This study is concerned with certain factors affecting the content of lactobacillic acid in Lactobacillus plantarum. Three main areas of investigation are reported herein. The effects of both the oxygen tension and the pH of the culture medium on the accumulation of lactobacillic acid were determined. In addition, monolayer studies were conducted to determine the influence of cyclopropane fatty acid content on the molecular packing of membrane lipids.

This thesis is an investigation of the vacuum uv spectra of the phosphorus, phosphoryl, and thiophosphoryl trichlorofluorides in the region 1250 to 3000A. Assignments for absorption bands are made utilizing results from photoelectron spectra and ab initio calculations, oscillator strengths for absorption bands, and CNDO/2 molecular orbital calculations. Results from CNDO/2 calculations are compared with theoretical calculations, and experimental data are discussed with regard to the bonding in the compounds.

The purpose of this investigation is threefold: (1) to examine in detail the cycloaddition of halogenated ketenes and carbonyl compounds, (2) to study the decarboxylation of the resulting halogenated 2-oxetanones,and (3) to investigate the effect of halogens in the halogenated 2-oxetanones on the nucleophilic addition reaction.