R. J. Field

Bio: R. J. Field is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 118 citations.

Oscillatory Chemical Reactions

Abstract: The present state of the field of chemical oscillators and the direction in which it is evolving are reviewed in this paper. A qualitative discussion of the theoretical background of chemical oscillators is presented. One section of the paper is concerned with possible mechanisms for the oscillators and the differential equations representing their dynamic behavior. The types of systems where homogeneous oscillations have been observed are indicated, and then those few reactions for which detailed mechanisms have been proposed are discussed. 111 references. (BLM)

Gas-phase spectroscopy of biomolecular building blocks.

Abstract: Gas-phase spectroscopy lends itself ideally to the study of isolated molecules and provides important data for comparison with theory. In recent years, we have seen enormous progress in the study of biomolecular building blocks in the gas phase. The motivation for such work is threefold: (a) It is important to distinguish between intrinsic molecular properties and properties that result from the biological environment. (b) Gas-phase spectroscopy of clusters provides insights into fundamental interactions and into microsolvation. (c) Gas-phase data support quantum-chemical calculations. This review focuses on the current status of (poly)amino acids and DNA bases. Recent results help elucidate structure and hydrogen-bonded interactions, as well as showcase a successful interplay between theory and experiment.

Phosphorylation energy hypothesis : Open chemical systems and 'their biological functions

Abstract: Biochemical systems and processes in living cells generally operate far from equilibrium. This review presents an overview of a statistical thermodynamic treatment for such systems, with examples from several key components in cellular signal transduction. Open-system nonequilibrium steady-state (NESS) models are introduced. The models account quantitatively for the energetics and thermodynamics in phosphorylation-dephosphorylation switches, GTPase timers, and specificity amplification through kinetic proofreading. The chemical energy derived from ATP and GTP hydrolysis establishes the NESS of a cell and makes the cell—a mesoscopic–biochemical reaction system that consists of a collection of thermally driven fluctuating macromolecules—a genetically programmed chemical machine.

Open-system nonequilibrium steady state: statistical thermodynamics, fluctuations, and chemical oscillations.

Abstract: Gibbsian equilibrium statistical thermodynamics is the theoretical foundation for isothermal, closed chemical, and biochemical reaction systems. This theory, however, is not applicable to most biochemical reactions in living cells, which exhibit a range of interesting phenomena such as free energy transduction, temporal and spatial complexity, and kinetic proofreading. In this article, a nonequilibrium statistical thermodynamic theory based on stochastic kinetics is introduced, mainly through a series of examples: single-molecule enzyme kinetics, nonlinear chemical oscillation, molecular motor, biochemical switch, and specificity amplification. The case studies illustrate an emerging theory for the isothermal nonequilibrium steady state of open systems.