Data System Upgrades for Mass Spec/NMR Core Facility

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With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program, the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota in Twin Cities will acquire a data system upgrade for their Mass Spectrometer/NMR core facility. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including a) investigations on photosynthetic intermediates; b) metabolic regulation of the plant hormones and genomic approaches to auxin biology; c) biochemistry and chemical ecology of pine bark beetles; d) nitrogen metabolism; structure-function studies of intracellular lipid binding proteins; and e) vitamin K-dependent proteins and sulfur dioxide reactions with nitric oxide. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a technique used to probe intimate structural details and to obtain the molecular compositions of a vast array of organic, bioorganic, and organometallic molecules. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the most powerful tool available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. It is used to identify unknown substances, to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules, and to study the dynamics of interactions between molecules in solution. Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometry is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. Upgraded data systems will increase efficiency of the entire facility, increase educational activities and improve investigator access to instrumentation. The results from these studies will have an impact in a number of areas including biochemistry, molecular biology and biophysics, chemistry, and plant pathology.