Efeitos de solventes tem sido um tema de grande interesse científco. Em particular, o estudo dos efeitos de solventes no espectro eletrônico de absorção tem sua própria motivação e complexidade. Neste trabalho, nós estudamos os efeitos da solução aquosa na estabilidade conformacional e no espectro eletrônico de absorção da molécula Óxido Mesitil (OM). Essa molécula pertence a família das cetonas ,-insaturadas e, semelhantemente aos outros membros da família, ela apresenta transições eletrônicas sensíveis ao solvente. Inicialmente, estudamos os isômeros syn e anti do OM isoladamente usando cálculos quânticos para determinar a energia livre relativa, a barreira de rotação, os momentos de dipolo e as transições eletrônicas de absorção. Nosso melhor resultado mostra que o isômero syn do OM é a conformação mais estável, por cerca de 1.3 kcal/- mol calculado com nível MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ. Com o mesmo nível de cálculo, obtivemos os momentos de dipolo de 2.80 e 3.97 D para os isômeros syn e anti respectivamente, que estão em boa concordância com os valores experimentais de 2.8 e 3.7 D. Para o espectro eletrônico de absorção, analisamos a banda mais intensa, -*, com diferentes funcionais de densidade e funções base. Obtivemos o comprimento de transição de 229 nm calculado com nível TD-B3LYP/6-311++G** para o isômero syn em muito boa concordância com o valor experimental de 231 nm medido em solução de iso-octano (solvente de baixa polaridade). Para realizar os estudos em solução, geramos estruturas supermoleculares dos isômeros do OM em solução aquosa usando simulações computacionais com o método Monte Carlo. Usamos os potenciais Lennard-Jones e Coulomb para descrever as interações intermoleculares com os parâmetros do campo de força OPLS. Verifcamos que as cargas atômicas OPLS não descrevem bem o potencial eletrostático do OM. Portanto, realizamos um processo iterativo para incluir a polarização do soluto na presença do solvente para descrever melhor as interações entre o OM e as moléculas de água. Assim, obtivemos um aumento de cerca de 80% nos momentos de dipolo dos isômeros isolados. Adicionalmente, calculamos a energia livre relativa entre os isômeros em solução aquosa usando teoria de perturbação termodinâmica. Obtivemos que o isômero anti do OM é a conformação mais estável, por cerca de 2.8 kcal/mol. Examinando os efeitos de solvente no espectro eletrônico de absorção do OM, identificamos que existem duas contribuições competindo para o deslocamento da banda -*. Uma contribuição vem da mudança conformacional syn anti do OM devido a mudança de polaridade, baixa alta, do solvente. Essa mudança conformacional provoca um deslocamento para o azul de 1210 cm-1 na transição -*. A outra contribuição vem do efeito do solvente na estrutura eletrônica do OM, que provoca um deslocamento para o vermelho de - 4460 cm-1 nessa transição. Adicionando essas duas contribuições, temos o efeito do solvente total no espectro eletrônico de absorção do OM em solução aquosa. Nosso melhor resultado é um valor médio de 248 nm obtido com 75 cálculos TD-B3LYP/6-311++G** de estruturas supermoleculares estatisticamente descorrelacionadas compostas por um anti-OM rodeado por 14 moléculas de água explícitas embebidas no campo eletrostático de 236 moléculas de água tratadas como cargas pontuais simples. Esse resultado está em muito boa concordância com o resultado experimental de 243 nm em solução aquosa. Sendo assim, este trabalho demonstra que a mudança conformacional syn anti é essencial para entender o deslocamento espectral da transição -* do OM em água. / Solvent effects have been the subject of considerable scientifc interest. In particular, the study of solvent effects in electronic absorption spectroscopy has its own motivation and complexities. In this work we study the effects of the aqueous solution in the conformational stability and the electronic absorption spectrum of the Mesityl Oxide (OM) molecule. This molecule belongs to the family of the ,-unsaturated ketones and, like other members of the family, presents sensitivity to solvent in the absorption transitions. Initially we studied the isolated syn and anti isomers of OM by performing quantum mechanical calculations to obtain the relative free energy, the rotational barrier, the dipole moments and the electronic absorption transitions. Our best result showed that the OM syn isomer is the most stable conformer, by approximately 1.3 kcal/mol calculated with the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level. With the same level of calculation, we obtained the dipole moments of 2.80 and 3.97 D for the syn and anti isomers respectively, which are in good agreement with the experimental values of 2.8 and 3.7 D. For the electronic absorption spectrum, we analyzed the most intense band, -*, with different density functional and basis sets. We obtained a transition wavelength of 229 nm calculated with TD-B3LYP/6-311++G** level for the syn isomer in good agreement with the experimental value of 231 nm measured in iso-octane (solvent of low polarity). For performing the in-solution studies, we generated supermolecular structures of the OM isomers in aqueous solution using computer simulations with the Monte Carlo method. We used the Lennard-Jones and Coulomb potentials to describe the intermolecular interactions with the OPLS force field parameters. We found that the OPLS atomic charges do not describe well the electrostatic potential of OM. Therefore