With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kansas will acquire a cryoprobe/cryoplatform for a 500 MHz NMR Spectrometer. This equipment will enable researchers to carry out research in a) medicinal organic chemistry, including the development of new methods for heterocyclic synthesis and combinatorial chemistry; b) the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of natural products; c) development and application of improved methods for coupling NMR and capillary isotachophoresis; d) the development of new transition metal-mediated reactions for asymmetric synthesis of complex organic molecules; e) the study of structure-function relationships in heme-containing proteins; and f) the use of transition metal-catalyzed approaches to structurally diverse phosphorus- and sulfur-containing heterocycles exhibiting biological and/or synthetic utility.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. It is used to identify unknown substances, to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules, and to study the dynamics of interactions between molecules in solution. Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. The results from these NMR studies will have an impact in synthetic organic chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry and biochemistry.
