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Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

aPKCs role in Neuroblastoma cell signaling cascades and Implications of aPKCs inhibitors as potential therapeutics , Sloan Breedy

Protein Folding Kinetics Analysis Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy , Dhanya Dhananjayan

Affordances and Limitations of Molecular Representations in General and Organic Chemistry , Ayesha Farheen

Institutional and Individual Approaches to Change in Undergraduate STEM Education: Two Framework Analyses , Stephanie B. Feola

Applications in Opioid Analysis with FAIMS Through Control of Vapor Phase Solvent Modifiers , Nathan Grimes

Synthesis, Characterization, and Separation of Loaded Liposomes for Drug Delivery , Sandra Khalife

Supramolecular Architectures Generated by Self-assembly of Guanosine and Isoguanosine Derivatives , Mengjia Liu

Syntheses, Photophysics, & Application of Porphyrinic Metal-Organic Frameworks , Zachary L. Magnuson

Chemical Analysis of Metabolites from Mangrove Endophytic Fungus , Sefat E Munjerin

Synthesis of Small Molecule Modulators of Non-Traditional Drug Targets , Jamie Nunziata

Synthetic Studies of Potential New Ketogenic Molecules , Mohammad Nazmus Sakib

Coupling Chemical and Genomic Data of Marine Sediment-Associated Bacteria for Metabolite Profiling , Stephanie P. Suarez

Enhanced Methods in Forensic Mass Spectrometry for Targeted and Untargeted Drug Analysis , Dina M. Swanson

Investigation of Challenging Transformations in Gold Catalysis , Qi Tang

Diazirines and Oxaziridines as Nitrogen Transfer Reagents in Drug Discovery , Khalilia C. Tillett

Developing New Strategy toward Ruthenium and Gold Redox Catalysis , Chenhuan Wang

Gold-Catalyzed Diyne-ene Cyclization: Synthesis of Hetero Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons and 1,2-Dihydropyridines , Jingwen Wei

Development of Antiviral Peptidomimetics , Songyi Xue

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Investigating a Potential STING Modulator , Jaret J. Crews

Exploring the Structure and Activity of Metallo-Tetracyclines , Shahedul Islam

Metabolomic Analysis, Identification and Antimicrobial Assay of Two Mangrove Endophytes , Stephen Thompson

Bioactivity of Suberitenones A and B , Jared G. Waters

Developing Efficient Transition Metal Catalyzed C-C & C-X Bond Construction , Chiyu Wei

Measurement in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics Education: Student Explanations of Organic Chemistry Reaction Mechanisms and Instructional Practices in Introductory Courses , Brandon J. Yik

Study on New Reactivity of Vinyl Gold and Its Sequential Transformations , Teng Yuan

Study on New Strategy toward Gold(I/III) Redox Catalysis , Shuyao Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Design, Synthesis and Testing of Bioactive Peptidomimetics , Sami Abdulkadir

Synthesis of Small Molecules for the Treatment of Infectious Diseases , Elena Bray

Social Constructivism in Chemistry Peer Leaders and Organic Chemistry Students , Aaron M. Clark

Synthesizing Laccol Based Polymers/Copolymers and Polyurethanes; Characterization and Their Applications , Imalka Marasinghe Arachchilage

The Photophysical Studies of Transition Metal Polyimines Encapsulated in Metal Organic Frameworks (MOF’s) , Jacob M. Mayers

Light Harvesting in Photoactive Guest-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks , Christopher R. McKeithan

Using Quantitative Methods to Investigate Student Attitudes Toward Chemistry: Women of Color Deserve the Spotlight , Guizella A. Rocabado Delgadillo

Simulations of H2 Sorption in Metal-Organic Frameworks , Shanelle Suepaul

Parallel Computation of Feynman Path Integrals and Many-Body Polarization with Application to Metal-Organic Materials , Brant H. Tudor

The Development of Bioactive Peptidomimetics Based on γ-AApeptides , Minghui Wang

Investigation of Immobilized Enzymes in Confined Environment of Mesoporous Host Matrices , Xiaoliang Wang

Novel Synthetic Ketogenic Compounds , Michael Scott Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters, Microbiomes, and Secondary Metabolites in Cold Water Marine Organisms , Nicole Elizabeth Avalon

Differential Mobility Spectrometry-Mass spectrometry (DMS-MS) for Forensic and Nuclear-Forensic applications , Ifeoluwa Ayodeji

Conversion from Metal Oxide to MOF Thin Films as a Platform of Chemical Sensing , Meng Chen

Asking Why : Analyzing Students' Explanations of Organic Chemistry Reaction Mechanisms using Lexical Analysis and Predictive Logistic Regression Models , Amber J. Dood

Development of Next-Generation, Fast, Accurate, Transferable, and Polarizable Force-fields for Heterogenous Material Simulations , Adam E. Hogan

Breakthroughs in Obtaining QM/MM Free Energies , Phillip S. Hudson

New Synthetic Methodology Using Base-Assisted Diazonium Salts Activation and Gold Redox Catalysis , Abiola Azeez Jimoh

Development and Application of Computational Models for Biochemical Systems , Fiona L. Kearns

Analyzing the Retention of Knowledge Among General Chemistry Students , James T. Kingsepp

A Chemical Investigation of Three Antarctic Tunicates of the Genus Synoicum , Sofia Kokkaliari

Construction of Giant 2D and 3D Metallo-Supramolecules Based on Pyrylium Salts Chemistry , Yiming Li

Assessing Many-Body van der Waals Contributions in Model Sorption Environments , Matthew K. Mostrom

Advancing Equity Amongst General Chemistry Students with Variable Preparations in Mathematics , Vanessa R. Ralph

Sustainable Non-Noble Metal based Catalysts for High Performance Oxygen Electrocatalysis , Swetha Ramani

The Role of aPKCs and aPKC Inhibitors in Cell Proliferation and Invasion in Breast and Ovarian Cancer , Tracess B. Smalley

Development of Ultrasonic-based Ambient Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry , Linxia Song

Covalent Organic Frameworks as an Organic Scaffold for Heterogeneous Catalysis including C-H Activation , Harsh Vardhan

Optimization of a Digital Ion Trap to Perform Isotope Ratio Analysis of Xenon for Planetary Studies , Timothy Vazquez

Multifunctional Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) For Applications in Sustainability , Gaurav Verma

Design, Synthesis of Axial Chiral Triazole , Jing Wang

The Development of AApeptides , Lulu Wei

Chemical Investigation of Floridian Mangrove Endophytes and Antarctic Marine Organisms , Bingjie Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

An Insight into the Biological Functions, the Molecular Mechanism and the Nature of Interactions of a Set of Biologically Important Proteins. , Adam A. Aboalroub

Functional Porous Materials: Applications for Environmental Sustainability , Briana Amaris Aguila

Biomimetic Light Harvesting in Metalloporphyrins Encapsulated/Incorporated within Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs). , Abdulaziz A. Alanazi

Design and Synthesis of Novel Agents for the Treatment of Tropical Diseases , Linda Corrinne Barbeto

Effect of Atypical protein kinase C inhibitor (DNDA) on Cell Proliferation and Migration of Lung Cancer Cells , Raja Reddy Bommareddy

The Activity and Structure of Cu2+ -Biomolecules in Disease and Disease Treatment , Darrell Cole Cerrato

Simulation and Software Development to Understand Interactions of Guest Molecules inPorous Materials , Douglas M. Franz

Construction of G-quadruplexes via Self-assembly: Enhanced Stability and Unique Properties , Ying He

The Role of Atypical Protein Kinase C in Colorectal Cancer Cells Carcinogenesis , S M Anisul Islam

Chemical Tools and Treatments for Neurological Disorders and Infectious Diseases , Andrea Lemus

Antarctic Deep Sea Coral and Tropical Fungal Endophyte: Novel Chemistry for Drug Discovery , Anne-Claire D. Limon

Constituent Partitioning Consensus Docking Models and Application in Drug Discovery , Rainer Metcalf

An Investigation into the Heterogeneity of Insect Arylalkylamine N -Acyltransferases , Brian G. O'Flynn

Evaluating the Evidence Base for Evidence-Based Instructional Practices in Chemistry through Meta-Analysis , Md Tawabur Rahman

Role of Oncogenic Protein Kinase C-iota in Melanoma Progression; A Study Based on Atypical Protein Kinase-C Inhibitors , Wishrawana Sarathi Bandara Ratnayake

Formulation to Application: Thermomechanical Characterization of Flexible Polyimides and The Improvement of Their Properties Via Chain Interaction , Alejandro Rivera Nicholls

The Chemical Ecology and Drug Discovery Potential of the Antarctic Red Alga Plocamium cartilagineum and the Antarctic Sponge Dendrilla membranosa , Andrew Jason Shilling

Synthesis, Discovery and Delivery of Therapeutic Natural Products and Analogs , Zachary P. Shultz

Development of α-AA peptides as Peptidomimetics for Antimicrobial Therapeutics and The Discovery of Nanostructures , Sylvia E. Singh

Self-Assembly of 2D and 3D Metallo-Supramolecules with Increasing Complexity , Bo Song

The Potential of Marine Microbes, Flora and Fauna in Drug Discovery , Santana Alexa Lavonia Thomas

Design, Synthesis, and Self-Assembly of Supramolecular Fractals Based on Terpyridine with Different Transition Metal Ions , Lei Wang

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Fatty Acid Amides and Their Biosynthetic Enzymes Found in Insect Model Systems , Ryan L. Anderson

Interrogation of Protein Function with Peptidomimetics , Olapeju Bolarinwa

Characterization of Nylon-12 in a Novel Additive Manufacturing Technology, and the Rheological and Spectroscopic Analysis of PEG-Starch Matrix Interactions , Garrett Michael Craft

Synthesis of Novel Agents for the treatment of Infectious and Neurodegenerative diseases , Benjamin Joe Eduful

Survey research in postsecondary chemistry education: Measurements of faculty members’ instructional practice and students’ affect , Rebecca E. Gibbons

Design, Synthesis, Application of Biodegradable Polymers , Mussie Gide

Conformational Fluctuations of Biomolecules Studied Using Molecular Dynamics and Enhanced Sampling , Geoffrey M. Gray

Analysis and New Applications of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOF): Thermal Conductivity of a Perovskite-type MOF and Incorporation of a Lewis Pair into a MOF. , Wilarachchige D C B Gunatilleke

Chemical Investigation of Bioactive Marine Extracts , Selam Hagos

Optimizing Peptide Fractionation to Maximize Content in Cancer Proteomics , Victoria Izumi

Germania-based Sol-gel Coatings and Core-shell Particles in Chromatographic Separations , Chengliang Jiang

Synthesis, Modification, Characterization and Processing of Molded and Electrospun Thermoplastic Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites , Tamalia Julien

Studies Aimed at the Synthesis of Anti-Infective Agents , Ankush Kanwar

From Florida to Antarctica: Dereplication Strategies and Chemical Investigations of Marine Organisms , Matthew A. Knestrick

Sorbent Enrichment Performance of Aromatic Compounds from Diluted Liquid Solution , Le Meng

Development of Bioactive Peptidomimetics , Fengyu She

Azamacrocyclic-based Frameworks: Syntheses and Characterizations , Chavis Andrew Stackhouse

Structure-based Design, Synthesis and Applications of a New Class of Peptidomimetics: 'Y -AA Peptides and Their Derivatives , Ma Su

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Thesis Preparation

The following information is provided to assist Chemistry graduate students as they prepare their theses. If graduate students have any questions that are not answered by this guide, they should email the Chemistry Education Office (questions about department policies) or MIT Libraries (for questions about thesis formatting, etc.)

Degree candidates must fill out the Degree Application via WebSIS at the start of the term. Important dates and deadlines (including late fees) for the upcoming academic year are listed below.  It is strongly advised that degree candidates apply for the degree list even if there is uncertainty about completing the thesis defense and submission by the  deadline, as there are no penalties for being removed from the degree list.

Students must successfully complete the thesis defense before submitting their final, signed thesis.

**Please note that the Specifications for Thesis Preparation were updated in November 2022. Please make sure you use these new guidelines.**

Important Dates & Deadlines

May 2024 degree list.

• Degree Application Deadline: February 9, 2024 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after April 12, 2024)
• Thesis Title Deadline: April 12, 2024 ($85 late fee if submitted after this date. If your thesis title is not finalized by this date, please enter your current working title and the final title can be updated later)
• Thesis Submission Deadline: May 10, 2024
• Last day of work in the lab: on or before May 29, 2024. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than May 29, 2024, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
• Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on May 30, 2024
• Information about the MIT Health Plan and graduation will be available online here.

September 2024 Degree List

• Degree Application Deadline: June 14, 2024 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after July 21, 2024)
• Thesis Title Deadline:July 19, 2024 ($85 late fee if submitted after this date. If your thesis title is not finalized by this date, please enter your current working title and the final title can be updated later)
• Thesis Submission Deadline: August 16, 2024
• Last day of work in the lab: on or before August 31, 2024. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than August 31st, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
• Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on September 18, 2024

February 2025 Degree List

• Degree Application Deadline: September 6, 2024 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after December 13, 2024)
• Thesis Title Deadline: December 13, 2024 ($85 late fee if submitted after this date. If your thesis title is not finalized by this date, please enter your current working title and the final title can be updated later)
• Thesis Submission Deadline: January 17, 2025
• Last day of work in the lab: on or before January 15, 2025. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than January 15th, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
• Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on February 19, 2025

May 2025 Degree List

• Degree Application Deadline:February 7, 2025 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after April 11, 2025)
• Thesis Title Deadline: April 11, 2025 ($85 late fee if submitted after this date. If your thesis title is not finalized by this date, please enter your current working title and the final title can be updated later)
• Thesis Submission Deadline: May 9, 2025
• Last day of work in the lab: on or before May 28, 2025. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than May 28th, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
• Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on May 29, 2025

Scheduling your Thesis Defense

All PhD candidates must have a Thesis Defense. As soon as your defense is finalized, please email the Chemistry Education Office with the date, time, location, and thesis title . Thesis defenses are strongly encouraged to be in-person.  If there are questions or concerns about an in-person defense, please reach out to Jennifer Weisman. When thesis defenses are on campus, we recommend reserving a room once the defense date is finalized, student can reserve department rooms through the online scheduling system or request a classroom via this form .

Degree candidates should provide their advisor with a copy of the thesis at least two weeks before the defense and provide their thesis committee chair and member with a copy at least one week before the defense. However, degree candidates should talk with their advisor, committee chair, and committee member to find out if they need the thesis further in advance or if there are preferred formats. Degree candidates should allow time in between their thesis defense and the submission deadline to make edits and submit the final copies.

Please note that most receiving a PhD degree are required to present a seminar as part of the thesis defense. This seminar is open to the department. The degree candidate is responsible for providing the Chemistry Education Office with information about their thesis defense at least two weeks ahead of time. Following the seminar, the candidate will meet privately with the thesis committee.

Thesis Formatting

The Institute has very specific requirements for thesis preparation, which were updated in November 2022. Specifications for Thesis Preparation is available on the library’s website and should be read very carefully. The MIT Thesis FAQ may answer additional questions and a helpful checklist is also provided. The specifications also include information about copyright and use of previously published material in a thesis . Do  not  rely on any templates or prior theses from your research group – they may not reflect the most current guidelines. We have highlighted some especially important points below.

Font & Spacing

Title page & committee signature page.

• The title page of the first copy will be digitally signed by the author, advisor, and Professor Adam Willard. The title page should contain the title, name of the author, previous degrees, the degree(s) to be awarded at MIT, the date the degree(s) will be conferred (May, September, or February only), copyright notice, and appropriate names and signatures. Degrees are awarded in Chemistry, regardless of your specific research area. Regardless of when you defend or submit your thesis, the date of degree conferral must be May/June, September, or February.
• As noted above, the title page will be signed by you, your advisor, and Professor Willard. You do not need to have Professor Willard digitally sign the thesis before you submit it, we will arrange to have him sign it. If your advisor has a title (ex., Firmenich Professor of Chemistry) it should also be included under their name. If you are not sure if they have a title, you can consult the Faculty Directory . Professor Willard should have the following listed under his name, on two separate lines: Professor of Chemistry; Graduate Officer
• Each student should place the appropriate copyright notice on the thesis title page. Copyright notice consists of four elements: the symbol “c” with a circle around it © and/or the word “copyright”; the year of publication (the year in which the degree is to be awarded); the name of the copyright owner; the words “All rights reserved” or your chosen Creative Commons license. All theses should have the following legend statement exactly: The author hereby grants to MIT a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to exercise any and all rights under copyright, including to reproduce, preserve, distribute and publicly display copies of the thesis, or release the thesis under an open-access license. Please carefully review the copyright information to determine the appropriate copyright ownership.
• The date under Signature of Author should be the date the final thesis is signed and submitted to the department.
• The title page is always considered to be page 1, and every page must be included in the count regardless of whether a number would be physically printed on a page. We recommend that you do not include the page number on the title page.
• There is also a signature page that will be digitally signed by your entire thesis committee. Your advisor will digitally sign your thesis twice, on the title page and signature page. The signature page is right after the title page.
• More details about digital signatures are provided below.

