"Fleximers". Design and synthesis of two novel split nucleosides

[structure: see text] A new class of shape-modified nucleosides is introduced. The purine heterobases of adenosine and guanosine have been split into their imidazole and pyrimidine components, thereby introducing flexibility while retaining the elements necessary for recognition. As a consequence, these novel "fleximers" should find use as bioprobes for investigating enzyme-coenzyme binding sites as well as nucleic acid and protein interactions. Their design and synthesis is described.     

"Fleximers". Design and synthesis of a new class of novel shape-modified nucleosides(1)

A new class of shape-modified nucleosides is introduced. These novel "fleximers" feature the purine ring systems of adenosine, inosine, and guanosine split into their individual imidazole and pyrimidine components (as in 1-3). This structural modification serves to introduce flexibility into the nucleoside while still retaining the elements essential for recognition. As a consequence, these novel fleximers should find use as bioprobes for investigating enzyme-coenzyme binding sites as well as nucleic acid and protein interactions. Their design and synthesis are described.     

Recent Trends in the Pyrolysis of Non-Degradable Waste Plastics

Waste plastics are non-degradable constituents that can stay in the environment for centuries. Their large land space consumption is unsafe to humans and animals. Concomitantly, the continuous engineering of plastics, which causes depletion of petroleum, poses another problem since they are petroleum-based materials. Therefore, energy recovering trough pyrolysis is an innovative and sustainable solution since it can be practiced without liberating toxic gases into the atmosphere. The most commonly used plastics, such as HDPE, LDPE (high- and low-density polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), and, to some extent, PC (polycarbonate), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), and PET (polyethylene terephthalate), are used for fuel oil recovery through this process. The oils which are generated from the wastes showed caloric values almost comparable with conventional fuels. The main aim of the present review is to highlight and summarize the trends of thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastic into valuable fuel products through manipulating the operational parameters that influence the quality or quantity of the recovered results. The properties and product distribution of the pyrolytic fuels and the depolymerization reaction mechanisms of each plastic and their byproduct composition are also discussed.     

Adsorption of molecular hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide on Au clusters

The authors present theoretical results describing the adsorption of H2 and H2S molecules on small neutral and cationic gold clusters (Au(n)((0/+1)), n=1-8) using density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation. Lowest energy structures of the gold clusters along with their isomers are considered in the optimization process for molecular adsorption. The adsorption energies of H2S molecule on the cationic clusters are generally greater than those on the corresponding neutral clusters. These are also greater than the H2 adsorption energies on the corresponding cationic and neutral clusters. The adsorption energies for cationic clusters decrease with increasing cluster size. This fact is reflected in the elongations of the Au-S and Au-H bonds indicating weak adsorption as the cluster grows. In most cases, the geometry of the lowest energy gold cluster remains planar even after the adsorption. In addition, the adsorbed molecule gets adjusted such that its center of mass lies on the plane of the gold cluster. Study of the orbital charge density of the gold adsorbed H2S molecule reveals that conduction is possible through molecular orbitals other than the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level. The dissociation of the cationic Au(n)SH2+ cluster into Au(n)S+ and H2 is preferred over the dissociation into Au(m)SH2+ and Au(n-m), where n=2-8 and m=1-(n-1). H2S adsorbed clusters with odd number of gold atoms are more stable than neighboring even n clusters.     

Trimetallic nanostructures and their applications in electrocatalytic energy conversions

The advancement and growth of nanotechnology lead to realizing new and novel multi-metallic nanostructures with well-defined sizes and morphology,resulting in an improvement in their performance in various catalytic applications.The trimetallic nanostructured materials are synthesized and designed in different architectures for energy conversion electrocatalysis.The as-synthesized trimetallic nanostructures have found unique physiochemical properties due to the synergistic combination of the three different metals in their structures.A vast array of approaches such as hydrothermal,solvothermal,seedgrowth,galvanic replacement reaction,biological,and other methods are employed to synthesize the trimetallic nanostructures.Noteworthy,the trimetallic nanostructures showed better performance and durability in the electrocatalytic fuel cells.In the present review,we provide a comprehensive overview of the recent strategies employed for synthesizing trimetallic nanostructures and their energy-related applications.With a particular focus on hydrogen evolution,alcohol oxidations,oxygen evolution,and others,we highlight the latest achievements in the field.     

Size effect on the structural and electronic properties of lead telluride clusters

Theoretical computations of (PbTe)_n (n = 21–45) clusters based on density functional theory have demonstrated that at cluster size of (PbTe)₂₂ there is a transition from the strong preference of fivefold coordination to sixfold coordination of lead and tellurium atoms. (PbTe)₂₄ cluster is the smallest tetragonal structure in which its central atoms have bulk‐like coordination. This quantum dot (QD) contains a single‐unit cell of lead telluride crystal, thus can be considered as an “infant crystal.” (PbTe)₃₂ cluster is a perfectly cubic cluster for which its inner (PbTe)₄ core enjoys bulk‐like coordination. This (PbTe)₄ core unit of (PbTe)₃₂ cubic cluster has exactly the same environment as a primitive cell of lead telluride crystal. The (PbTe)_8n, (n ≥ 3) clusters are the magic number species with bulk‐like structure such that (n = 3–5) the nanoblocks considered here (PbTe)₂₄, (PbTe)₃₂, and (PbTe)₄₀ clusters exhibiting bulk‐like structure that can be replicated to obtain the bulk crystal. The calculated dimensions of this special clusters provided a rubric for understanding the pattern of aggregation, that is, the creation of defined nanoblocks [(PbTe)_8n, (n ≥ 6)], when they were accumulated on an appropriate surface. It is evident that the QDs (PbTe)_8n, (n = 3–5) clusters show high stability compared to their neighboring clusters. This can also be seen from the second‐order energy difference, binding, and fragmentation energy graphs. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Improved thermal energy storage behavior of polyethylene glycol-based NEOPCM containing aluminum oxide nanoparticles for solar thermal applications

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present investigation, a novel composite of Polyethylene glycol (PEG) with molecular weight 10,000 (10 k) and aluminum oxide...     

How cationic gold clusters respond to a single sulfur atom

Results describing the interaction of a single sulfur atom with cationic gold clusters (Au(n) (+), n=1-8) using density functional theory are described. Stability of these clusters is studied through their binding energies, second order differences in the total energies, fragmentation behavior, and atom attachment energies. The lowest energy structures for these clusters appear to be three dimensional right from n=3. In most cases the sulfur atom in the structure of Au(n)S(+) is observed to displace the gold atom siting at the peripheral site of the Au(n) (+) cluster. The dissociation channels of Au(n)S(+) clusters follow the same trend as Au(n) (+) cluster, based on the even/odd number of gold atoms in the cluster, with the exception of Au(3)S(+). This cluster dissociates into Au and Au(2)S(+), signifying the relative stability of Au(2)S(+) cluster regardless of having an odd number of valence electrons. Clusters with an even number of gold atoms dissociate into Au and Au(n-1)(S)(+) and clusters with an odd number of gold atoms dissociate into Au(2) and Au(n-2)(S)(+) clusters. An empirical relation is found between the conduction molecular orbital and the number of atoms in the Au(n)S(+) cluster.