Summary

Physics advocates research on unifying chemical bonds and recognized parallels on a different (and non-reductive) level, as per the concept of the Great Unification of Forces in Nature. From this perspective, a Physicochemical Grand Unification of Forces would be a worthy project for humankind in order to increase our undertanding of existence and to improve our lives. This entry collection aims to present an account of chemical bonds and interactions in nano- to maco-environments.

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Topic Review
Enzymatic Reactions in Honey
Honey is known for its content of biomolecules, such as enzymes. The enzymes of honey originate from bees, plant nectars, secretions or excretions of plant-sucking insects, or microorganisms such as yeasts. Honey can be characterized by enzyme-catalyzed and non-enzymatic reactions. Notable examples of enzyme-catalyzed reactions are the production of hydrogen peroxide through glucose oxidase activity and the conversion of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen by catalase enzymes. 
  • 10.2K
  • 19 Aug 2022
Topic Review
MicroRNA-7 (MiR-7) in Cancer Physiopathology
miRNAs are non-coding RNA sequences of approximately 22 nucleotides that interact with genes by inhibiting their translation through binding to their 3′ or 5′ UTR regions. Following their discovery, the role they play in the development of various pathologies, particularly cancer, has been studied. In this context, miR-7 is described as an important factor in the development of cancer because of its role as a tumor suppressor, regulating a large number of genes involved in the development and progression of cancer. Data support the function of miR-7 as a prognostic biomarker in cancer, and miR-7 has been proposed as a strategy in cancer therapy.
  • 1.4K
  • 16 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Lipids in Food Flavor Generation
Lipids in food are a source of essential fatty acids and also play a crucial role in flavor and off-flavor development. Lipids contribute to food flavor generation due to their degradation to volatile compounds during food processing, heating/cooking, and storage and/or interactions with other constituents developed from the Maillard reaction and Strecker degradation, among others. The degradation of lipids mainly occurs via autoxidation, photooxidation, and enzymatic oxidation, which produce a myriad of volatile compounds. The oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids generates hydroperoxides that then further break down to odor-active volatile secondary lipid oxidation products including aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones.
  • 4.3K
  • 15 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Photoresponsive Supramolecular Systems
Photosensitive supramolecular systems have garnered attention due to their potential to catalyze highly specific tasks through structural changes triggered by a light stimulus. The tunability of their chemical structure and charge transfer properties provides opportunities for designing and developing smart materials for multidisciplinary applications. Photoswitchable systems designed to catalyze chemical reactions must incorporate the appropriate photochromic units into the system to translate the structural switching states into a different chemical reactivity. 
  • 1.1K
  • 01 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Self-Healing Mechanisms of Polyurea
Self-healing polymers are categorized as smart materials that are capable of surface protection and prevention of structural failure. Polyurethane/polyurea, as one of the representative coatings, has also attracted attention for industrial applications.
  • 2.5K
  • 20 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Tellurium Nanotubes and Chemical Analogues
Tellurium (Te), the most metallic semiconductor, has been widely explored in recent decades owing to its fantastic properties such as a tunable bandgap, high carrier mobility, high thermal conductivity, and in-plane anisotropy. Many references have witnessed the rapid development of synthesizing diverse Te geometries with controllable shapes, sizes, and structures in different strategies. In all types of Te nanostructures, Te with one-dimensional (1D) hollow internal structures, especially nanotubes (NTs), have attracted extensive attention and been utilized in various fields of applications.
  • 1.0K
  • 29 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Tracing the Glycine from Quantum Chemical Simulations
Glycine (Gly), NH2CH2COOH, is the simplest amino acid. Although it has not been directly detected in the interstellar gas-phase medium, it has been identified in comets and meteorites, and its synthesis in these environments has been simulated in terrestrial laboratory experiments. Likewise, condensation of Gly to form peptides in scenarios resembling those present in a primordial Earth has been demonstrated experimentally. Thus, Gly is a paradigmatic system for biomolecular building blocks to investigate how they can be synthesized in astrophysical environments, transported and delivered by fragments of asteroids (meteorites, once they land on Earth) and comets (interplanetary dust particles that land on Earth) to the primitive Earth, and there react to form biopolymers as a step towards the emergence of life. 
  • 1.1K
  • 24 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Structure and Fabrication of MXene-Based Heterostructures
MXene, as an emerging family of 2D nanomaterials, exhibits excellent electrochemical, electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. MXene-based heterostructures have already been demonstrated in applications such as supercapacitors, sensors, batteries, and photocatalysts. Nowadays, increasing research attention is attracted onto MXene-based heterostructures, while there is less effort spent to summarize the current research status.
  • 2.3K
  • 08 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Reactions of Graphene Nano-Flakes
The elucidation of the mechanism of the chemical evolution of the universe is one of the most important themes in astrophysics. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) provide a two-dimensional reaction field in a three-dimensional interstellar space. Additionally, PAHs play an important role as a model of graphene nanoflake (GNF) in materials chemistry.
  • 1.1K
  • 27 May 2022
Topic Review
Application of Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics Methodologies to Metalloproteins
The multiscaling quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) approach was introduced in 1976, while the extensive acceptance of this methodology started in the 1990s. The combination of QM/MM approach with molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, otherwise known as the QM/MM/MD approach, is a powerful and promising tool for the investigation of chemical reactions’ mechanism of complex molecular systems, drug delivery, properties of molecular devices, organic electronics, etc. Applications of the QM/MM methodologies on metalloproteins are presented.  
  • 2.2K
  • 05 May 2022
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