This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program will help the Department of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley acquire an upgrade of a 250 MHz NMR spectrometer which will be used in research investigations in the following areas of chemistry: 1) studies in the shikimate-chorismate pathway, 2) design and synthesis of peptide mimics, 3) the chemical enzymatic synthesis of natural products and cell-surface glycoconjugates, 4) total synthesis of natural products and the development of organic synthesis methodology and 5) catalytic antibodies. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy is the most powerful tool available to the chemist for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. It is used to identify unknown substances, 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 spectrometry is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. The results from these NMR studies are useful in areas such as polymers and catalysis, and in biology.
