In this dissertation, I present electronic spectra of a few polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): tetracene, pentacene, pyrene, benzo[g,h,i]perylene and benzo[a]pyrene using resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) and zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy. The work of tetracene and pentacene also combine a laser desorption source with a ZEKE spectrometer, demonstrating...
In this dissertation, I describe spectroscopic studies of jet-cooled polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and one nitrogen substituted PAH (PANH) using pulsed field zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy and resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectroscopy. Recently, there has been a demand for far-infrared (FIR) spectral information of astrophysically relevant molecules...
Lamellar x-ray diffraction was studied from thin films of L-α-1,2-dipalmitoyl lecithin (DPL) and a 1:1 mixture (BrDPL) of L-α-l-palmitoyl-2-(9- bromopaimitoyl) lecithin and its 10-bromo analog. The specimens had high lamellar order, with an upper bound on the mosaicity of 6 mrad (0.4°) for DPL and BrDPL. With various water contents,...
The core-electron ionization potentials for mono- and
di(trifluoromethyl)benzene, for chlorofluoromethanes and for
chlorine have been measured in order to give information on
the electron distribution in these molecules and to investigate
differences between the inductive effect of fluorine
and that of CF3. For trifluoromethylbenzene the measured
ionization potentials in eV...
This thesis consists of an autoethnography of a sexual assault survivor written using poems, journal entries, annotations, photographs and song lyrics. The ethnography is a chronological record of feelings the author experienced during the day prior to the attack and emotions she navigated during the year and a half after...
The work presented here is focused on applying basic principles of solid-state chemistry to the study and development of new wide band-gap semiconductors and insulators for photovoltaic and electronic-device applications. Analysis of crystal structure, band structure, optical band gap, morphology and transport properties provides fundamental insight into materials performance as...
Water and methanol adsorption isotherms at 25° and 37° C.
were determined on a series of organo-bentonite clays. The clays
differed in the length of the carbon chain attached to the amine adsorbed
in the cation exchange position. The amines used had carbon
chains of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12,...
High-resolution mass spectrometry was used to measure a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in real time as they were produced by the ubiquitous marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus WH8102 during a 24-hour light/dark cycle. Ethenone, acetaldehyde, ethanol, isoprene, acetic acid, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), acetone, phenol, and several as-yet unidentified compounds were...
Due to its importance, the phenomenon of hydrogen
bonding has been the subject of much research over the
years. Among the different techniques used to study
hydrogen bonded systems, vibrational spectroscopy is
perhaps the most sensitive because of the striking
changes induced in molecular spectra by the formation of
hydrogen...
Studies of anisotropic and isotropic Raman line shape yield information about the rotational motion (rotational correlation function) and non-reorientational (vibrational) lifetimes. The rotational motion of carbon disulfide has been studied previously by the techniques of Raman spectroscopy (6, 43), Rayleigh scattering (43, 46) and direct measurement (47). This work was...
As scientists, we have an affinity for order: repeating crystal structures, Euclidean space, continuous functions… Even concepts such as defects are discussed in the context of distracting from order. Things are most logical and best described in straightforward, taxonomical fashion. But what happens when the very application desired is dependent...
Eleven hand specimen whole rock (WR) samples (25-200 g each) and
33 fragments (0.5-0.8 g each) from a single basaltic flow at Picture
Gorge, Oregon were analyzed via instrumental neutron activation
analysis (INAA) for 12 elements (Na, Fe, Cr, Sc, Co, La, Sm, Eu, Yb,
Lu, Hf and Ta). Standard...
A molecular approach to metal oxides allows to the study to fundamental bonding and formation behavior for such metals. Moreover, the molecular nature of such oxides or metal-oxo clusters allows the possibility of exploitation of the properties of the parent oxides. The tetravalent metals, in specific, (M=Zr, Hf, Ce, Th,...
In this dissertation, the spectroscopic properties and thermodynamic stability of a class of materials known as metal oxo and hydroxo clusters are studied. In aqueous solutions, many metals can aggregate into discrete clusters of metals bridged by oxo or hydroxo ligands. These clusters are of particular interest to us for...
In this report, two studies are presented that utilize computations to predict and elucidate the reaction mechanisms of two different copper catalyzed reactions. Each study provides insight into the various chemical transformations, as well as the how and why behind regioselectivity and isotopic selectivity. The importance of this research is...
