The purpose of this review article is to present some of the recent contributions that show the use of thermodynamics to describe biological systems and their evolution, illustrating the agreement that this theory presents with the field of evolution. Organic systems are described as thermodynamic systems where entropy is produced by the irreversible processes, considering as an established fact that this entropy is eliminated through their frontiers to preserve life. The necessary and sufficient conditions to describe the evolution of life in the negentropy principle are established. Underlining the fact that the necessary condition requires formulation, which is founded on the principle of minimum entropy production for open systems operating near or far from equilibrium, other formulations are mentioned, particularly the information theory, the energy intensiveness hypothesis and the theory of open systems far from equilibrium. Finally suggesting the possibility of considering the lineal formulation as a viable alternative; that is, given the internal constrictions under which a biological system operates, it is possible that the validity of its application is broader than it has been suggested.
Two different crystalline structures corresponding to a zinc adipate and a zinc succinate were determined combining: X-ray powder and single-crystal diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and true densities experiments. The zinc succinate crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. This compound crystallizes in the orthorhombic space-group Cccm with unit-cell parameters a = 4.792(1) Å, b = 21.204(6) Å, c = 6.691(2) Å, V = 679.8(3) Å3, and Z = 8. Zinc adipate crystal structure was refined from the laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data by the Rietveld method. It crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2/c with unit-cell parameters, a = 16.2037(17)Å, b = 4.7810(2)Å, c = 9.2692(6)Å, β = 90.329(3)°, V = 718.07(9) Å3, and Z = 4. The thermal expansion of it was estimated in 5.40 × 10−5 K−1. This contribution is a step on the way to systematize the regularities in the coordination diversity between linear dicarboxylates and transition metal–inorganic buildings units of metal–organic frameworks.
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