Porous carbon is indispensable in modern technology applications. It is used for energy storage, gas separation, water purification, catalyst support, and chromatography. The diversity of its applications stems from its unique properties, including high specific surface area, tunable pore volume, and chemical stability. Specifically, the large surface area provides high...
The overall concept of reducing laboratory operations to a scale that fits on a single microfluidic chip has been an attractive area of research over the last several decades. Despite a surge in research, few commercial success stories have been written. Lab-on-a-chip technologies have the capability to be cost effective...
Polyoxometalates are a rapidly growing class of discrete metal oxide clusters with a wide range of applications including functional materials. These anionic clusters of the group V and VI transition metals are inexpensive and non-toxic. Within group V polyoxometalates, niobium and tantalum chemistry has been underdeveloped owing to their unique...
Three distinct methods to achieve the stereoselective synthesis of carbon-carbon bonds were investigated, encompassing: (i) the formation of axially chiral biaryl molecules by enantioselective Suzuki cross-coupling, (ii) the synthesis of α-phenylalkylboronic esters by enantioselective chain extension, and (iii) the stereospecific synthesis of alkenes by eliminative cross-coupling of enantioenriched sp³-hybridized carbenoids....
Enantioenriched sp³-hybridized carbenoid reagents CR1R2MX (X = nucleofuge, M = electrofuge) of different types were investigated for the synthesis of polysubstituted alkyl chains by iterative stereospecific reagent-controlled homologation (StReCH) and for the stereospecific connective synthesis of alkenes by eliminative cross-coupling.
In the first part, putative enantioenriched α-chloroalkyllithiums (CHRLiCl) were employed...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants formed from the incomplete combustion of organic material. These contaminants are of concern because of their widespread presence in the environment and toxic properties. In addition, PAHs encompass a class of diverse compounds with varying physicochemical properties and exist in the environment as...
In this Dissertation, the mechanism and stereomechanics of complex organocatalysis and reaction processes are disclosed. The technologies and protocols currently being developed and utilized to efficiently investigate these systems using theory are highlighted.
A detailed computational study of peptide-catalyzed acylations is disclosed. In particular, the magnitude of all possible non-bonding...
Oxidative stress is defined as an imbalance that favors the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) over an organism's antioxidant defense. ROS have the ability to damage, either directly or indirectly, biomolecules including DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Various pathological conditions and environmental and chronic diseases have been associated with...
There has been a tremendous growth in interest in carbon nanodots (C-dots) in the past several years. As a nascent nanomaterial, C-dots have shown great promise in applications that benefit from their superior water dispersibility, low toxicity, non-blinking fluorescent output, chemical and biological compatibility, ease of functionalization and resistance to...
In this dissertation, I describe the experimental investigation of catching ions in superfluid helium droplets. The ultimate goal of our project is to build a coherent electron diffraction apparatus for atomic structure determination from oriented single macromolecules. This involves generating protein ions from electrospray ionization (ESI) and doping them in...