Renovation of Chemistry Research Laboratories at Trinity College

Trinity College, Hartford CT

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award funds the renovation of laboratory spaces used by five active researchers in the Chemistry Department at Trinity College so they can handle modern, chemical research. Designed for research in 1937, the laboratories used by these five faculty are not well-equipped to handle the demands of modern chemical research. In particular, these laboratories lack control of temperature, humidity and sunlight. Current research projects which will be enhanced by the renovation include work on the use of organometallic moieties to constrain peptides to particular secondary structures, the biological properties of the bone protein osteocalcin and the binding of proteins to DNA, rational syntheses for Buckminsterfullerene and related compounds, the reactivity of transition metal hydrides, and the role of reactive oxygen species in the molecular events associated with neuronal cell death. When completed, the renovations will remove obstacles that slow the pace of accomplishment in the laboratories of the five affected faculty and allow these faculty to continue working with large numbers of undergraduate student researchers.