MTH1880 is a hypothetical protein derived from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, thermophilic methanogen. The solution structure determined by NMR spectroscopy showed that it has a novel $\alpha+\beta$-fold with a highly acidic ligand binding pocket. Since MTH1880 maintains its ultra-stable structural characteristics at both high temperature and pressure, it has been considered as an excellent model for studying protein folding. To initiate the structural and folding study of MTH1880 in proving its unusual stability, we performed the site directed mutagenesis and biochemical analysis of MTH1880 mutants. Data from circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy suggest that the point mutations perturbed the structural stability of protein even though the secondary structure is retained. This study will provide the useful information in understanding the role of participating residues during folding-unfolding process and our result will be used in designing further folding experiments for hyper-thermopile proteins like MTH1880.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are currently used in the treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer. Recent studies on non-small cell lung cancer have shown that some patients carry somatic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene. Such mutations correlate with the effectiveness of certain TKIs. To detect a small amount of mutant EGFR among an abundance of wild-type EGFR, we have developed a highly sensitive and simple method using PNA-mediated real-time PCR clamping. The PNA-mediated real-time PCR clamping enables detection of EGFR mutants down to approximately 1% mutant -to- wild type. The total assay time was short as it required only 2.0 hr. Thus, PNA-mediated real-time PCR clamping can easily be applied to clinical samples for identification of DNA carrying EGFR mutations and also appear to be the best assay to detect somatic mutations.

In this study 1-[4-(2-methoxy benzyl)-6-aryl-pyridazin-3(2H)-ylidene] hydrazines were used for the synthesis of new heterocyclic systems such as thiazolidine, phthalazine, pyrazolo, tetrazolo, hydrazide and new pyridazine derivatives to explore the effect of silver nanoparticles on their biological activity efficiency. Structures of the new heterocycles were characterized by the aid of several analytical techniques including; $^1H$-NMR, FTIR and mass spectra. Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple methodology and the formation of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV studies. Most of the new prepared heterocycles were evaluated in vitro as new antimicrobial agents. Combination effects of the silver nanoparticles on the antimicrobial activity of the new heterocycles were investigated using the disk diffusion method. Compound 10a exhibited the strongest enhancing effect of silver nanoparticles solution against Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans.

Selective mercuration at the 1,6-positions of 2-hydroxy derivative of Nile Red and its application towards $Hg^{2+}$-selective signaling was investigated. The 2-hydroxy Nile Red exhibited a selective UV-vis absorption and fluorescent signaling behavior towards $Hg^{2+}$ ions over common coexisting physiologically important metal ions in aqueous environment. $^1H$ NMR studies revealed that the mercuration was selectively effected at the 1,6-positions of 2-hydroxy Nile Red, which is quite different from that at the 6,8-positions for the parent Nile Red.

A kinetic study on nucleophilic displacement reactions of 2-pyridyl X-substituted benzoates 1a-e with potassium ethoxide (EtOK) in anhydrous ethanol is reported. Plots of pseudo-first-order rate constants ($k_{obsd}$) vs. $[EtOK]_o$ exhibit upward curvature. The $k_{obsd}$ value at a fixed $[EtOK]_o$ decreases steeply upon addition of 18-crown-6-ether (18C6) to the reaction mixture up to [18C6]/$[EtOK]_o$ = 1 and then remains nearly constant thereafter. In contrast, $k_{obsd}$ increases sharply upon addition of LiSCN or KSCN. Dissection of $k_{obsd}$ into $k_{EtO^-}$ and $k_{EtOM}$ has revealed that ion-paired EtOK is more reactive than dissociated $EtO^-$, indicating that $K^+$ ion acts as a Lewis acid catalyst. Hammett plots for the reactions of 1a-e with dissociated $EtO^-$ and ion-paired EtOK result in excellent linear correlation with $\rho$ values of 3.01 and 2.67, respectively. The $k_{EtOK}/k_{EtO^-}$ ratio increases as the substituent X in the benzoyl moiety becomes a stronger electron-donating group. $K^+$ ion has been concluded to catalyze the current reaction by stabilizing the transition state through formation of a 6-membered cyclic complex.

The complex formation between diazocalix[4]dipropyl (1) and diazocalix[4]crown-6 ether (2) with alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions was investigated by voltammetry. Electrochemical properties of compounds 1 and 2 and their selectivity toward metal ions were evaluated in $CH_3CN$ solution by comparison of voltammetric behaviors of two phenols in each compound. Compounds 1 and 2 showed almost same voltammetric behavior which is two irreversible oxidation peaks caused by intramolecular hydrogen bonding between two phenols in 1 and 2. While, however, upon interacting with various metal ions, 1 with two propyl ether groups showed no significant changes in voltammetry, 2 with crown ether group caused significant voltammetric changes upon the addition of $Ba^{2+}$ to 2. Their behavior is closely related to the complex formation by entrapment of metal ion into crown ether cavity, and ion-dipole interaction between metal ion and two phenolic groups in calix[4]crown-6.

