Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026

X-Ray Crystallography to Study the Oligomeric State Transition of the Thermotoga maritima M42 Aminopeptidase TmPep1050
Published on: May 13, 2020
Tetrahelix conformations and transformation pathways in Pt1Pd12 clusters
Rafael Pacheco-Contreras1, Maribel Dessens-Félix, Dora J Borbón-González
1Departamento de Investigación en Física, Universidad de Sonora, Apdo. Postal 5-088, 83190 Hermosillo, Sonora, México.
Researchers explored platinum-palladium bimetallic clusters using the threshold method. They discovered novel helical structures, including both right-handed and left-handed chiral forms, offering new insights into cluster energy landscapes.
Area of Science:
- Computational chemistry
- Materials science
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Bimetallic clusters are crucial in catalysis and materials science.
- Understanding their energy landscapes is key to predicting stability and reactivity.
- Platinum-palladium clusters offer unique electronic and structural properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential energy surface of the Pt(1)Pd(12) bimetallic cluster.
- To identify stable structural configurations and their energetic relationships.
- To explore the chirality of discovered structures.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the threshold method to explore the potential energy surface.
- Employed the Gupta semiempirical potential for cluster energy calculations.
- Applied disconnectivity graph analysis to map structural transitions.
Main Results:
- Identified a set of helical structures following a Bernal tetrahelix pattern as local minima.
- Discovered both right-handed and left-handed chiral forms of these helical structures.
- Characterized the energetic and structural details of tetrahelix configurations and their transition probabilities.
Conclusions:
- The Pt(1)Pd(12) cluster exhibits complex energy landscape with stable helical minima.
- Chirality is a significant feature in the structural diversity of these bimetallic clusters.
- The findings provide a detailed map of structural transitions and stability for Pt-Pd clusters.
More Related Videos
06:35Construction and Systematical Symmetric Studies of a Series of Supramolecular Clusters with Binary or Ternary Ammonium Triphenylacetates
Published on: February 15, 2016
09:31PCR Mutagenesis, Cloning, Expression, Fast Protein Purification Protocols and Crystallization of the Wild Type and Mutant Forms of Tryptophan Synthase
Published on: September 26, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Conformations of Cyclohexane
The chair form is the most stable and derives its name from its resemblance to the “easy chair.” In the chair conformation, two carbon atoms are arranged out-of-plane — one above and one below, minimizing the torsional strain. In the chair form, the bond angle is very close to the ideal tetrahedral value,...
Chair Conformation of Cyclohexane
The hydrogen atoms linked to carbons are arranged in two different axial and equatorial orientations to achieve this staggered...
Protein Folding
Protein Folding
Protein Structure Is Critical to Its Biological Function
Proteins perform a wide range of biological functions such as catalyzing chemical reactions, providing...
Thermal Sigmatropic Reactions: Overview
Sigmatropic shifts are classified based on an order term [i, j ], where i and j indicate the number of atoms across which each end of the σ bond migrates. Below are examples of a [3,3] sigmatropic shift in 1,5-hexadiene, referred to as...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...