| 1. |
- Atakan, Aylin, et al.
(författare)
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Time evolution of the CO2 hydrogenation to fuels over Cu-Zr-SBA-15 catalysts
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Catalysis. - : Elsevier BV. - 0021-9517 .- 1090-2694. ; 362, s. 55-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Time evolution of catalytic CO2 hydrogenation to methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) has been investigated in a high-temperature high-pressure reaction chamber where products accumulate over time. The employed catalysts are based on a nano-assembly composed of Cu nanoparticles infiltrated into a Zr doped SiOx mesoporous framework (SBA-15): Cu-Zr-SBA-15. The CO2 conversion was recorded as a function of time by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the molecular activity on the catalyst’s surface was examined by diffuse reflectance in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS). The experimental results showed that after 14 days a CO2 conversion of 25% to methanol and DME was reached when a DME selective catalyst was used which was also illustrated by thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. With higher Zr content in the catalyst, greater selectivity for methanol and a total 9.5% conversion to methanol and DME was observed, yielding also CO as an additional product. The time evolution profiles indicated that DME is formed directly from methoxy groups in this reaction system. Both DME and methanol selective systems show the thermodynamically highest possible conversion.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Bushnell, Eric A. C., et al.
(författare)
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The first branching point in porphyrin biosynthesis : a systematic docking, molecular dynamics and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical study of substrate binding and mechanism of uroporphyrinogen-III decarboxylase
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Computational Chemistry. - New York : John Wiley & Sons. - 0192-8651 .- 1096-987X. ; 32:5, s. 822-834
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In humans, uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase is intimately involved in the synthesis of heme, where the decarboxylation of the uroporphyrinogen-III occurs in a single catalytic site. Several variants of the mechanistic proposal exist; however, the exact mechanism is still debated. Thus, using an ONIOM quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical approach, the mechanism by which uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase decarboxylates ring D of uroporphyrinogen-III has been investigated. From the study performed, it was found that both Arg37 and Arg50 are essential in the decarboxylation of ring D, where experimentally both have been shown to be critical to the catalytic behavior of the enzyme. Overall, the reaction was found to have a barrier of 10.3 kcal mol−1 at 298.15 K. The rate-limiting step was found to be the initial protontransfer from Arg37 to the substrate before the decarboxylation. In addition, it has been found that several key interactions exist between the substrate carboxylate groups and backbone amides of various activesite residues as well as several other functional groups.
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| 4. |
- Börjesson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular modelling of oxygen and water permeation in polyethylene
- 2013
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Ingår i: Polymer. - : Elsevier. - 0032-3861 .- 1873-2291. ; 54:12, s. 2988-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations were performed to calculate solubility, S, and diffusion, D, coefficients of oxygen and water in polyethylene, and to obtain a molecular-level understanding of the diffusion mechanism. The permeation coefficient, P, was calculated from the product of S and D. The AMBER force field, which yields the correct polymer densities under the conditions studied, was used for the simulations, and it was observed that the results were not sensitive to the inclusion of atomic charges in the force field. The simulated S for oxygen and water are higher and lower than experimental data, respectively. The calculated diffusion coefficients are in good agreement with experimental data. Possible reasons for the discrepancy in the simulated and experimental solubilities, which results in discrepancies in the permeation coefficients, are discussed. The diffusion of both penetrants occurs mainly by large amplitude, infrequent jumps of the molecules through the polymer matrix.
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| 5. |
- Erdtman, Edvin, 1981-
(författare)
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5-Aminolevulinic acid and derivatives thereof : properties, lipid permeability and enzymatic reactions
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) and derivatives thereof are widely usedprodrugs in treatment of pre-malignant skin diseases of the cancer treatmentmethod photodynamic therapy (PDT). The target molecule in 5-ALAPDTis protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), which is synthesized endogenously from5-ALA via the heme pathway in the cell. This thesis is focused on 5-ALA,which is studied in different perspectives and with a variety of computationalmethods. The structural and energetic properties of 5-ALA, itsmethyl-, ethyl- and hexyl esters, four different 5-ALA enols, and hydrated5-ALA have been investigated using Quantum Mechanical (QM) first principlesdensity functional theory (DFT) calculations. 5-ALA is found to bemore stable than its isomers and the hydrolysations of the esters are morespontaneous for longer 5-ALA ester chains than shorter. The keto-enoltautomerization mechanism of 5-ALA has been studied, and a self-catalysismechanism has been proposed to be the most probable. Molecular Dynamics(MD) simulations of a lipid bilayer have been performed to study themembrane permeability of 5-ALA and its esters. The methyl ester of 5-ALAwas found to have the highest permeability constant (PMe-5-ALA = 52.8 cm/s).The mechanism of the two heme pathway enzymes; Porphobilinogen synthase(PBGS) and Uroporphyrinogen III decarboxylase (UROD), have beenstudied by DFT calculations and QM/MM methodology. The rate-limitingstep is found to have a barrier of 19.4 kcal/mol for PBGS and 13.7kcal/mol for the first decarboxylation step in UROD. Generally, the resultsare in good agreement with experimental results available to date.
