Highly ordered N-heterocyclic carbene monolayers on Cu(111)

EA and FG acknowledge funding from EPSRC grants (EA: EP/R512199/1; FG: EP/S027270/1). We thank the EaStCHEM for computational support via the EaStCHEM Research Computing facility. CMC thanks the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for funding of the work from her lab described in this article. AJV acknowledges NSERC for a Vanier scholarship and the Walter C. Sumner foundation for additional financial support. IS acknowledges Queen’s University for the RT Mohan Scholarship and the Ontario government for an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.The benzannulated N-heterocyclic carbene, 1,3-dibenzylbenzimidazolylidene (NHCDBZ) forms large, highly ordered domains when adsorbed on Cu(111) under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. A combination of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveals that the overlayer consists of vertical benzannulated NHC moieties coordinating to Cu adatoms. Long range order results from the placement of the two benzyl substituents on opposite sides of the benzimidazole moiety, with their aromatic rings approximately parallel to the surface. The organization of three surface-bound benzyl substituents from three different NHCs into a triangular array controls the formation of a highly ordered Kagome-like surface lattice. By comparison with earlier studies of NHCs on Cu(111), we show that the binding geometry and self-assembly of NHCDBZ are influenced by intermolecular and adsorbate-substrate interactions and facilitated by the flexibility of the methylene linkage between the N-heterocycle and the aromatic wingtip substituents.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Spectroscopic evidence for an all-ferrous [4Fe–4S]0 cluster in the superreduced activator of 2-hydroxyglutaryl-CoA dehydratase from Acidaminococcus fermentans

The key enzyme of the fermentation of glutamate by Acidaminococcus fermentans, 2-hydroxyglutarylcoenzyme A dehydratase, catalyzes the reversible syn-elimination of water from (R)-2-hydroxyglutaryl-coenzyme A, resulting in (E)-glutaconylcoenzyme A. The dehydratase system consists of two oxygen-sensitive protein components, the activator (HgdC) and the actual dehydratase (HgdAB). Previous biochemical and spectroscopic studies revealed that the reduced [4Fe–4S]+ cluster containing activator transfers one electron to the dehydratase driven by ATP hydrolysis, which activates the enzyme. With a tenfold excess of titanium(III) citrate at pH 8.0 the activator can be further reduced, yielding about 50% of a superreduced [4Fe–4S]0 cluster in the all-ferrous state. This is inferred from the appearance of a new Mössbauer spectrum with parameters δ = 0.65 mm/s and ΔEQ = 1.51–2.19 mm/s at 140 K, which are typical of Fe(II)S4 sites. Parallel-mode electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy performed at temperatures between 3 and 20 K showed two sharp signals at g = 16 and 12, indicating an integer-spin system. The X-band EPR spectra and magnetic Mössbauer spectra could be consistently simulated by adopting a total spin St = 4 for the all-ferrous cluster with weak zero-field splitting parameters D = −0.66 cm−1 and E/D = 0.17. The superreduced cluster has apparent spectroscopic similarities with the corresponding [4Fe–4S]0 cluster described for the nitrogenase Fe-protein, but in detail their properties differ. While the all-ferrous Fe-protein is capable of transferring electrons to the MoFe-protein for dinitrogen reduction, a similar physiological role is elusive for the superreduced activator. This finding supports our model that only one-electron transfer steps are involved in dehydratase catalysis. Nevertheless we discuss a common basic mechanism of the two diverse systems, which are so far the only described examples of the all-ferrous [4Fe–4S]0 cluster found in biology

Chemical characterisation of semi-volatile and aerosol compounds from the photooxidation of toluene and NOx

The chemical composition of a gas phase and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mixture from toluene photooxidation in NOx was determined. Aerosol from toluene photooxidation was generated in a smog chamber and was collected onto glass fibre filters along with those gas phase compounds which adhered to the filter. The filter bound organic material was extracted, derivatised with O-2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl hydroxylamine (PFBHA) and N,O-bistrimethylsilyl-trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA), then analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Compound identification was aided by the use of isotopically-labelled toluene. The effect of humidity on product formation was investigated by raising water vapour concentration in one experiment.Sixty compounds were identified, of which twenty had not been identified from toluene photooxidation previously. Small carboxylic acids and dicarbonyls provided the highest proportion of identifiable compounds by relative response. The use of water to extract the filter samples resulted in much higher relative responses for oxocarboxylic acids, such as glyoxylic acid and pyruvic acid, than has been observed in previous studies. The formation of levulinic acid was determined to be due to the reaction of water with aromatic photooxidation products in the gas phase or particle phase of the chamber experiment. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to determine the functional groups of water-extracted organic material, which indicated that the water-soluble components were comprised of compounds which contain similar functional groups, primarily alcohols and carboxylic acids.8 page(s

