A density functional study of 17O, 14N and 2H electric field gradient tensors in the real crystalline structure of α-glycine

Mapping patterns of thought onto brain activity during movie-watching

Movie-watching is a central aspect of our lives and an important paradigm for understanding the brain mechanisms behind cognition as it occurs in daily life. Contemporary views of ongoing thought argue that the ability to make sense of events in the 'here and now' depend on the neural processing of incoming sensory information by auditory and visual cortex, which are kept in check by systems in association cortex. However, we currently lack an understanding of how patterns of ongoing thoughts map onto the different brain systems when we watch a film, partly because methods of sampling experience disrupt the dynamics of brain activity and the experience of movie-watching. Our study established a novel method for mapping thought patterns onto the brain activity that occurs at different moments of a film, which does not disrupt the time course of brain activity or the movie-watching experience. We found moments when experience sampling highlighted engagement with multi-sensory features of the film or highlighted thoughts with episodic features, regions of sensory cortex were more active and subsequent memory for events in the movie was better-on the other hand, periods of intrusive distraction emerged when activity in regions of association cortex within the frontoparietal system was reduced. These results highlight the critical role sensory systems play in the multi-modal experience of movie-watching and provide evidence for the role of association cortex in reducing distraction when we watch films.

Experimental and computational studies of an antiplasmodial derivative of allantoin; antimycobacterial essential oil from Cordia batesii WERNHAM (Boraginaceae)

Background

Chemical and pharmacological investigations were performed on the stems of Cordia batesii (Boraginaeae); chemical studies included quantum calculations applied on a newly described compound.

Results

A new derivative of allantoin (1) named batesiin (2) was characterized. Thirteen other known compounds involving allantoin (1) were either isolated or identified. GC–MS enabled the identification of six compounds from a fraction containing essential oil. MeOH extract and some isolated compounds were tested in vitro against Pf7G8 CQS and Pf Dd2 CQR strains of Plasmodium falciparum; extract disclosed a moderate antiplasmodial activity (IC₅₀ = 50 μg mL⁻¹). Meantime, the CH₂Cl₂ extract and essential oil fraction were tested on a resistant mycobacterial strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; a potent antimycobacterial activity with a MIC = 9.52 μg mL⁻¹ was deduced from essential oil. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried on batesiin (2). Calculated chemical shifts at B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) and MPW1PW91/6-31G+(d,p) showed much better correlations with the experimental data. Time dependent DFT at B3LYP/6-31G+(d,p) displayed a major absorption band 3.01 nm higher than the experimental value.

Conclusion

Cordia batesii can be considered as promising in search of compounds with antimalarial and antitubercular properties. DFT studies are very helpful when trying to learn more about the spectroscopic insights of a derivative of allantoin (1).

Distinguishing the Structures of High-Pressure Hydrides with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

The structural characterization of high-pressure hydrides has encountered many difficulties mainly due to the weak X-ray scattering of hydrogen. Herein, we investigate the prospect of detecting the H₃S and LaH₁₀ structures with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Our calculations demonstrate that the different candidate structures of H₃S (or LaH₁₀) exhibit significant differences in the electric field gradient (EFG) tensor of the ³³S (or ¹³⁹La) sites, indicating that the NMR spectroscopy can well capture the structural differences, even the small changes in the atomic position, and hence can be used to effectively probe the structures and the phase transitions of H₃S and LaH₁₀. Our results clarify the relationship between the structures and the EFG tensor parameters and provide a potential means to detect the structures of high-pressure hydrides.

DFT Studies of Single Lithium Adsorption on Coronene

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to study the adsorption of neutral and cationic forms of single lithium (Li) on representative original and each of oxygen/sulfur-terminated coronene monolayer surfaces. First, the monolayers of coronene structures were prepared. Next, Li/Li+ adsorptions were investigated on the surfaces of the already optimised coronene models. The results indicate that the singular coronene models can be considered as appropriate surfaces for Li/Li+ adsorption, with stronger Li+ adsorption. Localisations of LI/Li+ species were carefully examined at the central carbon zone of the monolayer surface; however, only one model showed discrepancy by getting localised at the monolayer edge. Energy levels and distribution patters for the molecular orbitals indicate the effects of atomic terminations and Li/Li+ adsorptions, in which the singular and Li+-adsorbed models reveal identical results. Atomic-scale nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) properties were also evaluated, with the results indicating that the atomic properties can determine the major electronic properties for applying the coronene structure for specific applications.

