This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities Program will assist faculty in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology to acquire an Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectrometer. The new instrument will support the research of six major users. Among the research programs in which EPR spectroscopy will play a vital role are: 1) interactions of radicals with DNA; 2) organometallic approaches to hydrocarbon oxidations; 3) biophysical investigations of metalloproteins; 4) studies of oxygen activation in heme proteins; 5) long-range electron transfer in binuclear metal complexes; 6) electron transfer process in iron and copper proteins; 7) electron transfer triggered protein folding; 8) studies of polypeptide motifs as platforms for metal cation sensing; and 9) investigations of the enzyme oligosaccharyl transferase.
An electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer is an instrument used to obtain information about the molecular and electronic structure of molecules. It may also be used to obtain information about the lifetimes of free radicals which are often essential for the initiation of tumor growth and/or a variety of chemical reactions.
