With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Professor John D. Roberts, of the Chemistry Department at California Institute of Technology. This research will continue Professor Roberts' investigations of the geometries of organic molecules using NMR spectroscopy. The molecular shapes of rapidly interconverting mixtures of conformers of substituted ethanes and propanes will be studied in various solvents. These investigations will contribute to our knowledge of the influence of solvation on the conformation of organic molecules. This work is especially significant as much of it will be done in non-aqueous, aprotic solvents, which serve as models for the interactions between polar, ionized and hydrogen-bonded groups in the interiors of folded biochemical molecules. A combination of experiment and theory will be used in these studies.
A basic understanding of the factors that determine molecular shapes will have wide implications in areas ranging from pharmaceuticals to biopolymers. An important aspect of this project will be the involvement of undergraduates in the research. These investigations are designed to provide undergraduate students with important research problems with the potential to have a significant impact on chemistry and biology.
