*** 9709233 DERVAN This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program will assist the Department of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology to acquire a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including the following: (1) long -range electron transfer (ET) reactions, (2) bimolecular and unimolecular reactions of peptides and oligonucleotides, and (3) application of metal-peptide complexes for the sequence-specific binding and reaction with double helical DNA. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a technique used to probe intimate structural details and to obtain the molecular compositions of a vast array of organic, bioorganic, and organometallic molecules. The addition of the technique of electrospray extends the range of MS to protein and nucleic acid molecular weights far beyond any other technique. The use of electrospray ionization in combination with high resolution provides the latest technique available in mass spectrometry. It affords the chemist one of the most powerful tools available for the characterization of compounds. The acquisition of this capability in mass spectrometry is essential for the prosecution of frontier research in many fields of chemistry. ***