A new hydrazone derivative compound has been synthesized and characterized by IR, $^1H$-NMR, $^{13}C$-NMR and UV-vis. spectroscopy techniques, elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). The new compound crystallizes in monoclinic space group C2/c. In addition to the crystal structure from X-ray experiment, the molecular geometry, vibrational frequencies and frontier molecular orbitals analysis of the title compound in the ground state have been calculated by using the HF/6-31G(d, p), B3LYP/6-311G(d, p) and B3LYP/6-31G(d, p) methods. The computed vibrational frequencies are used to determine the types of molecular motions associated with each of the observed experimental bands. To determine conformational flexibility, molecular energy profile of (1) was obtained by semi-empirical (AM1) calculation with respect to a selected degree of torsional freedom, which was varied from $-180^{\circ}$ to $+180^{\circ}$ in steps of $10^{\circ}$. Molecular electrostatic potential of the compound was also performed by the theoretical method.

Interleukin 32 (IL-32) is a recently identified cytokine that induces major proinflammatory cytokines such as $TNF{\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$, which play an important role in chronic inflammatory diseases. To antagonize the biological function of IL-32 in cells, we generated RNA aptamers that could bind specifically to IL-32 protein. The highest affinity aptamer, AC3-3, successfully antagonized IL-32 by abolishing the induction of $TNF{\alpha}$ in the human lung carcinoma cells expressing IL-32. This aptamer could be used as a potent and selective antagonist against IL-32 to further elucidate the roles of IL-32 in chronic inflammatory diseases, as well as a therapeutic agent.

Black pine barks from the southern region of Korea were extracted using pressurized hot water and the water soluble extracts were then separated in a stepwise fashion using a variety of solvents, column chromatography (CC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), and high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The antioxidant activities of each fraction and the active compounds were determined based on the radical scavenging activities of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), reductive potential of ferric ion, and total phenol contents. A DPPH test showed that the half maximal effective concentration ($EC_{50}$ value : $6.59{\pm}0.31\;{\mu}g/mL$) of the ethyl acetate fraction (ca. 0.67%) was almost the same as that of the control compounds and inversely proportional to the value of the total phenol contents. The cell viability of the water extracts was confirmed by methyl thiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) with enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). Catechin, epicatechin, quercetin and ferulic acid were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction as active compounds and identified by nuclear magnetic resonance. The antioxidant activity as value of DPPH of each of the separated compounds was lower than the ethyl acetate fraction, and ferulic acid was the lowest among these compounds.

Recently it is suggested that it may be possible to obtain the approximate or exact bound state solutions of nonrelativistic Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger equation from relativistic Klein-Gordon equation, which seems to be counter-intuitive. But the suggestion is further elaborated to propose a more detailed method for obtaining nonrelativistic solutions from relativistic solutions. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method with the Morse potential as an example. This work shows that exact relativistic solutions can be a good starting point for obtaining nonrelativistic solutions even though a rigorous algebraic method is not found yet.

We studied the reaction of tri-methylaluminum (TMA) on hydroxyl (OH)-terminated Si (001) surfaces for the initial growth of aluminum oxide thin-films using density functional theory. TMA was adsorbed on the oxygen atom of OH due to the oxygen atom’s lone pair electrons. The adsorbed TMA reacted with the hydrogen atom of OH to produce a di-methylaluminum group (DMA) and methane with an energy barrier of 0.50 eV. Low energy barriers in the range of 0 - 0.11 eV were required for DMA migration to the inter-dimer, intra-dimer, and inter-row sites on the surface. A unimethylaluminum group (UMA) was generated at each site with low energy barriers in the range of 0.21 - 0.25 eV. Among the three sites, the inter-dimer site was the most probable for UMA formation.

Furoxanthiols PFT and BPFT possessing thiomethyl or thiobenzyl groups in the furoxan ring were designed and synthesized as potential light-sensitive alkyne precursors on a gold surface. The synthesis of thiofuroxans PFT and BPFT was performed from the corresponding halofuroxans 1b and 2c, respectively, by the substitution with potassium thioacetate in ethyl acetate/ethanol or DMF, followed by basic hydrolysis as the key reactions. Electron-beammediated fragmentation of furoxans 1c and 2d in a mass spectrometer afforded the corresponding aryl alkyne fragments, with the evolution of NO in high preference. In the cases of thiofuroxans PFT and BPFT, carbon-sulfur bond cleavage was observed as a representative fragmentation, producing M-SH and M-SAc peaks, which competed with the release of NO. In the fragmentation of mono-aryl furoxan 1c, the release of molecule of NO was predominately observed to produce an M-NO fragment as a base peak by the formation of trimembered thiiranium or azirine intermediate.

