Bruce S. Ault

Bio: Bruce S. Ault is an academic researcher from University of Cincinnati. The author has contributed to research in topics: Matrix isolation & Infrared spectroscopy. The author has an hindex of 30, co-authored 269 publications receiving 4190 citations. Previous affiliations of Bruce S. Ault include University of Virginia.

193 nm excimer-laser-induced photo-oxidation of propene in argon matrices

Abstract: The products of the reaction of oxygen atoms with propene were investigated following the excimer-laser-induced photodissociation of N 2 O or O 2 in argon matrices at 14 K. The system was complicated by the photodissociation of propene itself at 193 nm, and the possibility of the reaction of the fragmentation products with the oxygen atoms. In the N 2 O—propene experiments, acetone was observed as the major product, with propanal and methyloxirane barely detectable as minor products. In the O 2 —propene experiments, propanal was the major product, although the overall yields were low. These results are consistent with earlier gas phase studies, and suggest that the electronic state of the photogenerated oxygen atom is important in determining the course of the reaction.

The density functional formalism, its applications and prospects

Abstract: A scheme that reduces the calculations of ground-state properties of systems of interacting particles exactly to the solution of single-particle Hartree-type equations has obvious advantages. It is not surprising, then, that the density functional formalism, which provides a way of doing this, has received much attention in the past two decades. The quality of the energy surfaces calculated using a simple local-density approximation for exchange and correlation exceeds by far the original expectations. In this work, the authors survey the formalism and some of its applications (in particular to atoms and small molecules) and discuss the reasons for the successes and failures of the local-density approximation and some of its modifications.

The Halogen Bond

Abstract: The halogen bond occurs when there is evidence of a net attractive interaction between an electrophilic region associated with a halogen atom in a molecular entity and a nucleophilic region in another, or the same, molecular entity. In this fairly extensive review, after a brief history of the interaction, we will provide the reader with a snapshot of where the research on the halogen bond is now, and, perhaps, where it is going. The specific advantages brought up by a design based on the use of the halogen bond will be demonstrated in quite different fields spanning from material sciences to biomolecular recognition and drug design.

Organic Azides: An Exploding Diversity of a Unique Class of Compounds

Abstract: Since the discovery of organic azides by Peter Griess more than 140 years ago, numerous syntheses of these energy-rich molecules have been developed. In more recent times in particular, completely new perspectives have been developed for their use in peptide chemistry, combinatorial chemistry, and heterocyclic synthesis. Organic azides have assumed an important position at the interface between chemistry, biology, medicine, and materials science. In this Review, the fundamental characteristics of azide chemistry and current developments are presented. The focus will be placed on cycloadditions (Huisgen reaction), aza ylide chemistry, and the synthesis of heterocycles. Further reactions such as the aza-Wittig reaction, the Sundberg rearrangement, the Staudinger ligation, the Boyer and Boyer-Aube rearrangements, the Curtius rearrangement, the Schmidt rearrangement, and the Hemetsberger rearrangement bear witness to the versatility of modern azide chemistry.

Photoremovable Protecting Groups in Chemistry and Biology: Reaction Mechanisms and Efficacy

Abstract: The review covers the knowledge on photoremovable protecting groups and includes all relevant chromophores studied in the time period of 2000–2012; the most relevant earlier works are also discussed.