Table of Contents

Final thesis submission, general submission process.

Please carefully review the details below, including the file naming format . There are two steps to the final submissions process:

1. Submit the following documents to the Department of Chemistry:

• An electronic copy of your thesis in PDF/A-1 format (with no signatures)
• A PDF of the digitally signed title page and committee signature page (using DocuSign to obtain signatures)

Please send an email to your advisor, Jennifer Weisman, and William McCoy, which includes the 2 PDFs above and the following text:

“Dear Professor/Dr X: Attached is the final version of my thesis. Please use reply-all to this message to indicate your acceptance of my thesis document and your recommendation for certification by my department.”

**Note: if your thesis document is too large to send via email, your email can include a link to access the document via Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.**

2. Submit your thesis information to MIT Libraries here . Choose to opt-in or opt-out of ProQuest license and publication.  Include the same copyright and license information that is on your thesis title page. Note: this does not involve submitting your actual thesis.

Details for Thesis Submission Process

• After the defense, the student and thesis committee reach agreement on the final thesis document.
• Students should follow the format specifications as stated in the Specifications for Thesis Preparation . Do not print or physically sign pages.
• Students will have the thesis signed electronically through DocuSign. This process is described in detail in the section below.
• The title page is always considered to be page 1, and every page must be included in the count regardless of whether a number is physically printed on a page. The entire thesis (including title page, prefatory material, illustrations, and all text and appendices) must be paginated in one consecutive numbering sequence. Your committee signature page should be page 2. Please see the  Sample Title Page and committee signature page for reference.
• You will still include the title page and committee signature page in the full thesis PDF, they just won’t have any signatures.
• The digitally signed title page and committee signature pages should be in one PDF, separate from the thesis document. This avoids a DocuSign tag at the top of each page of the full thesis. Please use the following naming convention: authorLastName-kerb-degree-dept-year-sig.pdf (ex., montgomery-mssimon-phd-chemistry-2021-sig.pdf).
• Students should save their final thesis document as a PDF using the following file naming convention: authorLastName-kerb-degree-dept-year-thesis .pdf (ex., montgomery-mssimon-phd-chemistry-2021-thesis.pdf).
• Students should not deposit the PDF of their thesis via the Libraries Library’s voluntary submission portal.
• Please send an email to your advisor, Jennifer, and William which includes the final thesis document and file with the digitally signed title/committee signature pages with the following text:

Please also complete the MIT Doctoral Student Exit Survey and your Laboratory Safety Clearance Form .

Digital Signatures

Please see here for a full guide (with screenshots) to using DocuSign to obtain digital signatures

Required Signatures:

These should be everyone’s uploaded digital signatures in their own handwriting, not one of the pre-formatted signatures created by DocuSign.

• Your signature on the thesis title page
• Your advisor’s signature on both the title page and committee signature page
• Your thesis committee chair’s and member’s signatures on the committee signature page
• You do not need to have Adam Willard sign your title page, the Chemistry Education Office will take care of that
• Full thesis with no signatures (including unsigned title page and thesis committee signature page)
• Title page and committee signature page with signatures via DocuSign

Accessing DocuSign

Thesis Hold Requests

Details about requesting a thesis hold are available here and the requests are made to different offices based on the type of request. Please note that planned or pending submissions to scholarly journals related to thesis work will not be considered for thesis holds.

Written notification of patent holds and other restrictions must reach the MIT Libraries before the thesis in question is received by the MIT Libraries. Theses will not be available to the public prior to being published by the MIT Libraries. The Libraries may begin publishing theses in DSpace@MIT one month and one week from the last day of classes.

Graduate Student Exit Interviews

In order to best serve the educational, scientific, and social needs of graduate students in the Chemistry Department, it is critically important that Departmental leadership be appropriately informed of issues of importance to graduate students, ideally on an ongoing basis. Graduate student exit interviews provide information that alert the Department to acute issues that affect graduate students and provide data for longitudinal assessments of graduate student experience within the program.Graduate exit interviews are administered to all graduate students departing the Chemistry Department. The exit interview applies equally to graduate students departing with completed degrees (Ph.D. and M.S.) and without degrees.

• Graduating students will be sent a list of interview questions by the Chemistry Education Office when the student joins the degree list. Instructions about scheduling a time for the in-person or virtual discussion will be included with other informational correspondence from the Chemistry Education Office regarding degree completion. Graduating students will perform their exit interview after the thesis defense so as to avoid making the interview an additional burden.
• For students departing the program without a degree, the interview questions and instructions for scheduling an in-person discussion will be sent by the Chemistry Education Office at the point in time that a date for termination of their appointment in Chemistry is determined.
• For the majority of departing students, this interview coincides with the end of the semester, but a rolling schedule of surveys is anticipated.

Postdoctoral/Research Specialist Appointments

If you plan to transition to a postdoctoral/research specialist appointment within the Department of Chemistry at MIT, please contact Jennifer Weisman and  Chemistry HR as soon as possible. Your final signed thesis must be submitted before a postdoc appointment can start. If you are an international student, it is extremely important that you start this process early to allow sufficient timing for visa processing. In addition to talking with Jennifer and HR, please consult with the International Students Office .

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How to write a PhD thesis

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Five tips for communicating your research

Writing a thesis is an inevitable part of a chemistry PhD. Yet it can be a daunting task. While everyone’s personal circumstances vary – university rules, the chemistry discipline and supervisor relationships – the most difficult part is actually starting to write. Adam Clancy of University College London, UK; Chiara Giorio of the University of Cambridge, UK; and I (a recent PhD graduate) reflect on our experiences to offer some advice and tips.

Start writing early

Ideally, if you receive funding you want to finish before the money stops coming in. ‘It’s such an appealing thing to think one more experiment will pull everything together,’ says Clancy. ‘It’s better to just draw a line in the sand in advance.’ This was a goal I set myself, and it proved to be a catalyst to my productivity. Clancy’s experience was different: ‘I got a postdoc and then wrote in the evenings, which was a terrible, terrible idea.’ Sometimes though, a promising job offer or unforeseeable circumstances means this is your only option for completion. Whatever your circumstances, Giorio advises ‘to write as much as you can, every day,’ even if it’s just experimental procedures or summaries.

For me, getting started was the hardest part. Thinking of a thesis as a series of small, manageable chapters rather than a whole book helped me compartmentalise. Once you start writing, you build up momentum. Having something that you can look back at as a starting point is better than staring at a blank page.

Make a plan

Devise a workplan with your supervisor before you start writing. ‘It should be a discussion with them about where they think the good results are – how you can split up all your work into manageable, multiple sections,’ explains Clancy. Spend time ‘understanding what are the key messages that you want to get across,’ says Griorio. During writing, send chapters to your supervisor for revision and go over them together. ‘The first draft doesn’t need to be perfect’ – and it won’t be – but this will give you a better idea of what your supervisor expects. ‘The first time you write something, it’s very difficult,’ Griorio explains, so it’s good to solicit feedback early on. But it’s not just your supervisor you can ask – peers, friends and family can contribute ‘even if only catching typos’, she adds.

No need to work sequentially

Start with the chapter you’re most comfortable working on – you don’t need to write the thesis in order. I found switching between chapters helped. Some days I had brain fog when writing up my results so I would work on the literature review and come back to writing up the results when I had the mental capacity. The structure of the thesis also does not have to be chronological: Clancy used what he did towards the end of his PhD to form his first results chapter. ‘You’re not recounting what you did for three years,’ he explains. ‘It shouldn’t be a biography of your research.’

Figures are your friends

Images can reveal a lot about your work. ‘I’m a fan of basically never really needing words,’ reveals Clancy. ‘It’s worth taking the time to make your graphs look highly presentable and really clear.’ Graphs and images are not only useful in breaking up large bodies of text, but they also provide context and meaningful data for your discussion. ‘You can start with just putting some figures together and some bullet points,’ says Giorio, noting that graphs assist with the initial hurdle of getting something written down. Clancy suggests you ‘go to the papers you like and see how they present data and be inspired by that’. Don’t take shortcuts with figures – a lesson I learned. I had to do corrections on my graphs after my viva that could have easily been avoided if I had been more diligent when producing the figures in the first place.

Don’t worry

You are an expert in your research so be confident about your writing. ‘If you’ve got to this point, you’re probably good enough to pass a PhD,’ Clancy says. You have put in years of work and all you must do now is communicate it. But don’t let writing consume your life – take regular breaks, keep active and balance your time with hobbies and friends. By taking care of your physical and mental health, you will be in a better position to deliver your best work.

I found the writing process unexpectedly fun and therapeutic. There were days when nothing would come to me, but I would say ‘tomorrow is a new day’. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself. At the end of it, you will hopefully look at your thesis with pride and a sense of accomplishment.

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Home > Sciences and Arts > Dept. of Chemistry > Dissertations and Master's Theses

Dept. of Chemistry Dissertations and Master's Theses

Explore our collection of dissertations and master's theses from the Department of Chemistry below.

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2024 2024

Small Fluorescent Glycoconjugates as Imaging Agents for GLUT Sugar Transporters , Adelina Oronova

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2023 2023

DETECTION AND MUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF A HUMAN PROTEIN ASSOCIATED WITH CANCER AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES , Priyanka Dipak Kadav

EXPLORING TURN-ON PROBES FOR GLUTs TARGETING AND ADVANCING SAFETY EDUCATION IN THE CHEMICAL SCIENCES: A TWO-PART DISSERTATION , Monica Mame Soma Nyansa

MULTILEVEL COMPUTATIONAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE CATALYTIC MECHANISMS OF MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASE-1 AND FAT MASS AND OBESITY-ASSOCIATED ENZYME , Ann Varghese

MULTISCALE MOLECULAR MODELING STUDIES OF THE DYNAMICS AND CATALYTIC MECHANISMS OF IRON(II)- AND ZINC(II)-DEPENDENT METALLOENZYMES , Sodiq O. Waheed

ORIGINS OF OPTICAL PROPERTIES IN NATURAL ORGANIC MATTER AND FLUORESCENT ANIMALS , Nastaran Khademimoshgenani

Small Molecules Targeting Fructose Transport , Nazar Gora

UHPLC/FT-MS NON-TARGETED SCREENING APPROACH FOR BIOMASS BURNING ORGANIC AEROSOL AND LIQUID SMOKE AS BIOMASS BURNING ORGANIC AEROSOL SURROGATE , D.M.R. Thusitha Dinusha Kumarihami Divisekara

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2022 2022

INTERFACIAL OXIDATION REACTIONS AND FILM NUCLEATION ON IRON SURFACES IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS USING SPECTROSCOPY AT THE LIQUID/SOLID AND GAS/SOLID INTERFACE , Adambarage Chathura de Alwis

ISOLATION AND CHROMATOGRAPHIC SEPARATION OF CYTOTOXIC PLANT COMPOUNDS , Michael C. Hromada

ISOLATION, PURIFICATION, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW MANNOSE-BINDING PLANT LECTIN THAT RECOGNIZES FUNGAL ANTIGENS , Jessica C. Krycia

MULTILEVEL COMPUTATIONAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE DYNAMICS AND REACTION MECHANISMS OF NON-HEME IRON AND 2-OXOGLUTARATE DEPENDENT ENZYMES , Shobhit Sanjeev Chaturvedi

NON-CHROMATOGRAPHIC OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PURIFICATION AND AUTOMATED POLYETHYLENEGLYCOL SYNTHESIS , Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF A NEW CYTOLYSIN , Jared L. Edwards

SYNTHESIS AND DEVELOPMENT OF FLUORESCENT CARBON DOTS FOR SENSING AND BIOIMAGING APPLICATIONS , Parya Siahcheshm

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2021 2021

BASE-LABILE PROTECTING GROUPS FOR STEPWISE PEG SYNTHESIS , Logan D. Mikesell

COBALT, MOLYBDENUM, AND NICKEL COMPLEXES, NATURAL ZEOLITES, EPOXIDATION, AND FREE RADICAL REACTIONS , Nicholas K. Newberry

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEAR-INFRARED FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR SENSING pH, HYPOXIA AND PEROXYNITRITE , Shulin Wan

DETERMINATION OF MOLECULAR MARKERS OF VACCINIUM BERRY STANDARD REFERENCE MATERIALS THROUGH DIFFERENTIAL ANALYSIS WITH ULTRAHIGH RESOLUTION LC/MS , Abby Mikolitis

EXPLORING GLUT5 TARGETING FOR CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY , Avik Ghosh

High-resolution molecular characterization of complex environmental mixtures: Aquatic dissolved organic matter and wildfire-influenced aerosol , Amna Ijaz

INVESTIGATING REDOX CHEMISTRY OF GRAPHITE, IRON OXIDE & IRON SURFACES , Mikhail Trought

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2020 2020

EXPLORING SUBSTRATE SPECIFICITY OF FRUCTOSE TRANSPORTERS EN ROUTE TO GLUT SPECIFIC PROBES FOR BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS , Vagarshak Vigenovich Begoyan

Macromolecular strategies for discovering disease-related proteins and new therapeutic agents , Christina Welch

RATIOMETRIC NEAR-INFRARED FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR THE SENSITIVE DETECTION OF INTRACELLULAR pH AND BIO-THIOLS IN LIVE CELLS , Shuai Xia

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2019 2019

Characterizing the physicochemical properties of TDP-43 protein and Acetylated Amyloid β peptides to discern its role in neurodegenerative diseases , Rashmi Adhikari

EXTREME MOLECULAR DIVERSITY IN BIOMASS BURNING ATMOSPHERIC ORGANIC AEROSOL OBSERVED THROUGH ULTRAHIGH RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETRY , Matthew Brege

METHOD CONSIDERATIONS FOR COMPOUND IDENTIFICATION IN COMPLEX MIXTURES USING ELECTROSPRAY IONIZATION ULTRAHIGH RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETRY , Tyler Leverton

MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF FREE TROPOSPHERIC ORGANIC AEROSOL AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS FOR MOLECULAR FORMULA ASSIGNMENT , Simeon Schum

NEAR-INFRARED FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR SENSITIVE DETERMINATION OF LYSOSOMAL & MITOCHONDRIAL pH IN LIVE CELLS , Wafa Mazi

SMALL MOLECULE-BASED FLUORESCENT MOLECULAR PROBES FOR FACILITATING BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: RATIONAL DESIGN AND BIOIMAGING APPLICATIONS , Xin Yan

Synthesis of Oligodeoxynucleotides Containing Sensitive Electrophiles , Shahien Shahsavari

TOWARDS THE DISCOVERY OF OLIGONUCLEOTIDE CROSS-LINKING AGENTS , Bhaskar Halami

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2018 2018

DEVELOPING NOVEL MOLECULAR IMAGING AGENTS FOR SHEDDING LIGHT ON OXIDATIVE STRESS , Shanshan Hou

DEVELOPMENT OF NEAR-INFRARED FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR MONITORING LYSOSOMAL pH CHANGES , Jianheng Bi

DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF RUPTURE FORCE OF SINGLE TRIAZOLE MOLECULE BY ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE AND SOLID PHASE SYNTHESIS OF MONODISPERSE POLYETHYLENE GLYCOLS , Ashok Khanal

NOVEL FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR VISUALIZATION OF pH CHANGES AND Zn (Ⅱ) IONS IN LIVE CELLS , Mingxi Fang

PHYSICOCHEMICAL, SPECTROSCOPIC PROPERTIES, AND DIFFUSION MECHANISMS OF SMALL HYDROCARBON MOLECULES IN MOF-74-MG/ZN: A QUANTUM CHEMICAL INVESTIGATION , Gemechis Degaga

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2017 2017

DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF HISTONE MUTATIONS AND POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS ON NUCLEOSOME STRUCTURE VIA ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY , Chelsea Nikula

Fluorescent Probe Development for Fructose Specific Transporters in Cancer , Joseph Fedie

GLYCOBIOLOGICAL STUDIES THAT CAN HELP THYROID CANCER DETECTION AND THERAPY , Ni Fan

Heterologous Expression and Purification of Full-Length Human Polybromo-1 Protein , Sarah Hopson

NOVEL BIOCOMPOSITES AND NANOFIBERS BASED ON MODIFIED BIOMASS MATERIALS TO FACILITATE GREENER APPLICATIONS , Soha Albukhari

Theses/Dissertations/Reports from 2016 2016

Effect of disulfide bond scrambling on protein stability, aggregation, and cytotoxicity , Colina Dutta

FORMATION AND DEACTIVATION OF TRIMETHYLALUMINUM IN AIR CONDITIONER SIMULATOR AND MCM-41 SUPPORTED SILVER NANOPARTICLES FOR OXIDATION OF OLEFINS , Zhichao Chen