Second-order rate constants ($k_N$) have been measured spectrophotometrically for nucleophilic substitution reactions of 2-pyridyl X-substituted benzoates 8a-e with a series of alicyclic secondary amines in $H_2O$ at $25.0{\pm}0.1^{\circ}C$. The $k_N$ values for the reactions of 8a-e are slightly smaller than the corresponding reactions of 4-nitrophenyl X-substituted benzoates 1a-e (e.g., $kN^{1a-e}/k_N^{8a-e}$ = 1.1 ~ 3.1), although 2-pyridinolate in 8a-e is ca. 4.5 $pK_a$ units more basic than 4-nitrophenolate in 1a-e. The Br$\o$nsted-type plot for the aminolysis of 8c (X = H) is linear with $\beta_{nuc}$ = 0.77 and $R^2$ = 0.991 (Figure 1), which is typical for reactions reported previously to proceed through a stepwise mechanism with breakdown of a zwitterionic tetrahedral intermediate $T^{\pm}$ being the rate-determining step (RDS), e.g., aminolysis of 4-nitrophenyl benzoate 1c. The Hammett plot for the reactions of 8a-e with piperidine consists of two intersecting straight lines (Figure 2), i.e., $\rho$ = 1.71 for substrates possessing an electron-donating group (EDG) while $\rho$ = 0.86 for those bearing an electron-withdrawing group (EWG). Traditionally, such a nonlinear Hammett plot has been interpreted as a change in RDS upon changing substituent X in the benzoyl moiety. However, it has been proposed that the nonlinear Hammett is not due to a change in RDS since the corresponding Yukawa-Tsuno plot exhibits excellent linear correlation with $\rho$ = 0.85 and r = 0.62 ($R^2$ = 0.995, Figure 3). Stabilization of substrates 8a-e in the ground state has been concluded to be responsible for the nonlinear Hammett plot.

In an original effort, this lab attempted to employ polystyrene nanoparticles as a template for the synthesis of ordered and highly porous macroporous $SiO_2$ thin films, utilizing their high combustion temperature and narrow size distribution. However, polystyrene nanoparticle thin films were not obtained due to the low interaction between individual particles and between the particle and silicon substrate. However, polystyrene-polyacrylic acid (PS-AA) colloidal particles of a core-shell structure were synthesized by a one-pot miniemulsion polymerization approach, with hydrophilic polyacrylic acid tails on the particle surface that improved interaction between individual particles and between the particle and silicon substrate. The PS-AA thin films were spin-coated in the thickness ranges from monolayer to approximately $1.0\;{\mu}m$. Using the PS-AA thin films as sacrificial templates, macroporous $SiO_2$ thin films were successfully synthesized by vapor deposition or conventional solution sol-gel infiltration methods. Inspection with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed that the macroporous $SiO_2$ thin films consist of interconnected air balls (~100 nm). Typical macroporous $SiO_2$ thin films showed ultralow refractive indices ranging from 1.098 to 1.138 at 633 nm, according to the infiltration conditions, which were confirmed by spectroscopy ellipsometry (SE) measurements. This research shows how the synthetic control of the macromolecule such as hydrophilic polystyrene nanopaticles and silicate sol precursors innovates the optical properties and processabilities for actual applications.

Rhodium(III)-$Cp^*$ complexes containing labile ligands, $[Cp^*RhCl_2]_2$, [$Cp^*Rh({\eta}^2-NO_3)$(OTf)], and $[Cp^*Rh(OH_2)_3](OTf)_2$, reacted with potential linking ligands [$L^1$ = (2-thiophene)-CH=N-N=CH-(2-thiophene); $L^2$ = (2-furan)-CH=N-N=CH-(2-furan)] to give two molecular compounds, [$Cp^*Rh(L^1)Cl_2$] (1) and [$Cp^*Rh({\eta}^2-NO_3)(L^1)$]$(OTf){\cdot}CH_2Cl_2$ ($2{\cdot}CH_2Cl_2$), and one 1-dimensioanl coordination polymer, $\{[Rh(L^2)]{\cdot}(OTf)}_{\infty}$ (3). Whereas one imine nitrogen atom within the ligand is coordinated to the Rh metal in compounds 1 and 2, both nitrogen atoms are bound to two neighboring Rh metals in compound 3 to lead to a 1-D chain polymer.

In the present study, some quinoline derivatives have been synthesized like 8-methoxy-4-methyl-2-amino-(3'-chloro-2'-oxo-4'-substituted aryl-1'-azetidinyl)quinolines 8-12 and 8-methoxy-4-methyl-2-amino-(2'-substituted aryl-4'-oxo-1',3'-thiazolidin-3'-yl) quinolines 13-17 from 8-methoxy-4-methyl-2-(substituted arylidenyliminoamino)-quinolines 3-7. The structural assignments of these compounds were based on spectral (IR, $^1H$-NMR, Mass) and elemental (C, H, N) analysis. Further, these compounds were evaluated for antibacterial activity against various bacterial strains. Three compounds 10, 11 and 16 were found to exhibit potent antibacterial activity as compared to the standard drug amphicillin.

