Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
RNA folding problem: Is it possible to accurately predict the secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of a polyribonucleic acid sequence based on its sequence and environment? Protein design : Is it possible to design highly active enzymes de novo for any desired reaction?
Acid–base-catalysed hydrolyses are very common; one example is the hydrolysis of amides or esters. Their hydrolysis occurs when the nucleophile (a nucleus-seeking agent, e.g., water or hydroxyl ion) attacks the carbon of the carbonyl group of the ester or amide. In an aqueous base, hydroxyl ions are better nucleophiles than polar molecules ...
Biology is thus but a branch of the physico-chemistry of liquids; it includes the study of electrolytic and colloidal solutions, and of the molecular forces brought into play by solution, osmosis, diffusion, cohesion, and crystallization."
The hydrolysis of a protein (red) by the nucleophilic attack of water (blue). The uncatalysed half-life is several hundred years. Proteolysis is the breakdown of proteins into smaller polypeptides or amino acids. Uncatalysed, the hydrolysis of peptide bonds is extremely slow, taking hundreds of years.
Solvation or dissolution is a kinetic process and is quantified by its rate. Solubility quantifies the dynamic equilibrium state achieved when the rate of dissolution equals the rate of precipitation. The consideration of the units makes the distinction clearer. The typical unit for dissolution rate is mol/s.
An example of a solvolysis reaction is the reaction of a triglyceride with a simple alcohol such as methanol or ethanol to give the methyl or ethyl esters of the fatty acid, as well as glycerol. This reaction is more commonly known as a transesterification reaction due to the exchange of the alcohol fragments.
A kinetic model based on experimental data can capture most of the essential transformation in diagenesis, [10] and a mathematical model in a compacting porous medium to model the dissolution-precipitation mechanism. [11] These models have been intensively studied and applied in real geological applications.
Biological substances can experience leaching themselves, [2] as well as be used for leaching as part of the solvent substance to recover heavy metals. [6] Many plants experience leaching of phenolics, carbohydrates, and amino acids, and can experience as much as 30% mass loss from leaching, [5] just from sources of water such as rain, dew, mist, and fog. [2]