This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program will assist the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Arizona State University to purchase a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer console. The console will provide the department with an upgraded 500 MHz NMR spectrometer.This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas such as the following: (1) the study of fundamental processes involved in damage and repair of DNA by proteins, (2) the development of optical probes capable of monitoring conformational changes in single protein and protein/DNA molecules, (3) structural and mechanistic studies of proteins from snake venoms that have long-lasting toxic action on muscle cells, (4) mechanistic studies of chemicals that can lead to selective fragmentation of DNA, and (5)structure determination of glycoproteins that are involved in immune response. 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.
