CRIF: MU Purchase of an LC/Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer

University Of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg MS

Investigators

Abstract

The Chemistry Department at Southern Mississippi University will acquire a liquid chromatography (LC) ion trap mass spectrometer with this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Multi User (CRIF:MU) program. The instrument will be employed in a wide variety of research projects supporting structural, reaction, and analytical studies of: 1) gas phase peptide and protein digestion; 2) paramagnetic transition metal complexes used as asymmetric catalysts in epoxidation and hydroxylation reactions; 3) enzymology of bioctive peptide maturation; 4) the carboxysome assembly pathway and the arrangement and interactions between shell proteins; 5) nucleoid proteins and potential posttranslational modifications that might affect their interaction with ctDNA; and 6) RNA-catalysts. Mass spectrometry analysis is used in chemical and biochemical research to identify molecules and their structures by measuring the mass of the compounds under study. Liquid chromatography precedes the mass spectral analysis by separating and purifying a mixture of compounds into its simpler components. Training in mass spectrometry analysis is integral to the professional development of chemistry, biochemistry and materials science students. This instrument will be used in undergraduate laboratory course instruction and in the research projects of undergraduates and graduate students.