Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Development Of A Microwave-Assisted Epoxide Aminolysis And Investigation Of The Aza-Cope Rearrangement--Mannich Cyclization For Alkaloid Synthesis, Brendan Roberto D'Souza

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

β-Amino alcohols are important organic compounds with numerous applications. Commonly β-amino alcohols are prepared by ring opening of epoxides using an amine nucleophile and a catalyst or promoter. Ring opening can take place by the SN1 pathway or the SN2 pathway, but no single catalyst or promoter consistently gives SN2 selectivity. Additionally, long reaction times are often required to obtain adequate yields. We have demonstrated that microwave heating reduces reaction times for the aminolysis of both reactive and unreactive, sterically hindered epoxides. These reactions were accomplished with various amines. In all cases, only one equivalent of amine and epoxide were …

Effect Of Counter Ion Concentration Added With Mixture Of Water And Ethylene Glycol On Krafft Temperature Of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate, Sateesh Krishna Chand Chundru

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Surfactants are amphiphilic organic compounds having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups. Surfactants in solution form aggregates known as micelles. The minimum temperature at which surfactants forms micelles is known as Krafft temperature. The Krafft temperature of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was measured at various counter ion concentrations in two solvent systems, water and 10% ethylene glycol. The Krafft temperature of sodium dodecyl sulfate increased in both water and 10% ethylene glycol with increasing counter ion concentration. The Krafft temperature of sodium dodecyl sulfate in 10% ethylene glycol was higher than the Krafft temperature of sodium dodecyl sulfate in water, at …

Characterization Of A Black Coating Overlying Rock Paintings Found In Little Lost River Cave, Idaho Using Thm-Gc-Ms, Jamie Brown-Sinha

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A black coating overlies rock paintings found within Little Lost Rive Cave, Idaho. A calibrated radiocarbon date of 1390-1040 B.C. was obtained by Steelman et al.1 However, this relies on the assumption that the black coating was formed by some human activity. For further characterization and to verify that the coating is anthropogenic, THM-GC-MS was performed on various samples collected throughout the cave, including soil samples from inside, outside, and above the cave. Humic and fulvic acids, synthetic and natural melanin, and experimentally created cooking residues were also analyzed as standard materials. By comparing the resulting chromatograms and the compounds …

Kinetics Of The Ligand Exchange Reactions Between Bidentate Ligands And Rriethylenetetramine Nickelate (Ii) And Synthesis Of Boron (Iii) Subphthalocyanines With Various Boron Substitutions, Michael Christopher Cate

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Part 1. The kinetics of the ligand exchange reaction between 5-methyl-1,10-phenanthroline and triethylenetetramine nickel (II) were studied spectrophotometrically over the pH range of 5.2 to 8.0 at 25oC. A ternary complex Ni(Trien)(5MP) forms within a few seconds and subsequently reacts with 5MP to form Ni(5MP)3. The reaction is first-order with respect to: [5MP], [Ni(Trien)(5MP)] and [H+]. The rate law is given by:

k dt d[Ni(trien)] = ( − MP Ni(trien)(5MP) + kH, 5MP Ni(trien)(5MP) [H+]) [Ni(trien)][5mp]

where: 5MP is 5-methyl-1,10-phenanthroline and k is the first order rate constant that has units of 1/time.

kH, 5mp Ni(trien)(5mp) = 9.78 X 104 …

Membrane Fragmentation By A 20-29 Fragment Of Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide And Rat Amyloid Polypeptide, Shyamprasad Samisetti

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A key factor in the development of type II diabetes is the loss of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. The amyloidogenic human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide (hIAPP, also known as human amylin) is believed to play a crucial role in this biological process. Previous studies have shown that hIAPP forms small aggregates that kill β-cells by disrupting the cellular membrane. In this study we report membrane fragmentation by hIAPP20-29 and the rat version, rIAPP20-29, using solid-state NMR experiments on nanotube arrays of anodic aluminum oxide containing aligned phospholipid membranes.

31P NMR results suggest that membrane fragmentation by hIAPP is related to peptide …

Synthesis Of An Isotopically Labelled Analog Of The Antimicrobial Peptide Ll-37, Rajesh Penumatcha

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

LL-37 is a cationic cathelin-associated broad spectrum antibiotic peptide of human neutrophils. Its mechanism of action is by disruption of the bacterial cell membrane structure. LL-21 is a simplified form of the peptide that contains only the core portion of LL-37, which retains antimicrobial activity and is easier to synthesize. We synthesized an 15N –Val-labeled LL-21 peptide which allows us to perform antimicrobial assays to know the antimicrobial activity of the new peptide LL-21 on various gram positive and gram negative bacteria. We found that our new peptide LL-21 shows good minimum inhibitory concentrations on various gram positive and gram …

Kinetic Studies Of The Hydrolysis Reactions Of Ruthenium (Iii) Complexes Him Trans-[Rucl₄(Im)₂] And Hind Trans-[Rucl₄(Ind)₂] By Uv-Visible Spectrophotometry, Pramod K. Nangunuri

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The ruthenium complexes have gained importance in cancer research in recent times, as several cancers have developed resistance towards platinum compounds. Platinum compounds have severe adverse effects that limited their use towards a wide range of tumors.

