Novel poly(aspartic acid) derivatives conjugated with L-lysine moieties and their amphiphilic analogs were synthesized and characterized. The chemical structures of these polymers were confirmed using FT-IR and $^1HNMR$ spectroscopy. The physicochemical properties of amphiphilic copolymers were characterized using an electrophonetic light scattering spectrophotometer (ELS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These results indicated a stable nanoparticle formation within aqueous media. These polymers have potential applications in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields as delivery vehicles for bioactive molecules.

We have performed DFT calculations to investigate the conformational characteristics and hydrogen bonds of the p-tert-butylcalix[5]arene (1) and p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene (2). The structures of different conformers of 1 were optimized by using B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) method. The relative stability of the various conformers of 1 is in the following order: cone (most stable) > 1,2-alternate > partial-cone > 1,3-alternate. The relative stability of four conformers of 2 is in the following order: cone (most stable) > partial-cone > 1,2-alternate > 1,3-alternate. The primary factor affecting the relative stabilities of the various conformers of the 1 and 2 are the number and strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds. The hydrogen-bond distances are discussed based on different calculation methods.

Study of computational model of the concerted Diels-Alder reaction between 9,10-dimethyl anthracene (as donor) and tetracyanoethylene (as acceptor) in absence and in presence of aromatic solvents (benzene, mesitylene and hexamethylbenzene, as donors) using an AM1 semi-empirical method. AM1 method used to study the neutral charge transfer complex models that could be expected between donor and acceptor during the course of the concerted Diels-Alder reaction. Calculated enthalpies of reaction of the charge transfer complexes models showed physical and chemical meaning for explain the effect of aromatic solvents on the kinetic process of concerted Diels-Alder reaction that contains tetracyanoethylene.

The reaction of 3,14-dimethyl-2,6,13,17-tetraazatetracyclo[16.4.0$0^{1.18}.0^{7.12}$]docosane ($L^1$) with formaldehyde in warm methanol yielded 3,14-dimethyl-2,6,13,17-tetraazatetracyclo[16.4.$1^{2.6}.0^{1.18}.0^{7.12}$]tricosane ($L^7$) containing one 1,3-diazacyclohexane subunit. In methanol, $L^7$ readily reacts with $Cu^{2+}$ ion to form [$CuL^7(H_2O)$]$^{2+}$ which is extremely inert against methanolysis. In the solution containing $Ni^{2+}$ ion, however, $L^7$ reacts with methanol to yield [$NiL^3$]$^{2+}$ ($L^3$ = 2-(methoxymethyl)-5,16-dimethyl-2,6,13,17-tetraazatricyclo[16.4.$0^{1.18}.0^{7.12}$]- docosane), in which one N-$CH_2OCH_3$ pendant arm is appended. The copper(II) complex [$CuL^7(H_2O)$]- $(ClO_4)_2{\cdot}3H_2O\;(I{\cdot}3H_2O)$ has a severely distorted trigonal bipyramidal coordination geometry with a 4-5- 6-5 chelate ring sequence. The crystal structure of [$NiL^3$]$(PF_6)_2{\cdot}2H_2O$ (IIb) shows that the N-$CH_2OCH_3$ pendant arm is not coordinated to the metal ion in the solid state. In various solvents (S), however, the nickel(II) complex exists as a mixture of [$NiL^3$(S)]$^{2+}$, in which the N-$CH_2OCH_3$ group as well as S is coordinated to the metal ion, and [$NiL^3$]^{2+}.

Second-order rate constants (kN) have been measured for Michael-type addition reactions of a series of alicyclic secondary amines to 1-phenyl-2-propyn-1-one (2) in MeCN at 25.0 ${\pm}$ 0.1 ${^{\circ}C}$. All the amines studied are less reactive in MeCN than in $H_2O$ although they are more basic in the aprotic solvent by 7-9 p$K_a$ units. The Bronsted-type plot is linear with $\beta_{nuc}$ = 0.40, which is slightly larger than that reported previously for the corresponding reactions in $H_2O$ ($\beta_{nuc}$ = 0.27). Product analysis has shown that only E-isomer is produced. Kinetic isotope effect is absent for the reactions of 2 with morpholine and deuterated morpholine (i.e., $k^H/k^D$ = 1.0). Thus, the reaction has been concluded to proceed through a stepwise mechanism, in which proton transfer occurs after the rate-determining step. The reaction has been suggested to proceed through a tighter transition state in MeCN than in H2O on the basis of the larger $\beta_{nuc}$ in the aprotic solvent. The nature of the transition state has been proposed to be responsible for the decreased reactivity in the aprotic solvent.

