This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program will aid the Chemistry Department at the University of California--Riverside (UCR) purchase a high resolution mass spectrometer dedicated to high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-mass- spectrometry (HPLC-MS) and electrospray mass spectrometry analyses using atmospheric pressure, chemical ionization/electrospray (APCI/ESI) interfaces. The research studies to be performed include the following: (a) Spectroscopy of Linear Polyenes; (b) Establishing Structure/Functional Relationships in a Cytostatic Protein Kinase; (c) Analogies Between Enzyme Active Sites and Receptor Sites; (d) Development of New Membrane-Based Analytical Methods; (e) Synthetic and Mechanistic Organic Chemistry; (f) Thiol/Disulfide Chemistry of the Neurohypophyseal Peptide Hormone and Related Peptides. Mass Spectrometry (MS) is a technique used to probe intimate structural details and to obtain the molecular compositions of a vast array of organic, bioorganic and organometallic molecules. The addition of the technique of electrospray extends the range of MS to protein and nucleic acid molecular weights far beyond any other technique. The use of electrospray ionization in combination with high resolution provides the latest techniques available in mass spectrometry. It affords the chemist one of the most powerful tools available for the characterization of compounds. The acquisition of this capability in mass spectrometry is essential for the prosecution of frontier research in many fields of chemistry.