NEAR-INFRARED WATER-SOLUBLE FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR THE DETECTION OF LYSOSOMAL pH AND Zn (II) IONS , Cong Li

Novel Carbohydrate-Dependent Biological Properties of Human Health Related Lectins and Glycoconjugates , Melanie Talaga

SENSING AND MAPPING OF SURFACE HYDROPHOBICITY OF PROTEINS BY FLUORESCENT PROBES , Nethaniah Dorh

THE EFFECT OF POSTTRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS ON PROTEIN AGGREGATION, MORPHOLOGY, AND TOXICITY , Mu Yang

Reports/Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS: PART A. TEMPERATURE-RESPONSIVE POLYMERS AND DRUG DELIVERY AND PART B. POLYMER MODIFICATION OF FISH SCALE AND THEIR NANO-MECHANICAL PROPERTIES , Xu Xiang

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF BODIPY-BASED FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR SENSING AND IMAGING OF CYANIDE, Zn (II) IONS, LYSOSOMAL pH AND CANCER CELLS , Jingtuo Zhang

Extracellular expression of alkaline phytase in Pichia pastoris and Development of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy methods for structural investigation of inositol polyphosphates , Sasha Teymorian

ON THE PROTECTIVE PROPERTIES OF GLYCINE BASED OSMOLYTES IN A THIOL REDUCING ENVIRONMENT , John Michael Hausman

SYNTHETIC OLIGODEOXYNUCLEOTIDE PURIFICATION VIA CATCHING BY POLYMERIZATION , Suntara Fueangfung

Reports/Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

DESIGN, SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS OF FLUORESCENT AND ELECTROCHEMICAL PROBES , Giri K. Vegesna

EVOLUTION OF SELECTED ISOPRENE OXIDATION PRODUCTS IN DARK AQUEOUS AMMONIUM SULFATE , D.M. Ashraf Ul Habib

MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF ATMOSPHERIC ORGANIC MATTER IN BIOGENIC SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOL, AMBIENT AEROSOL AND CLOUDS , Yunzhu Zhao

NON-CHROMATOGRAPHIC PURIFICATION OF SYNTHETIC BIO-OLIGOMERS , Durga Prasad Pokharel

PURIFICATION AND CARBOHYDRATE BINDING PROPERTIES OF TWO NEW PLANT PROTEINS , Robert K. Brown

Reports/Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

ACETYL RADICAL IN TOBACCO SMOKE: DETECTION, QUANTIFICATION AND SIMULATION , Na Hu

CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO NOVEL MONOCOT MANNOSE BINDING LECTINS PURIFIED BY ‘CAPTURE AND RELEASE’ METHOD , Ashli L. Fueri

Development and characterization of fluorescent pH sensors based on porous silica and hydrogel support matrices , Qili Hu

Enhancement of heterologous expression of alkaline phytase in Pichia pastors , Mimi Yang

Modern Computational Chemistry Methods for Prediction of Ground- and Excited-State Properties in Open-Shell Systems , Nina Tyminska

Oligodeoxynucleotide synthesis using protecting groups and a linker cleavable under non-nucleophilic conditions , Xi Lin

STUDIES OF FUNCTIONALIZED NANOPARTICLES FOR SMART SELF-ASSEMBLY AND AS CONTROLLED DRUG DELIVERY , Xiaochu Ding

THERMORESPONSIVE PROPERTIES OF GOLD HYBRID NANOPARTICLES OF POLY(DI(ETHYLENE GLYCOL) METHYL ETHER METHACRYLATE) (PDEGMA) AND ITS BLOCK COPOLYMERS WITH DIFFERENT ANCHORING REGIMES , Martha Juliana Barajas Meneses

TUNING FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS , Nazmiye Bihter Yapici

Reports/Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Biological materials : Part A. tuning LCST of raft copolymers and gold/copolymer hybrid nanoparticles and Part B. biobased nanomaterials , Ning Chen

Characterization of water-soluble organic compounds in ambient aerosol using ultrahigh-resolution elctrospray ionization fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. , Parichehr Saranjampour

COORDINATION CHEMISTRY OF BIS(BENZYL)PHOSPHINATE , John S. Maass

DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS OF NOVEL SYNTHETIC ANTIOXIDANTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF OXIDATIVE STRESS RELATED DISEASES , Srinivas Rao Mandalapu

Indole based antioxidants for the treatment of ischemia reperfusion injury , Andrew Chapp

Performance evaluation and characterization of symmetric capacitors with carbon black, and asymmetric capacitors using a carbon foam supported nickel electrode , JinJin Wang

Soft Lewis acid catalyzed cycloisomerization of oxo-alkynes and enynes , Zezhou Wang

Reports/Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Multimetallic complexes based on phosphine- and phosphine oxide- appended p -hydroquinones , Louis R. Pignotti

Performance evaluation of a novel asymmetric capacitor using a light-weight, carbon foam supported nickel electrode , Padmanaban Sasthan Kuttipillai

Structural characterization of water-soluble atmospheric organic matter by ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry , Jeffrey P. LeClair

Syntheses and structures of molybdenum and tungsten complexes capable of epoxidaton and copper coordination polymers and dendrimers , Linsheng Feng

Synthesis of chiral ferrosalen ligands and their applications in asymmetric catalysis , Xiang Zhang

Reports/Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Syntheses and characterization of monomeric Mo(VI) complexes with bidentate phosphine oxide ligands and dimeric and tetrameric Mo(V) clusters with benzoic acid and phosphinic acid derivatives, containing MoO 2 , Mo 2 O 2 ( μ -O) 2 and Mo 4 O 4 ( μ 3 -O) 4 , Soumyashree Sreehari

Reports/Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Molecular interaction between perthiolated [beta]-cyclodextrin (CD) and the guests molecules adamantaneacetic acid (AD) and ferroceneacetic acid (FC); and the effect of the interaction on the electron transition of CD anchored particles , Ming Ning

Reports/Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

Sulfoxides as an intramolecular sulfenylating agent for indoles and diverse applications of the sulfide-sulfoxide redox cycle in organic chemistry , Parag V. Jog

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The School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh is the top rated for teaching and research in Scotland.

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This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

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Exploring cooperativity in multimetallic main group catalysts for polyester synthesis via ring opening (co)polymerisation , probing the organisation and turnover of synaptic proteins at the nanometre length scale , molecular dynamics simulations of engine lubricant additives , utilising non-canonical amino acids in the design of artificial enzymes: an exploration of cu-enzymes, steroid carrier protein scaffolds and synthetic biology , magnetism of multinuclear 3-d transition metal complexes of 2-hydroxymethylpyridine , antimicrobial polymers , biological control of crystallization by marine phytoplankton to produce functional mineral structures , low-temperature phase-change materials for energy-storage applications , biocompatible aldehyde modification in escherichia coli , novel smart probes for detection of neutrophil activation and net formation and investigation of etosis in fish erythrocytes , improving rapid pathogen detection: towards a gram-selective lateral flow test , towards predicting and tailoring properties of energetic materials , development of liquid crystal lasers for application in fluorescence microscopy , block by block: developments in nmr methodology , development and understanding of iron-catalysed c–h functionalisation reactions , developing new processes for the solvent extraction of precious metals , effect of drainage and drain-blocking on the molecular and microbial composition of blanket bog peat , investigating the biomedical applications of coordination cages , gas phase electronic spectroscopy of ionic carbon chains, rings, fullerenes and analogues , novel synthetically accessible polymers of intrinsic microporosity (pims) .

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Chemistry Theses

Permanent uri for this collection.

This collection is made up of doctoral and master theses by research, which have been received in accordance with university regulations.

For more information, please visit the UCD Library Theses Information guide .

Recent Submissions

• Publication Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles for the Assessment of Intracellular Nanoparticle-Cell Interactions ( University College Dublin. School of Chemistry, 2022 ) Cursi, Lorenzo   ; 0000-0003-4505-1218 Since their discovery, nanomaterials have been employed in an increasing number of products and applications. Thanks to their unique properties they enabled the advancement of many technologies and improved our lives under several aspects. Because of their nanometric dimensions, nanomaterials interact with the biological matter in a completely different way compared to their smaller (molecular scale) or larger (macro scale) counterparts. Despite the efforts of the scientific community in unravelling the network of machineries involved in the interaction of nanomaterials with the cells and human body, our understanding of the bio-nano interactions is still limited. The lack of knowledge around the dynamics that regulate the nanoparticles’ (NPs) trafficking in the human body is limiting the development of nanomedicine and, at the same time, is rising concerns in the regulatory bodies for the safe commercialisation of nanomaterial-based products. One of the main issues related to this critical gap in the knowledge is the lack of methodologies and tools that prevents unravelling the complexity of the bio-nano interactions. Techniques commonly used for the study of the intracellular dynamics result limiting for the study of the NPs intracellular trafficking for which the combination of different analysis and methodologies is required to obtain reliable and robust results. However, the correlation of data from different techniques is difficult when different NPs systems are used for the experiments. In this thesis, we develop new tools and methodologies for the study of the bio-nano interactions, exploiting one of the unique properties of iron oxide NPs, the superparamagnetism. In this context, superparamagnetic NPs are extremely useful tools because allow to label the machineries involved in the intracellular trafficking of NPs and enable their isolation from the biological matrix, which in order allows a more in-depth downstream analysis. To label the machineries involved in the intracellular trafficking with superparamagnetic NPs, two strategies are possible: exploiting the natural uptaking mechanisms of the cells or targeting specific compartments with NPs designed ad hoc. To exploit the first strategy, we designed multifunctional core-shell NPs with iron oxide multicores that provided the superparamagnetic properties and a silica shell doped with an organic fluorophore. Combining the magnetic and fluorescent properties in one nanoconstruct enabled to resolve the NPs intracellular trafficking by optical microscopy and to isolate the vesicles loaded with the NPs by magnetic separation, at different stages of their voyage inside the cell. The vesicles were then analysed with a set of technique to evaluate their integrity and functionality. To exploit the second strategy, we designed antibody grafted iron oxide NPs for the targeting of specific biological species. For this purpose, we adopted a thoughtful strategy of NPs surface modification that enabled the grafting of the antibody through bio-orthogonal chemistries, stabilise the particles in biological conditions, and limit the adsorption of undesired biomolecules typically responsible for NPs off-targeting. Although this second nanoconstruct is still under development, the preliminary results showed excellent targeting ability and specificity. Overall, the work presented in this thesis provides a solid base for the isolation, by magnetic separation, of biological species involved in the NPs intracellular trafficking and for the development of methodologies for the investigation of the machineries involved in the process.   22
• Publication The Physiochemical and Biological Characterization of Nanostructured Materials Derived from Natural Processes ( University College Dublin. School of Chemistry, 2022 ) Petseva, Vanya   ; 0000-0002-7013-0535 The thesis focuses on the study of nanostructured materials obtained from natural sources. The work presented in this thesis was designed to 1) develop protocols for a complete Physico-chemical characterization of micro-and nanomaterials derived from calcified seaweed. Such protocols were achieved by combining several different characterization techniques and were able to unravel unexpected material features at the nanoscale; 2) obtain nanostructured metallic particles from the calcified seaweeds through a multistep extraction protocol and investigate their interactions with cells. The extensive characterization work carried out along this project, especially using electron microscopy, also allowed to develop methods for the visualization of endogenous biological material associated with nanoparticles after their interaction with biomolecules and the intracellular environment.   137
• Publication Complex Nanostructures and Bio-Nanoscale Interactions: Well Defined Synthesis, Identification and Biological Effects ( University College Dublin. School of Chemistry, 2022 ) Zhang, Wei   In this thesis, a framework was proposed in chapter II, aiming to identify distinct shape populations and build a quantitative linkage of well-defined nanoscale shapes to biological impacts. This inductive nanoscale shape discovery and evaluation framework is biologically relevant, and we believe by utilizing machine learning it could benefit the field of shape dependent therapy. In chapter III, the shape dependent histone modifications were reported. As histone modifications are one of the crucial epigenetic regulators that control chromatin structure and gene transcription, shape dependent histone modifications indicate that some important cellular phenotypes differences induced by nanoscale shapes may be related to the histone modifications, which opens a new window for the investigation of nanoscale shape effects and nano therapy. In chapter IV, we proposed a method to modify the surface of the nanostructures by endogenous cellular processes and studies found that this re-engineered particle complex was able to transfer the loading genes to recipient cells, which indicates their potential to work as an efficient nucleic acid delivery machine.   5
• Publication Investigation of Nanostructures generated in cells ( University College Dublin. School of Chemistry, 2022 ) Lawless, Alexandria   ; 0000-0003-1560-9823 Nanoparticles have established themselves firmly within the biomedical field due to their fine tuneability. Recent work explores NP behaviour in complex biological media lending itself to a growing body of research investigating the biological identity of NPs. Biomolecules have been found to readily adsorb to NPs upon interaction in complex biological media forming a protein shell. Previously viewed as an impediment to NP application in vivo, the protein shell, now referred to as the ‘biological corona’ displays potential for beneficial and independent applications. This has highlighted the need for a sounder understanding of the way in which cells receive, process, and clear nanoparticles and the pathways implicated. This research investigates the ability of magnetic magnetite multicore silica fluorescent nanoparticles to adsorb biomolecules to form a biological corona and further enrich with target EGFP fusion proteins upon administration to and interaction with stable EGFP-transfected, adherent cells in culture. The cell – engineered, biosynthetic particle recovered following internalisation, trafficking and subsequent recycling will be referred to here as a bio nanostructure (BNS). This research builds upon a large body of data encompassing all proteins comprising the BNS generated in HEK-293T cells. Here I will explore several highly abundant RNA binding proteins that are incorporated onto the BNS during cellular processing of the nanoparticle-protein corona. The application of high-resolution confocal laser scanning microscopy, along with a ‘masking’ technique will facilitate observation of EGFP fusion proteins on the BNS coat. The results presented herein support the establishment of a reliable and reproducible method for the fluorescent mapping proteins of interest on cell – generated bio nanostructures. It provides a platform for further investigation of potential subpopulations of cell generated bio nanostructures and the intricate processing networks underlying the export of these bio nanostructures.   18
• Publication The Preparation and Application of Novel Planar Chiral Ferrocenyl Ligands in Asymmetric Catalysis ( University College Dublin. School of Chemistry, 2022 ) Benson, Annette   ; 0000-0002-7249-5271 Asymmetric catalysis, employing both transition-metal complexes of chiral ligands and organocatalysts has become one of the most popular methods for the preparation of enantioenriched and enantiopure compounds. This is important for the synthesis of chiral biologically active compounds or drug targets. The design of efficient and novel chiral ligands and catalysts has become a prominent area of chemistry in itself. In this PhD thesis, the concept of chirality and the importance of chiral synthesis in chemistry is introduced while highlighting the interesting properties of ferrocene and the development of chiral ferrocenyl scaffolds in this expanding area of chiral ligand synthesis. The aim of this project was to exploit the reactivity and selectivity of ferrocenyl mono- and diketone scaffolds optimised previously in the group to develop a range of interesting chiral catalysts and ligands. The first of these novel structures was an extended diol structure which would serve as a second generation to diols produced previously in the group which possessed a quaternary centre at the alpha-ferrocenyl position. Three chiral diols extended by two methylene units, were synthesised in six high yielding steps with minimum purification required. These catalysts were applied in an asymmetric hetero Diels-Alder reaction affording the product in low yield and low enantioselectivity of up to 33% ee. The presence of a tertiary stereocentre at the alpha-ferrocenyl position caused instability issues compared to the previous library. Following on from this, five novel ferrocenyl aniline-containing amino alcohol ligands were developed diastereoselectively in as few as three high yielding steps. These ligands were very successful in asymmetric diethylzinc addition to aldehydes, achieving ees of up to 99% and in asymmetric phenyl transfer reactions with moderate yields and enantioselectivities of up to 88%. With the assistance of X-ray crystallographic studies, transition states for the novel gamma-amino-alcohol system were proposed to explain the stereochemical outcome of the reactions. Finally, a fascinating rearrangement was observed when attempting to synthesise a ferrocenyl phosphoramidite, resulting in the formation of novel chiral phosphonamidate structures. Compounds that possess this moiety have been shown to evoke therapeutic effects such as anti-cancer and anti-viral properties. By utilising both X-ray crystallography and 31P NMR spectroscopy, a mechanistic understanding of phosphonamidate formation was reached, with four diastereomers theoretically possible in their synthesis. By employing a series of secondary amines, six chiral phosphonamidate analogues were synthesised with both a major and minor diastereomers isolated and their structures successfully elucidated.   17
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Chemistry Theses & Dissertations

Department of chemistry  https://chemistry.princeton.edu/.

