This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program will help the Department of Chemistry at the University of California at San Diego to acquire a high performance 300 MHz NMR that will be used in research investigations in the following areas of chemistry: the chemistry of sponge-nudibranch relationships; the role of symbionts in the production of marine natural products; marine natural products that affect Golgi membranes and inhibit intracellular protein transport; the discovery of cytotoxic and antibiotic marine natural products; anti-inflammatory agents from marine invertebrates; and, chemical defense in marine organisms. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the most powerful tool available to chemists 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.
