Setting up Computational Chemistry (Quantum Chemistry) laboratory? Technical stuffs-Part I

Anant　Babu Marahatta
Ph.D. student in chemistry
Tohoku University, Japan

(Being a 4th year Doctoral student majoring Quantum chemistry, “Nepa Chem’s-facebook-status” on 11th April 2011 motivated me to write this article. It is solely dedicated to our energetic seniors/colleagues who are planning to introduce the Computational Chemistry lab in Nepal.)

This informative article is intended to provide some pre-requisites needed to set up very basic computational chemistry (Quantum Chemistry) laboratory. It is not valid to those who want to establish the high-tech lab by installing the supercomputing calculators into the networks which is a very common way in the renowned research institutions. Even though “LINUX” computer operating system with “Emacs”, world's most powerful text editor, is very common to be installed into the computer, the basic computational laboratory can be set up in the absence of them.

Thus, the person who is master on handling the networking systems of the supercomputers (calculators) with the personal computer (local machine) having installed LINUX is assigned as an administrator of the computational chemistry laboratory. Therefore, nominating a technical staff with such assignments is the crucial point to set up the advanced computational laboratory.

Let me start by defining computational chemistry, a branch of chemistry that uses principles of computer science to assist in solving chemical problems. Thus the computers with good memory are the very fundamental tools of it.

Now think yourself that how can computers generate a chemistry of the matter? It does suggest that without using any chemistry related software developed by utilizing the results of the theoretical chemistry (quantum and statistical chemistry), computing chemical and physical properties of the matter are impossible. Thus saying “Computers alone don’t calculate chemistry of the matter” is very usual fact. The most essential tool is the chemical software developed by implementing the results of the quantum and statistical chemistry. Just for making quantum chemistry in action, computer is essential. That’s the reason, why computational chemistry most of the time refers to the quantum chemistry as it is governed by the solution of the Schrödinger equations in order to know everything about the system.

On account of setting very simple computational laboratory for conducting normal level calculation of the small molecular system, the general computers which we use in our daily purpose is more than enough. Thus, even the very poor research institutes can afford such computers. Now the problem is about the chemical software to be installed into each assigned computer. As the molecular synthesis is very needful step in experimental chemistry, in computational chemistry too, one must engineer/model the molecule by using computer. This movie is an example of model making processes and the appearance while running the computational calculations.

The software for designing the molecule and computing the calculations will be discussed in part II.

Regional Chemistry Seminar in Biratnagar Concluded

Regional Chemistry Seminar was recently concluded in Biratnagar, Nepal. Hundreds of chemistry graduate students, researchers and professors from Nepal and India got together to share their research in the form of oral and poster presentations. We have received details of the program from the organizer of the program. At the last you will see some of the pictures from the program.
Regional Chemistry Seminar 2011, Biratnagar, Nepal

Japan and US: You must construct “Onkalo”- Fukushima Issue

Anant Babu Marahatta
Sendai, Japan
(News analysis)

Being one of the eyewitnesses from Sendai, Japan, I should proudly say that it was not so big issue about the ~9 M mega-quake that shook some of the major cities of northeast-Japan including Sendai of Miyagi prefecture on March 11, 2011, as all the skyscrapers are still standing unlike the case in Haiti few months ago. Even the mechanical damage caused by the big Tsunami, the consequence of that tremor, has been stopped broadcasting by the world’s leading news networks as well as covering by the front pages of the leading newspapers.

However, the major technical damage of the Tsunami which is being faced by the Fukushima based nuclear power plants, each has the capacity of storing 100s of tons of nuclear fuel, has been publishing with the greatest priority. It is reminded that the storage of all the crippled power plants had contained tons of nuclear fuel and were fully operated during the time of Tsunami. Thus, it is not surprising to mention “Japan is having a big nuclear disaster and crisis” which has presented the crucial question to the world “what to do with nuclear energy?” and I believe (& you too) the world has seriously begun thinking about it.

The current situation of the nuclear disaster in the world after receiving ‘Fukushima-nuclear plants threats’, can be envisioned by this news headline “In search of a nuclear disposal site” published by the “Japan Times” on 7th April 2011. It's every nation's responsibility to construct permanent nuclear waste repositories on its own territory. It is a praiseworthy work that around 300 km northwest of Finland's capital, an island named “Helsinki” houses the potential site for one of the world's first permanent underground high-level nuclear waste repositories “Onkalo” (Finnish language for “hiding place”).The repository is hundreds of meters deep and is designed to store high-level nuclear waste for at least 100,000 years. Research is still under way, but the dumping of the spent fuel is scheduled to begin around 2020.

Even though, Aomori prefecture of Japan is housing “Rokkasho reprocessing plant” for low-level as well as a temporary storage space for high-level radioactive waste, it is not enough at all for the final repository. It must be appreciated that US had spent much time and money in order to develop a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but the project was scrapped by the Obama administration amid local opposition.