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| 6. |
- Erdtman, Edvin, et al.
(författare)
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A molecular-level computational study of the diffusion and solubility of water and oxygen in carbonaceous polyethylene nanocomposites
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Polymer Science Part B. - : Wiley. - 0887-6266 .- 1099-0488. ; 54:5, s. 589-602
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the effect on the solubility, diffusion, and permeability of water and oxygen when adding graphene or single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) to polyethylene (PE). When compared with pure PE, addition of graphene lowered the solubility of water, whereas at lower temperatures, the oxygen solubility increased because of the oxygen–graphene interaction. Addition of SWCNTs lowered the solubility of both water and oxygen when compared with pure PE. A detailed analysis showed that an ordered structure of PE is induced near the additive surface, which leads to a decrease in the diffusion coefficient of both penetrants in this region. The addition of graphene does not change the permeation coefficient of oxygen (in the direction parallel to the filler) and, in fact, may even increase this coefficient when compared with pure PE. In contrast, the water permeability is decreased when graphene is added to PE. The addition of SWCNTs decreases the permeability of both penetrants. Graphene can consequently be added to selectively increase the solubility and permeation of oxygen over water, at least at lower temperatures. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016, 54, 589–602
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| 7. |
- Erdtman, Edvin, 1981-
(författare)
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A theoretical study of 5-Aminolevulinic acid and its esters : properties and lipid permeability
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- 5-aminolevulinic acid (5ALA) is a widely used prodrug in Photodynamic therapy (PDT). The target molecule in 5ALA-PDT is Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), which is synthesized endogenously via the heme pathway in the cell. In this thesis; the structural and energetic properties of 5ALA, its methyl-, ethyl- and hexyl esters, four different 5ALA enols, and hydrated 5ALA have been investigated using Quantum Mechanical (QM) first principles calculations. The vacuum proton affinity (PA) of 5ALA is found to be in good agreement with other similar compounds. The keto-enol tautomerization mechanism of 5ALA has been studied, and a self-catalysis mechanism has been proposed to be the most probable. Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of a lipid bilayer have been performed to study the membrane permeability of 5ALA and its esters. In the simulations the molecules were inserted in the middle of the membrane, equilibrated, and then simulated in 20 ns. It has been found that there are some differences in penetration between the molecules studied. The methyl ester of 5ALA is diverging from the others by having its barrier not in the middle of the membrane, as the others have.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Erdtman, Edvin, et al.
(författare)
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Computational insights into the mechanism of porphobilinogen synthase
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - Washington : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 114:50, s. 16860-16870
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Porphobilinogen synthase (PBGS) is a key enzyme in heme biosynthesis that catalyzes the formation of porphobilinogen (PBG) from two 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) molecules via formation of intersubstrateC-N and C-C bonds. The active site consists of several invariant residues, including two lysyl residues (Lys210 and Lys263; yeast numbering) that bind the two substrate moieties as Schiff bases. Based on experimental studies, various reaction mechanisms have been proposed for this enzyme that generally can be classified according to whether the intersubstrate C-C or C-N bond is formed first. However, the detailed catalytic mechanism of PBGS remains unclear. In the present study, we have employed density functional theory methods in combination with chemical models of the two key lysyl residues and two substrate moieties in order to investigate various proposed reaction steps and gain insight into the mechanism of PBGS. Importantly, it is found that mechanisms in which the intersubstrate C-N bond is formed first have a ratelimiting barrier (17.5 kcal/mol) that is lower than those in which the intersubstrate C-C bond is formed first (22.8 kcal/mol).
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| 10. |
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