Princeton University Undergraduate Senior Theses, 1926-2021 

https://dataspace.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp018c97kq479

Princeton University Doctoral Dissertations, 2011-2022  

https://dataspace.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp01sf2685121

Princeton University Library catalog, Chemistry undergraduate senior theses  - call number = SrTh CHM  https://bit.ly/3ilJGrV

Department of Chemistry records, 1893-2017  https://findingaids.princeton.edu/catalog/AC358

Chemistry Librarian Presentations

3660027 - Citation analysis for open-access content in theses and dissertations

American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2022 Conference 

The Ethics and Equity of Open:

06:00pm - 09:35pm USA / Canada - Eastern - March 22, 2022 

Judith N Currano , Organizer, Presider;  Dr. Ye Li , Organizer;  Professor Patricia Ann Mabrouk, Ph.D., F.A.C.S. , Organizer, Presider

Division: [CINF] Division of Chemical Information; Session Type: Oral - Virtual

Co-Sponsor/Theme:  Co-sponsor - Cooperative ETHX: Committee on Ethics

06:35pm - 07:05pm USA / Canada - Eastern - March 22, 2022 

Emily C. Wild, MLIS , Presenter

Abstract 

Each year, undergraduate and graduate students complete senior theses and PhD dissertations within the Department of Chemistry at Princeton University. During the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic, access to some content became challenging, and students became more aware of open-access and subscription content availability while researching remotely and worldwide. This session will be an analysis of citations for open-access content within theses and dissertations, as well as an analysis of the chemistry theses and dissertations as cited works in other research publications.

Division: [CINF] Division of Chemical Information

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Chemistry: Theses and Dissertations

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About Theses and Dissertations

A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.  (International Standard ISO 7144: Documentation — Presentation of theses and similar documents ).

For most universities in the U.S., dissertation is the term for the required submission for the PhD, and thesis refers only to the master's degree requirement.

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon theses are now ONLINE and can be searched through the ProQuest database Dissertations & Theses @ Carnegie Mellon University that enables access to citations and abstracts of all dissertations and theses, as well as the full text in PDF format.  Scroll down and select Dissertations & Theses, then do a regular search. Print versions are also available in the libraries' collection.

PRIMO ,  the Carnegie Mellon Library catalog, uses the term THESIS to denote both masters' theses and dissertations.  However, the number of master's theses is limited.  Within the libraries, theses are located in designated areas and are shelved in alphabetical order by the author's last name.  The catalog treats theses and dissertations like books, and they can be borrowed as such. Theses may be in print, microfiche, or microform.

• In catalog use the Advanced Search :  search by author, title, or keyword limiting to type THESIS.
• For a list of theses from a specific department, use Advanced Search to combine a keyword search for the name of the department with location THESES.  E.g., search for "Dept. of Computer Science" with THESES as the location.
• For a complete list of theses at Carnegie Mellon, use Advanced Search to search Carnegie Mellon University Dissertations in the Subject line.  

Other Universities

T he best source to find theses is ProQuest Dissertations & Thesis Global .  Policies regarding theses and dissertation collections largely vary between universities.  So check the library website of the university of interest.

Other Countries

Center for Research Libraries:  Foreign Doctoral Dissertations CRL has more than 800,000 cataloged foreign doctoral dissertations from more than 90 countries and over 1200 institutions.

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• DISSERTATION

The preparation of a satisfactory dissertation normally requires at least four years of full-time research. All students are expected to provide a public presentation of their Ph.D. research as part of their program requirements. The final manuscript must conform to the requirements described in Dissertations . The dissertation defense includes:

• A public presentation of the student's Ph.D research to which members of the CCB community will be invited, followed by
• The private Ph.D. dissertation defense before the Ph.D. Thesis Committee.

Students must submit the dissertation to the Ph.D. Thesis Committee at least 7 days before the defense date. The final manuscript must conform to the requirements described online on the GSAS website  here .

Once the date, time, and location of the dissertation defense has been scheduled by the student with the Committee Members, the student must notify Kathy Oakley in the Department Office, who will send an email announcement to CCB faculty, graduate students, and postdocs inviting them to the public presentation. The  CCB Doctoral Dissertation Form  must be submitted 1-2 weeks prior to the defense to  Kathy Oakley  in the Department office, M-132.  Please note that the doctoral dissertation form also has a new section on scheduling an exit interview with Dr. Josh Cox before or after your defense. The purpose of the exit interview is for you to tell Josh what has and has not worked for you during your time in CCB. Please contact Josh with any questions about the exit interview, and contact Kathy with questions about the dissertation form. 

GSAS Thesis Requirements

All PhD candidates are required to submit a copy of the dissertation via the ETDs @ Harvard submission tool  by the deadline established for each degree conferral date. (See the  GSAS Degree Calendar  page for more information on deadlines.) Dissertations must be submitted electronically to ETDs following their guidelines, including the requirement of embedded fonts. Note that GSAS rules supersede those of ETDs for format.

Program Completion Date

For international students on an F-1 visa, the F-1 visa will end on the program completion date. The program completion date is not necessarily the defense date. It is the date the student stops working in the lab, and any salary/stipend would be ended on that date. International graduate students on an F-1 visa may continue working in the lab as students after their defense until the dissertation submission deadline, if the PI agrees to pay them and they are still completing graduate research in their lab.  International students should wait until the week of their program completion date before submitting their dissertation, while being careful to meet all GSAS deadlines. U.S. citizens may continue working in in the lab as students after their defense until the end of the term, if the PI agrees to pay them and they are still completing graduate research in their lab.

Dissertation Embargo Requests

If necessary, students may request to delay the release of (“embargo”) their work when submitting their dissertation to  ETDs @ Harvard . Embargo requests greater than two years must be approved by the Department. For embargoes over two years, students must first get the approval of their advisor. Written approval from their advisor and a strong written academic reason for the embargo must be forwarded to the Co-Director of Graduate Studies,  Joe Lavin , for departmental approval. Students should not begin the process until they have permission of their advisor.

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Written Thesis Proposal

Introduction.

The goal of this article is to help you to streamline your writing process and help convey your ideas in a concise, coherent, and clear way. The purpose of your proposal is to introduce, motivate, and justify the need for your research contributions. You want to communicate to your audience what your research will do ( vision ), why it is needed ( motivation ), how you will do it ( feasibility ).

Return to ToC

Before you start writing your proposal

A thesis proposal is different than most documents you have written. In a journal article, your narrative can be post-constructed based on your final data, whereas in a thesis proposal, you are envisioning a scientific story and anticipating your impact and results. Because of this, it requires a different approach to unravel your narration. Before you begin your actual writing process, it is a good idea to have (a) a perspective of the background and significance of your research, (b) a set of aims that you want to explore, and (c) a plan to approach your aims. However, the formation of your thesis proposal is often a nonlinear process. Going back and forth to revise your ideas and plans is not uncommon. In fact, this is a segue to approaching your very own thesis proposal, although a lot of time it feels quite the opposite.

Refer to “Where do I begin” article when in doubt. If you have a vague or little idea of the purpose and motivation of your work, one way is to remind yourself the aspects of the project that got you excited initially. You could refer to the “Where do I begin?” article to explore other ways of identifying the significance of your project.

Begin with an outline. It might be daunting to think about finishing a complete and coherent thesis proposal. Alternatively, if you choose to start with an outline first, you are going to have a stronger strategic perspective of the structure and content of your thesis proposal. An outline can serve as the skeleton of your proposal, where you can express the vision of your work, goals that you set for yourself to accomplish your thesis, your current status, and your future plan to explore the rest. If you don’t like the idea of an outline, you could remind yourself what strategy worked best for you in the past and adapt it to fit your needs.

Structure Diagram

Structure your thesis proposal

While some variation is acceptable, don’t stray too far from the following structure (supported by the Graduate Student Handbook). See also the Structure Diagram above.

• Cover Page. The cover page contains any relevant contact information for the committee and your project title. Try to make it look clean and professional.
• Specific Aims . The specific aims are the overview of the problem(s) that you plan to solve. Consider this as your one-minute elevator pitch on your vision for your research. It should succinctly (< 1 page) state your vision (the What), emphasize the purpose of your work (the Why), and provide a high-level summary of your research plans (the How).
• You don’t need to review everything! The point of the background is not to educate your audience, but rather to provide them with the tools needed to understand your proposal. A common pitfall is to explain all the research that you did to understand your topic and to demonstrate that you really know your information. Instead, provide enough evidence to show that you have done your reading. Cut out extraneous information. Be succinct.
• Start by motivating your project. Your background begins by addressing the motivation for your project. If you are having a hard time brainstorming the beginning of your background, try to organize your thoughts by writing down a list of bullet points about your research visions and the gap between current literature and your vision. They do not need to be in any order as they only serve to your needs. If you are unsure of how to motivate your audience, you can refer to the introductions of the key literatures where your proposal is based on, and see how your proposal fits in or extends their envisioned pictures. Another exercise to consider is to imagine: “What might happen if your work is successful?”  This will motivate your audience to understand your intent. Specifically, detailed contributions to help advance your field more manageable to undertake than vague high-level outcomes. For example, “Development of the proposed model will enable high-fidelity simulation of shear-induced crystallization” is a more specific and convincing motivation, compared to, “The field of crystallization modeling must be revolutionized in order to move forward.”

• Break down aims into tractable goals. The goal of your research plan is to explain your plans to approach the problem that you have identified. Here, you are extending your specific aims into a set of actionable plans. You can break down your aims into smaller, more tractable goals whose union can answer the lager scientific question you proposed. These smaller aims, or sub-aims, can appear in the form of individual sub-sections under each of your research aims.
• Reiterate your motivations. While you have already explained the purpose of your work in previous sections, it is still a good practice to reiterate them in the context of each sub-aim that you are proposing. This will inform your audience the motivation of each sub-aim and help them stay engaged.
• Describe a timely, actionable plan. Sometimes you might be tempted to write down every area that needs improvement. It is great to identify them; at the same time, you also need to decide on what set of tasks can you complete timely to make a measurable impact during your PhD. A timely plan now can save a lot of work a few years down the road.  Plan some specific reflection points when you’ll revisit the scope of your project and evaluate if changes are needed.  Some pre-determined “off-ramps” and “retooling” ideas will be very helpful as well, e.g., “Development of the model will rely on the experimental data of Reynold’s, however, modifications of existing correlations based on the validated data of von Karman can be useful as well.”
• Point your data to your plans. The preliminary data you have, data that others in your lab have collected, or even literature data can serve as initial steps you have taken. Your committee should not judge you based on how much or how perfect your data is. More important is to relate how your data have informed you to decide on your plans. Decide upon what data to include and point them towards your future plans.
• Name your backup plans. Make sure to consider back-up plans if everything doesn’t go as planned, because often it won’t. Try to consider which part of your plans are likely to fail and its consequence on the project trajectory. In addition, think about what alternative plans you can consider to “retune” your project. It is unlikely to predict exactly what hurdles you will encounter; however, thinking about alternatives early on will help you feel much better when you do.
• Safety. Provide a description of any relevant safety concerns with your project and how you will address them. This can include general and project-specific lab safety, PPE, and even workspace ergonomics and staying physical healthy if you are spending long days sitting at a desk or bending your back for a long time at your experimental workbench.
• Create the details of your timeline. The timeline can be broken down in the units of semester. Think about your plans to distribute your time in each sub-aims, and balance your research with classes, TA, and practice school. A common way to construct a timeline is called the Gantt Chart. There are templates that are available online where you can tailor them to fit your needs.
• References. This is a standard section listing references in the appropriate format, such as ACS format. The reference tool management software (e.g., Zotero, Endnote, Mendeley) that you are using should have prebuilt templates to convert any document you are citing to styles like ACS. If you do not already have a software tool, now is a good time to start.

Authentic, annotated, examples (AAEs)

These thesis proposals enabled the authors to successfully pass the qualifying exam during the 2017-2018 academic year.

Resources and Annotated Examples

Thesis proposal example 1, thesis proposal example 2.

Home > Chemistry > Chem TDs > Masters Theses

Chemistry Masters Theses

Theses from 2020 2020.

NANODIAMONDS AND CARBON NANO-ONIONS CERAMIC COMPOSITES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS , Ibrahim Munkaila Abdullahi

Theses from 2017 2017

In situ pH determination based on the NMR analysis of ¹H-NMR signal intensities and ¹⁹F-NMR chemical shifts , Ming Huang

Theses from 2016 2016

Tracking silver, gold, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles through drinking water systems by single particle - inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry , Ariel Renee Donovan

Theses from 2015 2015

In vitro study of wound-healing capabilities of bioactive glass fibers under various culture conditions , Sisi Chen

CapPack devices for enhanced qNMR measurements in 1 H NMR spectroscopy , Lingyu Chi

Theses from 2013 2013

Part I: Increased leaching of arsenic, selenium, molybdenum, and vanadium from high calcium coal ash containing trona reaction products. Part II: Using agricultural byproduct rice hull as biosorbent to remove and recover metal ions in water , Yongbo Dan

Role of nicotine in oxidative stress , Rakesh Kacham

Comparative evaluation of N-acetylcysteine and N-acetylcysteine amide in acetaminophen-induced oxidative stress , Ahdab Naeem Khayyat

Theses from 2011 2011

Relaxation imaging to characterize lightweight polymer-crosslinked aerogels , Emmalou T. Satterfield

Theses from 2010 2010

Water analysis for emerging environmental contaminants , Xiaoliang Cheng

Comparing the chelating abilities of N-acetylcysteine and N-acetylcysteine amide in vitro for lead poisoning treatment , Weiqing Chen

Theses from 2008 2008

Obscurant oil characterization produced through vaporization by exhaust gas of mini-jet turbine engine , Hossein Daniel Bahaghighat

Polymer reinforced aerogels and composites A. Polyimide crosslinked aerogels B. Silica-polymethylmethacrylate composites , Vishal U. Patil

A rapid method for determination of alpha hydroxy acids in seawater and biological fluids at trace levels , Ryan Lee Schwiderski

N-Acetylcystein amide protects against methamphetamine-induced oxidative stress in human brain endothelial cells , Xinsheng Zhang

Theses from 2007 2007

Physical analysis of human hair , Lea Marie Dankers

Theses from 2006 2006

X-ray photoelectron, Raman and attenuated total reflection-infrared spectroscopy studies of sonochemically oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes , Robert V. Hull

Part I, Synthesis and characterization of biogenic oil esters ; Part II, Assessment of relative antioxidant activities of selected antioxidants in different matrices , Ranjith Kolli

New Schiff base complexes: Synthesis and their properties : [N,N'-bis (3-methoxysalicylidene)-o-phenylenediamine] Nickel (II), [N,N'-bis-salicylidene-3,4-diaminotoluene] Nickel (II) and helical-chain copper (II) complex from 4(5) -imidazolecarboxaldehyde and ß-alanine , Feng Liu

Effect of plasticizer on segmental dynamics of bulk and adsorbed poly(vinyl acetate)-d₃ , Rakesh R. Nambiar

Effects of a newly synthesized thiol antioxidant on doxorubicin-induced oxidative stress , Rong Shi

Enzymatic synthesis and characterization of acidic amino acid oligomers , Hao Wang

Synthesis and characterization of some Schiff base metal complexes , Lili Wang

Functionalization of mesoporous silicas as powders for support and immobilization of Pd catalysts and as monolithic framework for building strong lightweight materials , Xiaojiang Wang

Theses from 2005 2005

Particulate matter (PM) emissions analysis for commercial aircraft operating in the landing and takeoff (LTO) cycle , Niharika Burla

Bound carbonyls in adsorbed PMMA-r-PS copolymers , Pavan K. Challa

Enzymatic synthesis and LC, MS and MS-MS characterization of tailored peptides , Hareesh Kumar Reddy Palli

Oxidation of trichloroethylene by microsomal cytochrome P450 enzymes , Arun Sahu

Effect of chiral solution precursors in the epitaxial electrodeposition of metal oxides , Jonathan Edward Stewart

Theses from 2004 2004

Binuclear phthalocyanine core controversy: aromatic vs. diene core , Srinivas Achanta

Application of soybean oil methyl ester for remediation of PCBs contaminated soil , Lijun Fan

Analysis of transient particulate emissions in jet engine exhausts , Sesha Krishna Kattamuri

Effect of food processing techniques on phytosterol, tocopherol and volatile content in soybean and soybean derived foods , Naga Mallika Surapaneni

Theses from 2003 2003

Polymer-metal interactions , Ayse Beyaz

Glycoprotein characterization by HPLC-ESI-MS and anticancer drug screening and mechanism study , Junnan Chen

Part 1, Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of Ru(3,8-dibromo-1,10-phenanthroline)₃(PF₆)₂ ; Part 2, Magnetic field and temperature effects on the emission properties of d- and 1- tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) complexes , Penggao Duan

A study of in vitro and in vivo toxicity of 3-nitro-L-tyrosine , Wei Hu

Capillary electrophoresis and its applications in the biological sciences: coenzyme A, polyamines and catecholamines , Guanshu Liu

