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- Rauer, H., et al.
(author)
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The PLATO 2.0 mission
- 2014
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In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 38:1-2, s. 249-330
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PLATO 2.0 has recently been selected for ESA's M3 launch opportunity (2022/24). Providing accurate key planet parameters (radius, mass, density and age) in statistical numbers, it addresses fundamental questions such as: How do planetary systems form and evolve? Are there other systems with planets like ours, including potentially habitable planets? The PLATO 2.0 instrument consists of 34 small aperture telescopes (32 with 25 s readout cadence and 2 with 2.5 s cadence) providing a wide field-of-view (2232 deg(2)) and a large photometric magnitude range (4-16 mag). It focuses on bright (4-11 mag) stars in wide fields to detect and characterize planets down to Earth-size by photometric transits, whose masses can then be determined by ground-based radial-velocity follow-up measurements. Asteroseismology will be performed for these bright stars to obtain highly accurate stellar parameters, including masses and ages. The combination of bright targets and asteroseismology results in high accuracy for the bulk planet parameters: 2 %, 4-10 % and 10 % for planet radii, masses and ages, respectively. The planned baseline observing strategy includes two long pointings (2-3 years) to detect and bulk characterize planets reaching into the habitable zone (HZ) of solar-like stars and an additional step-and-stare phase to cover in total about 50 % of the sky. PLATO 2.0 will observe up to 1,000,000 stars and detect and characterize hundreds of small planets, and thousands of planets in the Neptune to gas giant regime out to the HZ. It will therefore provide the first large-scale catalogue of bulk characterized planets with accurate radii, masses, mean densities and ages. This catalogue will include terrestrial planets at intermediate orbital distances, where surface temperatures are moderate. Coverage of this parameter range with statistical numbers of bulk characterized planets is unique to PLATO 2.0. The PLATO 2.0 catalogue allows us to e. g.: - complete our knowledge of planet diversity for low-mass objects, - correlate the planet mean density-orbital distance distribution with predictions from planet formation theories,- constrain the influence of planet migration and scattering on the architecture of multiple systems, and - specify how planet and system parameters change with host star characteristics, such as type, metallicity and age. The catalogue will allow us to study planets and planetary systems at different evolutionary phases. It will further provide a census for small, low-mass planets. This will serve to identify objects which retained their primordial hydrogen atmosphere and in general the typical characteristics of planets in such a low-mass, low-density range. Planets detected by PLATO 2.0 will orbit bright stars and many of them will be targets for future atmosphere spectroscopy exploring their atmospheres. Furthermore, the mission has the potential to detect exomoons, planetary rings, binary and Trojan planets. The planetary science possible with PLATO 2.0 is complemented by its impact on stellar and galactic science via asteroseismology as well as light curves of all kinds of variable stars, together with observations of stellar clusters of different ages. This will allow us to improve stellar models and study stellar activity. A large number of well-known ages from red giant stars will probe the structure and evolution of our Galaxy. Asteroseismic ages of bright stars for different phases of stellar evolution allow calibrating stellar age-rotation relationships. Together with the results of ESA's Gaia mission, the results of PLATO 2.0 will provide a huge legacy to planetary, stellar and galactic science.
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| 5. |
- Borowski, Thomasz, et al.
(author)
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Mechanism of Selective Halogenation by SyrB2 : A Computational Study
- 2010
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In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 132:37, s. 12887-12898
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The mechanism of the chlorination reaction of SyrB2, a representative α-ketoglutarate dependent halogenase, was studied with computational methods. First, a macromolecular model of the Michaelis com- plex was constructed using molecular docking proce- dures. Based on this structure a smaller model com- prising the first- and some of the second shell residues of iron, and a model substrate was constructed and used in DFT investigations on the reaction mecha- nism. Computed relative energies and Mo ̈ssbauer iso- mer shifts and quadrupole splittings indicate that the two oxoferryl species observed experimentally are two stereoisomers resulting from an exchange of the coordi- nation sites occupied by the oxo and chloro ligands. In principle both FeIV =O species are reactive and decay to FeIIICl(OH)/carbon radical intermediates via C-H bond cleavage. In the final rebound step, which is very fast and thus precluding equilibration between the two forms of the radical intermediate, the ligand (oxo or chloro) placed closest to the carbon radical (trans to His235) is transfered to the carbon. For the native substrate (L-Thr) the lowest barrier for C-H cleavage was found for an isomer of the oxoferryl species favor- ing chlorination in the rebound step. CASPT2 cal- culations for the spin state splittings in the oxoferryl species support the conclusion that once the FeIV =O intermediate is formed, the reaction proceeds on the quintet potential energy surface.
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| 6. |
- Georgiev, Valentin, et al.
