With this new award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Professors Matthew A. Tarr and Branko S. Jursic of the Chemistry Department at the University of New Orleans. This research will investigate the formation, stability, and geometry of ternary complexes between metals (e.g. Fe2+, Ca2+, Cd2+), cyclodextrins, and hydrophobic guest molecules that can be included in the cyclodextrin. A cyclodextrin is a polysaccharide which takes the form of a cylinder. Several new well defined cyclodextrin derivatives containing a variety of functional groups capable of chelating various metals will be synthesized and these compounds will be studied using absorbance, fluorescence, and NMR spectroscopy in order to determine binding constants and geometries of the ternary complexes. To decide which cyclodextrin derivatives will be synthesized molecular modeling will be employed. Results of the study will advance environmental remediation and waste stream treatment technologies, will produce new strategies and tools for drug delivery, and will provide new models and insight for understanding metal catalyzed reactions.
Broader Impacts. This research will result in advances in both synthesis of new cyclodextrin derivatives and an understanding of how these compounds interact with other species. Further, it will involve graduate students, undergraduate students, and high school teachers along with high school students working in a team setting. The graduate students will receive mentoring opportunities, and undergraduate and high school participants will be exposed to research. Teachers will receive training on incorporating their research experiences into teaching, thereby improving secondary science education. Teachers will be from minority-serving schools; therefore, impacts on their students will increase diversity among future scientists.
