MRI: Acquisition of a 400 MHz NMR Spectrometer for Research and Research Training in Chemistry at Connecticut College

Connecticut College, New London CT

Investigators

Abstract

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Connecticut College will acquire a 400 MHz NMR Spectrometer. This equipment will enable researchers to carry out studies on a) tandem intramolecular cyclization-Claisen rearrangement sequence as a facile route to the tetracyclic 5-7-6-3 ring system of phorbol; b) synthetic strategies toward the ingenol ring system; c) novel syntheses of biologically active 5,7-fused sesquiterpenoids; d) synthesis and characterization of firefly luciferin analogs; e) solution structure of the C-terminal domain of firefly luciferase; f) synthesis and characterization of doubly 15N-labeled coelenterazine; and g) the 13C-NMR characterization of nonaqueous sol-gel systems. The NMR will also be used in the undergraduate laboratory courses. 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, to 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 spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. The results from these NMR studies will have an impact in synthetic organic chemistry.