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Full-Text Articles in Chemistry

Wake Up Barren Soil! Improving Enzymatic Function Of Contaminated Soils, Nina M. Goodey Nov 2017

Wake Up Barren Soil! Improving Enzymatic Function Of Contaminated Soils, Nina M. Goodey

Sustainability Seminar Series

A legacy of industrial use in metropolitan areas has left many soils contaminated with heavy metals and organic compounds. In some impacted soils, contaminants have altered the soils’ properties and ability to function. Soil microorganisms exude enzymes that break down nutrients, helping to nourish microorganisms and plants. Productive soils are often characterized by high enzymatic activities that are needed to convert decaying matter to plant nutrients. In soils where enzymatic function is low or nonexistent, plants may lack nutrients and fail to thrive. This case-study focuses on such a site within Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ, a brownfield …


Crispr/Cas9 In Leishmania Genome Editing : Towards A Proof Of Concept, Zein Kasbo Aug 2017

Crispr/Cas9 In Leishmania Genome Editing : Towards A Proof Of Concept, Zein Kasbo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) that affects mostly poor countries of the third word due to their limited access to clean water and health care. The disease is transmitted through the bite of a sand fly of the genus Phlebotomus in the Old World, and of the genus Lutzomyia in the New World. Historically, NTDs have not been given adequate attention or research funding and finding curative treatments has been slow. However, the fact that the insect vector and the parasite can live and thrive in any ecological system in the world, and under the current circumstances …


Intramolecular Nitrofuran Diels-Alder Reactions: Extremely Substituent-Tolerant Cycloadditions Via Asynchronous Transition States, Thomas Y. Cowie, Marcos Veguillas, Robert L. Rae, Mathilde Rougé, Justyna M. Zurek, Andrew W. Prentice, Martin J. Paterson, Magnus Bebbington Jul 2017

Intramolecular Nitrofuran Diels-Alder Reactions: Extremely Substituent-Tolerant Cycloadditions Via Asynchronous Transition States, Thomas Y. Cowie, Marcos Veguillas, Robert L. Rae, Mathilde Rougé, Justyna M. Zurek, Andrew W. Prentice, Martin J. Paterson, Magnus Bebbington

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Nitrofurans undergo intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions with tethered electron-poor dienophiles more rapidly and in higher yield than non-nitrated furans. Computational studies indicate that increased stabilization of a partial positive charge on the nitro-substituted carbon in both transition state and product is the driving force for these reactions. Frontier molecular orbital energy differences indicate a switch from normal to inverse electron demand upon nitration. There does not appear to be a contribution from any differences in aromatic stabilization energy between furans and nitrofurans. Calculations show that the nitrofuran reactions proceed via a highly asynchronous transition state allowing easier bond formation between two …


Interacting Nanoscale Magnetic Superatom Cluster Arrays In Molybdenum Oxide Bronzes, Joseph A. Hagmann, Son T. Le, Lynn Schneemeyer, Joseph A. Stroscio, Tiglet Besara, Jifeng Sun, David J. Singh, Theo Siegrist, David G. Seiler, Curt A. Richter Jun 2017

Interacting Nanoscale Magnetic Superatom Cluster Arrays In Molybdenum Oxide Bronzes, Joseph A. Hagmann, Son T. Le, Lynn Schneemeyer, Joseph A. Stroscio, Tiglet Besara, Jifeng Sun, David J. Singh, Theo Siegrist, David G. Seiler, Curt A. Richter

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this study, we examine several reduced ternary molybdates in the family of yellow rare earth molybdenum bronzes produced by electrochemical synthesis with composition LnMo16O44. These compounds contain an array of electrically isolated but magnetically interacting multi-atom clusters with composition Mo8O36. These arrayed superatom clusters support a single hole shared among the eight molybdenum atoms in the unit, corresponding to a net spin moment of 1μB, and exhibit magnetic exchange between the units via the MoO4 tetrahedra (containing Mo6+ ions) and the LnO8 cubes (containing Ln3+ ions). The findings presented here expand on the physics of the unusual collective properties …


A Computational Study Of C-Cn Bond Activation Through Nickel Catalysis Using The Random Phase Approximation, Craig Waitt May 2017

A Computational Study Of C-Cn Bond Activation Through Nickel Catalysis Using The Random Phase Approximation, Craig Waitt

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study evaluates the performance of a computational method known as the Random Phase Approximation (RPA) for a Nickel catalyst that activates the C-CN bond of benzonitrile. The reaction mechanism contains two distinct processes. The first process describes the cleavage of the C-CN bond of benzonitrile. The latter describes the fluxionality of benzonitrile about the Nickel atom. Many popular computational methods would struggle to properly describe either or both processes, because they may not perform consistently for transition-metal complexes, are computationally expensive, or have a strong dependence on orbital energy gaps. The RPA provides results with an excellent balance of …


