MRI/RUI: Acquisition of a 500-MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer at Western Washington University

Western Washington University, Bellingham WA

Investigators

Abstract

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Western Washington University will acquire a 500 MHz NMR Spectrometer. This equipment will enable researchers to carry out studies on a) the total synthesis of allelopathic natural products and the preparation of medium ring ethers via phenol-epoxide cyclization reactions; b) synthesis and characterization of novel diamagnetic d10 metal isoindoline complexes; c) structural characterization of mutant proteins implicated in early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease; d) molecular recognition studies of neurosteroids important in a number of neurodegenerative diseases; e) structural characterization of circular permuteins of myoglobin to understand the folding-function relationship in oxygen transport proteins; and f) structural elucidation of novel sesquiterpenoid natural products. 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 a number of areas including molecular biology and medicinal chemistry.