In this report, three studies are presented that utilize computations to predict transformations, identities, and properties of environmental organic molecules. Each study shows how computations can lead to models of chemical behavior. The importance of this research is rooted in the need for understanding how human behavior and health intersect...
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...
A nonflame method for atomic absorption spectroscopy is
described. A helical tungsten filament from a commercially available
6-V, 4-A light bulb, heated to :incandescence in an argon atmosphere
is used to atomize 2-μl aqueous samples for metals analyses. Studies
of two hollow cathode lamp tungsten filament orientations, a
modulated light...
Uranyl peroxide clusters are the newest family of polyoxometalates, discovered in 2015. Although this family is new, over 70 topologies have been reported. However, we lack the fundamental understanding of assembly mechanisms, particularly the role of the alkali countercations. Here, we use a wide range of solution and solid-state characterization...
Water is an absolute necessity for life as we know it. It provides a useful medium in which chemical reactions take place that allowed for the development of single cellular organisms. When combined with the evolutionary accident that was pho- tosynthesis, water became not only a useful medium chemical reactions,...
In this dissertation, the structural properties, thermodynamics and defect behavior of amorphous metal oxides and polyoxometalates are studied. Amorphous metal oxides have many applications, most notably as a semiconducting material used as the active matrix of thin film transistors. Alas, the amorphous nature of these materials makes studying them rather...
Two studies were conducted involving rare earth elements. In the
first study, the use of rare earth diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid
(DTPA) complexes as stable actiable tracers, a method of stable-isotope
tracing with post-sampling neutron activation analysis, was explored.
The persistence of rare earth DTPA complexes in estuarine waters was
measured in...
Inorganic structures play an important role in materials due to their versatility and diversity. A complete understanding of the structure of a material is vital to enhance the creation of new materials that fill voids in research. The rational design of these compounds is driven by the exploitation of structure-property...
A new approach to the discovery of high absorbing semiconductors for solar cells was taken by working under a set of design principles and taking a systemic methodology. Three transition metal chalcogenides at varying states of development were evaluated within this framework. Iron pyrite (FeS₂) is well known to demonstrate...
In the 21st century, environmental deterioration is now an indisputable fact. Reliable and economically viable electricity systems based on renewable sources are urgently needed to replace the environmentally detrimental fossil fuels. The feasibility of incorporating renewable-but-intermittent solar and wind energy heavily depends on the development of cost-effective and safe technologies,...
The atmospheric transport of anthropogenic semivolatile organic compounds (SOCs) from Asian sources to the Western U.S. was investigated. In addition, the SOC extraction method was optimized. Hansen solubility parameter plots were used to aid in the pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) solvent selection of air sampling media in order to minimize...
SOCs volatility and persistence properties cause many SOCs to become ubiquitous in the environment as well as accumulate in areas with lower temperatures such as polar or orographic regions. Many anthropogenic SOCs pose a serious risk to human and ecosystem health because of their persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic properties in...
Femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) is a powerful ultrafast technique which can track photoinduced excited state structural events on femtosecond (fs) to picosecond (ps) timescales. In addition to high temporal and spectral resolutions, FSRS provides a broad spectral window from ca. 100—2000 cm-1 for detection, enabling the direct mapping of...
In this dissertation, excited state proton transfer (ESPT) and its inhibition in solution and protein environments are revealed using both femtosecond transient absorption (fs-TA) spectroscopy and femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS). Using a tunable Raman pump to enhance transient vibrational features of the photoacidic chromophore HPTS in methanol and methanol...
Halogenated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (X-PAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants that are thought to be generated by processes such as chemical industries and incomplete combustion, including waste incineration and electronic waste (e-waste) burning. X-PAHs are a concern for environmental and human health because they are toxic, mutagenic, and are expected to be...
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...
In this report, three studies are presented that aid in the development of drug discovery and their synthesis. In each, the importance of the marriage between computations and experiments is highlighted. Continued efforts in this vein are essential for future efforts towards improving human health.
The first case study investigated...
The first part of this manuscript is about the total synthesis of the Arundo donax bis(indole) natural products. The A. donax alkaloids were prepared using the first example of an ynindole Diels–Alder reaction. Each were then separated, isolated, and determined to have stable enantiomeric conformations at room temperature (Chen, J.;...