Five new 4- or 8-substituted-7-hydroxycoumarin derivatives (1-5) were synthesized as fluorescent sensors for metal ions. Fluorescent changes and selectivity for metal ions were compared based on the introduction of different ligands and/or testing with different substitution positions of 7-hydroxycoumarin in aqueous solution. Especially, probes 2, 3 and 5 displayed large fluorescence enhancements with $Zn^{2+}$ and $Cd^{2+}$. Probes 2 and 3 showed moderate selectivity for $Zn^{2+}$ over $Cd^{2+}$. On the other hand, probe 4 showed large fluorescence quenching effects upon the addition of $Ag^+$ and $Hg^{2+}$.

The reaction of stoichiometric amount of $FeCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$, (2-pyridylmethyl, 3-pyridylmethyl)amine (2,3-pyma) and sodium azide/sodium thiocyanate in methanol under aerobic conditions affords the dinuclear Fe(III) complexes, [(2,3-pyma) $(N_3)_2Fe({\mu}-OCH_3)_2Fe(N_3)_2$(2,3-pyma)]${\cdot}CH_3OH$ (1) and [(2,3-pyma)$(NCS)_2Fe({\mu}-OCH_3)_2Fe(NCS)_2$(2,3-pyma)] (2) in good yield. Two bis-methoxy-bridged diiron(III) complexes are isolated and characterized. The coordination geometries around iron(III) ions in 1 and 2 are the same tetragonally distorted octahedron. The iron(III) ions are coordinated by two nitrogens of a 2,3-pyma, two nitrogens of two azide/thiocyanate ions, and two oxygens of two methoxy groups. Both compounds are isomorphous. The structures of 1 and 2 display the C-$H{\cdots}\pi$ and/or $\pi-\pi$ stacking interactions as well as hydrogen bonding interactions, respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 show significant antiferromagnetic couplings through the bridged methoxy groups between the iron(III) ions in the temperature range from 5 to 300 K ($H=-2JS_1{\cdot}S_2$, J=-19.1 and $-13.9\;cm^{-1}$ for 1 and 2).

We prepared several novel molecular transporters built on myo- and scyllo-inositol scaffolds with variations in the number of guanidine residues, linker chain lengths and patterns. Some of these transporters were found to localize in mitochondria, and the mitochondrial affinity seems to be substantially related to the scaffold stereochemistry.

2-Iminopyrimidines (1a-e) and 2-thioxopyrimidine (2) were synthesized using the Biginelli three component cyclocondensation reaction of an appropriate $\beta$-diketone, arylaldehyde, and guanidine (for 1a-e) or thiourea (for 2). The electrochemical properties of the novel systems were investigated by CV and DPV. Moreover, B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) method was applied to the present structures in order to gather some structural and physicochemical data.

We have developed CUDA-enabled version of a general purpose molecular dynamics simulation code for GPU. Implementation details including parallelization scheme and performance optimization are described. Here we have focused on the non-bonded force calculation because it is most time consuming part in molecular dynamics simulation. Timing results using CUDA-enabled and CPU versions were obtained and compared for a biomolecular system containing 23558 atoms. CUDA-enabled versions were found to be faster than CPU version. This suggests that GPU could be a useful hardware for molecular dynamics simulation.

The metallo-$\beta$-lactamases ($M{\beta}Ls$) are clinically significant enzymes which readily hydrolyze most $\beta$-lactam antibiotics. Discovering potential inhibitors for the $M{\beta}Ls$ is an expensive, time consuming endeavor. Virtual screening can sieve out inhibitor candidates with incompatible features prior to synthesis, decreasing these costs. Using Autodock 4.0, the binding locations and energies of four previously-studied potential inhibitors and four additional compounds obtained from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) database were computationally calculated. Based on the docking models of these eight compounds, we then designed several hypothetical inhibitor structures, compounds A through F, and performed their respective docking experiments. The docking results for compound F showed that it binds to the zinc containing active sites with a lowest predicted binding energy of -6.70 kcal/mol, suggesting F is the most likely potential $M{\beta}L$ inhibitor.

Silica supported tungstosilicic acid has been used as an effective catalyst for a modified Dakin-West one-pot, four-component condensation of an aryl aldehyde, an aryl ketone, acetyl chloride and acetonitrile for the synthesis of $\beta$-acetamido ketones. This catalytic system can act as an active, inexpensive, recoverable and recyclable catalyst. Some advantages of this system are short reaction times, good to excellent yields, easy work up and the ability to be carried out at the large scale reactions.

