Absolute Aqueous Redox Potentials ( via a new link between aqueous and gaseous properties)

The new finding here, that the conventional standard potentials (based on S.H.E.) are linearly dependent on ionization potentials, has yielded the absolute values of aqueous standard potentials

New insight into DNA damage by cisplatin at the atomic scale

Cisplatin is cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) of chemical formula, Pt(NH3)Cl2, abbreviated as cis-DDP and known commercially as platinol. It is used widely as an anticancer drug for various types of cancer, ever since its discovery two centuries ago and has become a target of extensive researches. Transplatin, trans-DDP on the other hand, is found to be less or ineffective to treat cancers. Cisplatin is known to interact mainly with the N(7) nitrogen of guanine in nucleic acids, after a water molecule takes away one of the chlorines by hydrolysis. This initiates the damage of nucleic acids and eventually leads to apoptosis. However the way how this happens and why transplatin is less effective is not completely clear. Here the author brings some new insights, using the precise structures of these molecules at the atomic level, how cisplatin can interact with the nitrogen of guanine and adenine and rupture the hydrogen bonding in the Watson Crick base pairs and damage the structure of DNA. It is hoped that the results presented here will contribute to a better atomistic insight into the structure, bonding and feasibility of the biochemical reactions involving these compounds and their derivates for the alleviation of cancer

Atomic and molecular structures of positronium, dipositronium and positronium hydride

The three positron based chemical entities, analogous to hydrogen atom, hydrogen molecule and hydride, are drawing increasing attention in the literature. While a lot is known about the binding energies, not much is known about the radii of the atoms and ions and bond lengths and structures of these exotic entities. This article brings for the first time exact values of these structural properties which are comparable with known data. It is hoped that the results will be of help for a better understanding and further development of the chemistry and physics of these exotic compounds and of their possible role as intermediates in chemical and interfacial processes

Golden sections of inter-atomic distances as exact ionic radii of atoms

The Golden ratio which appears in the geometry of a variety of creations in Nature is found to arise right in the Bohr radius of the hydrogen atom due to the opposite charges of the electron and proton. The bond length of the hydrogen molecule is the diagonal of a square on the Bohr radius and hence also has two Golden sections, which form the cationic and anionic radii of hydrogen. It is shown here that these radii account quantitatively for the bond lengths of many hydrides when added to the atomic and Golden ratio based ionic radii of many other atoms

New Equations for Atomic Mass, Mass per Nucleon and Mass defects of Elements in Terms of Rest Mass Based Neutron Numbers

Conventional neutron numbers are based on the approximations that the mass of the electron is zero and that those of the proton and neutron are each equal to unity. It was shown, by using the exact rest masses, that the neutron numbers are actually one or two less than the conventional ones for atomic masses greater than 108. Presented here are new equations for the atomic mass, mass per nucleon and mass defects for the most abundant stable isotope (or the one with the longest half life) of each of the 118 elements of the Periodic Table