Support for the purchase of an Argonaut(TM) Trident parallel synthesis instrument is requested. There currently is no significant capability of automated parallel synthesis available to synthetic chemists at UCI, and research productivity on a number of NIH-funded projects would be enhanced dramatically by the acquisition of such an instrument. The requested Trident would serve as the cornerstone of a larger core facility at UCI, which is being established in order to make state-of-the-art parallel synthesis equipment available to UCI researchers for the first time. Research projects of the major users that would explicitly benefit from the purchase of this instrument include: (a) Chamberlin, memory enhancers, potassium channel blockers, and selective inhibitors of protein phosphatases; (b) Feher, novel dendritic compounds with peptidic and carbohydrate functionalities on a silsesquioxane core; (c) Nowick, artificial beta-sheets as models for protein structure; (d) Overman, guanidine-containing alkaloids and intramolecular Heck reaction development; (e) Rychnovsky, anticancer tetrahydrofurans; (f) Shea, bioreceptor mimics via molecular imprinting; (g) Van Vranken, ditryptophan- and dityrosine-crosslinked peptides; and (h) Woerpel, new reactions of silacyclopropanes. Aside from the major user group there are many other NIH funded research groups who will make use of the facility. The nature of the instrument to be purchased is such that it can be most effectively run by, or under the supervision of, an experienced operator; therefore, an important component of this request is a commitment by the UCI School of Physical Sciences of a new PhD level staff position to oversee the facility operations. UCI provides long-term major funding for a number of thriving instrumentation facilities that support the research faculty in Chemistry, including NMR, mass spectroscopy, molecular modeling, Xray, electronics, and laser/spectroscopy facilities. Currently the annual commitment is over $500,000 to these facilities in eight salaries and operational support. Additional operational funding is obtained though charges to the grants and contracts of the user community. The parallel synthesis facility, in which the requested Trident(TM) will reside, will follow this very successful model.
