With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation Program, Professor Robert Paley from Swarthmore College and colleagues Liliya Yatsunyk, Kathleen Howard and Stephen Miller will acquire a 400 MHz NMR spectrometer. The proposal is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels, especially in areas such as (a) diastereoselective spirocyclizations directed by planar chiral metal carbonyl complexes; (b) interaction of G-quadruplex DNA with small molecule ligands; (c) application of NMR methods to elucidate how an integral membrane protein induces curvature in cholesterol containing membrane bilayers; and (d) studies of interspecies quorum sensing signal processing proteins.
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, materials chemistry and biochemistry. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research not only at Swarthmore College but also at collaborating institutions such as Ursinus College, LaSalle University, Saint Peter's University. The instrumentation will also impact some industrial collaborators.
