2014-02-17
439
Molecular self-assembly
Unit V
1. Practice the following words:
Pharmaceuticals [fa:mə'sјu:tikəl], enzyme ['enzaim], protein ['prəuti:n], chemical ['kemikəl].
2. Study the vocabulary list:
Pharmaceuticals – фармацевтические препараты
polymers – полимеры
conformation – структура
enzyme – фермент
supramolecula chemistry – супрамолекулярная химия
single molecules – отдельные молекулы
Simple to complex: a molecular perspective
Modern synthetic chemistry has reached the point where it is possible to prepare small molecules to almost any structure. These methods are used today to manufacture a wide variety of useful chemicals such as pharmaceuticals or commercial polymers. This ability raises the question of extending this kind of control to the next-larger level, seeking methods to assemble these single molecules into supramolecular assemblies consisting of many molecules arranged in a well defined manner. These approaches utilize the concepts of molecular self-assembly and /or supramolecula chemistry to automatically arrange themselves into some useful conformation through a bottom-up approach. The concept of molecular recognition is especially important: molecules can be designed so that a specific configuration or arrangement is favored due to non-covalent intermolecular forces. The Watson–Crick basepairing rules are a direct result of this, as is the specificity of an enzyme being targeted to a single substrate, or the specific folding of the protein itself. Thus, two or more components can be designed to be complementary and mutually attractive so that they make a more complex and useful whole. Such bottom-up approaches should be capable of producing devices in parallel and be much cheaper than top-down methods, but could potentially be overwhelmed as the size and complexity of the desired assembly increases. Most useful structures require complex and thermodynamically unlikely arrangements of atoms. Nevertheless, there are many examples of self-assembly based on molecular recognition in biology, most notably Watson–Crick basepairing and enzyme-substrate interactions. The challenge for nanotechnology is whether these principles can be used to engineer new constructs in addition to natural ones.
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4. Find in the text English word-combinations corresponding to the following Russian ones:
Производить широкое разнообразие фармацевтических препаратов;специфика ферментов и полимеров; специфика ферментов; сворачивание белка; отдельные молекулы; супрамолекулярная химия; структура молекулы; устройство атомов; самоорганизация молекул.
5. Translate the following into Russian:
To prepare small molecules to almost any structure; to assemble single molecules into supramolecular assemblies; to arrange molecules in a well defined manner; to arrange molecules into useful conformation; to utilize the concepts of molecular self-assembly; the concept of molecular recognition; non-covalent intermolecular forces; arrangements of atoms; the folding of the protein; enzyme-substrate interactions.
6. Answer the following questions:
1) What point has modern synthetic chemistry reached?
2) What are methods of synthetic chemistry used for?
3) What question does modern synthetic chemistry raise?
4) Why is the concept of molecular recognition important?
5) What are direct results of molecular recognition?
6) Why bottom-up approaches can be overwhelmed?