Modelling the photooxidation of ULP, E5 and E10 in the CSIRO smog chamber

The photooxidation of fuel vapour was investigated in a smog chamber and simulated using three chemical mechanisms, the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCMv3.1), SAPRC-99 and the Carbon Bond chemical mechanism (CB05). Three varieties of fuel were used, unleaded petrol (ULP) and two ULP-ethanol blends which contained 5% and 10% ethanol (E5, E10). The fuel vapours were introduced into the chamber using two methods, by injecting the vapours from wholly evaporated fuel directly, and by injecting the headspace vapour from fuel equilibrated at 38 °C. The chamber experiments were simulated using the selected mechanisms and comparisons made with collected experimental data. The SAPRC-99 mechanism reproduced Δ(O₃–NO) more accurately for almost all fuel types and injection modes, with negligible model error for both injection modes. The average model error for MCM simulations was −16% and for CB05 the average model error was −34%. The predictions for the CB05 mechanism varied depending on injection mode, the Δ(O₃–NO) model error for wholly evaporated experiments was −44%, compared to −24% for headspace vapour experiments. The difference in aromatic content between experiments of different injection modes was likely to be the cause of the difference in model error for CB05. The model error for all headspace experiments was dependent upon the initial carbon monoxide concentrations. The results for Δ(O₃–NO) were matched by the prediction of other key products, with formaldehyde predicted to within 20% by both SAPRC and the MCM. The addition of ethanol to the base SAPRC mechanism altered the predictions of Δ(O₃–NO) by less than 2%. Changes observed in the concentrations of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were consistent with the expected yields from ethanol oxidation.8 page(s

Synthesis, structural elucidation, DNA-PK inhibition, homology modelling and anti-platelet activity of morpholino-substituted-1,3-naphth-oxazines

A number of new angular 2-morpholino-(substituted)-naphth-1,3-oxazines (compound 10b), linear 2-morpholino-(substituted)-naphth-1,3-oxazines (compounds 13b-c), linear 6, 7 and 9-0-substituted-2-morpholino-(substituted)-naphth-1,3-oxazines (compounds 17-22, 24, and 25) and angular compounds 14-16 and 23 were synthesised. The O-substituent was pyridin-2yl-methyl (15, 18, and 21) pyridin-3yl-methyl (16, 19, and 22) and 4-methylpipreazin-1-yl-ethoxy (23-25). Twelve compounds were tested for their inhibitory effect on collagen induced platelet aggregation and it was found that the most active compounds were compounds 19 and 22 with IC(50) = 55 +/- 4 and 85 +/- 4 mu M, respectively. Furthermore, the compounds were also assayed for their ability to inhibit DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity. The most active compounds were 18 IC(50) = 0.091 mu M, 24 IC(50) = 0.191 mu M, and 22 IC(50) = 0.331 mu M. Homology modelling was used to build a 3D model of DNA-PK based on the X-ray structure of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks). Docking of synthesised compounds within the binding pocket and structure-activity relationships (SAR) analyses of the poses were performed and results agreed well with observed activity

A mobile gateway for remote interaction with wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) almost invariably support a centralised network management model. Though the data gathering function is conducted remotely, such data is usually routed via data sinks to central servers for processing, storage, visualisation and interpretation. However, the issue of supporting remote access to WSNs and individual sensor nodes whilst in their physical environment has not been viewed as a priority. It is envisaged that this situation will change as WSNs proliferate in a range of domains, and the potential for supporting innovative revenue-generating services manifest themselves. As a step towards realising such access, a mobile gateway has been designed and implemented. This gateway supports Zigbee as this is the predominant protocol supported by WSNs. Furthermore, it also supports Bluetooth, thereby facilitating interaction with conventional mobile devices. The gateway is programmable according to the needs of arbitrary services and applications.Science Foundation Irelandau,ke,vo,is,st,en,SB-08/09/201

Enabling Intelligence on a Wireless Sensor Network Platform

Paper presented at Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 10th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 28th of March, Salamanca, SpainConventional Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) usually adopt a centralised approach to data processing and interpretation primarily due to the limited computation and energy resources available on sensor nodes. These constraints limits the potential of intelligent techniques to data analy- sis and such activities on the centralised host. In contrast, Intelligent WSNs (iWSNs) will be significantly more powerful thus enabling the harnessing of intelligent techniques for diverse purposes. One such purpose is the practical realisation of smart environments, and facilitating mobility and interaction with the inhabitants of such environments. As a step in this direction, this paper presents the design of an iWSN sensor node platform that enables the hosting of lightweight Artificial Intelligence (AI) frameworks whilst enabling the ubiquitous energy constraints be quantified, mitigated and managed.Science Foundation Irelan