The use of computational chemistry and the protein data bank (PDB) to understand and predict the chemical and molecular basis involved in the drug-receptor interactions is discussed. A geometrical and chemical overview of the great structural similarity in the substrate and inhibitor is provided.

Two Diels-Alder reactions are described that are suitable for a MORE (microwave-induced organic reaction enhanced) experiment in the organic chemistry laboratory course. A second experiment in which the splitting patterns of the vinyl protons in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of two MORE adducts are used in conjunction with molecular…

The optimal conditions for the crystallization of achiral ethylenediamine sulfate into large chiral crystals that are ideal for polarimetry studies and observation using Polaroid sheets are presented. This experiment is an ideal undergraduate experiment, which clearly demonstrates the chiral crystallization of an achiral molecule.

Electrophoresis is a valuable tool for biochemists, yet this technique is often not included in biochemistry laboratory curricula owing to time constraints or lack of equipment. Protein structure is also a topic of interest in many disciplines, yet most undergraduate lab experiments focus only on primary structure. In this experiment, students use…

A computational experiment is devised for advanced inorganic laboratory course that allows the students to explore the structure and bonding patterns of ethene and some heavier analogues. The HOMO-LUMO gaps, double bond dissociation energetics, and optimized geometries of ethene, disilene, and digermene are explored.

The students in molecular spectroscopy courses are often required to determine the permitted normal vibrations for linear molecules that belong to particular groups. The reducible group representations generated by the use of Cartesian coordinates can be reduced by the use of a simple algebraic process applied to the group representations. The…

The biochemistry laboratory course is structured such that students work in pairs during the first half of the course. The purpose is to encourage per-peer learning processes during the students' first exposure to the software.

Two exercises that would provide beginning quantum theory students with an introduction to more advanced quantum mechanical treatments, especially the hydrogen atom are given. The exercises are stepwise in difficulty, leading naturally to the full hydrogen atom development and greatly extend the pedagogy of most multidimensional Cartesian systems…

Hemoglobin is a complex protein formed by various subunits interacting with each other. These noncovalent interactions, quaternary structure, are responsible for hemoglobin functioning as an excellent oxygen transporter, loading up with oxygen in the lungs and delivering it to tissues, where the oxygen pressure is lower. The communications between…

This physical chemistry lecture demonstration is designed to aid the understanding of intramolecular energy transfer processes as part of the presentation of the theory of unimolecular reaction rates. Coupled pendulums are used to show the rate of migration of energy between oscillators under resonant and nonresonant conditions with varying…

The torsional potential energy surface of a chemical compounds, the accessible conformations at a specified temperature and the transition states that connect these confirmations establishes many chemical properties such as dynamic behavior, reactivity and biological activity. A conformational search of n-pentane is presented using computational…

The click chemistry uses only the most reliable reactions to build complex molecules from olefins, electrophiles and heteroatom linkers. A variation on Huisgen's azide-alkyne 1,2,3-triazole synthesis, the addition of the copper (I), the premium example of the click reaction, catalyst strongly activates terminal acetylenes towards the 1,3-dipole in…

A study to present specific hypothesis that satisfactorily explain the boiling point of a number of molecules, CH[subscript w]F[subscript x]Cl[subscript y]Br[subscript z] having similar structure, and then analyze the model with the help of multiple linear regression (MLR), a data analysis tool. The MLR analysis was useful in selecting the…

The purpose of this study is to identify how upper secondary school French students (Grade 10-12) interpret chemical transformation with regards to the changes within molecules and atoms, and in terms of intramolecular and/or intermolecular bond breaking. In order to identify and describe the students' assimilated knowledge, four questions were…

The basic properties of extensive air showers of particles produced in the interaction of a high-energy primary cosmic ray in the Earth's atmosphere are discussed in the context of educational cosmic ray projects involving undergraduate students and high-school teams. Simulation results produced by an air shower development code were made…