With this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Multi-user (CRIF:MU) program, Professor Dale Teeters and colleagues Tyler Johannes, Kenneth Roberts and Kerry Sublette from University of Tulsa will acquire a cyber-enabled benchtop high-resolution, accurate-mass, liquid-chromatograph mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). The award will enhance research training and education at all levels, especially in areas of study such as (a) determination of apurinic/apyrimidinic lesions in DNA, (b) generic engineering of algae to produce biofuels, (c) characterization of artificial i-motifs, (d) screening of proteasomal peptide products, (e) identification of intermediates in the biodegradation of organic compounds, and (f) selective carbon-carbon bond fomation methods and isolation of natural products.
Mass spectrometers (MS) are used to identify the chemical composition of a sample by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample after they are ionized and detected by the mass spectrometer. Liquid chromatography is a separation technique that precedes the mass spectrometry analysis. It separates a mixture into its several constituent chemicals which are then analyzed and identified by the mass spectrometer. It is one of the fastest growing and most widely used analytical instrumentation techniques. Because of this, it is important for graduate and undergraduate students to be trained in the technique. In addition to enhancing research projects, the acquisition of an LC-MS/MS will transform several undergraduate laboratories. The cyber-enabling of the spectrometer will allow outreach to many universities in Oklahoma that have significant Native American and African American populations which are underrepresented in science and engineering.
Intellectual Merit Through this grant The University of Tulsa has acquired a high-resolution, accurate mass, benchtop LC-MS system with cyber-outreach capabilities. Currently, this is the only system with these unique capabilities in the state of Oklahoma or within regional institutions in Arkansas. A cyber-outreach plan has been implemented to make this system available for universities in the region. The system has allowed transformative research to be conducted. Representative research projects that this instrument has supported include characterization of natural products, study of lesions in DNA, identification of analytes in diagnostic platforms and characterization of biofuels from algae. The acquisition of this instrument has provided significant research and educational developments not only for The University of Tulsa, but also for the state and region as well. Broader Impacts One of the important aspects of this work is a cyber-outreach program. With coordination from colleges and universities in the region, new cyber-teaching labs were developed that focused on how to use the LC-MS system and that demonstrate specific applications. The acquisition has allowed universities across the state to have access to a high resolution LC-MS, and this access is important since this type of instrument is not available in the universities in Oklahoma or many of the surrounding states. The goal of creating a teaching lab where streaming video was used to conduct interactive teaching laboratories between the LC-MS at The University of Tulsa and other institutions across the state of Oklahoma is a timely and needed endeavor. The availability to use this through a cyber-infrastructure system has opened new educational doors to many universities and students that would not otherwise have this opportunity. Many of the universities in Oklahoma have significant Native American and African American populations which are underrepresented groups in the areas of chemistry and engineering and our cyber-outreach plan has allowed these students to learn about and access this new technology. Acquiring this instrument made this cyber-learning opportunity possible and has stimulated the exchange between a diverse group of universities, faculties and students.
