MRI: Acquisition of a Shared X-ray Diffractometer for Research, Education, and Training

Boston College, Chestnut Hill MA

Investigators

Abstract

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Lawrence T. Scott and colleague Amir Hoveyda from Boston College will acquire a single crystal X-ray diffractometer to support research in a variety of areas including: 1) chemical synthesis of uniform, single-chirality carbon nanotubes; 2) design and development of new catalysts for chemical synthesis; 3) biomimetic chemistry relevant to Photosystem II; 4) protein folding in lipid bilayers; 5) identification of new classes of inhibitors of fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase; 6) studies toward the asymmetric synthesis of complex dibenzofuranoids; 7) fused nucleosides (fN) for the synthesis of fDNA; 8) catalytic diboration reactions for use in synthesis; 9) catalytic scaffolding ligands; 10) advancing new chemical methods with X-ray crystallography. The technique of single-crystal X-ray crystallography allows accurate and precise determination of the full three dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and it provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of molecules relative to the neighboring molecules. These studies will have an impact in a number of areas ranging from synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry to systems of biological interest and materials research. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research.