This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Eriks Rozners and colleagues Susan Bane, Wayne E. Jones, Changhong Ke and Omowunmi Sadik from SUNY-Binghamton will acquire a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer to support chemical research of the major users which includes: 1) studies of DNA and RNA analogues; 2) studies of flexible polyamic acid-silicone copolymers; 3) investigations of DNA/RNA-carbon nanotube hybrid structures; 4) the electron- and energy-transfer dynamics in hybrid metal organic polymers; 5) the structures and mechanisms of action of microtubule effectors; and 6) the study of advanced materials for lithium batteries. The instrumentation will also be used by additional researchers at SUNY Binghamton in the departments of biology, chemistry and geology as well as by researchers at neighboring academic institutions (Hartwick, Marist and Sage Colleges) and a researcher at a local company (Endicott Interconnect Technologies).
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. It is used to identify unknown substances, to 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 spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. The results from these NMR studies will have an impact in synthetic organic/inorganic chemistry and biochemistry.
