontinuous cubic phase (Ia3d) transitions to the lamellar phase (L_α), at a fixed MG concentration. This behaviour is explained by considering the critical packing parameter (CPP) of the surfactant molecule. Because ethanol dehydrates the surfactant head group (a _s), the CPP values increase (decreasing a _s) and thus the formation of larger CPP aggregates is favoured (i.e., the Ia3d–L_α transition occurs). Cross-polarised images and X-ray scattering data support this conclusion. The structural modulation of the LC has further been investigated using a diffusing wave spectroscopy technique. The correlation and relaxation times, determined from the intersection point at short and long time scales of the mean square displacement (MSD), decrease with increasing concentrations of ethanol, indicating structural modulation of the LC. The micro-viscoelastic moduli (G′ and G′′) derived from the Laplace transformation of the MSD decrease with increasing ethanol concentrations, due to the LC modulation. The thermal effects on the micro-rheology of the LC have also been studied.     

Determination of 1-hydroxypyrene in human urine by a multi-wall carbon nanotubes-modified glassy carbon electrode

A multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) modified glassy carbon electrode (MWNT-GCE) was used to study the electrochemical behaviour of1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) and applied to its determination. The results showed that the modified electrode had a strong adsorptive ability to 1-OHP and enhances its electrochemical signal. By square wave voltammetry, the linear relationship of 1-OHP was 6?×?10^?9???8?×?10^?7?mol?L^?1 with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.996, and the detection limit was 1?×?10^?10?mol?L^?1. Compared with other published methods, this newly proposed method possesses many advantages such as very low detection limit, fast response, low cost and simplicity. And this method was applied successfully in the determination of 1‐OHP in real human urine samples.     

How the Generalized Anomeric Effect Influences the Conformational Preference

The generalized anomeric effect refers to the conformational preference of a gauche structure over an anti structure for molecules with a R‐X‐C‐Y moiety. Whereas there are conflicting reports regarding the origin of this ubiquitous effect, a general consensus is that both the steric (more specifically electrostatic) and hyperconjugative interactions contribute. Here we employed the block‐localized wavefunction (BLW) method, which is the simplest variant of ab initio valence bond (VB) theory and can define reference electron‐localized states self‐consistently, to evaluate the magnitude of the hyperconjugation effect in a number of acyclic molecules exhibiting the generalized anomeric effect. The BLW‐based energy decomposition analysis revealed that both the steric and hyperconjugation effects contribute to the conformational preferences of methoxymethyl fluoride and methoxymethyl chlorides. But for the other systems under investigation, including methanediol, methanediamine, aminomethanol and dimethoxymethane, the hyperconjugative interactions play a negative role in the conformational preferences and the steric effect is solely responsible for the generalized anomeric effect.     

Pt 含量对Co@Pt/C核壳结构催化剂性能的影响

采用两步还原法制得Co@Pt/C核壳结构催化剂, 其中Co与Pt 的总质量分数为20%. 通过改变金属前驱体的用量, 制备了不同Co:Pt 原子比的Co@Pt/C 催化剂, 以20% (w) Co@Pt(1:1)/C 与20% (w) Co@Pt(1:3)/C 表示. 采用透射电镜(TEM)、光电子射线能谱分析(XPS)、循环伏安(CV)、线性扫描伏安(LSV)等方法考察了其结构与性能, 并与实验室早先制备的40% (w) Co@Pt/C 催化剂进行了比较. 自制20% Co@Pt(1:1)/C 与20% Co@Pt(1:3)/C 催化剂的金属颗粒直径约为2.2-2.3 nm, 在碳载体上分散均匀, 粒径分布范围较窄, 电化学活性比表面积(ECSA)分别为56 和60 m²·g^-1, 均超过商用催化剂20% Pt/C(E-tek) (ECSA=54 m²·g^-1). 20%Co@Pt(1:1)/C 与20% Co@Pt(1:3)/C 的半波电位相较于40% Co@Pt(1:1)/C 和40% Co@Pt(1:3)/C 均向正向移动, 表现出更好的氧还原(ORR)催化活性, 并有望降低催化剂的成本, 在质子交换膜燃料电池领域表现出良好的应用前景.     

ClF-分子离子的结构与势能函数

采用单、双取代包括三重激发的二次组态相互作用[QCISD(T)]方法和单、双取代包括非迭代三重激发的耦合簇理论[CCSD(T)]方法, 结合相关一致基组aug-cc-pVXZ (X=D, T, Q, 5)对基态³⁵ClF^-和³⁷ClF^- (X²Σ⁺)分子离子进行了结构优化计算. 对CCSD(T)方法的计算结果用四种方法分别外推至基组极限, 得到了体系在基组极限的平衡结构常数. 在CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVXZ (X=D, T, Q, 5)理论水平进行了单点能扫描. 对扫描计算结果进行基组外推并用Murrell-Sorbie 势能函数拟合得到了体系的解析势能函数表达式, 并进一步得到了³⁵ClF^-和³⁷ClF^-的光谱常数. 拟合所得势能曲线准确地再现了其离解能和平衡结构特征. 对ClF 中性自由基采用完全相同的理论方法进行了计算. 所得结果与有关文献中的实验结果符合得很好, 而且在一定程度上证明了将该理论方法应用于ClF^-分子离子的计算是合适而可靠的. ClF 自由基的优化计算结果还被用于计算其电子亲和能.ClF^-的垂直解离能也同时计算得出. 基于ClF^-的结构优化和单点能扫描计算结果, 通过求解核运动的径向薛定谔方程, 得到了无转动³⁵ClF^-和³⁷ClF^-(X²Σ⁺)的全部振动态及相应的分子常数.