Recently in chemistry:

• Bacterial infections are responsible for the deaths of nearly 2 million individuals around the world, and their economic, rapid, and sensitive detection remains elusive. Several weeks ago however, a team of Chinese chemists successfully developed a silicon-based chip adsorbed with silver nanoparticles and 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid (4-MPBA) that was able to simultaneously capture, detect, and inactivate bacteria. The boronic acid group of 4-MPBA allows the peptidoglycan walls of bacteria to reversibly bind, allowing bacterial capture for diagnosis. Bacteria were successfully adsorbed onto the surface of the chip and when surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was performed, it was possible for the bacteria to be distinguished. In their experiments, it was possible to detect and distinguish E. coli from S. aureus, two clinically important species of bacteria. They further demonstrated the antibacterial activity of the SERS chip by observing that almost 97% of bacteria on its surface were no longer present after 24 hours even in the fixed bacterial concentration of the surrounding media. Due to the presence of rival chips, further clinical analysis is necessary to realize the full potential of these spectroscopic and materials techniques.1

 • An international team of scientists led by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency has successfully

determined the ionization energy of element 103, lawrencium (Lr). For extremely heavy atoms such as the actinides where relativistic effects become predominant, the energies of p orbitals can split, as demonstrated by its predicted electron configuration of [Rn]5f14 7s2 7p1/2

1. Lawrencium atoms were first generated by firing a beam of 11B atoms into a thin mass of 249Cf and generating 256Lr, which were then reacted with sublimated CdI2 gas and vaporized to form 256Lr+. Using a series of calculations, they indirectly arrived at an experimental value of 4.96(+0.08,-0.07) eV. Ab initio coupled cluster methods were carried out with multiple corrections, taking into account relativistic effects and higher-order perturbations. Through this method, they obtained a theoretical value of 4.963(15) eV, which is in excellent agreement with the experimental value. This approach welcomes further studies of more exotic and heavier atoms.2  

 • The mystery of the origin of life ticks closer to elucidation as Patel, et al. demonstrate that the

reductive homologation of HCN and certain derivatives can form amino acids, ribonucleotides, and lipids, all of which form the basis of life as we know it. Starting with HCN and ultraviolet light, the scientists were able to generate a plethora of building blocks such as glyceraldehyde and acetone in certain minimal conditions, precursors to biological molecules such as amino acids. It is also suspected that copper and iron play critical roles in abiogenesis, because of the ease with which their oxidation states can change, in conjunction with H2S serving as a reducing agent. Their experiments hinge on the assumption that HCN was generated through meteoric impacts during the Hadean eon roughly 4 billion years ago. In any case, the mechanism for how life originated on Earth requires a closer look at exactly what the Hadean environment on Earth was like, and the plausibility of certain chemical events during that time.3

   

Chemistry CHEMIA  NEWSLETTER    April  2015  

                                                                                         

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1) Wang, H., et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 1-6. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201412294 2) Sato, T.K., et al. Nature. 2015, 520, 09 April 2015, 209-11. DOI: 10.1038/nature14342  3) Patel, B.H., et al. Nat. Chem. 2015, 7, 16 March 2015, 301-7. DOI: 10.1038/nchem.2202  

• BU Chemia extends a warm welcome to Dr. Arturo José

Vegas, who will join the Department on July 1 as an Assistant Professor! Dr. Vegas received his Ph.D from Harvard University working under Prof. Stuart Schreiber, where he adapted already existing synthetic chemistry pathways toward diversity-oriented synthesis, to novel pathways oriented toward clinical impact for cancer treatments. Dr. Vegas then underwent postdoctoral training with Prof. Robert Langer at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and at the Boston Children’s Hospital, where among many other accomplishments he developed libraries to facilitate siRNA delivery, with potential for cancer treatment. Dr. Vegas arrives at BU as the co-author of over 20 publications and co-inventor of 8 patent applications, and also as the scientific founder of Preceres LLC (http://www.preceres.com/) and his lab at BU will aim to develop novel targeting therapeutics and delivery systems for selective cancer chemotherapy, immunomodulation, and diabetic immunosuppression, as well as the general development of targeted carriers to treat multiple diseases. Welcome Prof. Vegas!

• Prof. Mark Grinstaff delivered the inaugural Charles DeLisi Award and Distinguished Lecture on

Thursday, April 2. The lecture was titled “Clinically Informed Biomaterial Design and Engineering”, and explored his two-decade-long development of new devices and materials for clinical applications. Prof. Grinstaff was selected in recognition of his outstanding contributions both as an academic researcher and as the head of four companies bringing his ideas to fruition with products. For more information about Prof. Grinstaff’s inumerous achievements and advances in his many fields, so Chemia encourages everyone to visit Prof. Grinstaff’s lab page at http://people.bu.edu/mgrin/ , as well as his many publications and company websites.  

    CHEMIA  NEWSLETTER    April  2015   Chemistry

                                                                                           

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BU Chemia News & Events:      • Free  tutoring  every  Monday  5-­‐7pm  in  SCI  294  and  Thursday  6-­‐8pm  in  SCI  296!    BU Chemistry: • Monday  Colloquium  Series:

• Prof.  Carolyn  Bertozzi  (University  of  California,  Berkeley),  Biooorthogonal  Chemistry  for  Glycoprofiling  and  Beyond,  hosted  by  Prof.  Adrian  Whitty

• Prof.  Elizabeth  Kujawinski  (Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institute),  Environmental  Metabolomics:  Earth  Science  from  a  Different  Point  of  View

• April  14,  4-­‐5  pm  in  SCI  512:  Prof.  Ramon  Gomez  Arrayas  (Universidad  Autonoma  de  Madrid),  A  New  Tool  for  Selectivity  Control  in  C-­‐H  Activation  and  Alkyne  Metalation

       

       

    CHEMIA  NEWSLETTER    April  2015   Chemistry

                                                                                           

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Chemia Board: Evan  Gardner  –  President       ejgard@bu.edu    Tessa  Colameta  –  Vice  President     colameta@bu.edu    Christopher  Neil  –  Treasurer     cneil@bu.edu  Kelly  Demeo  –  Secretary     kmdemeo@bu.edu    Katie  Boule     keboule@bu.edu  Hrishi  Somayaji  –  Co-­‐Newsletter  Guy     hrishirs@bu.edu    Prof.  John  Snyder  –  Advisor     jsnyder@bu.edu,  SCI  273  

Chemia Tutors (include Board): Steven  Ahn  (Co-­‐Newsletter  Guy),  wooahn@bu.edu    

Blake  Jardin,  bjardin@bu.edu    

Morgan  Myers,  mscottm@bu.edu    

Dan  Smith,  drsmith1@bu.edu    

Chloe  Wendell,  mieolhc@bu.edu  

 

http://www.physics.purdue.edu/~sergei/Photosynthesis      

Happy  spring  to  all,  enjoy  the  weather!