This award from the Academic Research Infrastructure (ARI) Program will assist the Department of Chemistry at Wellesley College acquire a 360 MHz NMR Spectrometer. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including the following: (1) metabolic studies of a nitrogen storage polymer in cyanobacteria, and (2) synthesis and 13C and 1H NMR characterization of alkanethiolate-gold cluster monolayers. 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 the areas such as polymers, catalysis, and in biology.
