Search results for "Reaction mechanism"
showing 10 items of 293 documents
Nanoscale Etching of GaAs and InP in Acidic H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> Solution: A Striking Contrast in Kinetics and Surface …
2018
In this study of nanoscale etching for state-of-the-art device technology the importance of the nature of the surface oxide, is demonstrated for two III-V materials. Etching kinetics for GaAs and InP in acidic solutions of hydrogen peroxide are strikingly different. GaAs etches much faster, while the dependence of the etch rate on the H+ concentration differs markedly for the two semiconductors. Surface analysis techniques provided information on the surface composition after etching: strongly non-stoichiometric porous (hydr)oxides on GaAs and a thin stoichiometric oxide that forms a blocking layer on InP. Reaction schemes are provided that allow one to understand the results, in particular…
Aqueous Corrosion of the GeSe4 Chalcogenide Glass: Surface Properties and Corrosion Mechanism
2009
International audience; The aqueous corrosion behavior of the GeSe4 glass composition has been studied over time under various conditions (temperature and pH). The evolution of the surface topography by atomic force microscopy and properties such as surface hardness and reduced modulus, as well as the optical transmission in the 1-16 μm window, have been measured as a function of time spent in the corrosive solution. It was found that even if the glass reacts at room temperature, its optical transparency was barely affected. Nevertheless, the durability of GeSe4 was found to be drastically affected by an increase of both temperature and pH. Furthermore, pure selenium nanoparticles were form…
Unexpected Substituent Effects in the Iso-Heterocyclic Boulton-Katritzky Rearrangement of 3-Aroylamino-5-methyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles: A Mechanistic Stud…
2019
The kinetics of the iso-heterocyclic mononuclear rearrangement of some 3-aroylamino-5-methyl-1,2,4-ozadiazoles was carefully examined under largely variable acidic or alkaline conditions. This reaction may proceed via two different mechanistic pathways (an uncatalyzed and a base-catalyzed one), as accounted for also by the evaluation of the relevant activation parameters. Substituent effects, as quantified by means of the Hammett’s equation, appear relatively modest; however, they reveal some interesting anomalies, which enabled us to draw a very precise picture of the intimate reaction course.
A Dehydrogenase Dual Hydrogen Abstraction Mechanism Promotes Estrogen Biosynthesis: Can We Expand the Functional Annotation of the Aromatase Enzyme?
2018
Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes are involved in the metabolism of exogenous compounds and in the synthesis of signaling molecules. Among the latter, human aromatase (HA) promotes estrogen biosynthesis, which is a key pharmacological target against breast cancers. After decades of debate, interest in gaining a comprehensive picture of HA catalysis has been renewed by the recent discovery that compound I (Cpd I) is the reactive species of the peculiar aromatization step. Herein, for the first time, a complete atomic-level picture of all controversial steps of estrogen biosynthesis is presented. By performing cumulative quantum-classical molecular dynamics and metadynamics simulations of abou…
Molecular Mechanism of the site-specific self-cleavage of the RNA phosphodiester backbone by a Twister Ribozyme
2017
Published as part of the special collection of articles derived from the 10th Congress on Electronic Structure: Principles and Applications (ESPA-2016). The catalytic activity of some classes of natural RNA, named as ribozymes, has been discovered just in the past decades. In this paper, the cleavage of the RNA phosphodiester backbone has been studied in aqueous solution and in a twister ribozyme from Oryza sativa. The free energy profiles associated with a baseline substrate-assisted mechanism for the reaction in the enzyme and in solution were computed by means of free energy perturbation methods within hybrid QM/MM potentials, describing the chemical system by the M06-2× functional and t…
Kinetic evidence for interaction of TMPyP4 with two different G-quadruplex conformations of human telomeric DNA
2018
Background: Stabilization of G-quadruplex helices by small ligands has attracted growing attention because they inhibit the activity of the enzyme telomerase, which is overexpressed in> 80% cancer cells. TMPyP4, one of the most studied G-quadruplex ligands, is used as a model to show that the ligands can exhibit different binding features with different conformations of a human telomeric specific sequence. Methods: UV–Vis, FRET melting Assay, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry, Time-resolved Fluorescence lifetime, T-Jump and Molecular Dynamics. Results: TMPyP4 yields two different complexes with two Tel22 telomeric conformations in the presence of Na+ or K+. T-Jump kinetic experiments show th…
A Microscopic Description of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibition with Michael Acceptors. Strategies for Improving Inhibitors Design
2020
The irreversible inhibition of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 by a Michael acceptor known as N3 has been investigated using multiscale methods. The noncovalent enzyme–inhibitor complex was simulated using classical molecular dynamics techniques and the pose of the inhibitor in the active site was compared to that of the natural substrate, a peptide containing the Gln–Ser scissile bond. The formation of the covalent enzyme–inhibitor complex was then simulated using hybrid QM/MM free energy methods. After binding, the reaction mechanism was found to be composed of two steps: (i) the activation of the catalytic dyad (Cys145 and His41) to form an ion pair and (ii) a Michael addition where the …
Can Macroscopic Parameters, Such as Conversion and Selectivity, Distinguish between Different Cracking Mechanisms on Acid Catalysts?
1997
n-heptane cracking has been carried out for very short time periods on an established reaction mechanism which includes the following group of stream reactions on different zeolites: Initiation reactions (protolytic cracking), charge isomerization, chain isomerization, hydride transfer, β-scission–alkylation, desorption–adsorption, and hydrogen transfer–cyclization. It has been observed that a given experimental distribution of products can be explained by more than just one reaction scheme. This does not allow one to clearly distinguish the fraction of reactant which disappears via monomolecular initiation reactions with respect to bimolecular hydride transfer reactions.
Enantioselective synthesis of 2-substituted-1,4-diketones from (S)-mandelic acid enolate and α,β-enones
2006
[EN] An approach for the synthesis of chiral non-racemic 2-substituted-1,4-diketones from (S)-mandelic acid and ¿,ß-enones has been developed. The reaction of lithium enolate of the 1,3-dioxolan-4-one derived from optically active (S)-mandelic acid and pivalaldehyde with ¿,ß-unsaturated carbonyl compounds proceeds readily to give the corresponding Michael adducts in good yields and with high diastereoselectivities. The addition of HMPA (3 equiv) reverses and strongly enhances the diastereoselectivity of the reaction. A change in the reaction mechanism from a lithium catalyzed to the one where catalysis has been suppressed by coordination of HMPA to lithium is proposed to explain these resul…
The Radical Trap in Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization Need Not Be Thermodynamically Stable. A Study of the MoX3(PMe3)3 Catalysts
2005
The molybdenum(III) coordination complexes MoX(3)(PMe(3))(3) (X = Cl, Br, and I) are capable of controlling styrene polymerization under typical atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) conditions, in conjunction with 2-bromoethylbenzene (BEB) as an initiator. The process is accelerated by the presence of Al(OPr(i))(3) as a cocatalyst. Electrochemical and synthetic studies aimed at identifying the nature of the spin trap have been carried out. The cyclic voltammogram of MoX(3)(PMe(3))(3) (X = Cl, Br, I) shows partial reversibility (increasing in the order ClBrI) for the one-electron oxidation wave. Addition of X(-) changes the voltammogram, indicating the formation of MoX(4)(PMe(3))(3) f…