In previous work (Blakemore et al. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 4721; Heterocycles 2006, 70, 609), successful elaborations of the lupine alkaloids (±)-α-isosparteine (dl-2) and (±)-β-isosparteine (dl-3) were realized from a common tetraoxobispidine precursor, 3,7-diallyl -2,4,6,8-tetraoxo-3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (93). Herein, the tetraoxobispidine approach to lupine alkaloids was extended to a total synthesis of...
The total synthesis of a highly potent cytotoxic marine natural product, phorboxazole A, is described. Both a palladium(II)-mediated and a palladium(II)-catalyzed intramolecular alkoxycarbonylation were used as key steps for the preparation of the two cis-2,6-disubstituted tetrahydropyran rings (C22-C26 and C11-C15) of phorboxazole A.
The synthesis used a convergent approach involving...
Xanthohumol [XN, (E)-6´-methoxy-3´-(3-methylbuten-2-yl)-2´,4´,4´´-trihydroxychalcone], the principal prenylated chalcone from hops, and its 2,3-dihydro- (DXN) and O6-desmethyl-2,3-dihydro- (DDXN) congeners, are of potential utility for the amelioration of metabolic syndrome; however, their complex bioactivity profiles cannot be properly studied and understood without access to appropriately produced synthetic materials.
In the first part of...
PART I. The preparation of (-)-ibogamine (1) in fourteen steps from benzoquinone and in 10% overall yield is a powerful illustration of the value of the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction as a starting point in a multistep synthesis. All four cycloadducts, 70, 77, 84 and 96, obtained with the (S)-BINOL-TiCl₂ complex...
Aminal radical intermediates were generated by the method of radical translocation and reacted in C-C bond forming reactions with electronically deficient alkenes (Schiedler et al. Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 6092). Aminal radical intermediates can participate in inter- and intra-molecular reactions using both Bu3SnH and (TMS)₃SiH as hydride donors. Carbon–carbon bonds...
Dearomatization reactions exist broadly in biosynthesis and chemical synthesis. The highly functionalized atoms of arenes can be masked by it aromaticity, and upon dearomatization, those reactive atoms can be readily applied to bond formation and further manipulation. The total synthesis of (–)-cephalotaxine and (–)- homoharringtonine is described via an oxidative...
The first part of this manuscript is about the total synthesis of the aspidosperma alkaloids leuconoxine, melodinine E and mersicarpine. Our synthetic strategy used a radical translocation-conjugate addition cascade to construct the core of the natural product. Specifically, a vinyl radical was generated from the homolysis of the C–I bond...
The first asymmetric synthesis of (-)-7-epicylindrospermopsin via intramolecular nitrone cycloaddition is described. The synthesis utilized a convergent approach to prepare the cycloaddition precursor 176, which was assembled by condensation of hydroxylamine 175 with aldehyde 145. Hydroxylamine 175 was synthesized from ethylene glycol (166) in seven steps. Aldehyde 145 was completed...
The total kinetic energy (TKE) in the fast neutron induced fission of 237Np was measured for neutron energies from En = 2.6 – 45.7 MeV at the LANSCE- WNR facility. The postTKE release decreases non-linearly with increasing incident neutron energy and can be represented as TKE(MeV) = (169.365 ± 1.551)...
Massive die-offs of Bufo bufo gargarizans were observed in May 2008 in Mangwal
Gee, Korea. To find out the causes for this disaster several different elements
were examined: pH, total nitrogen, dissolved oxygen (DO), and dissolved heavy
metal, suspension, introduced species, habitat change, disease, temperature
changes, and precipitation and humidity....
In spite of their importance in many systems, liquid surfaces have been
explored at the microscopic level to a much lesser extent than solids. Most surface
analysis must take place in vacuum, a major drawback for liquids. The technique of
time-of-flight scattering and recoil spectrometry (TOF-SARS) has been applied to...
Isomerically pure cis,cis,trans-1-pheny1-1,3,5-
heptatriene was prepared and cyclized. Ring closure
was followed by a 1,5 hydrogen shift, and the only product
observed was 1-phenyl -6-methyl -1,3-cyclohexadiene.
Rough first order rate constants for thermolysis and
the hydrogen shift were determined. Kinetic estimates
indicate that the report of disallowed product in a...
Pyrolysis of 4-cycloheptene-l-methyl acetate under flow conditions at 285° gives only rearranged bicyclic acetates and hydrocarbons rather than the anticipated simple elimination product methylenecyclohept- 4-ene. These rearranged acetates have the same structures and are formed in virtually the same relative percentages as those observed in the "π- route" solvolysis of...
