This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Craig Jasperse, Gary Edvenson and P. Asoka Marasinghe from Minnesota State University - Moorehead and their colleagues Donald Krogstad and Drew Rutherford from Concordia College will acquire a 400 MHz NMR spectrometer to support chemical research of faculty at their respective campuses. Proposed research spans a number of areas in chemistry, including: 1) the development of new ligands for use in green chemistry; 2) the studies of protein phosphorylation and membrane protein ion exchange; 3) the design of new ligands and catalysts for use in fluorous chemistry; 4) the development of new transition metal complexes for use as catalysts and as components in nanostructured materials; 5) the design of novel boron-containing agents for potential use in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy; and 6) the construction of improved solar cells. The instrumentation will also be used in teaching and training of undergraduate students in coursework at both institutions, as well as being an integral part of outreach activities to Hispanic and native American students from the area.
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/inorganic chemistry and biochemistry.