(author)
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A DFT Study on the Catalytic Reactivity of a Functional Model Complex for Intradiol-Cleaving Dioxygenases
- 2010
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In: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 114:17, s. 5878-5885
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The enzymatic ring cleavage of catechol derivatives is catalyzed by two groups of dioxygenases: extradiol- and intradiol-cleaving dioxygenases. Although having different oxidation state of their nonheme iron sites and different ligand coordinations, both groups of enzymes involve a common peroxy intermediate in their catalytic cycles. The factors that lead to either extradiol cleavage resulting in 2-hydroxymuconaldehyde or intradiol cleavage resulting in muconic acid are not fully understood. Well-characterized model compounds that mimic the functionality of these enzymes offer a basis for direct comparison to theoretical results. In this study the mechanism of a biomimetic iron complex is investigated with density functional theory (DFT). This complex catalyzes the ring opening of catecholate with exclusive formation of the intradiol cleaved product. Several spin states are possible for the transition metal system, with the quartet state found to be of main importance during the reaction course. The mechanism investigated provides an explanation for the observed selectivity of the complex. First, a bridging peroxide is formed, which decomposes to an alkoxy radical by O−O homolysis. In contrast to the subsequent barrier-free intradiol C−C bond cleavage, the extradiol pathway proceeds via the formation of an epoxide, which requires an additional activation barrier.
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| 7. |
- Johannes, A., et al.
(author)
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Enhanced sputtering and incorporation of Mn in implanted GaAs and ZnO nanowires
- 2014
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In: Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. - Bristol : IOP Publishing. - 1361-6463 .- 0022-3727. ; 47:39
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We simulated and experimentally investigated the sputter yield of ZnO and GaAs nanowires, which were implanted with energetic Mn ions at room temperature. The resulting thinning of the nanowires and the dopant concentration with increasing Mn ion fluency were measured by accurate scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nano-x-Ray Fluorescence (nanoXRF) quantification, respectively. We observed a clearly enhanced sputter yield for the irradiated nanowires compared to bulk, which is also corroborated by iradina simulations. These show a maximum if the ion range matches the nanowire diameter. As a consequence of the erosion thinning of the nanowire, the incorporation of the Mn dopants is also enhanced and increases non-linearly with increasing ion fluency.
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| 8. |
- Noack, Holger, 1976-
(author)
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Biomimetic Iron Complexes involved in Oxygenation and Chlorination : A Theoretical Study
- 2010
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Biomimetic chemistry is directed towards the simulation of enzymatic reactivity with synthetic analogues. In this thesis a quantum chemical method has been employed to study the mechanism of highly reactive iron-oxo complexes involved in oxygenation and chlorination of organic substrates. The aim of this research is to gain greater understanding for the reactivity paradigm of the iron-oxo group. One reaction deals with the conversion of cyclohexane into adipic acid, a key chemical in industrial chemistry, catalyzed by an iron(II)-porphyrin complex in the presence of dioxygen. This process constitutes a ’green’ alternative to conventional adipic acid production, and is thus of great interest to synthetic chemistry. Another reaction investigated herein regards the selective chlorination observed for a new group of non-heme iron enzymes. With help of theoretical modeling it was possible to propose a mechanism that explains the observed selectivity. It is furthermore demonstrated how a biomimetic iron complex simulates the enzymatic reactivity by a different mechanism. Other topics covered in this thesis regard the structure-reactivity relationship of a binuclear iron complex and the intradiol C-C bond cleavage of catechol catalyzed by an iron(III) complex.
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| 9. |
- Noack, Holger, et al.
(author)
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Theoretical Insights into Heme-Catalyzed Oxidation of Cyclohexane to Adipic Acid
- 2011
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In: Inorganic Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0020-1669 .- 1520-510X. ; 50:4, s. 1194-1202
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Adipic acid is a key compound in the chemical industry, where it is mainly used in the production of polymers. The conventional process of its generation requires vast amounts of energy and, moreover, produces environmentally deleterious substances. Thus, there is interest in alternative ways to gain adequate amounts of adipic acid. Experimental reports on a one-pot iron-catalyzed conversion of cyclohexane to adipic acid motivated a theoretical investigation based on density functional theory calculations. The process investigated is interesting because it requires less energy than contemporary methods and does not produce environmentally harmful side products. The aim of the present contribution is to gain insight into the mechanism of the iron-catalyzed cyclohexane conversion to provide a basis for the further development of this process. The rate-limiting step of the process is discussed, but considering the accuracy of the calculations, it is difficult to ensure whether the rate-limiting step is in the substrate oxidation or in the generation of the catalytically active species. It is shown that the slowest step in the substrate oxidation is the conversion of cyclohexanol to cyclohexane-1,2-diol. Hydrogen-atom transfer from one of the OH groups of cyclohexane-1,2-diol makes the intradiol cleavage occur spontaneously.
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