RUI: Chiral NMR Shift Reagents

Bates College, Lewiston ME

Investigators

Abstract

Professor Thomas Wenzel of Bates College is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry program to continue work using macrocyclic hosts with and without lanthanide shift reagents to obtain information about the chirality of analytes using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. While NMR is not inherently sensitive to the handedness of molecules, it can be used in combination with macrocycles that provide environments enabling the exact three dimensional structures to be determined. Determination of the optical purity and unique absolute configurations of certain chemical compounds is extremely important for the pharmaceutical and other biochemical industries. Thus, in this project undergraduate students receive training in synthesis and NMR methods on an industrially relevant topic.