With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) and support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program (CRIF), Professor Justin Wyatt from the College of Charleston and colleagues Timothy Barker, Wendy Cory, Marcello Forconi and Brooke Van Horn will acquire a 400 MHz NMR spectrometer equipped with a multinuclear probe and a sample changer. This spectrometer will allow research in a variety of fields such as the study of biologically and environmentally relevant species. In general, 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, materials chemistry and biochemistry. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research performed by undergraduate students at the College of Charleston and will involve the South Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation.
The award is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels, especially in areas such as (a) confirmation of the structure of small molecule anticancer agents with improved sensitivity in 1D/2D NMR experiments; (b) analyzing conformational and structural features of small molecules containing silicon; (c) utilizing improved sensitivity to monitor polymerization kinetic experiments; (d) using NMR water suppression techniques to characterize the products of reactions between fluorobenzonitriles and cysteine in biological systems; (e) evaluating regiochemistry of hydroxymethylation products of derivatized hetereoaromatic compounds for drug development; and (f) characterization of pharmaceutical degradation products of environmental concern.