A new bis-Ru(II) complex, in which two [Ru(1,10-phenanthroline)$_2$dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine]$^{2+}$ were tethered by a 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane linker, was synthesized and its binding mode and stoichiometry to DNA was investigated by optical spectroscopy including linear dichroism (LD) and fluorescence intensity measurement. The magnitude of the negatively reduced LD signal of the bis-Ru(II) complex in the dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (DPPZ) ligand absorption region appeared to be similar compared to that in the DNA absorption region, which is considered to be a diagnostic for DPPZ ligand intercalation. The binding stoichiometry measured from its LD magnitude and enhanced fluorescence intensity corresponds to one ligand per three DNA bases, effectively violating the nearest neighbouring site exclusion model for classical DNA intercalation. This observation is in contrast with monomer analogue [Ru(1,10-phenanthroline)$_2$dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine]$^{2+}$, which is saturated at the DPPZ ligand to DNA base ratio of 0.25, or one DPPZ ligand per four nucleobases.

Acetaminophen (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol) is one of the most popular analgesic and antipyretic drugs. An isotope dilution mass spectrometric method based on LC/MS was developed as a candidate reference method for the accurate determination of acetaminophen in pharmaceutical product. After spiking an isotope labeled acetaminophen (acetyl-$^{13}C_2$, $^{15}N$-acetaminophen) as an internal standard, tablet extracts were analyzed by LC/MS in a selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode to detect ions at m/z $152{\rightarrow}110$ and m/z $155{\rightarrow}111$ for acetaminophen and acetyl-$^{13}C_2$, $^{15}N$-acetaminophen, respectively. The repeatability and reproducibility of the developed ID/LC-MS method were tested for the validation and assessment of metrological quality of the method.

Mesoporous SBA-15 was synthesized using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as the silica source and Pluronic (P123) as the structure-directing agent. The defective Si-OH groups present in SBA-15 were successively grafted with 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane (CPTMS) followed by tris-(2-aminoethyl) amine (TAEA) and/or tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) for effective immobilization of silver nanoparticles. Grafting of TAEA and/or TEPA amine and immobilization of silver nanoparticles inside the channels of SBA-15 was verified by XRD, TEM, IR and BET techniques. The silver nanoparticles immobilized on TAEA and /or TEPA grafted SBA-15 was subjected for electrocatalytic reduction of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$). The TEPA stabilized silver nanoparticles show higher efficiency for reduction of $H_2O_2$ than that of TAEA, due to higher number of secondary amine groups present in TEPA. The amperometric analysis indicated that both the Ag/SBA-15/TAEA and Ag/SBA-15/TEPA modified electrodes required lower over-potential and hence possess high sensitivity towards the detection of $H_2O_2$. The reduction peak currents were linearly related to hydrogen peroxide concentration in the range between $3{\times}10^{-4}\;M$ and $2.5{\times}10^{-3}\;M$ with correlation coefficient of 0.997 and detection limit was $3{\times}10^{-4}\;M$.

In-situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was used to elucidate the structural variation of $\alpha-MoO_3$ electrode upon discharge/charge reaction in a lithium ion battery. According to the XAS analysis, hexavalent Mo atoms in $\alpha-MoO_3$ framework are reduced as the amount of intercalated lithium ions increases. As lithium de-intercalation proceeds, most of pre-edge peaks are restored again. However, according to the Fourier transforms of the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra, lithium de-intercalation reaction is partially irreversible upon the charge reaction, which is one of the main reasons why the capacity of $\alpha-MoO_3$ electrode decreases upon successive discharge/charge cycles.

Niobium oxide ($Nb_2O_5$) and phosphated $Nb_2O_5$ were synthesized and used as catalysts for sorbitol dehydration to isosorbide. The characterization results of $N_2$ adsorption, XRD and $NH_3$-TPD revealed that the phosphoric acid modification could well prevent the crystallization of $Nb_2O_5$. And the amorphous phosphated $Nb_2O_5$ catalysts kept the relatively large surface area and stable acidity at high calcination temperature. The catalytic results showed that the selectivity to isosorbide could be dramatically enhanced over phosphated $Nb_2O_5$. The excellent catalytic performance with 100.0% sorbitol conversion and 62.5% isosorbide selectivity were obtained over the 0.8P/NBO-400 catalyst. Comparing with $Nb_2O_5$ catalysts, phosphated $Nb_2O_5$ catalysts regenerated through a simple calcination process showed no significant activity loss after recycling three runs.