Dnp-Enhanced Ultrawideline 207pb Solid-State Nmr Spectroscopy: An Application To Cultural Heritage Science, Takeshi Kobayashi, Frédéric A. Perras, Anna Murphy, Yao Yao, Jaclyn Catalano, Silvia A. Centeno, Cecil Dybowski, Nicholas Zumbulyadis, Marek Pruski Jan 2017

Dnp-Enhanced Ultrawideline 207pb Solid-State Nmr Spectroscopy: An Application To Cultural Heritage Science, Takeshi Kobayashi, Frédéric A. Perras, Anna Murphy, Yao Yao, Jaclyn Catalano, Silvia A. Centeno, Cecil Dybowski, Nicholas Zumbulyadis, Marek Pruski

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is used to enhance the (ultra)wideline 207Pb solid-state NMR spectra of lead compounds of relevance in the preservation of cultural heritage objects. The DNP SSNMR experiments enabled, for the first time, the detection of the basic lead carbonate phase of the lead white pigment by 207Pb SSNMR spectroscopy. Variable-temperature experiments revealed that the short T′2 relaxation time of the basic lead carbonate phase hinders the acquisition of the NMR signal at room temperature. We additionally observe that the DNP enhancement is twice as large for lead palmitate (a lead soap, which is a degradation product implicated …


Interface Structure, Precursor Rheology And Dielectric Properties Of Batio3/Pvdf-Hfp Nanocomposite Films Prepared From Colloidal Perovskite Nanoparticles, Y.N. Hao, K. Bi, S. O'Brien, X.X. Wang, J. Lombardi, F. Pearsall, Wanlu Li, M. Lei, Y. Wu, L.T. Li Jan 2017

Interface Structure, Precursor Rheology And Dielectric Properties Of Batio3/Pvdf-Hfp Nanocomposite Films Prepared From Colloidal Perovskite Nanoparticles, Y.N. Hao, K. Bi, S. O'Brien, X.X. Wang, J. Lombardi, F. Pearsall, Wanlu Li, M. Lei, Y. Wu, L.T. Li

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Nanocomposite materials with uniform microstructure and high permittivity have attracted extensive interest in modern electronics. The compatibility between the filler phase and the polymer matrix is crucial in preparing high-performance composites. As an alternative to conventional surface modification treatment methodologies, hydroxylated colloidal BaTiO3 (BT) nanoparticles synthesized via a green and scalable process were directly used to fabricate high-permittivity nanocomposites. Interfacial interaction analyses between the BT nanoparticles and polymer matrix reveals that due to strong hydrogen bonding at the interface, transparent composite sols with excellent flow behavior can be observed. The sols are ideal formulations for the preparation of BT/PVDF–hfp …


The Mechanism Of Inhibition Of Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A By Two Quinolinol Compounds, Yacoba Vroom Teschemaker Minnow Jan 2017

The Mechanism Of Inhibition Of Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A By Two Quinolinol Compounds, Yacoba Vroom Teschemaker Minnow

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Quinolinol-based compounds are a promising starting point for discovery o f effective inhibitors o f the clostridial neurotoxin, botulinum neurotoxin type A light chain (BoNT/A LC). Insights into the mechanism o f inhibition by quinolinol compounds facilitate interpretation o f docking data and inhibitor optimization. In this study, a fluorogenic substrate o f BoNT/A, SNAPtide, was used to study the mechanism by which two new quinolinol compounds, MSU58 and MSU84, with IC50 values of 3.3 uM and 5.8 uM, respectively, inhibit BoNT/A LC. Kinetic studies and model discrimination analysis showed both compounds to be competitive inhibitors o f BoNT/A …


Investigation Of Hsp90 Structure-Activity Relationships In Epigallocatechin Gallate, Arpita Patel Jan 2017

Investigation Of Hsp90 Structure-Activity Relationships In Epigallocatechin Gallate, Arpita Patel

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

(-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a polyphenolic natural product that inhibits the key chaperone protein Hsp90 by binding to the carboxy terminal portion of the protein. The natural product has modest activity as an Hsp90 inhibitor and there is little information in the literature on structure activity relationships for EGCG analogs. Previous studies from this laboratory provided initial data on the effect of a limited range of changes associated with functional groups, substituents and stereochemistry. The focus of this research is to explore these initial results in more detail with a focus on the synthesis of EGCG analogs with more drug …