Assessment of biodegradability and mutagenicity of methyl soyate and mineral oils , Shilpa (Shilpa Suresh Mathkar

In general, the voltammeteric current from a mixture of redox-active substances will not be the sum of the currents that each substance would produce at the same concentration independently , Woon Su Oh

Theses from 2002 2002

Selective recovery of triglycerides, phytosterols, tocopherols and isoflavones from soybean , Sabrina Forni

Glass transition behavior of thin poly(methyl methacrylate) films on silica , Moses T. Kabomo

The aerosol and chemical characteristics of rocket exhaust in the stratosphere , Andrew P. Rutter

Theses from 2001 2001

Characterization of scrap tires and printed circuit boards pyrolysis products , Shuping Ai

The effects of variable molecular weight and solvents, in water-reducible acrylic resins , John Adrion Jones

Catalytic effect of copper ions on homocysteine auto-oxidation to induce oxidative stress , Douglas Robert Krutil

Synthesis of transition metal substituted large crystal zeolite ZSM-5 , Tara Lyn Schaeffer

Applications of supercritical fluid extraction and chromatography for determination of cholesterol oxides in biological matrices , Uma Maheswar Rao Srirangam

Theses from 2000 2000

Synthesis of crosslinkable water reducible acrylic copolymers for coatings , Mandar R. Bhave

Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of 2,7-diazapyrenium compounds , Zhan Mao

Evaluation of (the intrinsic conducting polymer) polyaniline as a corrosion inhibitor on (aircraft grade) aluminum alloys , Matthew Shannon Pittman

Theses from 1999 1999

The role of additives and diluents in copper deposition from organic solutions , David Samuel Gillis

Jet engine particulate emissions as a function of fuel formulation (additives) , Melissa R. Wilson

Plausible antioxidant functions of N-acetylcysteine and D-penicillamine in the treatment of copper toxicity , Mozow Yusof

Theses from 1998 1998

Characterization of petroleum fog oil and vegetable oil smokes , Andrew Oliver LaRouche

A study on degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in contaminated matrices with gamma radiation , Qunhui Liu

Evaluation of the coordination chemistry of 2-(2'-pyridyl)imidazole with selected palladium (II) compounds , Theresa Marie Pierce

Alumoxane-based corrosion resistant coatings for aluminum substrates , Yue Wu

Determination of biological thiols by HPLC following derivatization by ThioGlo[trademark symbol] maleimide reagents , Bing Yang

Theses from 1996 1996

Evaluation of macrocyclic antibiotics as chiral selectors for high performance liquid chromatography , Christina Sue Bagwill

Assessment of entrapped freon in polyurethane foams and its release into the atmosphere , Susrut Kesari

Segmental motion of surface-bound swollen poly(methyl acrylate)-d , Minghua Liang

The effects of 4-Hydroxynonenal and N-Acetyl-L-cysteine on c-Myc induced apoptosis , Deniz Yildiz

Theses from 1995 1995

Synthesis and characterization of water reducible MMA-MMA copolymers , Hua-Jung Hu

The in vitro study of metabolic effects of D- and L- forms of amino acids on tumor cell growth , Xiang Luo

Theses from 1993 1993

Thermal stability of chymotrypsin using UV-VIS and Raman spectroscopy , Ashik Chandra

Thermodynamic investigation of the sphere-rod transition in the presence of organic electrolytes , Yvonne Liske

Organic titanates as coupling agents for Kevlar/phenolic composites , Nalini Menon

Optical emission spectroscopy study of interaction of a metal chelate with RF plasma , Wu-Sheng Shih

Synthetic approaches for intermediates of 1,8-naphthalene phthalocyanines , Alexander Albert Williams

Theses from 1992 1992

The preparation of silicon-containing monomers : dimethylbis(aminophenyl)silane and 1,3-tetramethylbis(p-aminophenyl)disiloxane , Louis Chi-Kuo Hsieh

Effect of in vivo lead exposure on lymphocyte response to in vitro mitogenic stimulation , Chaandini Jayachandran

Removal of organic compounds from water via derivatized cyclodextrins , Deanna Lynn Schmid

Cyclodextrin stationary phases for the chromatographic separation of gases , William Taylor Wall

Theses from 1991 1991

Templating of plastics for coatings , Ree-Hsueh Wang

Theses from 1990 1990

Molecular mobility in a model polymer composite , Joan Ethel Gambogi

Selenium and tellurium in cigarette tobacco, smoke and ash , Se-Il Kim

Interaction of 1,2-dimethoxyethane and 1,2-dimethoxyethane/water mixtures with poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) based hydrogels , Wei Liu

Synthesis of linear aliphatic polysulfides and their corrosion inhibiting effects , Emerentiana Sianawati

The relative rates of tertiary amine oxidations with hydrogen peroxide as measured by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy , Patrick L. Weaver

Correlation of corrosion resistance of protective coatings with adhesion, moisture permeability, and oxygen permeability , Wen-Jung Yu

Theses from 1989 1989

The determination of selenium and tellurium in lead alloys by graphite furnace and hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry , Gregory James. Fox

Theses from 1988 1988

High performance liquid chromatography as an analytical method for determining the relative reactivity of the hydroxyl groups of methyl-4,6-0-benzylidene-alpha-D-glucoside and methyl-alpha-D-glucoside , R. Kevin Anderson

Adhesion of polyurethane coatings to an aluminum substrate and glass fiber reinforced polyurethane composites with contact clarity , Michael James Carr

Ultrasonic dispersion of pigment in solvent based paints , James O. Stoffer

Thermal, mechanical and interfacial characterization of a fiberglass reinforced plastic composite , Theodore J. Williams

Adhesion and corrosion testing as a means of coatings evaluation , Jie Xu

Theses from 1987 1987

Temperature dependent ternary solution behavior of aqueous nonionic surfactant systems containing aliphatic ketones , Gregg Alan Barnes

Development of tests for measurement of adhesion of coatings , Surendra Kanhaiyalal Gadodia

The synthesis and characterization of polycarbonates based on 1,1'-dihydroxyethyl-2,2'-biimidazole , Judith J. Garces

Study of glass matrixing of marine antifouling agents for surface coating application , Angela M. Ross

Non-aqueous carboxylic-carboxylate microemulsion , Diep Thi Vo

Theses from 1986 1986

Syntheses and characterization of macromolecules by reaction of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A and dihydroxyethyl biimidazole , Weichen Chi

Ultrasonic despersion of pigment in water based paints , Maher Fahim

The acylation of primary and secondary amines by the N-hydroxysuccinmide esters of unsubstituted and substituted styrlacetic acids , Lawrence D. Rutledge

Theses from 1985 1985

Nucleation of zinc by electrodeposition onto glassy carbon from acidic zinc sulfate solutions , Beverly J. Flori

The structure of oligomers released by enzymatic hydrolysis of the alkali-insoluble cell wall polysaccharide of Schizophyllum commune , Abbas K. Samadi

Structural determination of an extracellular polysaccharide from Phanerochaete Chrysosporium , Anthony Allan Stevens

Theses from 1984 1984

The preparation and evaluation of alkyd resins that comply with solvent restrictive regulations , Karen Kohl Beckmann

The effect of cobalt driers on the drying and the post-cure embrittlement of Pale Bodied Varnish Linseed Oil in Mineral Spirits and 1,1,1-Trichloroethane , Esin Gunay

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Home > FACULTIES > Chemistry > CHEM-ETD

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

This collection contains theses and dissertations from the Department of Chemistry, collected from the Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Theses/Dissertations from 2024 2024

Exploring the Reactivity of Metal-Ligand Cooperative Complexes with Dioxazolones, Terminal Alkynes, and 2-Ethynylbenzyl Alcohol , megan A. Hoffer Miss

Luminescent Group 11 Metal (I) Chalcogen Clusters with a Conjugated Diphosphine Ligand , Kai Yu Jeffrey Li

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Water Decontamination via Electrodialysis , Baian Almusned

Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel Nucleotide Prodrugs Against SARS-CoV-2 , Mohammed Attaelmanan

Design Strategies for Boron Difluoride Formazanate Dyes with Near-Infrared Optical Properties , Francis L. Buguis

Characterization of Deposited Copper Oxide Films on Copper Substrates , Millicent Castillo

Investigating Novel Luminescent Materials Towards Applications in Light Emitting Electrochemical Cells , Kenneth Chu

Oligo [poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate] gels with photo-sensitive pendent groups , Andrew Chung

Synchrotron Study of Phase Transition and Heterostructures in Metal Oxide Semiconductors , Bingyu Dong

Development of Advanced Halide-Based Solid-State Electrolytes and Cathode Materials for All-Solid-State Batteries , Jiamin Fu

Optimizing and Evaluating Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as a Matrix for Matrix-Assited Laser/ Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Small Molecule Detection in Rodent Brain Tissue , Juan Pablo Galindo

Synthetic Polymers for Cartilage Uptake and Stimuli-Responsive Hydrogels , Jue Gong

Protein Stability in Solution and in the Gas Phase. , Yousef Haidar

Structural Control of Metallothionein Metallation and Oxidation , Natalie C. Korkola

Synthesis of Ni(II) Complexes for Allylic C(sp3)-H Bond Activation for Aerobic Oxidation Catalysis , Shagana Kukendran

Hydrophosphorylation of Imines: Synthetic Methodology for the Synthesis of Small Molecules and Materials. , Jan-Willem Lamberink

Use of Electrochemical Techniques and Statistical Analysis to Investigate The Pitting Probability of Copper , Sina Matin

Application of Phosphadiazonium Cations in Nitrogen-based Heterocycle Chemistry , Shaun K. Milkovich

The Effect of Hydrogen Peroxide on the Corrosion Dynamics of Carbon Steel , Kwang Soak Gabriel O'Donnell

Hydrogen Bond Activation of Donor Acceptor Cyclopropanes , Matthew H.J. Pamenter

The Synthesis and Characterization Studies of Modified Nucleobase in PNA and DNA , Gyeongsu Park

Exploring the Synthesis of Triptycene-Based Polymer Building Blocks and Their Related Phosphorus-Rich Polymer Networks. , Seyedeh Mehrnoosh Raoofi

The Effect of Solution Parameters on the Interfacial Chemical Dynamics of Early-Stage Corrosion , Brianna K. Rector

Synthesis and modification of cyclic peptide nanotubes as imaging agents , FATIMA AMANDA SANTILLAN ESPINOZA

Investigating the structure of Metal-Organic Frameworks and the behaviors of adsorbed guest molecules in MOFs via Solid-state NMR Spectroscopy , Yihao Shen

Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Amines using Metal Ligand Cooperative Catalysts , Amrit Singh

Metal Release of CoCrMo Alloy in Protein-Rich Solutions – Effect of Irradiation, Sliding and Manufacturing Process , Zheng Wei

Indigo and Hemiindigo-Based Photoswitchable Hydrogen Bond Arrays , Paul Winiarz

Metalation and Structural Properties of Human Metallothionein-3 , Amelia T. Yuan

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Developing Carbon Quantum Dots as a Luminescent Material and Revisiting ECL and LED Absolute Measurement Methods , Jonathan Ralph Adsetts

Investigating the Mechanism of Protein and Peptide Electrospray Ionization , Elnaz Aliyari

Characterization of 1D and 2D Materials with Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy , María Olivia Avilés

Synthesis and Characterization of Photoluminescent Boron Difluoride Hydrazone (BODIHY) Dyes , Daniela Cappello

Mechanistic Elucidation of M-PR2NRʹ2 Catalysts for Hydrofunctionalization and Cross Coupling Reactions , Devon E. Chapple

3,4-Annulated Indoles via Tandem Cyclopropane Ring-Opening/Conia-ene and Michael Addition/Conia-ene Reactions , Shane R. Cochrane

Expanding the Scope of Clickable Azide-Functionalized Nanoclusters to include Au144 , Johanna A. de Jong

Exploring the Optical and Redox Properties of π-Conjugated Boron Difluoride Formazanate Dyes , Jasveer S. Dhindsa

Near-IR Laser Ablation of Simulated Radiologically Contaminated Oxides on Carbon Steel Feeder Pipes , Thao Viet Do

Synthesis and Characterization of Phosphorus Containing Polymers for the Purpose of Polymer Derived Ceramics , Kelly C. Duggan

A Survey of Stapling Methods to Increase the Affinity, Activity and Stability of Ghrelin Analogues , Juan Esteban

Tuning the properties of MoS₂ flakes with gold nanoparticles and Rhodamine dye , Pooneh Farhat

The Synthesis, Lewis Acidity and Catalytic Activity of Bis(catecholato)germanes , Andrew T. Henry

The Coordination Chemistry and Reactivity of Pd Phosphine 1-Azaallyl Complexes , Kyle M. Jackman

Computational Modelling of Interfacial Properties of Droplets , Victor Kwan

Electrochemical Deposition of Calcium Phosphate-Based Coatings onto Porous Ti using Organic Phosphorus Sources , Clement Lee

Identifying and Quantifying Environmental Contaminants in Various Matrices using Mass Spectrometry , Cameron Littlejohn

Investigating the Influence of Synthetic Environments on the Electronic Structure and Luminescence of Cr-doped Zinc Gallate , Xincheng Li

Solid State NMR Spectroscopic Characterization of Metal Organic Frameworks , Vinicius Martins

Small Molecule Activation and Catalysis by Low Valent Group 14 Compounds , Sarah Louise McOnie

Luminescent Group 11 Metal Chalcogen Clusters with Bidentate Phosphine Ligands , Mansha Nayyar

Conformational Dynamics and Aggregation of Thermally Stressed Proteins Studied by Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry , Nastaran Nosrat Tajoddin

Insight into the Stereochemistry and Mechanism of σ-Addition to Disilenes , Zahra M. Sharif

Synthesis and Surface Modification of Azide Decorated Silver Nanoclusters , Alexander H. Stöckli

Plasmonically-Active Nanomaterials for Enhanced Second-Harmonic Generation and Chemical Reactions , Denis AB Therien

Natural Product Discovery and Mycotoxin Analysis of Agricultural Endophytes and Pathogens , Jacob P. Walsh

Design and Surface Modification of Noble Metal-based Nanocatalysts , Xuchun Wang

Analyzing Enhanced Electrochemiluminescence of Novel Materials , Liuqing Yang

Humid Air Corrosion of Carbon Steel and Stainless Steels under Gamma Radiation: The Role of Solution Volume and Radiolysis Products , Masoud Zakeri

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Effects of Solution pH, Temperature and Redox Environment on Corrosion and Oxide Formation on Inconel X-750 , Mohsen Bahrami

Galvanic Corrosion of Carbon Steel Coupled to Copper in Used Nuclear Fuel Containers , Lindsay J. Braithwaite

A computational study on a globular protein and an intrinsically disordered protein , Cecilia Chavez Garcia

Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Small Molecules and Neurotransmitters in Rodent Brains Assisted with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: Method Development and Applications in Neurobiology , Chaochao Chen

The Development of Fluorine-18 Imaging Agents Targeting the GHSR , Marina D. Childs

Characterization of Extracellular Vesicles by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy , Nina M. Culum

Analysis and Differentiation of Uniform and Localized Corrosion of Cu , Roshan J. Daljeet

X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, and Optical Luminescence Studies of Undoped and P-doped ZnO Nano/Microparticles , Zhi Liang Dong

Self-Immolative Dendritic Hydrogels , Karanpreet Gill

Effects of Gamma-Radiation on the Evolution of Copper Corrosion Dynamics in Deep Geological Repository Solution Environments , Lindsay J. Grandy

Nanoorthogonal Surface Modifications of Gold Nanoparticles and Nanoclusters through Strain-Promoted Cycloaddition Chemistry , Praveen N. Gunawardene

Investigating the Corrosion Behaviour of Ni-based alloys in Industrially Relevant Environments , Jeffrey D. Henderson

Metal Ligand Cooperative Complexes for Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Amines , Matthew D. Hoffman

Synthesis And Characterization of Re(I) Tricarbonyl Complexes of 1,8-Naphthalimide , Priyanka Jagadeesa Prabhu

Non-Linear Effects of Solution Parameters and Gamma Radiation on Nickel Oxidation Dynamics , Razieh Karimihaghighi

Cationic Boron Formazanate Complexes , Benjamin D. Katzman

High-Pressure Studies of Flexible Metal-Organic Frameworks and Their Performance for CO2 Adsorption using Infrared Spectroscopy , Boqing Li

Synchrotron X-ray characterizations of black phosphorus: preparation, doping and applications in energy storage , Minsi Li

Staudinger Reactions on Azide Functionalized Au25 Nanoclusters as a Route to Linked Frameworks , Sung Kyun Lim

Structural Tuning and Spectroscopic Characterizations of Polysulfide as Battery Materials , Daiqiang Liu

Investigating the Behavior of Adsorbed CO2 in Metal-Organic Frameworks via 13C Solid-state NMR Spectroscopy , Yingxian Li