Second-order rate constants ($k_N$) have been measured spectrophotometrically for reactions of 3,4-dinitrophenyl benzoates (5b) with a series of alicyclic secondary amines in 80 mol % $H_2O$/20 mol % DMSO at 25.0 ${\pm}$ 0.1 ${^{\circ}C}$. The kinetic data have been compared with the data reported previously for the corresponding reactions of 2,4- dinitrophenyl benzoates (5a) to investigate the effect of changing the nucleofuge from 2,4-dinitrophenoxide to 3,4-dinitrophenoxide on reactivity and mechanism. The kinetic results show that aminolyses of 5a and 5b proceed through the same mechanism, i.e., a zwitterionic tetrahedral intermediate ($T^{\pm}$) with a change in the rate-determining step (RDS). Substrate 5a is more reactive than 5b when breakdown of $T^{\pm}$ is the RDS but less reactive when formation of $T^{\pm}$ is the RDS. Dissection of kN values into the microscopic rate constants (e.g., $k_1$ and $k_2/k_{-1 }$ ratio) has revealed that 5a results in larger $k_2/k_{-1}$ ratios but smaller k1 values than 5b for all the amines studied. Since 2,4-dinitrophenoxide is less basic and a better nucleofuge than 3,4-dinitrophenoxide, the larger $k_2/k_{-1}$ ratios determined for the reactions of 5a than for those of 5b are as expected. The steric hindrance exerted by the ortho-nitro group on 5a contributes to the smaller k1 values found for the reactions of 5a than for those of 5b.

We investigated the C-H bond activation mechanism of aldimine by the [RhCl$(PPH_3)_3$] model catalyst using DFT B3LYP//SBKJC/6-31G*/6-31G on GAMESS. Due to their potential utility in organic synthesis, C-H bond activation is one of the most active research fields in organic and organometallic chemistry. C-H bond activation by a transition metal catalyst can be classified into two types of mechanisms: direct C-H bond cleavage by the metal catalyst or a multi-step mechanism via a tetrahedral transition state. There are three structural isomers of [RhCl$(PH_3)_2$] coordinated aldimine that differ in the position of chloride with respect to the molecular plane. By comparing activation energies of the overall reaction pathways that the three isomeric structures follow in each mechanism, we found that the C-H bond activation of aldimine by the [RhCl$(PH_3)_3$] catalyst occurs through the tetrahedral intermediate.

Rate of solvolysis of diphenylthiophosphinyl chloride in ethanol, methanol, and aqueous binary mixtures incorporating ethanol, methanol, acetone, 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) or 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) are reported. Solvolyses were also carried out in TFE-ethanol mixtures. For five representative solvents, studies were made at several temperatures and activation parameters determined. The 29 solvents gave a reasonably precise extended Grunwald-Winstein equation plot, correlation coefficient (R) of 0.933, which improved to 0.983 when the four TFE-ethanol points were excluded. The sensitivities (l = 1.00 and m = 0.64) were similar to those obtained for dimethyl phosphorochloridate and phosphorochloridothionate and diphenylphosphinyl chloride (1). As with the four previously studied solvolyses, an $SN_2$ pathway is proposed for the solvolyses of diphenylthiophosphinyl chloride. The activation parameters, ${\Delta}H^{\neq}$ and ${\Delta}S^{\neq}$, were determined and they are also in line with values expected for an $S_N2$ reaction.

A new analytical method using 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol modified $SiO_2$ nanoparticles as solid-phase extractant has been developed for the preconcentration of trace amounts of mercury(II) in different water samples. Conditions of the analysis such as preconcentration time, effect of pH, sample volumes, shaking time, elution conditions and effects of interfering ions for the recovery of analyte were investigated. The adsorption capacity of nanometer $SiO_2$-PAN was found to be 260 ${\mu}molg^{-1}$ at optimum pH and the detection limit (3$\sigma$) was 0.48 ${\mu}gL^{-1}$. The extractant showed rapid kinetic sorption. The adsorption equilibrium of mercury(II) on nanometer $SiO_2$-PAN was achieved just in 5 mins. Adsorbed mercury(II) was easily eluted with 5 mL of 6 M hydrochloric acid. The maximum preconcentration factor was 50. The method was applied for the determination of trace amounts of mercury(II) in various water samples and industrial effluents.

