2,902 research outputs found
Michael John Robert Fasham. 29 May 1942 â 7 June 2008
Professor Michael Fasham played a pioneering role in the development of marine ecosystem models for the study of nutrient and carbon cycling in the ocean. He is articularly celebrated for his famous FashamâDucklowâMcKelvie model, which was the first of its kind to separate new and regenerated forms of nutrient, as well as including microbial recycling pathways. Fashamâs models provided key understanding of the links between primary production, carbon cycling and export (of organic matter from the surface to deep ocean) based on both deep and insightful parameterization inspired by his many collaborations with leading experimental and field biologists of the day, and by his expert use of data for model calibration and validation. He had the ability to see the big picture, linking observation and models to achieve a unified understanding of system dynamics. As well as the direct contributions of his own science, Fasham played a pivotal role in steering the international scientific agenda, notably his leadership of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study which had the aim of understanding ocean carbon cycling and sinks via the coordination of extensive field programmes, synthesis and modelling. He will be remembered by those who knew him for his openness, enthusiasm and modesty, a man who was fun to know and to work with and who loved the thrill of scientific adventure and discovery
Time resolved structural dynamics of butadiyne-linked porphyrin dimers
In this work the timescales and mechanisms associated with the structural dynamics of butadiyne-linked porphyrin dimers are investigated through time resolved narrowband pump / broadband probe transient absorption spectroscopy. Our results confirm previous findings that the broadening is partly due to a distribution of structures with different (dihedral) angular conformations. Comparison of measurements with excitations on the red and blue sides of the Q-band unravel the ground and excited state conformational re-equilibration timescales. Further comparison to a planarized dimer, through addition of a ligand, provide conclusive evidence for the twisting motion performed by the porphyrin dimer in solution
Evaluating the interactions between vibrational modes and electronic transitions using frontier orbital energy derivatives â
Vibrations affect molecular optoelectronic properties, even at zero kelvin. Accounting for these effects using computational modelling is costly, as it requires many calculations at geometries distorted from equilibrium. Here, we propose a low-cost method for identifying vibrations most strongly coupled to the electronic structure, based on using orbital energy derivatives as a diagnostic
How do donor and acceptor substituents change the photophysical and photochemical behavior of dithienylethenes? The search for a water-soluble visible-light photoswitch
Dithienylethenes are a type of diarylethene and they constitute one of the most widely studied classes of photoswitch, yet there have been no systematic studies of how electron-donor or -acceptor substituents affect their properties. Here we report eight dithienylethenes bearing pushâpush, pullâpull and pushâpull substitution patterns with different lengths of conjugation in the backbone and investigate their photophysical and photochemical properties. Donorâacceptor interactions in the closed forms of pushâpull dithienylethenes shift their absorption spectra into the near-infrared region (λmax â 800 nm). The pushâpull systems also exhibit low quantum yields for photochemical electrocyclization, and computational studies indicate that this can be attributed to stabilization of the parallel, rather than anti-parallel, conformations. The pullâpull systems have the highest quantum yields for switching in both directions, ring-closure and ring-opening. The chloride salt of a pullâpull DTE, with alkynes on both arms, is the first water-soluble dithienylethene that can achieve >95% photostationary state distribution in both directions with visible light. It has excellent fatigue resistance: in aqueous solution on irradiation at 365 nm, the photochemical quantum yields for switching and decomposition are 0.15 and 2.6 Ă 10â5 respectively, i.e. decomposition is more than 5000 times slower than photoswitching. These properties make it a promising candidate for biological applications such as super-resolution microscopy and photopharmacology
Anthracene-porphyrin nanoribbons
Ï-Conjugated nanoribbons attract interest because of their unusual electronic structures and charge-transport behavior. Here, we report the synthesis of a series of fully edge-fused porphyrin-anthracene oligomeric ribbons (dimer and trimer), together with a computational study of the corresponding infinite polymer. The porphyrin dimer and trimer were synthesized in high yield, via oxidative cyclodehydrogenation of singly linked precursors, using 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH). The crystal structure of the dimer shows that the central Ï-system is flat, with a slight S-shaped wave distortion at each porphyrin terminal. The extended Ï-conjugation causes a dramatic red-shift in the absorption spectra: the absorption maxima of the fused dimer and trimer appear at 1188â
nm and 1642â
nm, respectively (for the nickel complexes dissolved in toluene). The coordinated metal in the dimer was changed from Ni to Mg, using p-tolylmagnesium bromide, providing access to free-base and Zn complexes. These results open a versatile avenue to longer Ï-conjugated nanoribbons with integrated metalloporphyrin units
Organisation and ordering of 1D porphyrin polymers synthesised by on-surface Glaser coupling
One-dimensional polymer chains consisting of Ï-conjugated porphyrin units are formed via Glaser coupling on a Ag(111) surface. Scanning probe microscopy reveals the covalent structure of the products and their ordering. The conformational flexibility within the chains is investigated via a comparision of room temperature and cryogenic measurements
Masked alkynes for synthesis of threaded carbon chains
Polyynes are chains of sp1 carbon atoms with alternating single and triple bonds. As they become longer, they evolve towards carbyne, the 1D allotrope of carbon, and they become increasingly unstable. It has been anticipated that long polyynes could be stabilized by supramolecular encapsulation, by threading them through macrocycles to form polyrotaxanesâbut, until now, polyyne polyrotaxanes with many threaded macrocycles have been synthetically inaccessible. Here we show that masked alkynes, in which the CâĄC triple bond is temporarily coordinated to cobalt, can be used to synthesize polyrotaxanes, up to the C68 [5]rotaxane with 34 contiguous triple bonds and four threaded macrocycles. This is the length regime at which the electronic properties of polyynes converge to those of carbyne. Cyclocarbons constitute a related family of molecular carbon allotropes, and cobalt-masked alkynes also provide a route to [3]catenanes and [5]catenanes built around cobalt complexes of cyclo[40]carbon and cyclo[80]carbon, respectively
Analyzing cropping systems (1983)
In tight financial times, businesses often try to reduce spending and improve their profits. Many farmers are currently operating their businesses under such conditions. Wise management decisions can improve profits in farming while reducing cash flow needs
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