the structure lacuna腔隙结构.pdfVIP

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 9081-9096; doi:10.3390/ijm OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 /journal/ijms Article The Structure Lacuna Jan C.A. Boeyens * and Demetrius C. Levendis Unit for Advanced Scholarship, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Pretoria 0002, South Africa Molecular Sciences Institute, School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg 0001, South Africa; E-Mail: demetrius.levendis@wits.ac.za * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: jan.boeyens@up.ac.za; Tel.: +27-12-420-4528; Fax: +27-12-362-5288. Received: 6 June 2012; in revised form: 10 July 2012 / Accepted: 12 July 2012 / Published: 20 July 2012 Abstract: Molecular symmetry is intimately connected with the classical concept of three-dimensional molecular structure. In a non-classical theory of wave-like interaction in four-dimensional space-time, both of these concepts and traditional quantum mechanics lose their operational meaning, unless suitably modified. A required reformulation should emphasize the importance of four-dimensional effects like spin and the symmetry effects of space-time curvature that could lead to a fundamentally different understanding of molecular symmetry and structure in terms of elementary number theory. Isolated single molecules have no characteristic shape and macro-biomolecules only develop robust three-dimensional structur