A series of azole-containing piperazine derivatives have been designed and synthesized. The obtained compounds were investigated in vitro for their antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic activities. The preliminary results showed that most compounds exhibited moderate to significant antibacterial and antifungal activities in vitro. 1-(4-((4-chlorophenyl) (phenyl)methyl)piperazin-1-yl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethanone and 1-(4-((4-Chlorophenyl)(phenyl)methyl)piperazin-1-yl)-2-(2-phenyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethanone gave remarkable and broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficacy against all tested strains with MIC values ranging from 3.1 to $25\;{\mu}g/mL$, and exhibited comparable activities to the standard drugs chloramphenicol and fluconazole in clinic. Moreover, 2-((4-((4-chlorophenyl)(phenyl)methyl)piperazin-1-yl)methyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole was found to be the most effective in vitro against the PC-3 cell line, reaching growth inhibition values (36.4, 60.1 and 76.5%) for each tested concentration: $25\;{\mu}g/mL$, $50\;{\mu}g/mL$ and $100\;{\mu}g/mL$ in dose-dependent manner. The results also showed that the azole ring had noticeable effect on their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities, and imidazole and benzimidazole moiety were much more favourable to biological activity than 1,2,4-triazole.

We experimentally measure the kinetic energy and angular distributions of photoelectrons of $N_2$ as a function of 410 nm femtosecond laser intensity by using velocity map imaging technique. The strong-field multiphoton ionization of molecules shares many of the characteristics with those of atoms. Electron kinetic energies are nearly independent of laser intensities. The independence suggests that the electron peaks in the photoelectron spectrum actually result from a two-step process, indicative of the occurrence of real population in the intermediate states. The relative amplitudes of electron peaks indicate that in the two-step process, nonresonant population transfer dominates for low intensities, while resonant population transfer dominates for higher intensities.

We demonstrate that vertically aligned carbon nanotubes can be synthesized directly on tantalum substrate via water-assisted chemical vapor deposition and evaluate their properties as electrochemical capacitors. The mean diameter of the carbon nanotubes was $7.1{\pm}1.5\;nm$, and 70% of them had double walls. The intensity ratio of G-band to D-band in Raman spectra was as high as 5, indicating good quality of the carbon nanotubes. Owing to the alignment and low equivalent series resistance, the carbon nanotube based supercapacitors showed good rate performance. Rectangular shape of cyclic voltammogram was maintained even at the scan rate of > 1 V/s in 1 M sulfuric acid aqueous solution. Specific capacitance was well-retained (~94%) even when the discharging current density dramatically increased up to 145 A/g. Consequently, specific power as high as 60 kW/kg was obtained from as-grown carbon nanotubes in aqueous solution. Maximum specific energy of ~20 Wh/kg was obtained when carbon nanotubes were electrochemically oxidized and operated in organic solution. Demonstration of direct synthesis of carbon nanotubes on tantalum current collectors and their applications as supercapacitors could be an invaluable basis for fabrication of high performance carbon nanotube supercapacitors.

Biomolecules specific to explosives can be exploited as chemical sensors. Peptides specific to immobilized dinitrotoluene (DNT) were identified using a phage display library. A derivative of DNT that contained an extended amine group, 4-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)butan-1-amine, was synthesized and immobilized using a self-assembled monolayer surface on gold. Filamentous M13 phages displaying random sequences of 12-mer peptides specific to the immobilized DNT-derivate were isolated from the M13 phage library by biopanning. A common peptide sequence was identified from the isolated phages and the synthesized peptides showed selective binding to DNT. When the peptide was immobilized on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) chip, it showed a binding signal to DNT, while toluene barely showed significant binding to the QCM chip. These results demonstrate that peptides screened by biopanning against immobilized DNT can be useful for quick and accurate detection of DNT.

A chromo/fluorogenic $NO_2S_2$-macrocycle L functionalized with nitrobenzofurazan unit as a dual-signaling probe was synthesized and structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray analysis. In a cation-induced color change experiment, L exhibited excellent $Hg^{2+}$ ion selectivity by showing the color change from orange-red to yellow. However, this hypochromic shift by $Hg^{2+}$ was observed for the weaker coordinating anion system such as ${NO_3}^-$ and ${ClO_4}^-$ ions. The observed anion effect is due to the strong coordination of anions inhibits the bond formation between $Hg^{2+}$ and the macrocyclic tert-N atom, which is sensitive to induce the color change. In the fluorometric experiment, L showed chelate-enhanced fluorescence change effect only with $Hg^{2+}$ ion, together with a change from yellow to green emission. The sensing ability for $Hg^{2+}$ with the proposed chemosensor L is due to the stable complexation with 1:1 stoichiometry (metal-to-ligand).

Four orange-red phosphorescent Ir(III) complexes were designed and synthesized based on the benzoylphenylpyridine ligand with a fluorine substituent. Multilayered OLEDs with the device structure, ITO/2-TNATA/NPB/CBP : 8% Ir(III) complexes/BCP/Liq/Al, were fabricated using these complexes as dopant materials. All the devices exhibited orange-red electroluminescence and their electroluminescent properties were quite sensitive to the structural features of the dopants in the emitting layers. Among these, the maximum luminance ($14700\;cd/m^2$ at 14.0 V) was observed in the device containing Ir(III) complex 1 as the dopant. In addition, its luminous, power and quantum efficiency were 11.7 cd/A, 3.88 lm/W and 9.58% at $20\;mA/cm^2$, respectively. The peak wavelength of electroluminescence was 606 nm with CIE coordinates of (0.61, 0.38) at 12.0 V. The device also showed stable color chromaticity with various voltages.

