Cryoconite holes (cylindrical melt-holes on the glacier surface) are important hydrological and biological systems within glacial environments that support diverse microbial communities and biogeochemical processes. This study describes retrievable heterotrophic microbes in cryoconite hole water from three geographically distinct sites in Antarctica, and a Himalayan glacier, along with their potential to degrade organic compounds found in these environments. Microcosm experiments (22 days) show that 13-60% of the dissolved organic carbon in the water within cryoconite holes is bio-available to resident microbes. Biodegradation tests of organic compounds such as lactate, acetate, formate, propionate and oxalate that are present in cryoconite hole water show that microbes have good potential to metabolize the compounds tested. Substrate utilization tests on Biolog Ecoplate show that microbial communities in the Himalayan samples are able to oxidize a diverse array of organic substrates including carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, amino acids, amines/amides and polymers, while Antarctic communities generally utilized complex polymers. In addition, as determined by the extracellular enzyme activities, majority of the microbes (82%, total of 355) isolated in this study (Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Basidiomycota) had ability to degrade a variety of compounds such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, cellulose and lignin that are documented to be present within cryoconite holes. Thus, microbial communities have good potential to metabolize organic compounds found in the cryoconite hole environment, thereby influencing the water chemistry in these holes. Moreover, microbes exported downstream during melting and flushing of cryoconite holes may participate in carbon cycling processes in recipient ecosystems.
At the inception of this new millennium, various research groups showed an increased interest in the use of natural products as corrosion inhibitor resulting in enormous data on plant extract as corrosion inhibitors. The reason for this uninterrupted interest can undoubtedly be ascribed to an increased awareness of the environmental requirements that is currently imposed on the development of cleaner chemical inhibitors, of the health risks associated with the use of unsafe and toxic inorganic inhibitors, and of the great contribution that these data can give to developing eco-friendly corrosion inhibitors. This clearly shows that the era of green inhibitors is here.
Green approaches to corrosion mitigation also involve the use of green chromate-free organic inhibitors as explored by L. A. Hernandez-Alvarado et al. and the development of techniques that enable the detection and prevention of corrosion as presented in this special issue.
Evidence exists that hydrogenation of phenol (a model compound for functionalized arenes) on Pt group metals follows a mechanism, in which the organic compound adsorbs molecularly and reacts with adsorbed hydrogen atoms.[8, 20, 21] The elementary steps are independent whether the hydrogen atoms are electrochemically generated by reduction of hydronium ions or by dissociation of H2. Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of carbonyl groups may, however, also involve proton and electron transfer in the rate determining step (i.e., proton coupled electron transfer [PCET]).[10, 15]
My organic chemistry courses were structured with lecture on a particular chemical functional group during the week, and suggested problems to go with it. There were usually about 30 problems for every 40 pages of content. I found myself trying a variety of study systems from reading the chapter after lecture, to working on the problems before a lecture even began. The best system for me personally (and several of my friends) was skimming the reading before the lecture on the material began. This gave me an idea about what types of molecules I was dealing with, how to name them, and a few trends of reactions that tend to occur with that functional group. This way, when lecture went into great detail about the stereochemistry of the Diels-Alder reaction, I could still keep the big picture of cycloadditions in mind. Each day, after lecture, I would work on the book problems relevant to the portion of material covered. If I did not understand how to approach a problem, I read the book in greater detail. In general, I found the book was a good resource for specific concerns or considerations, but my notes were the greatest resource. They would show all the tricks, and usually an example of each reaction that I needed to know, which was much more useful than a long explanation of the theory behind the reaction.
Speaking of reactions, I found it super helpful to keep a running list of them in the back of my notebook. Once I learned a decent chunk of organic chemistry, in January (the beginning of Orgo II), I began tackling synthesis problems. These are essentially problems where you get a starting point, ending point, and devise a series of reactions to get from A to B. Of course, a list of reactions will not be allowed for exams, but using them in practice problems is a way of internalizing them. I found molecular modeling kits are a fantastic resource as well, especially when learning about stereochemistry. (YouTube has some impressive videos that demonstrate how to put together molecules with the kits.)
