This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) will assist the Department of Chemistry at William Marsh Rice University to acquire a 500 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas such as the following: (1) new synthetic methods towards natural products, (2) biosynthesis of nucleoside and polyketide antibiotics, (3) heteronuclear compounds of the aluminum, gallium, and indium metal complexes, (4) chemical synthesis and intermediary metabolism of sterols, and (5) titania nanoparticles for solar cells. 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 state-of-the-art NMR spectrometry 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.