A theoretical study on the characteristics of the intermolecular interactions in the active site of human androsterone sulphotransferase: DFT calculations of NQR and NMR parameters and QTAIM analysis

A theoretical study at the level of density functional theory (DFT) was performed to characterize noncovalent intermolecular interactions, especially hydrogen bond interactions, in the active site of enzyme human androsterone sulphotransferase (SULT2A1/ADT). Geometry optimization, interaction energy, (2)H, (14)N, and (17)O electric field gradient (EFG) tensors, (1)H, (13)C, (17)O, and (15)N chemical shielding (CS) tensors, Natural Bonding Orbital (NBO) analysis, and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) analysis of this active site were investigated. It was found that androsterone (ADT) is able to form hydrogen bonds with residues Ser80, Ile82, and His99 of the active site. The interaction energy calculations and NBO analysis revealed that the ADT molecule forms the strongest hydrogen bond with Ser80. Results revealed that ADT interacts with the other residues through electrostatic and Van der Waals interactions. Results showed that these hydrogen bonds influence on the calculated (2)H, (14)N, and (17)O quadrupole coupling constants (QCCs), as well as (1)H, (13)C, (17)O, and (15)N CS tensors. The magnitude of the QCC and CS changes at each nucleus depends directly on its amount of contribution to the hydrogen bond interaction.

Theoretical investigation of hydrogen bonding effects on oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen chemical shielding and electric field gradient tensors of chitosan/HI salt

A density functional theory study has been carried out to calculate the (17)O, (15)N, (13)C, and (1)H chemical shielding as well as (17)O, (14)N, and (2)H electric field gradient tensors of chitosan/HI type I salt. These calculations were performed using the B3LYP functional and 6-311++G (d,p) and 6-31++G (d,p) basis sets. Calculated EFG and chemical shielding tensors were used to evaluate the (17)O, (14)N, and (2)H nuclear quadruple resonance, NQR, and (17)O, (15)N, (13)C, and (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance, NMR, parameters in the cluster model, which are in good agreement with the available experimental data. The difference in the isotropic shielding (sigma(iso)) and quadrupole coupling constant (C(Q)) between monomer and target molecule in the cluster was analyzed in detail. It was shown that both EFG and CS tensors are sensitive to hydrogen-bonding interactions, and calculating both tensors is an advantage. A different influence of various hydrogen bond types, N-Hcdots, three dots, centeredI, O-Hcdots, three dots, centeredI, and N-Hcdots, three dots, centeredO was observed on the calculated CS and EFG tensors. On the basis of this study, nitrogen and O-6 are the most important nuclei to confirm crystalline structure of chitosan/HI. These nuclei have large change in their CS and EFG tensors because of forming intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Moreover, the quantum chemical calculations indicated that the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions play an essential role in determining the relative orientation of CS and EFG tensors of O-6 and nitrogen atoms in the molecular frame axes.

Density functional theory investigation of hydrogen bonding effects on the oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen electric field gradient and chemical shielding tensors of anhydrous chitosan crystalline structure

A systematic computational investigation was carried out to characterize the 17O, 14N and 2H electric field gradient, EFG, as well as 17O, 15N, 13C and 1H chemical shielding tensors in the anhydrous chitosan crystalline structure. To include the hydrogen-bonding effects in the calculations, the most probable interacting molecules with the target molecule in the crystalline phase were considered through a hexameric cluster. The computations were performed with the B3LYP method and 6-311++G(d,p) and 6-31++G(d,p) standard basis sets using the Gaussian 98 suite of programs. Calculated EFG and chemical shielding tensors were used to evaluate the 17O, 14N and 2H nuclear quadrupole resonance, NQR, and 17O, 15N, 13C and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, NMR, parameters in the hexameric cluster, which are in good agreement with the available experimental data. The difference between the calculated NQR and NMR parameters of the monomer and hexamer cluster shows how much hydrogen bonding interactions affect the EFG and chemical shielding tensors of each nucleus. These results indicate that both O(3)-H(33)...O(5-3) and N-H(22)...O(6-4) hydrogen bonding have a major influence on NQR and NMR parameters. Also, the quantum chemical calculations indicate that the intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions play an essential role in determining the relative orientation of EFG and chemical shielding principal components in the molecular frame axes.