Ruthenium complexes are considered as pro-drugs, as they transform into antitumor active species in the body by hydrolysis, redox reactions, and reactions with biologically occurring nucleophiles. My project involved the synthesis of two ruthenium complexes with different ligands and the study of the hydrolysis reactions under different pH at room temperature using UV-visible spectrophotometry.

These studies will enable us to understand how structural …

The Effect Of The Reducing Agent Triphenylphosphine On Arachidonic Acid Metabolism By Prostaglandin H2 Synthase, Lalini Ailaboina

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Prostaglandin H2 synthase (PGHS) catalyzes the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandin endoperoxide (PGH2), which is a precursor to a variety of prostaglandins that function as hormones. Gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry is employed to look for the novel products produced by reaction of triphenylphosphine with arachidonic acid prior to and during the PGHS reaction. Triphenylphosphine (TPP) is known to reduce hydro peroxides to alcohols and is used in the present study to ascertain the extent to which hydroperoxides in arachidonic acid preparations and in PGHS contribute to enzyme activity. Incubation of PGHS with arachidonic acid that was treated …

Controlling The Diastereoselectivity In The Microwave-Assisted Aza-Cope Rearrangement--Mannich Cyclization, Wesley A. Turley

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Problem Solving In The Fourth Grade Classroom, Lisa Lefevre

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Tailpipe Particulate Matter Emission From A Sampling Of Kansas City Vehicles, Erika Louise Roesler

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

As the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeks to model vehicle emissions based on dynamic engine operating conditions, modal PM datasets will be investigated for their robustness and limitations under the requirements of the EPA’s model: MOVES. The Kansas City PM Characterization Study tested more than 500 light-duty gasoline cars and trucks on a dynamometer in summertime and wintertime temperatures with four different modal PM2.5 instruments.

Using data reduction techniques used to prepare other datasets for the MOVES model, the modal PM data were analyzed to determine its ability to be incorporated into MOVES. It was found through averages …

Complexity Trends In The Evolutionary History Of Dasycladalean Algae, Michael Stearns

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Dasycladalean algae are a group of marine algae that have an excellent fossil record extending back more than 500 million years. In our study, we investigated morphological complexity over the evolutionary history of this group. To determine complexity for each of more than 400 species, we assigned numerical values for six morphological features; the sum for each species forms a quantitative expression of complexity. We found that although maximum complexity increased over time, forms with minimum complexity persisted during most of the evolutionary history of the group.

Implementation Of Labcreator And The Integration Of Cyberlab, Kang Zhao

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

With the development of the World Wide Web, online courses are becoming more and more popular in modern science education. CyberLab aims to solve an important issue in distance science education -- laboratory experiments in online courses. It is a toolkit that handles creation, exportation, and execution of virtual experiments (within web browsers). It consists of LabCreator and LabExecutor. With LabCreator, instructors can create virtual experiments and export them into intermediate files. Students can download those files from online course websites and execute them in LabExecutor on their own computers.

The paper reports on the completion of two important tasks …

Synthesis And Analysis Of An Α-Amylase Inhibitor And An Antimicrobial Peptide, Brahmlin Kaur Sethi

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Abstract 1: α-Amylase is an important enzyme in the body responsible for hydrolyzing many polysaccharides such as dietary starch. Inhibition of this enzyme could be extremely beneficial in diabetic patients because it could lower the glucose levels in the blood. Our objective is to synthesize a small analog of a natural α-amylase inhibitor, Tendamistat. This molecule has 15-22 residue segment that are critical for its activity. The peptide was synthesized, cleaved, purified, analyzed, and an enzyme assay was run. Michaelis Menton and Lineweaver-Burk plots were constructed to determine the V_max, K_m, and K_i for each …

Surface Analysis Of A Black Coating From Little Lost River, Reshmi Perumplavil

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A black coating of unknown origin obscures the pictographs in Little Lost River Cave, Idaho. We utilized x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to characterize the outermost surface of the black coating to understand how it was formed. Carbon and oxygen predominated in the XP spectra, whereas nitrogen was detected at varying levels in different samples. High-resolution carbon 1s XP spectra showed that carbon was present in at least three different forms: hydrocarbon C, carbonyl C, and carbonate C/ amide C. The N 1s peak was observed at ~399-400 eV binding energy, which is usually attributed to aromatic or amide N. The …

Synthesis Of An Aza-Cope Rearrangement - Mannich Cyclization Precursor From L-Proline, Patricia T. Sinawe

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Lipid Metabolism In A549 And 9hte Cells Quantitation Of Lipid Peroxidation, Elizabeth Quintus

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Development Of An Upper Level Undergraduate Research Based Laboratory: The Purification, Analysis, And Dinetic Study Of Cytochrome B5, Mary Mcphail