The P1 duplex of Tetrahymena group I ribozyme is the important system for studying the conformational changes in folding of ribozyme. The formation of the P1 duplex between IGS and substrate RNA and the catalytic activity of ribozyme require a variety of metal ions such as $Mg^{2+}$ and $Mn^{2+}$. In order to investigate the effect of the $Mg^{2+}$ concentration on the conformation of the P1 duplex, the NMR study was performed as a function of $Mg^{2+}$ concentration. This study revealed that the less stable AU-rich region formed duplex at $50{^{\circ}C}$ under high $Mg^{2+}$ concentration condition but melts out under low $Mg^{2+}$ concentration condition. It was also found that in the active conformation under 10 mM $MgCl_2$ condition, the unstable central G${\cdot}$U wobble pair maintains the significant base pairing up to $50{^{\circ}C}$. This study provides the information of the unique feature of the P1 duplex structure and the roll of $Mg^{2+}$ ion on the formation of the active conformation.

A new chromatographic stationary phase has been prepared by cross polymerization between allylsilica and perallyloxycucurbit[6]uril and characterized by elemental analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. The double endcapping has been proven to improve the separation efficiency of the cucurbituril-based stationary phase material. The first end-capping was carried out when allylsilica was made. The second end-capping was done as the final step of the whole process, and the use of a mixture of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) as an end-capping reagent was found better than the use of only HMDS or TMCS. Our stationary phase has shown generally good results in separation of nonpolar and polar analytes. This phase showed even better separation performance than the commercial C18 phase for the case where hostguest chemistry was properly incorporated in solute retention.

The synthesis of new 5-cyano-1,1-disubstituted phthalans having aromatic and aminoalkyl groups at C-1 position of phthalan ring and their biological evaluation are described. Most compounds exhibited comparable ejaculation-retarding effects to citalopram. Of these compounds, 3a, e showed excellent efficacy in delaying ejaculation.

Pentamer cluster of azodicarbonamide (ADA) based on the crystalline structure was investigated for the equilibrium structure, the stabilization energies, and the vibrational properties at various levels of the density functional theory. Stretching force constants of N${\cdot}{\cdot}{\cdot}$H or O${\cdot}{\cdot}{\cdot}$H, and angle-bending force constants of N-H${\cdot}{\cdot}{\cdot}$N or N-H${\cdot}{\cdot}{\cdot}$O for intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the pentamer cluster were obtained in 0.2-0.5 mdyn/$\AA$ and 1.6-2.0 mdyn$\AA$, respectively. The geometry of central ADA molecule fully hydrogen bonded with other four molecules shows good coincidence to the crystalline structure except the bond distances of N-H. Calculated Raman and infrared spectra of central ADA molecule in cluster represent well the experimental spectra of ADA obtained in the solid state compared to a single molecule. Detailed structural and vibrational properties of central ADA molecule in the pentamer cluster are presented.

The roles of coordinating ligands (TOPO, OA, HDA, and TDPA) for the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles are investigated. Various shapes (hexagonal cone, hexagonal plate, and rod) and sizes (5-100 nm) of ZnO nanoparticles are prepared in relation to the coordinating ligands. The hexagonal shapes ($\leq$ 100 nm) are synthesized with TOPO and OA, while smaller size nanorods (5 ${\times}$ 30 nm) are with TOPO and TDPA. The relative intensities of two distinctive emission bands centered at 385 and 500 nm, which are related to the exciton and defect states, respectively, depend on the crystal qualities of ZnO nanoparticles affected by the coordinating ligands. The intense UV emissions with the reduced visible emissions are found in the monodisperse nanoparticles such as hexagonal cones and nanorods, suggesting that the monodispersity as well as the crystallinity is closely related to the coordinating ligands. The blue-shift of photoluminescence and absorption edge is observed in the nanorods, because the sizes of the nanorods are in the quantum confinement regime.

