9601723 Reger University of South Carolina Columbia This award from the Academic Research Infrastructure (ARI) Program will assist the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina at Columbia upgrade the existing 500 MHz NMR spectrometer and aquire a graphics workstation. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including the following: (1) catalytic properties of high nuclearity mixed metal cluster complexes (2) studies of the catalytic ring opening cyclooligomerization of sulfur-containing heterocycles by transition metal cluster compounds (3) investigations of natural products, specifically the isolation of medicinally active compound(s) from four different trees from the Ivory Coast (4) structural studies of covalently cross-linked DNA hairpins (5) small-molecule DNA-binding agents, and (6) syntheses and metal NMR studies of model complexes. 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 a state-of-the-art NMR 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.