Come on Japan & US !! You are the leaders of the world but why are you still operating massive nuclear power plants without installing proper safety measures? It's too late but for the safe future, you have to construct the final repository for the nuclear waste.

Congratulations to Dr. Birendra B Adhikari for the completion of PhD

Birendra Babu Adhikari has successfully completed his PhD Degree from Saga University, Japan in March 2011. He had been working in the field of supramolecular chemistry. Congratulations Dr. Adhikari.

During his graduate study, his research was focused on design and synthesis of novel organic molecules for ionic and molecular recognition. He had studied the ion recognition behavior of calixarene derivatives having different ring size and different molecular flexibility and had studied the conformational behavior of their metal ion complexes. He had successfully developed some heteracalixarene ligands that can be applied for selective scavenging of toxic cations as well as the recovery of valuable metal cations. The title of his dissertation is “Multiple proton ionizable calixarene derivatives with different ring size: Towards engineering for separation and recovery of toxic and valuable metal cations.”

Initially he had entered his supervisor’s research group in the capacity of a researcher with main responsibility of synthesizing calixarene-based organic apohosts that were exploited to evaluate their hydrogen and carbon dioxide gas storage behavior. The research group is soon reviving the same project and he will be working in the capacity of a post-doctorate researcher with main duties of designing and synthesizing organic clathrates and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) for study of their hydrogen gas storage behavior.

Diamondoids: Potential candidate for the Nanotech.

Anant Babu Marahatta
Tohoku University
Sendai, Japan

One of the current aspects of chemistry is being a watch-dog of the nanoworld which is a major discipline in Nanotechnology. In the context of building materials for nanotechnology components and in “bottom-up” approaches of chemistry, diamondoids have been of great interest in recent years.

Most generally, diamondoids refer to structures that resemble diamond consisting of a number of six-member carbon rings fused together. They are strong, stiff structures containing dense, 3-D networks of covalent bonds, formed chiefly from first and second row atoms with a valence of three or more. Various hetero-atoms which might include N, O, Si, S, and so forth, some time, act as the major substituent. 

Here is the animation obtained by the Molecular Dynamics simulation of the diamondoids.

The carbon-carbon framework of them constitutes the fundamental repeating unit in the diamond lattice structure. More explicitly, they consist of repeating units of ten carbon atoms forming a tetra-cyclic cage system. Above figure illustrates the smaller diamondoid molecules, with the general chemical formula C(4n+6)H(4n+12): adamantane (C10H16), diamantane (C14H20), triamantane (C18H24) and so on. Graphite, Carbon nano tubes consisting of sheets of carbon atoms rolled into tubes, spherical buckyballs (Fullerene) are also included in the class of diamondoids materials.

They are ultra stable, saturated organic compounds (hydrocarbons) with unique structures and properties. The cage nature of them (polymantanes, adamantologues) is very promising architectures for modeling nano structures. This family of compounds (with over 20,000 variants) is one of the best candidates that offer the possibility of producing a variety of molecular machinery shapes including molecular rotors, gyroscopes, propellers, ratchets, gears, toothed cogs, etc. They are heavily used in drug-delivery, drug targeting, DNA directed assembly, molecular building blocks for synthesis of high temperature Polymers and in host-guest chemistry for modeling supramolecular complexes. 

References:
Advances in Chemical Physics Vol. 136, pp. 207-258, 2007
and www.diamantane.info/index.html

Exclusives from Jeju Island : Spring Meeting of Korean Chemical Society (April 28-29, 2011)

With the beginning of this summer, we from the School of Chemical Engineering-Yeungnam Univeristy, Korea, had an enjoyfull travel to the “Jeju Island”. We visited Jeju do(so called) as a part of participation in biannial meeting of Korean Chemical Society on april 28-29. Here you can see some exclusives of our group from jeju island.

Congratulations to Dr. Beni B. Dangi

We have one more Chemistry Doctorate in our community. Dr. Beni B. Dangi has successfully completed his PhD Degree form University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) in spring 2011. He had been working in chemistry department of UNR in the field of Mass Spectroscopy.

During his graduate study, he had been working to develop a tandem mass spectrometer, consisting of a quadrupole ion trap (QIT) and a time-of-flight for ion mass resolution and photophysics. The main goal of the research was to develop a new ion trap that would improve the mass resolution as well as ion photophysics with the similar ion trapping behavior compared with existing hyperbolic ion trap. He was bale to identify the parameters affecting mass resolutions in linear and reflectron time-of-flight modes and significant improvements of mass resolution were accomplished with the new optimized design. He was also able to design a molecular beam source which was fabricated and characterized for the application in ion-molecule collision experiments.

The title of his dissertation is “Development of ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry for mass resolution and photophysics.” His research has been published in peer reviewed journals and articles and will be provided upon request.

Congratulations to Dr. Dangi on your great achievement and we all wish all the best for your future!!!!!!!!