REU Site: Research in Chemistry at West Virginia University

West Virginia University Research Corporation, Morgantown WV

Investigators

Abstract

Professors Richards-Babb, Popp, and colleagues in the C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry at West Virginia University host a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site. This project is funded by the REU Sites Program in the Chemistry Division and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) both at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support 10 students for 10 weeks in each of the three grant years. Undergraduate student participants are integrated into chemistry-focused scientific investigations in order to train the next generation of U.S. scientists. This project largely supports students from primarily undergraduate institutions and community colleges, especially women, underrepresented minorities, U.S. Armed Forces veterans and persons from economically depressed areas (e.g., Appalachia). Involvement improves the likelihood that participants enroll in graduate-level training in chemistry or a related discipline, thereby improving the scientific workforce of the United States. Participants are provided with a comprehensive program that rapidly moves them toward research independence. This preparation includes day-to-day research work intermingled with training in: the research process and cutting-edge scientific instrumentation; laboratory safety; scientific ethics; communication; and collaboration. Research projects are focused on the potential of research to benefit society both directly and indirectly in the fields of health care, forensics/criminology, energy, sustainability, and transportation. This project focuses on solving fundamental scientific problems related to the chemistry of health including: the development of therapeutic drugs for detection or treatment of diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's, cancer); new catalytic reactions including the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals using sustainable and biocompatible methods, and the examination of the combustion process, both experimentally and theoretically, in order to reduce environmentally harmful emissions. The research includes: the synthesis of cycloparaphenylenes as templates for carbon nanotubes; the use of scanning probe techniques to study nanoscale mechanical responses of biologically relevant surfaces; the use of laser pump-probe spectroscopy to study the kinetics of radical combustion products; the development of ion mobility-mass spectrometry methods studying oligomer formation by the huntingtin protein; the application of vapor pressure and Antoine plots to explain how temperature affects the weathering of gasoline samples in fire debris; and the synthesis of copper-catalyzed oxidative decarboxylative coupling products and their characterization via NMR, IR, and mass spectrometry. REU participants carry out their research in collaboration with faculty and graduate students and are trained on modern scientific equipment (NMR, IR, IMS-MS, scanning probe techniques, laser-pump probe spectroscopy, etc.) and/or in the use of computer modeling software.