we performed an iterative process for including the solute polarization in the presence of the solvent to better describe the interactions between the OM and the water molecules. We obtained an increase of about 80% in the dipole moments of the isolated isomers. Additionally, we calculated the relative free energy between the isomers in aqueous solution using thermodynamic perturbation theory. We found that the anti isomer is the most stable conformer in aqueous solution, by about 2.8 kcal/mol. Examining the solvent effects in the electronic absorption spectrum of OM, we found that there are two competing contributions to the -* band shift. One contribution is due to the syn anti conformational change of OM caused by the low high polarity change of the solvent. This conformational change led to a blue shift of 1210 cm-1 in the * band. The remaining contribution is due to the solvent effect in the electronic structure of OM, which led to a red shift of -4460 cm-1. Adding these two contributions, we obtained the total solvent effect in the electronic absorption spectrum of OM in aqueous solution. Our best result was an average wavelength transition of 248 nm obtained using 75 TD-B3LYP/6-311++G** quantum calculations on statistically uncorrelated supermolecular structures composed by one anti-OM surrounded by 14 explicit water molecules in the electrostatic embedding composed of 236 water molecules described as simple point charges. This result is in very good agreement with the experimental result of 243 nm in aqueous solution. Thus, this work demonstrates that the syn anti conformational change is the essential ingredient to understand the spectral shift of the - * absorption transition of OM in water.

It is well-known that the solution of a so-called singularly perturbed differential equation exhibits layers. These are small regions in the domain where the solution changes drastically. These layers deteriorate the convergence of standard numerical algorithms, such as the finite element method on a uniform mesh. In the past many approaches were developed to overcome this difficulty. In this context it was very helpful to understand the structure of the solution - especially to know where the layers can occur. Therefore, we have a lot of analysis in the literature concerning the properties of solutions of such problems. Nevertheless, this field is far from being understood conclusively. More recently, there is an increasing interest in the numerics of optimal control problems subject to a singularly perturbed convection-diffusion equation and box constraints for the control. However, it is not much known about the solutions of such optimal control problems. The proposed solution methods are based on the experience one has from scalar singularly perturbed differential equations, but so far, the analysis presented does not use the structure of the solution and in fact, the provided bounds are rather meaningless for solutions which exhibit boundary layers, since these bounds scale like epsilon^(-1.5) as epsilon converges to 0. In this thesis we strive to prove bounds for the solution and its derivatives of the optimal control problem. These bounds show that there is an additional layer that is weaker than the layers one expects knowing the results for scalar differential equation problems, but that weak layer deteriorates the convergence of the proposed methods. In Chapter 1 and 2 we discuss the optimal control problem for the one-dimensional case. We consider the case without control constraints and the case with control constraints separately. For the case without control constraints we develop a method to prove bounds for arbitrary derivatives of the solution, given the data is smooth enough. For the latter case we prove bounds for the derivatives up to the second order. Subsequently, we discuss several discretization methods. In this context we use special Shishkin meshes. These meshes are piecewise equidistant, but have a very fine subdivision in the region of the layers. Additionally, we consider different ways of discretizing the control constraints. The first one enforces the compliance of the constraints everywhere and the other one enforces it only in the mesh nodes. For each proposed algorithm we prove convergence estimates that are independent of the parameter epsilon. Hence, they are meaningful even for small values of epsilon. As a next step we turn to the two-dimensional case. To be able to adapt the proofs of Chapter 2 to this case we require bounds for the solution of the scalar differential equation problem for a right hand side f only in W^(1,infty). Although, a lot of results for this problem can be found in the literature but we can not apply any of them, because they require a smooth right hand side f in C^(2,alpha) for some alpha in (0,1). Therefore, we dedicate Chapter 3 to the analysis of the scalar differential equations problem only using a right hand side f that is not very smooth. In Chapter 4 we strive to prove bounds for the solution of the optimal control problem in the two dimensional case. The analysis for this problem is not complete. Especially, the characteristic layers induce subproblems that are not understood completely. Hence, we can not prove sharp bounds for all terms in the solution decomposition we construct. Nevertheless, we propose a solution method. Numerical results indicate an epsilon-independent convergence for the considered examples - although we are not able to prove this.