Wilkinson, D., Bhosale, M., Amores, M., Naresh, G., Cussen, S. A. and Cooke, G. (2021) A quinone-based cathode material for high-performance organic lithium and sodium batteries. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 4(11), pp. 12084-12090. (doi: 10.1021/acsaem.1c01339)
dos Santos, J. M., Neophytou, M., Wiles, A. , Howells, C. T., Ashraf, R. S. and Cooke, G. (2021) Influence of alkyne spacers on the performance of thiophene-based donors in bulk-heterojunction organic photovoltaic cells. Dyes and Pigments, 188, 109152. (doi: 10.1016/j.dyepig.2021.109152)
Zhang, Y. , Sajjad, M. T., Blaszczyk, O., Parnell, A. J., Ruseckas, A., Serrano, L. A., Cooke, G. and Samuel, I. D.W. (2019) Large crystalline domains and enhanced exciton diffusion length enable efficient organic solar cells. Chemistry of Materials, 31(17), pp. 6548-6557. (doi: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b05293)
Zhang, Y., Sajjad, M. T., Blaszczyk, O., Ruseckas, A., Serrano, L. A., Cooke, G. and Samuel, I. D.W. (2019) Enhanced exciton harvesting in a planar heterojunction organic photovoltaic device by solvent vapor annealing. Organic Electronics, 70, pp. 162-166. (doi: 10.1016/j.orgel.2019.03.014)
Mica, N.A., Almahmoud, S.A.J., Krishnan Jagadamma, L., Cooke, G. and Samuel, I.D.W. (2018) An investigation of the role acceptor side chains play in the processibility and efficiency of organic solar cells fabricated from small molecular donors featuring 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene cores. RSC Advances, 2018(8), pp. 39231-39240. (doi: 10.1039/C8RA07034B)
Long, Y., Hedley, G. , Ruseckas, A., Chowdhury, M., Roland, T., Serrano, L. A., Cooke, G. and Samuel, I. D.W. (2017) Effect of annealing on exciton diffusion in a high performance small molecule organic photovoltaic material. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 9(17), pp. 14945-14952. (doi: 10.1021/acsami.6b16487) (PMID:28358189) (PMCID:PMC5423077)
Ebenhoch, B., Prasetya, N. B.A., Rotello, V. M., Cooke, G. and Samuel, I. D.W. (2015) Solution-processed boron subphthalocyanine derivatives as acceptors for organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 3(14), pp. 7345-7352. (doi: 10.1039/C5TA00715A)
Al-Eid, M., Lim, S., Park, K.-W., Fitzpatrick, B., Han, C.-H., Kwak, K., Hong, J. and Cooke, G. (2014) Facile synthesis of metal-free organic dyes featuring a thienylethynyl spacer for dye sensitized solar cells. Dyes and Pigments, 104, pp. 197-203. (doi: 10.1016/j.dyepig.2014.01.004)
Bria, M., Bigot, J., Cooke, G. , Lyskawa, J., Rabani, G., Rotello, V. M. and Woisel, P. (2009) Synthesis of a polypseudorotaxane, polyrotaxane, and polycatenane using 'click' chemistry. Tetrahedron, 65(1), pp. 400-407. (doi: 10.1016/j.tet.2008.10.005)
66. Brillante, A.; Bilotti, I.; Della Valle, R.G.; Venuti, E.; Mas-Torrent, M.; Rovira, C.; Yamashita, Y. Phase recognition by lattice phonon Raman spectra: The triclinic structure of the organic semiconductor dibenzo-tetrathiafulvalene
112. Recham, N.; Oró-Solé, J.; Djellab, K.; Palacín, M.R.; Masquelier, C.; Tarascon, J.-M. Hydrothermal synthesis, silver decoration and electrochemistry of LiMPO4 (M = Fe, Mn, and Co) single crystals
A new partially deprotonated mixed-valence manganese(II,III) hydroxide-arsenate with electronic conductivity: Magnetic properties of high- and room-temperature sarkinite (2012) Inorganic Chemistry, 51, pp. 5246-5256
250. Vera, F.; Mas-Torrent, M.; Esquena, J.; Rovira, C.; Shen, Y.; Nakanishi, T.; Veciana, J. Microstructured objects produced by the supramolecular hierarchical assembly of an organic free radical gathering hydrophobic-amphiphilic characteristics
271. Di Salvo, F.; Teixidor, F.; Viñas,C.; Planas, J.G.; Light,M.E.; Hursthouse, M.B.; Aliaga-Alcalde, N. Metallosupramolecular chemistry of novel chiral closo-o-carboranylalcohol pyridine and quinoline ligands: Syntheses, characterization, and properties of cobalt complexes
276. Galcera, J.; Friščić, T.; Hejczyk, K.E.; Fábián, L.; Clarke, S.M.; Day, G.M.; Molins, E.; Jones, W. Isostructural organic binary-host frameworks with tuneable and diversely decorated inclusion cavities
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