The effects of carbon-coated silicon/graphite (Si/Gr.) composite anode on the electrochemical properties were investigated. The nanosized silicon particle shows a good cycling performance with a reasonable value of the first reversible capacity as compared with microsized silicon particle. The carbon-coated silicon/graphite composite powders have been prepared by pyrolysis method under argon/10 wt% propylene gas flow at $700{^{\circ}C}$ for 7 h. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis indicates that the carbon layer thickness of 5 nm was coated uniformly onto the surface silicon powder. It is confirmed that the insertion of lithium ions change the crystalline silicon phase into the amorphous phase by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The carbon-coated composite silicon/graphite anode shows excellent cycling performance with a reversible value of 700 mAh/g. The superior electrochemical characteristics are attributed to the enhanced electronic conductivity and low volume change of silicon powder during cycling by carbon coating.

In this study, horse spleen apoferritins were induced to form biominerals using up to 3000 Fe atoms per protein molecule. The morphology and crystallinity of the nanometer-sized biominerals formed in the ferritins were then analyzed using field emission-energy filtering-transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM). The ferritins were found to have reconstitution yields of 60-70% in the experiments. The mean core size of the ferritins varied somewhat with protein concentrations, indicating that crystal growth in ferritins could be controlled via protein concentrations. The core mineral size increased with the amount of Fe used. Lattice fringes of the core, associated with good crystallinity, were found in all samples. The lattice fringe images of a single domain ferrihydrite mineral appeared frequently in the (011) planes (d-spacing of 0.246 nm) under [100] zone axis in all samples of this study. In addition, the lattice image occasionally revealed fringes corresponding to the (100) planes (d = 0.254 nm) from the [001] zone axis, indicating the characteristic pattern of hexagonal crystal lattice. Diffraction patterns in the minerals identified as ferrihydrite were fitted well into the space group of $P3_{1c}$.

Electronic photodepletion spectrum of dibenzo-18-crown-6 with a potassium ion ($K^+$-DB18C6) was obtained in the gas phase using electrospray ionization and quadrupole ion-trap reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The spectrum exhibited rather a broad absorption band at 36350 $cm^{-1}$, which was tentatively assigned as the origin of the S1 band. The photodepletion spectrum of $Cs^+$-DB18C6 was also obtained to elaborate the effects of metal cations on electronic and geometric structures of metal cation-DB18C6 complexes. We found that the S1 band of $Cs^+$-DB18C6 was red-shifted by 180 $cm^{-1}$ from that of $K^+$-DB18C6. With the results of quantum theoretical calculations using the density functional theory, we suggested that the red-shift arose mainly from weaker binding of $Cs^+$ to DB18C6 than that of K+, which resulted from a larger size of $Cs^+$ than that of the cavity in DB18C6.

Novel bicyclo[3.1.0]hexanyl purine nucleoside analogues were synthesized as potential antiherpetic agents via a bicyclo[3.1.0]hexanol (${\pm}$)-8, which was prepared using a highly efficient carbenoid cycloaddition reaction. A highly diastereoselective reduction of ketone and a Mitsunobu reaction for the condensation of glycosyl donor (${\pm}$)-12 with 6-chloropurine were employed.

This study demonstrates the electrochemical conversion of the synthetic procedure of monolayer-protected clusters using a thin toluene layer over an edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode. A thin toluene layer with a thickness of 0.31 mm was coated over the electrode and an immiscible liquid/liquid water/toluene interface was introduced. The transfer of the tetrachloroaurate ($AuCl_4^-$) ions into the toluene layer interposed between the aqueous solution and the electrode surface was electrochemically monitored. The $AuCl_4^-$ ions initially could not move through into the toluene layer, showing no reduction wave, but, in the presence of the phase transfer reagent, tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOABr), a cathodic wave at 0.23 V vs. Ag/AgCl was observed, indicating the reduction of the transferred $AuCl_4^-$ ions in the toluene layer. In the presence of dodecanethiol together with TOABr, a self-assembled monolayer was formed over the electro-deposited metallic gold surface. The E-SEM image of the surface indicates the formation of a highly porous metallic gold surface, rather than individual nanoparticles, over the EPG electrode.

A series of new derivatives on the ring A of luotonin A were prepared by Friedländer condensation of 6,7,8,10- tetrahydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazoline-6,10-dione and suitably substituted 2-aminobenzaldehydes and 2- aminoacetophenones. Their inhibitory activities on topoisomerases and cytotoxicities against selected human cancer cell lines were evaluated. Among the compounds tested, 8-fluoroluotonin A showed similar inhibitory activity on topoisomerase I comparable to camptothecin while luotonin A and 9-hydroxyluotonin A showed 1.37 and 0.94 times stronger inhibitory activity, respectively, on topoisomerase II compared to etoposide. Some derivatives of luotonin A showed moderate cytotoxicity. The possible relationship between the inhibitory activity on Topo II and the cytotoxicity of luotonin A and its analogues, thus, cannot be ruled out.