Copper Corrosion Dynamics under Deep Geologic Repository Conditions , Masoumeh Naghizadeh

The Synthesis and Application of Polyglyoxylamides , Quinton EA Sirianni

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Synthesis of Stable Organic Radical Homo- and Co-Polymers and Their Applications in Solid-State Devices , Michael Anghel

Iron(II) Metal-Ligand Cooperative Catalysts for Endo-Selective Intramolecular Hydrofunctionalization , Benjamin Bridge

Electronic and local structures of Pt-based bimetallic alloy and core-shell systems , Jiatang Chen

Development of a Route to Functional Polymers via Click Chemistry , Kyle Classen

Analysis of Secondary Metabolites Biosynthesized by Pathogenic and Symbiotic Fungi using High-Resolution Tandem LC-MS and Spectral Molecular Networking , Natasha DesRochers

Theoretical Investigation of Pressure-Induced Structural Transformations of Ethylenediamine Bisborane , Rongfeng Guan

The Electrochemical and Corrosion Study of Copper for Nuclear Waste Containers under Deep Geological Disposal Conditions , Mengnan Guo

Ganglioside Detection from Formalin Fixed Human Brain Tissue Utilizing MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry , Aaron Harris

The Incorporation of Phosphorus into Polymer Networks for Drug Encapsulation and Release , Tristan D. Harrison

Self-immolative Polymers as a Degradable and Triggerable Class of Surfactants , Siamak Keshtpour

Coordination and Reactivity of a Structurally Responsive Phosphine-1-Azallyl Ligand , Meagan Kindervater

The Rearrangement and Nucleophilic addition of Donor-Acceptor Cyclobutane: Novel Methodologies to Access δ-Lactones and Ring-Opened Products , Donghyun Koo

Chemical Reactions at Metal Surfaces: Functionalization Strategies and Spectroscopic Characterization , Sydney Legge

Galvanic Corrosion of Carbon Steel-Stainless Steel Welds , Mi Li

Mechanistic Insights into Analyte Charge Enhancement using Mass Spectrometry and Molecular Dynamics Simulations , Leanne Martin

Plasmon-Enabled Physical and Chemical Transformations of Nanomaterials , Danielle McRae

Gamma-Radiolysis Kinetics and Its Role in the Overall Dynamics of Materials Degradation , Ryan P. Morco

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligated Group 11 Trimethylsilylchalcogenolates: Building Blocks for Heterometallic Chalcogenide Molecules , Dickron Richard Nahhas

Hemithioindigo-based Photoswitchable Self- Complementary Hydrogen Bond Arrays , Suendues Noori

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PhD Theses (Chemistry)

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• No Thumbnail Available Item Synthesis of Furan, Pyran, Pyrrolidine, and Piperidine Scaffolds via Tandem Prins Cyclization Reactions ( 2023 ) Shit, Sudip Show more The content of this thesis has been divided into five chapters on the basis of results of experimental work performed during the complete course of the PhD tenure. The chapter 1 describes the tandem Prins cyclization reactions and their mechanisms to construct Furan, Pyran, pyrrolidine and piperidine scafolds in brief. The chapter 2 deals with the stereoselective synthesis of hexahydrofuro[3,4-b] furan-4-ol and its dimer via tandem Prins and pinacol rearrangement. The dimer was conveniently converted into its corresponding monomer using aqueous zinc(II) chloride in THF in quantitative yields. Chapter 3 describes synthesis of spiro[furan-2,1′-isoindolin]-3′-ones from 2‑(4- hydroxybut-1-yn-1-yl)benzonitriles and aryl aldehydes under the action of triflic acid. The plausible mechanism of the reactipon has been drawn on the basis of control experiments and literature evidence. The synthetic utility of the reaction was performed using Sonogashira reaction and click reaction conditions. In chapter 4, nitrile stabilized synthesis of pyrrolidine and piperidine derivatives via tandem alkynyl aza-Prins-Ritter reactions is described. In chapter 5, regio- and chemoselective synthesis of 3-(dihydrofuran-3(2H)-ylidene)isobenzofuran-1(3H)-imines via tandem alkynyl Prins- and intramolecular oxycyclization reaction is disclosed. The methodology was extended towards synthesis of its pyran derivatives. The post synthetic applications of the reaction were extended towards synthesis of furanylidene-isobenzofuranones in excellent yields. The mechanistic investigation of the reaction was performed on the basis of controlled experiment. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Design, Synthesis and Investigations of Liquid Crystalline Organic Semiconductors ( 2023 ) Vishwakarma, Vinod Kumar Show more This thesis entitled “Design, Synthesis and Investigations of Liquid Crystalline Organic Semiconductors” describes simple and straightforward synthetic pathways, characterizations and applications of new LC/non-LC organic materials, with their potential applications in acid sensing, optoelectronic devices mainly OLEDs and OFETs applications. A brief overview of the chapters is given. Chapter 1, gives a general introduction to liquid crystals, characterization techniques and their applications. Chapter 2a addresses the synthesis and characterization of pyrazino[2,3-g]quinoxaline (PQ) derivatives where the central pyrazino[2,3-g]quinoxaline central core is substituted with eight peripheral flexible tails of varying lengths. The compounds with very short/branched peripheral chains did not stabilize any liquid crystalline phase, while the medium to long-chain homologs exhibited columnar phases. All the compounds exhibited a high molar extinction coefficient and bright greenish-yellow emission behavior in solution and solid state. One of the columnar liquid crystalline materials was used in the fabrication of host-guest OLED exhibited higher efficiency and bright green emission. Chapter 2b describes the sensing ability of the pyrazino[2,3-g]quinoxaline derivative to volatile trifluoroacetic acid in trace amounts (in parts per billion levels). The reversible detection of acid-sensing behavior was visually perceivable in both solutions as well as in the drop-casted film on a TLC paper-based strip. Chapter 3 explains new design strategies for the synthesis of donor-acceptor-donor pyrazino[2,3-g]quinoxaline carbazole derivatives with straight chain and branched alkyl peripheral chains. The electron-donating carbazole moieties that have been placed in the periphery showed a strong electron-donating ability, high molar extinction coefficients and lower band-gap, bright emission behavior in solution and solid-state, along with positive solvatochromism. One of the branched chain compounds was used in yellow and white OLEDs device fabrications. Chapter 4 describes the detailed synthesis of naphthalene and perylene-based imidazole derivatives with a new donor-π-acceptor-π-donor architecture containing ten flexible chains for solution-processable organic field effect transistor (OFETs) applications. These compounds showed a wide range of columnar LC behavior. One of these naphthalene and perylene bisimide derivatives were evaluated for their application in OFET devices exhibited high hole mobility values. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Stimuli-responsive Turn-on Fluorogenic Donors of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and the Prodrugs of Anti-cancer Compounds ( 2023 ) Mahato, Sulendar K Show more The dissertation entitled “Stimuli-responsive Turn-on Fluorogenic Donors of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and Prodrugs of Anti-Cancer Compounds” consists of four chapters based on the results of experimental works performed during the complete course of Ph.D. research tenure. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Stereospecific Opening and Cyclization of the Strained Ring Systems for the Synthesis of Six-Membered Heterocycles ( 2022 ) Das, Bijay Ketan Show more The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter describes the general introduction to the opening and cyclization of the strained ring system for the synthesis of six-membered heterocycles. The second chapter focuses on the synthesis of piperazines and tetrahydropyrazines through stereospecific ring-opening and cycloisomerization of aziridines with N-propargylamines. Third chapter covers stereospecific synthesis of substituted 1,4-oxazine via Zn/Ag Relay catalyzed ring opening/hydroalkoxylation of oxiranes with N-propargylamines. Chapter four deals with the stereospecific assembly of tetrahydroquinolines via tandem ring-opening/oxidative cyclization of donor-acceptor cyclopropanes with N-alkyl anilines. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Application of Modified Smooth Exterior Scaling Method to Study Auger and Shape Resonances in Different Atomic and Molecular Systems ( 2024 ) Banuary, Mwdansar Show more This thesis focuses on the application of modified smooth exterior scaling (MSES) as an efficient method to impose outgoing boundary conditions in e-atom and e-molecule scattering resonances. This is the first time that the MSES method has been applied to calculate energies and widths of Auger and shape resonances in three-dimensional many-body electron systems. MSES converts the divergent resonance wave functions into square integrable ones thereby making the study of temporary bound states (resonance states) amenable to bound state electronic structure methods. The main objective of this thesis is to formulate the MSES method in bivariational SCF and electron propagator methods. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item N- and O- Donor Ligands for Fluorometric and Colorimetric Detection of Metal Ions ( 2024 ) Bhattacharya, Araghini Show more This Thesis contains five chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction which describes the contribution of metals in our daily lives and their adverse effects on human beings when exposed to excess amounts along with a brief elaboration of different detection techniques. Some recent developments in devising fluorescent and colorimetric probes are also discussed. In Chapter 2 the 2,4,5-tris(2-pyridyl)imidazole (L1H) molecule has been evaluated as a probe for dual sensing of Hg2+ and Cu2+ ions in EtOH/HEPES buffer medium (5 mM, pH = 7.34, 1:1, v/v). Probe L1H shows a good sensitive and selective turn off response in the presence of both Hg2+ and Cu2+ ions, which is comprehensible under long UV light. Its sensitivity was evaluated in different pH medium and in presence of other metal ions. Paper strip experiments and in-vitro cell imaging was done to know the sensitivity of the probe towards the metal ions in different environment. Chapter 3 describes the probe 2,6-di(2-pyridyl)-1,5-dihydroimidazo[4,5-f]benzimidazole (L2H2) and its sensing application towards metal ions. This probe could detect Zn2+ and Cd2+ ions in three different aqueous systems viz., water, DMSO/HEPES buffer (1:1, pH = 7.34, rt), and DMSO/water (1:1, rt). In water a “turn-on” response was observed for both metal ions, whereas in the latter two solvent systems, a ratiometric change in fluorescence maximum was observed. The detection limit of this probe was as low as 0.3 μM and 0.62 μM (in water) for Zn2+ and Cd2+ ions, respectively. In Chapter 4 synthesis and evaluation of a novel probe N'-(pyren-1-ylmethylene)benzo[d]imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-2-carbohydrazide (L3H) as metal ion sensor was explored. It was found to be able to nanomolar detection of Pd2+ and Ni2+ ions by colorimetric change. This probe was also able to detect the presence of Pd2+ ions in drug samples and APIs without any major interference. LOD values were calculated to be 46.1 to 93.9 nM (4.9 to 6.0 ppb) for PdCl2 and 10.6 to 19.6 nM (1.1 to 2.1 ppb) for Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 and 9.301 nM for NiCl2 solutions. It also showed extremely good recovery of Pd2+ in presence of all the drug molecules. In Chapter 5 another novel ligand L4H based on 2,7-dichlorofluorescein was synthesized and evaluated for sensing applications. It was found to be able to detect Co2+ and Cu2+ ions differentially by different colouration of the solution in presence of these two metal ions. In situ Cu-complex of the ligand was utilised for quantification of amino acids like BSA and HSA proteins. Its differential selectivity paved the for molecular logic gate application. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Computational investigation of excited state processes in ESIPT-based systems and vinylene-linked thiophene pyrrole ( 2024 ) Mawa, Ibanrishisha Show more The thesis focuses on understanding the mechanistic pathway in systems undergoing excited state intramolecular proton transfer and cis-trans isomerization. Unveiling the mechanism of these processes at an atomistic scale is of utmost importance as it would add to our understanding and assist in designing materials with better performance. These kinds of processes are observed in our everyday life such as the vision process in retinal chromophores, vitamin D production in humans on exposure to sunlight and mutation during DNA replication, etc. The application part of systems undergoing photoinduced processes are realized in the design and development of certain materials such as optoelectronic devices. The thesis has three working chapters. The first work is based on 1-hydroxy-2-acetonaphthone (HAN) due to the unsettled issues regarding the proton transfer process. In addition, the process of full photocycle including the non-radiative relaxation pathways is proposed. The second work highlights the effect of implicit solvents on the photoinduced processes in nitrile-substituted 2-(oxazolinyl)-phenols. Additionally, the mechanisms behind these two regiomers’ weakly emissive properties in the solvent phases are investigated. My last work involves the exploration of photoisomerization pathways in vinylene-linked thiophene-pyrrole system. Considering the computational cost for the dynamics study in the excited state, we have employed single-reference method such as time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and algebraic diagrammatic construction scheme of second order (ADC(2)). However, multi-reference studies are also incorporated in our study wherever the single-reference methods fail. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Properties and Potential Applications of Biomimetic and Bio-derived Nanofluidic Systems ( 2021 ) Konch, Tukhar Jyoti Show more The branch of fluid dynamic that explore the flow of liquid in structure constrained to nanometer size regime (1-100nm) is defined as nanofluidic. Fluidic transport in and around nanofluidic structures is dominated by interactions of otherwise weak effects such as the formation of electrical double layers (EDL), attractive or repulsive forces of charged species, and entropic barriers. Typically, transport of charged species through nanometer-sized channels are dominated by the overlapping electrical double layers. One of the major difficulties in designing nanofluidic devices is the inherent complexity. The overall transport characteristics are determined by the interplay of various nanoscale or even molecular level physical, geometric, and chemical factors. Biological ion channels, however, are known for their capability of elaborately manipulating these factors to regulate the transmembrane ionic flow, which plays a crucial role in a number of physiological processes. Mimicking the biological systems researchers has tried to demonstrate its artificial counterparts. In light of this feature, various ion-channel-mimetic smart 1D nanofluidic systems have been developed that can reproduce functions analogous to its parent biological systems. Although systematic research in single-pore devices makes the physical picture of this nanofluidic process much clear, it is still far from competent for practical applications. Toward practical applications, one major challenge is to extrapolate individual nanofluidic devices to macroscopic platform in a cost-efficient way. Interestingly solution to the above mentioned dilemma was also resolved from natural inspirations in the form of lamellar microstructure of nacre, in which soft materials (polysaccharides and proteins) are sandwiched between hard inorganic layers (aragonite platelets), forming an alternatively arranged layered structure. This novel method of material designing and large-scale integration of individual artificial nanofluidic channels into a macroscopic platform give birth a new research filed known as the 2D nanofluidics. Via a simple vacuum filtration process, colloidal dispersions of individual 2D nanosheets can be reassembled into a densely stacked multi-layered structure. The interstitial space between opposite 2D nanosheets can be treated as lamellar channels for mass and charge transport. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Transition-Metal Catalyzed Regioselective C-C/C-Heteroatom Bond Formations: Access to Functionalized Arenes and Heterocycles ( 2022 ) Sarkar, Tanumay Show more The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter illustrates a Ru(II)-catalyzed siteselective C-H acyloxylation of N-aryl-2-pyrimidines with carboxylic acids as the acyl source. The second chapter describes a Ni(II)-catalyzed oxidative C-H heteroarylation of arenes with azoles utilizing a removable oxazoline-based directing auxiliary. The third chapter deals with the Bi(III)- catalyzed annulation of 2-naphthols with N-sulfonylaziridines. The fourth chapter demonstrates (3+3)-cycloaddition of aziridines with diaziridines for the stereospecific synthesis of triazines under Fe(III)-catalysis. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Ipso Nucleophilic Substitution on Electron Deficient Arene Systems ( 2024 ) Mondal, Sandip Show more The thesis entitled, “Ipso Nucleophilic Substitution on Electron Deficient Arene Systems” mainly focused on the development of greener and transition metal free methodologies for various alkylation reactions. The contents of the thesis have been divided into five chapters based on the results of experimental works performed during the research period. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Design of Coatings Embedded with Tolerant, Tailored and Responsive Underwater Oil Wettability and Oil Adhesion ( 2023 ) Borbora, Angana Show more The anti-oil wettability of various naturally existing underwater creatures has inspired researchers to develop artificial super oil repellent interfaces for multiple applications in engineering, healthcare, and environmental remediation. In the past, several approaches were adopted to artificially fabricate underwater oil-repellent surfaces, formally known as underwater superoleophobicity, by co-optimizing hydrophilic chemical composition and rough micro/nano-structures on their surface. However, the earlier reported approaches in deriving underwater superoleophobicity were unable to associate some other essential properties, such as, physical and chemical durability, adaptive tuning of oil adhesion, and transparency in the prepared surfaces. Here, a facile 1, 4-conjugate addition reaction is exploited to derive covalently crosslinked chemically reactive coatings on various surfaces loaded with residual chemical functionalities that provide the opportunity to embed underwater superoleophobicity through appropriate post-covalent modifications. While the covalent crosslinking tailored mechanical property, the adequate chemical post-modification customized oil adhesion and optical transparency. The thesis entitled “Design of Coatings Embedded with Tolerant, Tailored and Responsive Underwater Oil Wettability and Oil Adhesion” is presented in six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces bio-mimicked underwater superoleophobic surfaces, the existing challenges associated with conventional artificial fabrication approaches, and the objectives of the thesis work. Chapter 2 demonstrates the fabrication of a dually reactive multilayer coating following the 1, 4-conjugate addition reaction and the post-covalent modification of the multilayer coating to immobilize highly sensitive bare micro-meter sized nematic liquid crystal (LC) droplets underwater for single LC droplet based repetitive sensing application. Chapter 3 accounts for the utilization of the dually reactive multilayer coating to develop various responsive underwater superoleophobic surfaces via post-modifications and their adaptive oil adhesion for sensing different amphiphilic (cationic, anionic and facial) molecules. Chapter 4 demonstrates the rational functionalization of the dual reactive multilayer coating to depict the highly selective raising of the oil contact angle (OCA) and rolling of a beaded oil droplet underwater in the presence of targeted and relevant toxic chemicals. Chapter 5 introduces a covalently crosslinked and chemically reactive sol-gel conversion process through the 1, 4-conjugate addition reaction to achieve a substrate-independent, mechanically durable, and optical transparent coating embedded with underwater superoleophobicity. Moreover, this approach allows to modulate mechanical property of highly deformable objects. Chapter 6 provides a brief summary and the future outlook of the work presented here. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item (A) Computational Study of human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Aggregation and its Inhibition ( 2023 ) Roy, Rituparna Show more The aggregation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) stands at the nexus of Type II Diabetes (T2D) pathogenesis. In order to counteract the advancement of this disease, a possible therapeutic avenue is to curb the misfolding and aggregation of hIAPP. Within this thesis, we embark on the intricate journey of hIAPP aggregation, coupled with the myriad classes of compounds harboring the potential to impede this process. In Chapter I, a foundation is laid through the introduction of hIAPP and an array of different categories of inhibitors, each contributing to the modulation of hIAPP aggregation. A brief discussion of the molecular dynamics simulation methodology, which is a vital framework underpinning our study is followed. Thereafter, Chapter II takes the helm into venturing the different conformational states of an amyloid prone fragment of hIAPP, hIAPP20-29, via Markov State Modelling. Here, the transition pathway between the metastable states is analysed, which are crucial for the misfolding of hIAPP. Chapter III explores the influence of two small biological molecules on hIAPP aggregation. In Part (a), we have explored the effect of norepinephrine, which is a common neurotransmitter, on the amyloidogenesis of hIAPP. In Part (b), a new aspect of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), other than being the energy source for biochemical processes, is inquired. This chapter, thus, enlighten us about the diversity of the molecular structures that can modulate the aggregation of hIAPP and the effect of these structures on the activity of the inhibitors. Chapter IV turns the discourse towards peptides and peptidomimetics, probing their roles in shaping the aggregation narrative. Two such inhibitors are investigated, both of which are extracted from the amyloid core region of hIAPP, i.e., N22FGAIL27. In Part (a), this hIAPP fragment is replaced with all D-amino acids, and is used to prohibit the self-assembly of full-length hIAPP. In Part (b), a conformationally restricted element, aminobenzoic acid is incorporated into NFGAIL, by replacing Ile26 and/or Gly24 residues. Here, three different isomers of aminobenzoic acid is used, i.e., (β, γ, δ). β- and γ- containing peptidomimetics successfully prevent the aggregation of hIAPP, but δ- peptidomimetics promote it, highlighting the contrasting behaviour of the isomers. Hence, in this chapter, we have conveyed the effect of stereochemistry of the amino acid residues or modified organic moieties on the inhibitory potential of peptides or peptidomimetics. A novel dimension unfurls in Chapter V, where the alliance between boron nitride nanomaterials and hIAPP aggregation is explored. The curvature of the nanomaterials is observed to have an impact on their interaction site with hIAPP. Finally, Chapter VI unfurls a tapestry of conclusions, weaving together the diverse threads from our journey. In unity, this thesis stands as an ardent exploration, deciphering the aggregation pathway of hIAPP and unveiling a constellation of agents poised to intervene. The information regarding the structure and activity of the various inhibitors provides a holistic comprehension of the crucial molecular scaffolds and properties required to design drugs for combatting T2D's relentless advance. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Effect of the Position of Geminal Di-Substitution of g Amino Acid Residues on their Conformational Preference ( 2023 ) Debnath, Swapna Show more This thesis investigated the role germinal di-substitution at various backbone positions of the gamma amino acid residue on their conformational preferences. The thesis consists of 5 chapters. The first chapter describes the gamma amino acids and their conformations reported in the literature. Chapters 2-5 describe the investigations carried out in this thesis, which includes the incorporation of gamma amino acid residues (g2,2,g3,3 and g4,4) in the peptides. Chapter 2, describes the structures and assemblies in the solid and solution state of different derivatives of gamma amino acid residue. The structures and assemblies in the solid state are reported to be different for the three amino acid residues. The position of the backbone di-substitution is shown to drive the assembly in the solid state but not in solution. In the Chapter 3, three gamma amino acid residues were incorporated in all 􀀀 amino acid containing model helical peptide sequences (tri, hexa and nona petides) and compared their relative helical propensity. The C12 helical conformation diminished as: g4,4 g3,3 g2,2. Helices with a central 􀀀 amino acid residue was shown to adopt mixed 10/12 helices of both handedness (left and right) in both solid and in solution state. Nona peptides containing g3,3 and g2,2 amino acid residues adopted an unusual ambidextrous helical conformation in the solid and in solution state. The ambidextrous conformation was stabilized by a water mediated hydrogen bonding. Ambidexterity was not observed in the nona-peptide containing g4,4 amino acid residues, likely due to the absence of the key water molecule in the structures. Chapter 4 describes the propensity of these three amino acid residues in being able to nucleate an isolated expanded C12 B-turn motif. Chapter 5 studies the ability of these amino acid residues in nucleating 􀀀 hairpin conformation. Both C12 􀀀-turn and 􀀀-hairpin conformation was favoured by g3,3 and g4,4 favoured, whereas g2,2 failed to nucleate either of them due to unfavourable steric contacts. This thesis reported conformational preference of the three differently di-substituted 􀀀 amino acid residues, in the solution and in solid states by primarily using NMR, CD and X ray crystallography. In collaboration with the computational lab, ab initio calculations have also been done to understand the energetics of conformational preference. The conclusions are very well supported by experiments and computations. The thesis showed how a position of disubstitution (in the g amino acid backbone) determines its conformational preference by fine-tuning the energetics. The results are useful for peptidomimetics and rational design of peptides with various architectures. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Creating Life-like Transience in Synthetic Vesicles ( 2022 ) Das, Saurav Show more The thesis "Creating Life-like Transience in Synthetic Vesicles" explores several techniques and approaches for imbuing life-like non-equilibrium features in synthetic vesicular systems and their potential biomimetic applications in laboratory settings. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Effect of Pyridine and Imidazole Functionality on Chiral Resolution, Solution Spin State and Electrochemistry within Ni (II) and Fe (II) Complexes ( 2022 ) Bhattacharya, Sounak Show more This thesis work stems from our quest to find a simple way to recognize an enantiomer from a racemic mixture using coordination bond. To do that, we choose to use Ni (II)(high-spin) and Fe (II) (low-spin) complexes of chiral bidentate Schiff-base ligands. Observations on Fe (II) complexes led to finding complexes that show high- spin <--> low-spin transitions in solution. Digging deeper with more complexes along with a host of electrochemical and spectrometric tools, we ended up finding an intimate relationship between donor groups, redox potential, and spin-state. The effect of replacing pyridine with imidazole on redox and the spin-state properties discussed in the thesis is relevant to biomimetic chemistry. Imidazole group is a part of L- histidine amino acid, ubiquitous in metalloenzyme active sites. On the other hand, pyridine donor is typical in ligands related to biomimetic chemistry. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Selective C-H and C-C Bond Functionalization of Benzo-Fused N-Heteroaromatic Compounds ( 2022 ) Sarmah, Bikash Kumar Show more The present thesis, entitled “Selective C-H and C-C Bond Functionalization of Benzo-Fused N-Heteroaromatic Compounds” is divided into five chapters based on the results obtained from the experimental works during the course of PhD research period. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Exploring the Potential of Homogeneous Ru-SNS/NNS Complexes and Heterogeneous Ru-Hydrotalcite in De(hydrogenative) Transformations ( 2023 ) Sardar, Bitan Show more The contents of the present thesis entitled as “Exploring the Potential of Homogeneous Ru-SNS/NNS Complexes and Heterogeneous Ru-Hydrotalcite in De(hydrogenative) Transformations” have been divided into five chapters. The first chapter contains a brief literature study related to various de (hydrogenative transformations) and the last four chapters were based on the results achieved from the experimental works performed during the entire course of the PhD research program. Chapter 1 contains a brief introduction to the literature review of acceptorless dehydrogenation and borrowing hydrogen reaction of alcohols via homogeneous catalysis and heterogeneous catalysis. In 21st century, the rapid depletion of fossil fuels and growing environmental concerns urges chemists and chemical industries to search for alternative raw materials and to develop new methodologies to produce sustainable chemicals and important building blocks. In this regard, biomass-derived alcohols was found to be best candidate, as they are non-toxic in nature. Moreover, alcohols are considered renewable starting materials that can be used in organic synthesis for various organic transformations and the preparation of commodity chemicals. In this context, “acceptorless dehydrogenation (AD)” and “borrowing hydrogen (BH)” catalysis plays a key role. These approaches are sustainable because this process liberates water and in some cases (i.e., AD) molecular hydrogen as clean by-products. And, these types of reactions could be successfully performed by various types of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Interaction and Synchronization of Spiral Waves in a Reaction-Diffusion System ( 2023 ) Kalita, Hrishikesh Show more Over the past few decades, spirals have attracted a lot of interest. From a spinning galaxy to a swarm of honeybees, rotating spirals are widespread in nature. Their widespread presence in nature has made the study of spiral waves relevant across various disciplines. In physical systems like fluid flows, liquid crystals, galactic formations, etc., in biological systems like the heart, chicken retina, neocortex, slime mould, etc., in chemical systems like the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction system, the Briggs-Rauscher reaction, some simple precipitation processes, the oxidation of CO on platinum surfaces, etc., scientists have observed and studied spiral waves. Despite these studies, the ambiguity of spiral waves has prevented scientists from developing a comprehensive hypothesis Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Aggregation Aptitude in Rigid and Flexible Molecular Systems: Comparative Photophysical and Analytical Studies ( 2023 ) De, Sagnik Show more This thesis elucidates the important consequences in comprehension of aggregation outlook of flexible and rigid frameworks and their response towards environmentally and biologically relevant analytes. L1-L3 is designed which shows a comparative aggregation aptitude with chain length variation in amphiphiles. The entire photophysical study on aggregation process is dealt with. Then, these synthesized amphiphiles are used in creating hydrophobic surfaces due to their inherent property of hydrophobicity. Additionally, the concept of Photoinduced Electron Transfer or PET is applied in the detection of nitro antibiotics via fluorescence quenching. This chemo sensing is probed in biofluids viz; simulated gastric and body fluid. Next, a layout is provided where a comparative study between an amphiphile and a non-amphiphile is presented. The compounds designed and synthesized were substituted urea and amide (L4 & L5). Studies on aggregation-induced emission are shown by a binary solvent system DMF-Water. Morphological change is depicted on solvent switching by electronic microscopy imaging. Both solid and solution state emissive property is described. A unique photophysical prospect is shown in this piece of work i.e., light harvesting. Förster resonance energy transfer or FRET mechanism delivers the basis for this light-harvesting phenomenon between the amphiphile and a commercial dye; Rhodamine. Again, PET is applied to detect nitro explosives in water is demonstrated. This detection proceeds via disaggregation of the aggregated state. In the allied chapter, functionalization of amphiphile was done: a comparative outline on substituted urea and thiourea (L4 & L6). Apart from describing aggregational features through spectroscopy and microscopy, an edge on the chemo-sensing property is done. The thiourea selectively recognizes Hg (II) ions in an aqueous solution due to the soft-soft interaction between the sulfur atom and the heavy metal. Turn-On or fluorescence emission enhancement is achieved even in the presence of heavy metal during the chemosensing process. The toxic metal ion interaction causes disaggregation of the aggregated amphiphile confirmed through DLS and FESEM experiments. The chemo-sensing experiments are done in various real samples. Moreover, The Hg(II)-amphiphile ensemble detects sulfide ions in the water among all other sulfur-containing anions and amino acids. Show more
• No Thumbnail Available Item Reactivity Studies of 4-Hydroxydithiocoumarin: Design & Synthesis of Novel Bioactive Molecules ( 2022 ) Mondal, Santa Show more The thesis entitled “Reactivity Studies of 4-Hydroxydithiocoumarin: Design & Synthesis of Novel Bioactive Molecules” has been compiled into six chapters based on the experimental results and findings carried out by me during the entire research period. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of organosulfur compounds and their importance. In addition, the reason for choosing 4-hydroxydithiocoumarin as the key starting material for the synthesis of novel bioactive molecules. Chapter 2 elaborates on the synthesis of 3-sulfenyl derivatives. Chapter 3 describes the synthesis of α-thiocarbonyl compounds. Chapter 4 illustrates the synthesis of vinyl sulfides and thioethers. Chapter 5 demonstrates the synthesis of 1,4-oxathiin derivatives. Chapter 6 elucidates the synthesis of β-hydroxysulfides and β-aminosulfides by ring-opening reactions. Show more
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Reviewing the Literature: Why do it?