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The purpose of this project was to develop an upper level undergraduate biochemistry laboratory (CHEM 453) based upon a novel research project, designed to replace an existing instructional laboratory that employs ‘cookbook’ exercises. Methods for the expression, purification, spectral analysis of structural integrity, and electron transfer capability of rabbit cyt b₅ were adapted from published work done by Dr. Lucy Waskell of the University of Michigan and Dr. Mansuy of the University of Paris. In our hands, rabbit liver cyt b₅ expressed in E. coli was purified to 45% specific content of the theoretical content. Additionally, 37 nmol …

Investigation Of The Optical, Thermal, And Mechanical Properties Of A Bulk Polymer Using The Surface Thermal Lensing Technique, Bushra Hussain

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The sensitive and simple photothermal technique of Surface Thermal Lensing (STL) was employed to study the thermo-mechanical response of an amorphous polycarbonate as a bulk. A discussion is given of how previously developed theories did not fit well with the present work. Therefore, only qualitative analysis and discussion of the experimental results is made, emphasizing the influence of various factors on the STL signal. The work here is mainly a study of the dependence of the STL signal on the modulated pump beam frequency. The effect on the STL signal of thermal and mechanical relaxation in the thermally stimulated area …

Measurement Of Lipid Peroxidation In Biology Models Using Gas-Chromatography-Aass Spectrometry, Madhavi Lokireddy

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

C2C12 mouse myoblast cells, grown in glass vials, were connected to a cryofocusing unit to trap volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The VOCs were eluted from the trap by capacitive discharge into a gas chromatograph with time-of-flight mass spectral capabilities (GC-TOFMS) and were found to include the lipid peroxidation product hexanal. The pro-oxidant cumene hydroperoxide elevated the levels of these lipid peroxidation products, whereas the anti-oxidant butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) impaired their production. Derivatization of the aldehyde products of lipid peroxidation in the same myoblast cells with pentafluorobenzyl hydroxylamine hydrochloride (PFB) provided evidence for formation of non-volatile products of lipid peroxidation …

Characterization Of Black Deposit Associated With Rock Paintings In Little Lost River Cave, Idaho Using Pyrolysis Gc, Sarah Therese Fezzey

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A black, shiny coating overlies rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave no. 1, located in southeastern Idaho. If this coating is the result of human activity within the cave – a condensate from cooking fires, for example – then a radiocarbon date on the coating would provide a minimum age for the underlying paintings. The work reported here was undertaken to test the assumption that the coating has an anthropomorphic origin. Using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS) and thermally-assisted hydrolysis/methylation-GC-MS, we have compared samples of the black coating from Idaho to humic acid, a geologic material; an experimental cooking residue; …

An Investigation Into The Ring-Enlargement Reactions Of Boron Subphthalocyanine And Boron Subnaphthalocyanine, Andrew Jeremiah Jones

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Ring enlargement syntheses of axially substituted boron subphthalocyanine and boron subnaphthalocyanine were investigated. The trihexylsiloxy derivatives of subphthalocyanine and subnaphthalocyanine were synthesized. These derivatives were then used in the ring-enlargement trials. Symmetrical and asymmetrical ring-enlargement reactions were carried out in a mixture of toluene and dimethylsulfoxide at room temperature. This study represents the first synthesis of boron subphthalocyanine with trihexylsiloxy group in the axial position and the first investigation into the ring enlargement of boron subnaphthalocyanine in which the axial ligand is a trihexylsiloxy group. Precipitates were formed, and it is believed that the precipitates are the metalfree ring-enlarged products. …

Chinese City Design: Searching History In Order To Find A Balanced And Sustainable Future, Andrew Armbruster

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The Chinese city faces a crisis. As development on a scale unprecedented in human history consumes this country, little care is being taken to ensure the survival of age-old traditions and the concrete principles that accompany those traditions. Western ideas seep into the country, and this produces an effect of imbalance [see Figure A]. This imbalance is not only cultural but is accompanied with all of the derivatives pertaining thereto: physical disharmony, economic imbalance, environmental unsustainability. Considering this, what needs to change within the contemporary Chinese city? To this question one must answer that the fundamental bases which underlie the …

Synthesis Of Pyrrolidines And Pyrrolizidines Using The Aza-Cope Rearrangement Mannich Cyclization Under Microwave Conditions, Amanda Schalk

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

A Model For Radiation Interactions With Matter, Carrie Beck

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The intent of this project is to derive a realistic mathematical model for radiation interactions with matter. The model may be solved analytically, but I will also employ two computational methods, a finite difference method and a stochastic (Monte Carlo) method to gain insight into the physical process and to test the numerical techniques. Radiation interactions with matter constitute a large number of important scientific, industrial, and medical applications. This project will derive a model for the interaction of radiation with matter, which might allow one to compare different designs for shielding. It is also applicable in atmospheric physics in …

Analysis Of Experimental Designs Used In Bioassays, Vidyadhar Kshirsagar

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.