Theoretical investigations are carried out on the title reaction by means of ab-initio and DFT methods. The optimized geometries, frequencies and minimum energy path are obtained at UB3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level. Single point energy calculations are performed at MP2 and MP4 levels of theory. Energetics are further refined by calculating the energy of the species with a modified Gaussian-2 method, G2M(CC,MP2). The rate constant of the reaction is calculated using Canonical Transition State Theory (CTST) utilizing the ab-initio data obtained during the present study and is found to be $5.47{\times}10^{-12}\;cm^3\;molecule^{-1}s^{-1}$ at 298 K and 1 atm.

We investigated the high-excitation voltage cathodoluminescence (CL) performance of blue light-emitting (ZnS:Ag,Al,Cl) and green light-emitting (ZnS:Cu,Al) phosphors coated with metal oxides ($SiO_2$, $Al_2O_3$, and MgO). Hydrolysis of the metal oxide precursors tetraethoxysilane, aluminum isopropoxide, and magnesium nitrate, with subsequent heat annealing at $400^{\circ}C$, produced $SiO_2$ nanoparticles, an $Al_2O_3$ thin film, and MgO scale-type film, respectively, on the surface of the phosphors. Effects of the phosphor surface coatings on CL intensities and aging behavior of the phosphors were assessed using an accelerating voltage of 12 kV. The MgO thick film coverage exhibited less reduction in initial CL intensity and was most effective in improving aging degradation. Phosphors treated with a low concentration of magnesium nitrate maintained their initial CL intensities without aging degradation for 2000 s. In contrast, the $SiO_2$ and the $Al_2O_3$ coverages were ineffective in improving aging degradation.

A simple, inexpensive and less time consuming electrochemical methods were carried out to prepare ordered mesoporous cobalt films. Ordered mesoporous cobalt films were successfully synthesized by templated electrodepostion of hexagonal $H_1$-e Co ion. The electrodeposited mesopores films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), low angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) and voltammetric methods. The applicability of thin films as high - performance super capacitors electrode materials is demonstrated electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique.

Branched oligopeptides prepared by coupling a very hydrophobic aspartic diamino acid ethyl ester such as Asp $(LeuEt)_2$, $Asp(IleEt)_2$ and $Asp(PheEt)_2$ to glycine or glycylphenylalanine were grafted to the cyclotriphosphazene backbone bearing an equimolar hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The properties of the resultant amphiphiles were examined in comparison with those of the linear oligopeptide analogues previously reported. All cyclic phosphazene trimers grafted with the branched tetra- and pentapeptides displayed a normal trend of thermosensitivity depending on their hydrophilic to hydrophobic balance, but the stability and particle size of their micelles were found to be greatly dependent on the fine structure of the branched oligopeptides grafted. The trimers bearing branched tetrapeptides with a low hydrophobicity were found to form unstable micelles initially, which reassemble into thermodynamically more stable polymersomes.

A typically designed 'Peptide Lego' has two distinct surfaces: a hydrophilic side that contains the complete charge distribution and a hydrophobic side. In this article, we describe the fabrication of a unique lego-type peptide with the AEAEYAKAK sequence. The novel peptide with double amphiphilic surfaces is different from typical peptides due to special arrangement of the residues. The results of CD, FT-IR, AFM and DLS demonstrate that the peptide with the random coil characteristic was able to form stable nanostructures that were mediated by non-covalent interactions in an aqueous solution. The data further indicated that despite its different structure, the peptide was able to undergo self-assembly similar to a typical peptide. In addition, the use of hydrophobic pyrene as a model allowed the peptide to provide a new type of potential nanomaterial for drug delivery. These efforts collectively open up a new direction in the fabrication of nanomaterials that are more perfect and versatile.

Pd(II) p-tolylamide Pd(2,6-$(Ph_2PCH_2)_2C_6H_3$)(NH($C_6H_4Me$-p)) (1) was metathetically prepared by the reaction of Pd(2,6-$(Ph_2PCH_2)_2C_6H_3$)Cl with NaNH($C_6H_4Me$-p). Treatment of 1 with carbon dioxide affords the palladium(II) carbamate Pd(2,6-$(Ph_2PCH_2)_2C_6H_3$)(OC(O)NH($C_6H_4Me$-p)) (2), quantitatively. Complex 2 reacts with HX (X = Cl, OTf) to give Pd(2,6-$(Ph_2PCH_2)_2C_6H_3$)X, $NH_2$(p-Tol) and $CO_2$. Reaction of the palladium(II) carbamate with MeI produced Pd(2,6-$(Ph_2PCH_2)_2C_6H_3$)I along with generation of methyl N-tolylcarbamate MeOC(O)NH($C_6H_4Me$-p), exclusively.