The Ph.D. project compiled in this thesis has focused on the role of the solvent in solid-liquid phase equilibria and in nucleation kinetics. Six organic substances have been selected as model compounds, viz. ortho-, meta- and para-hydroxybenzoic acid, salicylamide, meta- and para-aminobenzoic acid. The different types of crystal phases of these compounds have been explored, and their respective solid-state properties have been determined experimentally. The solubility of these crystal phases has been determined in various solvents between 10 and 50 oC. The kinetics of nucleation has been investigated for salicylamide by measuring the metastable zone width, in five different solvents under different experimental conditions. A total of 15 different crystal phases were identified among the six model compounds. Only one crystal form was found for the ortho-substituted compounds, whereas the meta-isomeric compounds crystallized as two unsolvated polymorphs. The para-substituted isomers crystallized as two unsolvated polymorphs and as several solvates in different solvents. It was discovered that the molar solubility of the different crystal phases was linked to the temperature dependence of solubility. In general, a greater molar solubility corresponds to a smaller temperature dependence of solubility. The generality of this relation for organic compounds was investigated using a test set of 41 organic solutes comprising a total of 115 solubility curves. A semi-empirical solubility model was developed based on how thermodynamic properties relate to concentration and temperature. The model was fitted to the 115 solubility curves and used to predict the temperature dependence of solubility. The model allows for entire solubility curves to be constructed in new solvents based on the melting properties of the solute and the solubility in that solvent at a single temperature. Based on the test set comprising the 115 solubility curves it was also found that the melting temperature of the solute can readily be predicted from solubility data in organic solvents. The activity of the solid phase (or ideal solubility) of four of the investigated crystal phases was determined within a rigorous thermodynamic framework, by combining experimental data at the melting temperature and solubility in different solvents and temperatures. The results show that the assumptions normally used in the literature to determine the activity of the solid phase may give rise to errors up to a factor of 12. An extensive variation in the metastable zone width of salicylamide was obtained during repeated experiments performed under identical experimental conditions. Only small or negligible effects on the onset of nucleation were observed by changing the saturation temperature or increasing the solution volume. The onset of nucleation was instead considerably influenced by different cooling rates and different solvents. A correlation was found between the supersaturation ratio at the average onset of nucleation and the viscosity of the solvent divided by the solubility of the solute. The trends suggest that an increased molecular mobility and a higher concentration of the solute reduce the metastable zone width of salicylamide. / QC 20100831

It is well-known that the solution of a so-called singularly perturbed differential equation exhibits layers. These are small regions in the domain where the solution changes drastically. These layers deteriorate the convergence of standard numerical algorithms, such as the finite element method on a uniform mesh. In the past many approaches were developed to overcome this difficulty. In this context it was very helpful to understand the structure of the solution - especially to know where the layers can occur. Therefore, we have a lot of analysis in the literature concerning the properties of solutions of such problems. Nevertheless, this field is far from being understood conclusively. More recently, there is an increasing interest in the numerics of optimal control problems subject to a singularly perturbed convection-diffusion equation and box constraints for the control. However, it is not much known about the solutions of such optimal control problems. The proposed solution methods are based on the experience one has from scalar singularly perturbed differential equations, but so far, the analysis presented does not use the structure of the solution and in fact, the provided bounds are rather meaningless for solutions which exhibit boundary layers, since these bounds scale like epsilon^(-1.5) as epsilon converges to 0. In this thesis we strive to prove bounds for the solution and its derivatives of the optimal control problem. These bounds show that there is an additional layer that is weaker than the layers one expects knowing the results for scalar differential equation problems, but that weak layer deteriorates the convergence of the proposed methods. In Chapter 1 and 2 we discuss the optimal control problem for the one-dimensional case. We consider the case without control constraints and the case with control constraints separately. For the case without control constraints we develop a method to prove bounds for arbitrary derivatives of the solution, given the data is smooth enough. For the latter case we prove bounds for the derivatives up to the second order. Subsequently, we discuss several discretization methods. In this context we use special Shishkin meshes. These meshes are piecewise equidistant, but have a very fine subdivision in the region of the layers. Additionally, we consider different ways of discretizing the control constraints. The first one enforces the compliance of the constraints everywhere and the other one enforces it only in the mesh nodes. For each proposed algorithm we prove convergence estimates that are independent of the parameter epsilon. Hence, they are meaningful even for small values of epsilon. As a next step we turn to the two-dimensional case. To be able to adapt the proofs of Chapter 2 to this case we require bounds for the solution of the scalar differential equation problem for a right hand side f only in W^(1,infty). Although, a lot of results for this problem can be found in the literature but we can not apply any of them, because they require a smooth right hand side f in C^(2,alpha) for some alpha in (0,1). Therefore, we dedicate Chapter 3 to the analysis of the scalar differential equations problem only using a right hand side f that is not very smooth. In Chapter 4 we strive to prove bounds for the solution of the optimal control problem in the two dimensional case. The analysis for this problem is not complete. Especially, the characteristic layers induce subproblems that are not understood completely. Hence, we can not prove sharp bounds for all terms in the solution decomposition we construct. Nevertheless, we propose a solution method. Numerical results indicate an epsilon-independent convergence for the considered examples - although we are not able to prove this.