The focus of this thesis is the design of non-natural molecules for use in biological applications. Chapter one details a strategy to use small molecules to reactivate mutated p53, an oncoprotein that is prevalent in several types of cancer, back to its wild-type function. Wild-type p53 has the ability to...
Many metal ions are of critical importance in many cellular functions. The very properties of these metal ions that make them useful also make them toxic to the cell. In the course of evolution, many metal ion homeostasis systems have developed to provide balance between the necessity and toxicity of...
The nonlinear optical technique, second harmonic generation (SHG), is applied here for the first time to probe single and double strand DNA (ssDNA and dsDNA) chemically attached to fused quartz/water interfaces. DNA interfaces are often a critical functional component of biodetection, thus, the development of molecular biosensors requires a thorough...
Plasmonic chemistry is an emerging field of research that contains great promise for new chemical reactivity, but thus far has been improperly observed. The goals of using plasmonic chemistry typically revolve around the use of nonequilibrium charge carriers that migrate to the surface of a plasmonic substrate to perform redox...
Quantum information processing (QIP) is an emerging computational paradigm with the potential to enable a vast increase in computational power, fundamentally transforming fields from structural biology to finance. QIP employs qubits, or quantum bits, as its fundamental units of information, which can exist in not just the classical states of...
This dissertation describes the fundamental studies of photoinduced charge-carrier transfer from colloidal metal chalcogenide quantum dots (QDs) to surface-adsorbed molecular redox partners. In addition, we also present the use of visible-light absorbing QDs in photocatalytic applications. CdS QDs are used as photocatalysts in a C-C coupling reaction, in which no...
The development of organic photovoltaic devices benefits from understanding the fundamental processes underlying charge generation in thin films of organic semiconductors. This dissertation exploits model systems of π-stacked chromophores such as perylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (PDI) and 3,6-bis(aryl)diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) to study these processes using ultrafast electronic and vibrational spectroscopy. In particular, the characterization...
The work presented in this dissertation examines the interplay between electron transfer reactions and electron spin in photoactive organic molecules. Organic compounds that undergo electron transfer reactions after absorbing light are important in natural photosynthesis, photobiology, and synthetic photovoltaics. These electron transfer reactions depend on the spin states of the...
Contained in the following dissertation are detailed investigations regarding the thermodynamics of small molecule activation by metalloporphyrin complexes isolated within metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Chapter 1 provides a description of the role metalloporphyrin complexes play in biological systems and the challenges associated with studying small molecule activation by metalloporphryin sites in...
Small hydrocarbons and their oxygenated derivatives are critical to atmospheric organic aerosol formation and growth. Secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) constitute a significant portion of total atmospheric organic aerosols, and are often generated through the oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as isoprene, -pinene, and -caryophyllene. Interfaces of SOA...