Various terphenyl and quaterphenyl derivatives were prepared by the Ni-NHC catalyzed cross coupling of the corresponding biphenyl- and terphenyl-sulfonates with arylmagnesium bromides. The reactions proceeded rapidly via a nucleophilic aromatic substitution of the alkoxysulfonyl moieties by the aryl nucleophiles to afford high yields within just 1.5 h at room temperature in spite of the low reactivity of the sulfur electrophiles.

A on-line SPE (solid phase extraction)-HPLC preconcentration method was developed for the determination of phenolic compounds at trace levels in environmental water sample. XAD-4 and Dowex 1-X8 were used as sorbent in the on-line SPE-HPLC method for the selective enrichment of nine phenolic compounds, which are included in the priority pollutants list of the US EPA. Also alumina prefiltering considerably reduced the amount of interfering peaks due to humic substances that could accumulated due to the preconcentration step and prevent quantification of polar phenolic compounds in environmental water samples. This method was used to determine the phenolic compounds in tap and river water and superiority to the US EPA 625 method in its enrichment factor, pretreatment time, recoveries, and detection limit. The limits of detection were in the range of $0.3-0.9\;{\mu}g/L$ in tap water sample.

We screened 10,000 heterocyclic small molecules and identified a novel hit core skeleton of 3-(8-chloro-6-(trifluoromethyl) imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-2-yl)phenyl acetate derivatives. It has been selected as a potential glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) activator and demonstrated its effects in increasing GLP-1 secretion, and thereby increasing the glucose responsiveness in both in vitro and pharmacology analyses. Further studies are currently underway to optimize the potency and selectivity of 3-(8-chloro-6-(trifluoromethyl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-2-yl)phenyl acetate derivatives (hit compounds 2 and 8), and address their in vivo efficacy and therapeutic potential. These molecules may serve as useful evidence showing that compounds with a 3-(8-chloro-6-(trifluoromethyl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-2-yl)phenyl acetate moiety are selective GLP-1R agonists, and have potential as anti-diabetic treatment agents.

Selective oxidation of olefins has been carried out in water medium with tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP, 70% aqueous) as an oxidant using polymer-anchored Ni(II) complex as a catalyst. Several parameters were varied to optimize the reaction conditions. Under the optimized reaction conditions olefins gave selectively allylic oxidation products. The present polymer anchored Ni(II) complex can be recycled five times without any appreciable loss in catalytic activity.

The dynamics of the $CN^-$-ligated ferric cytochrome c (CytcCN) in $D_2O$ at 283 K following Q-band photoexcitation at 575 nm was observed using femtosecond time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy. The equilibrium vibrational spectrum of the CN stretching mode of CytcCN shows two overlapping bands: one main band (82%) at $2122\;cm^{-1}$ with $23\;cm^{-1}$ full width at half maximum (fwhm) and the other band (18%) at $2116\;cm^{-1}$ with $7\;cm^{-1}$ fwhm. The time-resolved spectra show bleaching of the CN fundamental mode of CytcCN and two absorption features at lower energies. The bleach signal and both absorption features are all formed within the time resolution of the experiment (< 200 fs) and decay with a life time of 1.9 ps. One transient absorption feature, appearing immediately red to the bleach signal, results from the thermal excitation of low-frequency modes of the heme that anharmonically couple to the CN fundamental mode, thereby shifting the CN mode to lower energies. The shift of the CN mode decays with a lifetime of 2 ps, equivalent to the time scale for vibrational cooling of the low-frequency heme modes. The other transient absorption feature, which is 3.3 times weaker than the bleach signal and shifted $27\;cm^{-1}$ toward lower energies, is attributed to the CN mode in an electronically excited state where the CN bond is weakened with a lowered extinction coefficient. These observations suggest that photoexcited CytcCN mainly undergoes ultrafast radiationless relaxation, causing photo-deligation of $CN^-$ from CytcCN highly inefficient. As also observed in $CN^-$-ligated myoglobin, inefficient ligand photodissociation might be a general property of $CN^-$-ligated ferric hemes.

The anticancer effect and apoptotic mechanism of a novel indole derivative AC-264, a lead derived from a chemical library, were investigated in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells. HL-60 cells treated with AC-264 at various concentrations showed the morphological features of apoptosis, such as plasma membrane blebbing and cell shrinkage. AC-264 exhibited cytotoxic effect in various cancer cell lines with different degrees of potency. Especially, AC-264 was effective on increasing the population of apoptotic cells in HL-60 cells, as detected by the number of cells stained with Annexin V and PI. Furthermore, AC-264 activated caspase-3 enzyme activity and induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. These results indicated that AC-264 produces anti-cancer effect via apoptotic cell death by activating caspase-3 and inducing internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells.