With support from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Acquisition Program, the Department of Chemistry at the College of Wooster will acquire an isothermal titration calorimeter. The instrument will be used in research to study: 1.) molecular recognition and supramolecular chemistry of electroluminescent polymers; 2.) thermodynamic and kinetic investigations of phosphagen kinases; 3.) the Soret effect in biological solutions; 4.) calcium ion binding by phospholipids analogues.
An isothermal titration calorimeter is a highly sensitive instrument capable of directly measuring the amount of heat released or absorbed as one solution is added to another. It was originally developed to study protein-ligand interactions. It is now being used by chemists, physicists, biochemists and materials scientists to provide thermodynamic information on a wide variety of systems. The instrument will be used in teaching and research with undergraduate students. A series of of experiments will be integrated into Wooster's biochemistry, biochemistry/molecular biology, and advanced chemistry courses to highlight the operation of the calorimeter and the analysis of calorimetric data.
