UNT Theses and Dissertations - 55 Matching Results
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- Synthesis and characterization of molecules for electron transfer research.
- Dimethoxynaphthalene (donor) and quinone (acceptor) have been chosen as a suitable redox pair and are bonded to either permethylated silane chains or corresponding permethylated alkyl chains to form Acceptor-(Bridge)-Donor molecules. The idea that the s-delocalization phenomenon of silane chains may greatly facilitate ET reactions will be tested. The starting material for the donor precursor, 4-(1,4-dimethoxynaphthyl)bromocyclohexane, was 1,4-naphthoquinone. After methylation and bromination, the Grignard reagent of the resulting bromide was reacted with cyclohexanedione, mono ethylene ketal. The resulting alcohol was changed to the donor precursor through the following functional group transformation steps: dehydration, hydrogenation, deketalization and bromination. 1,4-Dibenzyloxybromobenzene, the precursor for the acceptor, was synthesized from 1,4-hydroquinone through bromination and benzylation. The connection of the two precursors and either permethylated silane chains or permethylated alkyl chains will give the final target molecules for ET research. Progress on this is included.
- Diffusion Barriers/Adhesion Promoters. Surface and Interfacial Studies of Copper and Copper-Aluminum Alloys
- The focus of this research is to study the interaction between copper and the diffusion barrier/adhesion promoter. The behavior of copper sputter-deposited onto sputter-cleaned tantalum nitride is investigated. The data show that copper growth on tantalum nitride proceeds with the formation of 3-D islands, indicating poor adhesion characteristics between copper and Ta0.4N. Post-annealing experiments indicate that copper will diffuse into Ta0.4N at 800 K. Although the data suggests that Ta0.4N is effective in preventing copper diffusion, copper's inability to wet Ta0.4N will render this barrier ineffective. The interaction of copper with oxidized tantalum silicon nitride (O/TaSiN) is characterized. The data indicate that initial copper depositions result in the formation a conformal ionic layer followed by Cu(0) formation in subsequent depositions. Post-deposition annealing experiments performed indicate that although diffusion does not occur for temperatures less than 800 K, copper "de-wetting" occurs for temperatures above 500 K. These results indicate that in conditions where the substrate has been oxidized facile de-wetting of copper may occur. The behavior of a sputter-deposited Cu0.6Al0.4 film with SiO2 (Cu0.6Al0.4/SiO2) is investigated. The data indicate that aluminum segregates to the SiO2 interface and becomes oxidized. For copper coverages less than ~ 0.31 ML (based on a Cu/O atomic ratio), only Cu(I) formation is observed. At higher coverages, Cu(0) is observed. These data are in contrast with the observed behavior of copper metal deposited onto SiO2 (Cu/SiO2). The data for Cu/SiO2 show that copper does not wet SiO2 and forms 3-D nuclei. Furthermore, post-annealing experiments performed on Cu0.6Al0.4/SiO2 show that neither de-wetting nor diffusion of copper occurs for temperatures up to 800 K, while Cu diffusion into SiO2 occurs ~ 600 K. These data indicate that aluminum alloyed with copper at the SiO2 interface serves as an effective adhesion promoter and thermal diffusion barrier.
- The Performance of Silicon Based Sensor and its Application in Silver Toxicity Studies
- The silicon based sensor is able to detect part per trillion ionic silver in 0.0098% hydrofluoric acid based on the open circuit potential (OCP) measurement. The OCP jump of 100 ppt ionic silver solution is up to 120 mV. The complex agent can effectively suppress the ionic silver concentration and suppress the OCP signal. The ability of complex agent to suppress the OCP signal depends on the formation constant of the complex with silver. The complex adsorbed on the sensor surface induces a second OCP jump, the height of the second jump depends on the formation constant of the complex. The MINEQL chemical equilibrium modeling program is used to calculate the ionic silver concentration when complex agent presents, a discrepancy is found between the MINEQL simulation result and the OCP signal of the silicon based sensor. The toxicity of ionic silver to C. dubia is studied parallel to the OCP signal of silicon based sensor. Less toxicity is found when the complex agent is present similar to the OCP signal. Another discrepancy is found between the MINEQL simulation and the toxicity test when MINEQL simulation is used to predict and control the ionic silver concentration. The data from both biosensor C. dubia and silicon based sensor support each other and both are not in agreement with MINEQL simulation prediction.
- Substituent Effects: A Computational Study on Stabilities of Cumulenes and Low Barrier Hydrogen Bonds
- The effect of substituents on the stabilities of cumulenes-ketenes, allenes, diazomethanes and isocyanates and related systems-alkynes, nitriles and nitrile oxides is studied using the density functional theory (B3LYP, SVWN and BP86) and ab initio (HF, MP2) calculations at the 6-31G* basis set level. Using isodesmic reactions, correlation between stabilization energies of cumulenes and substituent group electronegativities (c BE) is established and the results from DFT and MP2 methods are compared with the earlier HF calculations. Calculations revealed that the density functional methods can be used to study the effect of substituents on the stabilities of cumulenes. It is observed that the cumulenes are stabilized by electropositive substituent groups from s -electron donation and p -electron withdrawal and are destabilized by electronegative substituent groups from n-p donation. The calculated geometries of the cumulenes are compared with the available experimental data.High level ab initio and density functional theory calculations have been used to study the energetics of low-barrier hydrogen bond (LBHB) systems. Using substituted formic acid-formate anion complexes as model LBHB systems, hydrogen bond strength is correlated to the pKa mismatch between the hydrogen bond donor and the hydrogen bond acceptor. LBHB model systems are characterized by the 1H-NMR chemical shift calculations. A linear correlation between the calculated hydrogen bond strength and the predicted 1H-NMR chemical shift was established. It is concluded that the pKa matching within the enzyme active site of the two species involved in the LBHB is important to maximizing catalytic stabilization.
- Synthesis and characterization of molecules to study the conformational barriers of fluorocarbon chains
- Fluorocarbons are known to be stiffer than their hydrocarbon analogues, a property that underlines the extensive industrial application of fluorocarbon materials. Although there has been previous studies on the rotational barrier of molecules having fluorocarbon centers, a detailed systematic study is necessary to quantify flurocarbon stiffness. The molecules, Pyrene-(CF2)n-Pyrene, Pyrene-(CF2)n-F, Pyrene-(CH2)n-Pyrene and Pyrene-(CH2)n-H were therefore synthesized to enable the determination of the barrier to rotation of the carbon backbone in fluorocarbons. Conformational studies will be completed with steady-state and time-dependent emission spectroscopy.