Two framework oxide materials of the MO₃ network type have been synthesized and structurally characterized by synchrotron and X-ray powder diffraction and the Rietveld method in the temperature range 25~500 K. The results show one of them to be a low thermal expansion material. Theoretical studies of negative thermal expansion...
Ab initio calculations using the B3LYP and CCSD(T) methods were employed in this work to explore the most stable structure of the intriguing compound Be(BH₄)₂, for which as many as seven different structures have been proposed in the literature. Use of the B3LYP density functional method with several large basis...
A procedure for evaluating the precision of atomic absorption
measurements is presented and applied to 21 elements under varying
instrumental conditions. The experimental relative standard deviations
(RSD's) in absorbance obtained from repetitive measurements made
with a high resolution voltmeter and on-line computer, are compared
to those predicted by a recently...
The effects of different nitrogen sources on the primary and secondary pathways of Azotobacter vinelandii cells were studied by means of the radiorespirometric method. C¹⁴ labeled glucose and several key amino acids related to the tricarboxylic acid cycle, such as glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine, serine and glycine were used...
The Diels-Alder reaction represents a promising tool for use in
asymmetric synthesis. The reaction involves a rigid transition state
that facilitates the formation of one diastereomeric transition state
and is reversible. This satisfies two necessary criteria for
asymmetric synthesis.
The Diels-Alder reactions of 1,l-dialkylspiro[2.4]-4,6- heptadienes
with maleic anhydride and p-benzoquinone...
A tracer method utilizing stable activable tracers (involving rare earth nuclides with short-lived t[subscript 1/2] < 1 day} activation products) for tracing fluid bound substances in fresh water is explored. Simulated laboratory studies showed these tracers (Dy and in) when chelated with diethylenetriamine2entaacetic acid a7i1W to be stable ( <20%)...
A comparative study was made on the effect of urea denaturation
of bovine serum albumin (BSA), polyglycyl BSA and poly-L-phenylalanyl
BSA. The denaturation process was followed by ultraviolet
spectrophotometry and optical rotation.
A blue shift in the absorption maximum at 278 mμ was observed
in urea denatured proteins, In 7M...
The experimental and theoretical bases of transient electric birefringence (TEB) and its application in a variety of nanomaterials, including Na-montmorillonite, cellulose nanocrystals (CNXL), and CdSe quantum dots (QDs) will be presented. TEB is a phenomenon attributed to the alignment of particles in response to an applied electric field and has...
The post-emission total kinetic energy release (TKE) in the neutron induced fission of ²³²Th was measured (using white spectrum neutrons from LANSCE) for neutron energies from En = 3 to 91 MeV. In this energy range the average post-neutron total kinetic energy release decreases from 162.3 ± 0.3 at En...
The theory and ways of applying a new electroanalytical detectior
method were developed. The method, called galvanovoltammetry,
consists of the measurement of current from the bipolar electrode of
a three electrode cell which consists of a working electrode and a
counter electrode, between which a constant current is applied, and...
A spectrophotometric study has been made of catalysis of the decomposition of sulfuryl chloride in carbon tetrachloride solution to an equilibrium mixture of sulfuryl chloride, sulfur dioxide and chlorine. The catalysts were activated charcoal, acetonitrile and 18-crown-6 polyether. A weak acetonitrile-sulfur dioxide complex also was established; formation constants found at...
A total synthesis of the fungal hormones, trisporic acids A and B, is described, starting from a -methyltetronic acid 34. A Robinson annelation of 34 with ethyl vinyl ketone affords the lactone 33. Treatment of 33 with N-bromosuccinimide gave 97, which was hydrolyzed to the lactol 103. The reaction of...
The possibility of synthesizing 1, 8-naphthyridines by the Doebner reaction has appeared in many reports. The method involves the introduction of electron releasing groups in the 6-position of 2-amino pyridine to activate the C-3 position. Previously Lewis used 6-methyl-2-amino pyridine with benzaldehyde and pyruvic acid, in an attempt to prepare...
Alkylation of propylene oxide with 2-lithiofuran gave alcohol I,
which was smoothly converted to acetylfuran II. hydrogenation of II
over rhodium on charcoal followed by Jones' oxidation afforded ketone
III. Further transformation into IV was accomplished via a Wittig
reaction followed by saponification with methanolic sodium hydroxide.
Hydroboration of the...