Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1965. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

The interest in materials with designed physical properties and controlled molecular formula is increasing. Octopus molecules, or materials with pendent groups from a core, and dendrimer molecules, or materials with a defined pattern of branching from a core are means of obtaining molecules of designed architecture. The work presented here involves the synthesis and characterization of octopus and dendrimer molecules of defined shape with molecular weights well into the thousands. These designed molecular materials have been synthesized by placing pendant groups symmetrically about a silsesquioxane [(SiO_3/2)₈] core. A facile, one-step route to hydrocarbon and siloxane functional octopus molecules via H2PtC16 catalyzed hydrosilylation of 1-alkenes and vinyl-functional siloxanes by T₈ hydrogen silsesquioxane, (HSiO_3/2)₈, has been demonstrated. The chemistry of addition was studied, and it was found that while the addition of the I-alkenes to T₈ was, regioprecise with only a-addition being observed, both a- and ß-addition occurred with vinyl siloxanes. In addition, H/vinyl exchange on silicon was observed to occur with addition of vinyl-siloxane to T₈. The effect of the hydrosilylation catalyst, homogeneous and heterogeneous, on the regioselectivity of addition and on the extent of exchange on silicon has been evaluated via GPC and ¹³C and ²⁹Si NMR. Investigations into the feasibility of placing a number of other moieties on the silsesquioxane core to show the almost limitless types of functional octopus molecules that can be made and to expand into dendritic molecules were also accomplished. For example polyether functional and mixed polyether/siloxane functional octopus molecules were synthesized and found to have interesting surface activity. The synthesis of an acrylate functional octopus molecule was accomplished and the product used to produce an ultra-violet curable coating. Finally, routes other than hydrosilylation to produce octopus and dendrimer molecules with silsesquioxane cores, for instance, the reaction of ROH with SiH of (SiO_3/2)₈, were developed and used to increase the types of functional octopus possible and to produce dendrimer molecules with silsesquioxane cores. The synthesis, characterization, and possible applications of silsesquioxane-based octopus and dendrimer molecules will be discussed.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-81). Also available online in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

No description available.

Conventional computational methods available today for studying macromolecules and their complexes are limited to simulating short time frames and are insufficient to study processes of interest related to their function that usually occur In nature on longer time scales. Alternative methods that extend our capabilities continue to be proposed, and most often involve some kind of reduction In complexity or representation in order to simulate these biological processes on longer time and length scales. The ability to investigate through simulation the structural and functional properties of protein macromolecular complexes IS of particular importance in the field of bionanotechnology, whose goal IS to harness nanoscale devices made from or inspired by biological counterparts. Clearly then, methods are needed that can capture the large changes seen In macromoleculat assemblies to elucidate important principles of their structure and function and apply these to the nanomachines envisaged in bionanotechnology. At the forefront of this field lie the nanomotors, whose biological counterparts, the molecular protein motors, are used in cells to drive a host of essential processes with an amazing degree of efficiency and precision. The work in this thesis describes the development of a hierarchic modeling paradigm applied toward simulating the processi ve movement of the molecular myos m motor protein along an actin filament track. In the hierarchic model, three different levels of protein structure resolution are represented, with the level of detail changing according to the degree of interaction among the molecules, the integrity of which is maintained using a tree of spatially organized bounding volumes. Although applied to an acto-myosin system, the hierarchic framework is general enough so that it may easily be adapted to a number of other biomolecular systems of interest within the bionanotechnology field.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Jan. 29, 2009). Includes bibliographical references. Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-99). Also available on the World Wide Web.