In the present work, Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with ethylacrylate has been carried out by using two types of mesoporous solid acid catalysts (Al-MCM-41, Al-MCM-48) with different pore structures. The specific topology of Al-MCM-48 (cubic Ia3d structure composed of two independent 3-D channel systems) exhibit higher activity and stereo-control than those of Al-MCM-41 (hexagonal packing of 1-D channels). The physical properties of Al-MCM-48 catalyst, such as high accessibility of reactants to the acid sites, spatial confinement in the nanoscopic reactors, and 3-D channel network structure that are effective adsorption and diffusion of reactants, play a crucial role in the present study.

Two synthetic pathways to substituted hexahydroimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines, which may serve as precursors of aza-alkaloids, were investigated. The first involves the condensation of a bisnucleophilic enediaminoester and a biselectrophile. The second involves attachment to nitrogen of the carbon chain skeleton required to form the six-memberd ring, before formation of the enediaminoester. Several substituted hexahydroimidazo[1,2- a]pyridines were synthesized via these two approaches.

A cyclotetraphosphazene derivative with eight chains was synthesized from octachlorocyclotetraphosphazene. The vesicles were prepared using the cyclotetraphosphazene derivative and cholesterol. The resulting vesicles were characterized by TEM and measurements of their encapsulation efficiency. The stability of the vesicles was enhanced with the addition of dihexadecylphosphate. The size and the encapsulation efficiency of the vesicles changed according to the amount of cholesterol added. The size and the encapsulation efficiency of the vesicle were lowest when the mole ratio (cholesterol: the cyclophosphazene derivative) was 0.9.

The relationship between thermal decomposition temperature and structure of a new data set of eighty monomers of different polymers were studied by multiple linear regression (MLR). The stepwise method was used in order to variable selection. The best descriptors were selected from over 1400 descriptors including; topological, geometrical, electronic and hybrid descriptors. The effect of number of descriptors on the correlation coefficient (R) and F-ratio were considered. Two models were suggested, one model having four descriptors ($R^2$ = 0.894, $Q^2_{cv}$ = 0.900, F = 172.1) and other model involving 13 descriptors ($R^2$ = 0.956, $Q^2_{cv}$ = 0.956, F = 125.4).

Of the experiments to shorten NMR measuring time by sparse sampling, non-uniform sampling (NUS) is advantageous. NUS miminizes systematic errors which arise due to the lack of samplings by randomization. In this study, I report the real-time acquisition of 3D NMR data using NUS and maximum-entropy (MaxEnt) data processing. The real-time acquisition combined with NUS can reduce NMR measuring time much more. Compared with multidimensional decomposition (MDD) method, which was originally suggested by Jaravine and Orekhov (JACS 2006, 13421-13426), MaxEnt is faster at least several times and more suitable for the realtime acquisition. The designed sampling schedule of current study makes all the spectra during acquisition have the comparable resulting resolutions by MaxEnt. Therefore, one can judge the quality of spectra easily by examining the intensities of peaks. I report two cases of 3D experiments as examples with the simulated subdataset from experimental data. In both cases, the spectra having good qualitie for data analysis could be obtained only with 3% of original data. Its corresponding NMR measuring time was 8 minutes for 3D HNCO of ubiquitin.

To evaluate the potential of radioiodine labelled hypericin as a malignant glioma imaging agent, U-251 MG, U-373 MG, C6 glioma and fibroblast were treated with a I-123 labelled hypericin derivative and C6 glioma transplanted nude mouse were injected with a I-124 labelled hypericin derivative for a micro PET imaging. 2- Iodohypericin was prepared as a reference compound. In this paper, we describe the syntheses of 2- iodohypericin and 2-[$^{123}I/^{124}I$]iodohypericin and the results of a corresponding biological evaluation. In all glioma cell lines, 2-[$^{123}I$]iodohypericin uptake was increased in a time dependant manner and an accumulation of 2-[$^{124}I$]iodohypericin was observed in C6 glioma bearing nude mouse. These results suggest that radioiodine labelled hypericin can visualize a PKC overexpressed malignant glioma.