NSF Award
2320737
This award is funded by the Major Research Instrumentation Program and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program. Professor Choon Young Lee and 7 other faculty (Drs. Benjamin Swarts, Anja Muller, Bradley Fahlman, Anton Jensen, Douglas Swanson, Janice Tomasik and Dale LeCaptain) from the Chemistry and Biochemistry department at Central Michigan University (CMU) are acquiring an Electrospray Ionization (ESI)-Quadrupole Time of Flight (QTOF) Mass Spectrometer (MS) that is equipped with two soft ionization sources (ESI for readily ionizable molecules and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization for not readily ionizable molecules), an HPLC, a Diode Array Detector, and an autosampler. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an essential analytical method used to help identify and characterize unknown chemical species in complex samples through accurate mass measurement. Hence, its availability is vital to chemists who synthesize new molecules. The department’s research strength lies in advanced materials synthesis, such as dendritic molecules, carbohydrates, polymers, and battery materials. Therefore, an MS that can provide a wide range of molecular weight information and that uses soft ionization techniques allowing the intact molecules to be detected without undergoing fragmentation, will facilitate the accurate mass measurements of various large complex molecules made in the department. Acquisition of the state-of-art ESI-QTOF MS will enable researchers in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at CMU to be efficient in their research and train undergraduate/graduate students on a cutting-edge instrument that will help them acquire skills to succeed in post-graduate study or employment. <br/><br/>The award of the ESI-QTOF MS is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. The ESI-QTOF MS that offers a broad mass detection range, accurate mass, high resolution/sensitivity, and broad experimental capabilities, will facilitate and impact diverse leading-edge research projects at Central Michigan University. It especially impacts areas involving synthesis of new molecules in chemistry, biochemistry and polymer/materials science. The award of an ESI-QTOF instrument will be used in the analyses of (i) novel powerful, biorelevant macromolecular antioxidant dendrons and dendrimers synthesized through chemical reactions; (ii) carbohydrate- and lipid-based chemical probes that are synthesized to study the glycolipid rich mycobacterial cell envelope and understand mycobacterial physiology; (iii) polymers designed for a variety of applications, such as waste-water treatment, skin scaffolds for burn victims, and fuel cell membranes; (iv) new battery materials synthesized for energy storing applications; (v) enzyme-catalyzed reactions between flavins and enes to better understand their mechanisms of action; and (vi) nano-drugs synthesized by conjugating drug molecules to PAMAM dendrimers or encapsulations to overcome the current problems small drug molecules have. The ESI-QTOF MS instrumentation with MS/MS function also will allow the department to perform proteomic and metabolomic studies as well as determine fragmentation/degradation patterns for the large molecules like dendrimers and polymeric materials.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
