Slide2:
ATP Synthase The 1997 Nobel Prize for Chemistry Dr. Paul D. Boyer shared in the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)." The energy cycle of all biological organisms involves the central molecule, ATP. The energy captured from photosynthesis or released from respiration is converted into ATP where it is used for maintenance of cells, synthesis of cellular components, and other energy-requiring processes such as movement. ATP is frequently referred to as the "energy currency" of the cell. The enzyme responsible for the synthesis is ATP synthase. Dr. Boyer's work examined the detailed chemical reactions involved in this synthesis and the roles specific parts of the ATP synthase molecule played in the overall synthesis. Dr. Boyer's work at the University of California at Los Angeles was supported in part by the Division of Energy Biosciences and its predecessor organizations from 1963 until 1993 under a project entitled "Energy Capture and Use in Plants and Bacteria".
Enzymatic mechanism
of ATP synthesis Structure of
ATP Synthase 7/30/99
Slide3:
Buckminsterfullerene The 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry The accidental discovery of the third allotrope of pure carbon was made in the laboratory of Professor Richard Smalley at Rice University. Long supported by BES, Rick Smalley was studying semiconductor clusters using a novel laser vaporization technique in combination with a molecular beam apparatus to form and study clusters.
BES was pleased to have this unique apparatus used for a study of carbon clusters with Professors Robert Curl (Rice University) and Harry Kroto (University of Sussex).
The result was the observation of stable C60 clusters and the first postulation that the structure of this compound was a truncated icosahedron.
Named Buckminsterfullerene after the geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller, C60 and its hundreds of derivatives have made fullerene research a major subfield of chemistry.
The structures of Buckyball and many of its derivatives were determined at the BES synchrotron and neutron scattering user facilities. The structure of C60 was first determined at NSLS. (The BES logo is an “orientation diagram” of solid, room temperature C60 obtained at ISIS via neutron powder diffraction.)
Possible industrial applications include superconductivity, optics, lubrication, electronics, catalysis, polymer chemistry, ultrathin films of diamonds, and medical delivery systems. 7/30/99
Slide4:
Photocatalytic Ozone Destruction The 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry F. Sherwood Rowland’s research on the chemistry of fast moving chlorine (translationally “hot”) atoms had long been supported by BES. He realized chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases were a possible source of chlorine atoms through a photochemical reaction with light at the wavelengths incident upon the stratosphere. The suggested reaction scheme for ozone destruction via chlorine atoms is shown in the first frame on the left.
In 1974 Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland published their widely noted Nature article on the threat to the stratospheric ozone layer from CFC gases - "freons" - used in spray bottles, as the cooling medium in refrigerators and elsewhere and plastic foams.
Professors Rowland and Molina were selected to share the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Professor Paul Crutzen for their work in atmospheric chemistry particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone.
Certain restrictions on CFC release occurred during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1985 the Englishman Joseph Farman and his colleagues noted a significant depletion of the ozone layer over the Antarctic, the “ozone hole.” Data illustrating the depletion over time since 1961 and seasonally for 1995 are depicted at left.
A protocol on the protection of the ozone layer was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations and signed in Montreal, Canada, in 1987. Under the latest tightening-up of the Montreal Protocol some gases will be totally banned . 7/30/99
Slide5:
Neutron Scattering The 1994 Nobel Prize for Physics With support from DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Clifford G. Shull from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (and later from MIT) shared in the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics for the development of neutron scattering and diffraction. This work launched a new scientific field with far-reaching impacts in magnetism, superconductivity, polymer science, and the structure of materials. 7/30/99