• Personal: To familiarize yourself with a new area of research, to get an overview of a topic, so you don't want to miss something important, etc.
• Required writing for a journal article, thesis or dissertation, grant application, etc.

Literature reviews vary; there are many ways to write a literature review based on discipline, material type, and other factors.

Background:

• Literature Reviews - UNC Writing Center
• Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students  - What is a literature review? What purpose does it serve in research? What should you expect when writing one? - NCSU Video

Where to get help (there are lots of websites, blogs , articles,  and books on this topic) :

• The Center for writing and Communicating Ideas (CWCI)
• (these are non-STEM examples: dissertation guidance , journal guidelines )
• How to prepare a scientific doctoral dissertation based on research articles (2012)
• Writing a graduate thesis or dissertation (2016)
• The good paper : a handbook for writing papers in higher education (2015)
• Proposals that work : a guide for planning dissertations and grant proposals (2014)
• Theses and dissertations : a guide to planning, research, and writing (2008)
• Talk to your professors, advisors, mentors, peers, etc. for advice

READ related material and pay attention to how others write their literature reviews:

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Department of chemistry: dissertations, theses, and student research.

Halide Exchange and Transport in Halide Perovskite Lattices , Temban Acha Billy

Synthesis and Study of High-Spin Stable Organic Radicals for Electrical Conductors and Mannosamine Nitroxide for MRI Contrast Agents , Shuyang Zhang

Designing Experiments: The Impact of Peer Review Structure on Organic Chemistry Students' Experimental Designs , Katie Patterson

Study of halide gradient formation via solution-solid halide exchange in crystalline CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 thin films , Behnaz Akbari

Oxygen Binding Thermodynamics of Human Hemoglobin in the Red Blood Cell , Kyle K. Hill

Developing Techniques for the Identification of Non-Canonical RNA Pairing and Analysis of LC-MS Datasets , Christopher Jurich

Surface Functionalization of Elastomers for Tunable Crystal Growth and Smart Adhesives , John Kapitan

Issue of False Amphetamine Field Test Positives Caused By Sugar. Use of Baeyer Test as a Secondary Test Solution. , Reed A. Knutson, Jennah Duncan, Kara Peightal, and Samuel Thomas

Harnessing Surface Chemistry and Instabilities in Silicone Elastomers to Synthesize Adaptive Systems with Mechanically Tunable Surface Properties and Functionality , Ali Jamal Mazaltarim

How Oxygen-Binding Affects Structural Evolution of Even-Sized Gold Anion Clusters. (Size Range 20 to 34) , David Brunken-Deibert

Analysis of Hydroxychloroquine Interaction with Serum Proteins by High Performance Affinity Chromatography , Kyungah Suh, Sadia Sharmeen, and David S. Hage

The Application and Development of Metabolomics Methodologies for the Profiling of Food and Cellular Toxicity , Jade Woods

Evaluation of the Overall Binding of Acetohexamide and Tolbutamide with Methyl Glyoxal-Modified HSA by High-Performance Affinity Chromatography , Ashley G. Woolfork and David S. Hage

C(sp2)-C(sp3) Cross-Coupling of Aryl Halides and Active C(sp3)-H Bonds via Dual Catalysis: Organic Photocatalysis/Nickel Redox Catalysis , Nicholas Armada

Phosphonate-Directed Catalytic Asymmetric Hydroboration: Synthesis of Functionalized Chiral Secondary and Tertiary Boronic Esters and Mechanistic Insights , Suman Chakrabarty

COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES OF THERMAL PROPERTIES AND DESALINATION PERFORMANCE OF LOW-DIMENSIONAL MATERIALS , Yang Hong

QUANTUM CHEMICAL CALCULATIONS APPLIED TO SOMO-HOMO CONVERSION AND VIBRATIONALLY AVERAGED NMR SHIELDING PARAMETERS , Erik Johnson

Design and Synthesis of Stable Aminyl and Nitroxide Radical Precursors , Joshua Bryan Lovell

Development of Nanomaterial Supports for the Study of Affinity-Based Analytes Using Ultra-Thin Layer Chromatography , Allegra Pekarek

ANALYSIS OF DRUG-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS DURING DIABETES BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE AFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHY , Pingyang Tao

Electropolymerization and Characterization of Thin Film Dielectrics , Christopher White II

Synthesis, Characterization, and Catalytic Activity of Copper Palladium Oxide Solid Solutions. , Gregory L. Christensen

GLOBAL MINIMUM SEARCH AND CARBON MONOXIDE BINDING STUDIES OF NOVEL GOLD NANOCLUSTERS , Navneet S. Khetrapal

Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in the Chemometric Analysis of Cellular Metabolism , Eli Riekeberg

Ultrafast Affinity Extraction and High-Performance Affinity Chromatography Applications for Measuring Free Drug Fractions: Interactions of Sulfonylurea Drugs with Normal and Glycated Human Serum Albumin , Bao Yang

DEVELOPMENT OF ENTRAPMENT COLUMNS FOR THE STUDY OF AFFINITY BASED ANALYSIS OF DRUG-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS , Shiden T. Azaria

Chemical Vapor Deposition of Two-Dimensional Materials and Heterostructures , Alex J. Boson

Bioinformatic and Biophysical Analyses of Proteins , Jonathan Catazaro

Developing Functionalized Peroxide Precursors for the Synthesis of Cyclic and Spirocyclic Ethers , Anna J. Diepenbrock

Decarboxylative Elimination for the Systhesis of Olefins Via Photoredox/Cobalt Dual Catalysis , Renjie Gui

Enantioselective γ- and δ -Borylation of Unsaturated Carbonyl Derivatives: Synthesis, Mechanistic Insights, and Applications. , Gia L. Hoang

Entrapment of proteins in high-performance affinity columns for chromatographic studies of drug-protein interactions , Saumen Poddar, Elliott Rodriguez, Shiden Azaria, and David S. Hage

Genetic Code Expansion in Biochemical Investigations and Biomedical Applications , Nanxi Wang

Applying the Diffusion of Innovation Theory to Characterize STEM Faculty Attending Professional Development Programs , Dihua Xue

Who is attending pedagogical workshops? Applying the Innovation Diffusion to Characterize Faculty Attendees , Victoria Dihua Xue, Trisha Vickrey, and Marilyne Stains

Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Protein Biosensor for Nitric Oxide , Wenjia Zhai

STUDIES IN DIRECTED CATALYTIC ASYMMETRIC HYDROBORATION OF 1,2-DISUBSTITUTED UNSATURATED AMIDE , Shuyang Zhang

Synthesis and Applications of Cyclobutenes , Benjamin Enns

Binding of Oxygen to Human Hemoglobin Within the Erythrocyte Using ICAM Spectrophotometry , Kyle K. Hill

Design and Synthesis of Novel Octacarboxy Porphyrinic Metal-Organic Frameworks , Jacob A. Johnson

Development of a Direct Activity Probe for Rho-Associated Protein Kinase , Maia Kelly

Thermolysis of Hypervalent Iodine Complexes: Synthesis of Fluorinated Radiotracers for Positron Emission Tomography and Synthesis of Quaternary α-Alkyl α-Aryl Amino Acids , Jayson J. Kempinger

Synthesis and Applications of Lanthanide Sulfides and Oxides , Christopher Marin

SELECTIVE IODINATION USING DIARYLIODONIUM SALTS , William H. Miller IV

MOLECULAR MECHANISM FOR THE BIOSYNTHESIS AND REGULATION OF SECONDARY METABOLITES IN LYSOBACTER , Simon Tesfamichael Tombosa

STUDIES IN ASYMMETRIC CATALYSIS: SUPRAMOLECULAR CATALYSIS AND BORANE-ASSISTED HYDROGENATION , Kazuya Toyama

Molecular Mechanism for the Biosynthesis of Antifungal HSAF and Antibacterial WAP-8294A2 , Haotong Chen

Toward the Probing of DHQS Activity by Protein Engineering through the Introduction of Unnatural Amino Acids and the Selection of tRNA/tRNA Synthetase Pairs , Shaina E. Ives

Toward an Expanded Role for Collision-Induced Dissociation in Glycoproteomic Analysis , Venkata Kolli

New Methods for Synthesis of Organic Peroxides and Application of Peroxide Electrophiles to Synthesis of Functionalized Ethers , Shiva Kumar Kyasa

Chromatographic Analysis of Drug-Protein Interactions During Diabetes and Characterization of Human Serum Albumin Through Multidimensional Mass Spectrometry , Ryan E. Matsuda

THREE-DIMENSIONAL SCAFFOLDS OF GRAPHENE, CARBON NANOTUBES AND TRANSITION-METAL OXIDES FOR APPLICATIONS IN ELECTRONICS, SENSORS AND ENERGY STORAGE , Gilbert N. Mbah

TOWARD THE MEASUREMENT OF BIODISTRIBUTION OF 18 F-LABELED INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS WITH POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET) , Katelyenn S. McCauley

Investigations into the Molecular Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogen-Host Interactions: Construction of a Dual Plasmid System for Incorporation of Unnatural Amino Acids into Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 , Scotty D. Raber

Applications of High Performance Affinity Chromatography with High Capacity Stationary Phases Made by Entrapment , John A. Vargas Badilla

Uses of Diaryliodonium Salts and Methods for their Synthesis , Jordan M. Veness

The intersection of nuclear magnetic resonance and quantum chemistry , Yali Wang

Chemometric and Bioinformatic Analyses of Cellular Biochemistry , Bradley Worley

Analysis of Free Solute Fractions and Solute-Protein Interactions Using Ultrafast Affinity Extraction and Affinity Microcolumns , Xiwei Zheng

The 8-Silyloxyquinoline Scaffold as a Versatile Platform for the Sensitive Detection of Aqueous Fluoride , Xinqi Zhou

Nanostructured Cerium Oxide Based Catalysts: Synthesis, Physical Properties, and Catalytic Performance , Yunyun Zhou

Hydrolytically Stable Analogues of Sugar Phosphates and a Miniaturized in Situ Enzymatic Screen , Xiang Fei

Development and Application of Combined Quantum Mechanical and Molecular Mechanical Methods , Rui Lai

Syntheses of Aminyl Diradicals and Nitroxide Tetra- and Octaradicals , Arnon Olankitwanit

Analysis of Drug Interactions with Lipoproteins by High Performance Affinity Chromatography , Matthew R. Sobansky

Studies in Asymmetric Synthesis: Supramolecular Catalysis, C-H Activation, and D-Cycloserine Synthesis , Nathan C. Thacker

Application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Based Metabolomics to Study the Central Metabolism of Staphylococci , Bo Zhang

IMPLEMENTATION AND APPLICATION OF THE MMFF94 FORCE FIELD , Hongbo Zhu

The Electrochemical Analysis of Bovine Bone Derived Supercapacitors, Organic Peroxide Explosives, and Conducting Polymer Nanojunctions , Paul Goodman

The Development and Applications of NMR Metabolomics Analysis of Bacterial Metabolomes , Steven M. Halouska

Utilizing NMR Spectroscopy and Molecular Docking as Tools for the Structural Determination and Functional Annotation of Proteins , Jaime Stark

A. Catalysis of CO-PROX by Water-Soluble Rhodium Fluorinated Porphyrins B. Studies toward Fluorination of Electron Rich Aromatics by Nucleophilic Fluoride , Shri Harsha Uppaluri

Regulation of Secondary Metabolism in Lysobacter enzymogenes : Studies of Intercellular and Intracellular Signaling , Stephen J. Wright

DIRECTED CATALYTIC ASYMMETRIC HYDROBORATION OF 1,1-DISUBSTITUTED ALKENES , Mohammad Odeh Bani Khaled

I. Synthesis of β-Sitosterol and Phytosterol Esters; II. New Methodology for Singlet Oxygen Generation from 1,1-Dihydroperoxides , Jiliang Hang

Experimental and Theoretical Studies in Solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance , Monica N. Kinde

Experimental and Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance , John D. Persons

RHODIUM-CATALYZED HYDROBORATION OF 1,1-DISUBSTITUTED ALKENES , Scott A. Pettibone

INVESTIGATIONS OF INTER- AND INTRAMOLECULAR C-O BOND FORMING REACTIONS OF PEROXIDE ELECTROPHILES , Benjamin W. Puffer

The Use of Rhenium (VII) Oxide as a Catalyst for the Substution of Hemiacetals , Michael W. Richardson

Characterization of Novel Macrocyclic Polyether Modified Pseudostationary Phases for use in Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography and Development of a Chemiluminescence Presumptive Assay for Peroxide-based Explosives , Raychelle Burks

Preparation and Characterization of Biomimetic Hydroxyapatite-Resorbable Polymer Composites for Hard Tissue Repair , Kristopher R. Hiebner

High Yield Synthesis of Positron Emission Tomography Ligands for Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Imaging , Saraanne E. Hitchcock

Optimization and Implementation of Entrapment: A Novel Immobilization Technique for High-performance Affinity Chromatography , Abby J. Jackson

Fabrication and Catalytic Property of Cerium Oxide Nanomaterials , Keren Jiang

Affinity Chromatography in Environmental Analysis and Drug-Protein Interaction Studies , Efthimia Papastavros

Development and Optimization of Organic Based Monoliths for Use in Affinity Chromatography , Erika L. Pfaunmiller

I. An Improved Procedure for Alkene Ozonolysis. II. Exploring a New Structural Paradigm for Peroxide Antimalarials. , Charles Edward Schiaffo

QUANTUM MECHANICAL AND MOLECULAR MECHANICAL STUDY OF SOLVENT EFFECTS , Dejun Si

Resorbable Polymer-Hydroxyapatite Composites for Bone Trauma Treatment: Synthesis and Properties , Troy E. Wiegand

PURIFICATION OF LYSINE DECARBOXYLASE: A MODEL SYSTEM FOR PLP ENZYME INHIBITOR DEVELOPMENT AND STUDY , Leah C. Zohner

Characterization of Glycation Sites on Human Serum Albumin using Mass Spectrometry , Omar S. Barnaby

HIGH TEMPERATURE RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS: SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND APPLICATIONS IN DEVICE FABRICATION , Joseph R. Brewer

Classification, Synthesis and Characterization of Pyridyl Porphyrin Frameworks , Lucas D. DeVries

Ultrasonic Activation of Triacetone Triperoxide , LaTravia R. Dobson

Characteristics and Stability of Oxide Films on Plutonium Surfaces , Harry Guillermo García Flores

Controlling Reductive Elimination From Novel I(III) Salts Using a SECURE Method , Joseph W. Graskemper

I. A NEW SYNTHETIC APPROACH TO THE SYNTHESIS OF N-(PHOSPHONOACETYL)-L-ORNITHINE, II. THE INFLUENCE OF PYRIDINE ON THE OZONOLYSIS OF ALKENES , Bradley M. Johnson

Chromatographic Studies of Drug-Protein Binding in Diabetes , Kathryn (Krina) S. Joseph

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The synthesis of intermediates for conversion to cortisone analogues 

Chemotherapeutic agents in the quinolinol series 

Design of Intratumoral Immunostimulant Formulations 

Brain delivery of BDNF and a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of neurodegenerative animal models 

Physicochemical stability and effector function of IgG4-Fc: impact of photo-induced chemical modification and glycosylation 

Analysis of Spa33 and its Role in T3SS Cytoplasmic Sorting Platform of Shigella 

Preservation of Human T Cell Membrane Integrity after Drying and Rehydration 

Method for Simultaneous Quantitation of Free Carrier Protein and Free Polysaccharide in Glycoconjugate Vaccines by High Performance Liquid Chromatography 

Development and biophysical characterization of a hyaluronic acid – vitamin E conjugate as a subcutaneous delivery platform 

The Application of Machine Learning Algorithms in Understanding the Effect of Core/Shell Technique on Improving Powder Compactability 

Design of Antigen-Specific Immunotherapies Through Modulation of Peripheral Tolerance Pathways 

Analytical characterization and formulation development of a trivalent subunit rotavirus vaccine for the developing world 

Chemical and Physical Instability of Monoclonal Antibodies Induced by Metal-catalyzed Carbonylation 

Utilizing IgG1 Fc As An Immunomodulator 

The Degradation of 4-Morpholinoaniline in Aqueous Solution 

Characterization, Stabilization and Formulation Design of IgG and Secretory IgA Monoclonal Antibody Candidates during Storage and Administration 

Targeted Proteomics for Exosome Analysis and Its Application to Develop Blood Markers of Liver Drug-Metabolizing Enzymes 

Strategies to improve the immunogenicity of subunit vaccine candidates 

Understanding the metabolic processes and degradation of therapeutic proteins after subcutaneous administration 

Impact of Fill-Finish Process on Protein Formulation in the Absence of Stabilizing Agents 

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Chemistry PhD thesis defence timeline

Nevada Today

Creating quantum sensors - chemistry meets physics, chemistry professor and colleagues awarded nsf grant to build quantum device.

This schematic shows the SHe-QUID and its potential applications.

Ben King didn’t set out to create a long-sought after material to be used in quantum sensing devices, but life, like quantum science, can be weird. King, a professor in chemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno, had been working on developing two-dimensional materials designed with specific features.

One of the materials he built is a molecular net, a wall with molecule-sized pores that can allow superfluid helium to pass quantum information. The holes in this net are about one nanometer across. For context, a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick .

As it happens, physicists have been looking for a material with exactly these features for decades. After King and his colleagues published a paper about the material, he was contacted by Keith Schwab, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology.

“It's kind of funny,” King said, “You don't know where research is going to lead you. When we started this program, I had never heard of such devices. When I started trying to make 2D polymers, I knew they were porous. I knew there was nothing else with such small pores out there. So maybe there is something interesting I could do. And then a physicist who had no idea how to make a material like this saw that we could make it.”

Using quantum entanglement to detect global changes

The researchers waited for a decade for scientific funding priorities to align with their exciting discovery and were well-rewarded for their patience. King is the principal investigator on a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Quantum Sensing Challenges for Transformational Advances in Quantum Systems program.

The grant provides funding to support the development of a device that uses two reservoirs of superfluid helium separated by the molecular net that King’s research group has developed. The net is made up of many smaller pieces, or monomers. The monomers are small molecules that, when the researchers shine a light on them, link to create the 2D polymers. The researchers will use remarkably cold helium, at about 3 Kelvin (-454 F), to achieve the superfluid state.

The device, known as a superfluid helium quantum interference device, or SHe-quid, will use quantum entanglement between the two reservoirs of helium to detect ultra-small changes in the rate of Earth’s rotation. These changes can be caused by hurricanes, for example, which have an angular momentum that can speed up or slow down the Earth’s rotation.

“One of the more obvious applications for these types of sensors is having really sensitive ways to measure rotational phenomena, like gyroscopic guidance,” King said.

Gyroscopic guidance is widely used in navigation and even in the James Webb Space Telescope.

Other applications of SHe-quids can be imagined, including gravitational sensing, which might find exotic applications such as the detection of gravitational waves and fingerprints of dark matter, and there are practical applications.

“Another area that’s particularly of interest in Nevada is geodesy and mineral exploration,” King said. “There are often small changes in the local gravitational field due to differences in the density of what’s below our feet.”

Those gravitational changes could provide information about the mineral deposits in a given location.

Interdisciplinary impacts

King’s project is one of 18 chosen for funding in this program. King’s collaborators on this grant include Adrian Del Maestro, a theorist specializing in the physics of superfluid helium, Erik Henriksen is an experimentalist who will help with fabrication of 2D materials. Keith Schwab will build the device and conduct proof-of-principle measurements.

“Being a chemist, I didn't know anything about superfluid helium quantum interference devices,” King said. “That's why talking to people, communicating is so important.”

Related Link

• Quantum Center continues two years after receiving funding

King will work with several students in his research lab on the project. Phillip Damke and Seth Freese, undergraduate students, and John Nyogbe, a graduate student, are currently working on building the polymers.

"For decades, scientific exploration at the quantum scale has yielded surprising discoveries about how our universe works — and tantalizing possibilities for quantum-enabled technologies," NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said in a press release. "We are now taking the next step in quantum research through these projects and others, which combine fundamental research with potential applications that can positively impact our lives, our economic prosperity and our competitiveness as a nation."

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Making their MARC: Yajahira Dircio

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Conference hosted by NWII draws stakeholders from around the region

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