Acquisition of a 600 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer

该合同将用于购买600 MHz固体核磁共振(核磁共振)光谱仪，用于各种研究项目，从材料科学到信号事件的化学，再到大分子结构的确定。核磁共振使用的原理是，大多数原子核充当微小的磁铁。这些磁铁与磁场平行或反平行排列，并在这样做时发射或吸收射频能量。发射的能量的数量，因此该技术的灵敏度，取决于使用尽可能高的磁场。因为大多数原子核都是磁性的，所以核磁共振技术可以应用于从矿物到人体组织(如核磁共振)的广泛材料。该奖项将加强九个已确定的研究项目：了解农作物对光的反应，重要工业催化剂的机制，产生甲烷的细菌酶，新的有机磁体的潜在材料，蛋白质与DNA结合的机制，维生素B6的工作原理，含有氟原子的新型药物的结构原理，致病真菌如何相互传递信号，以及氯和锌在蛋白质结构和功能中的作用。所要求的光谱仪是一种最先进的仪器，能够对溶液中的小分子和蛋白质以及固体进行完整的现代多维梯度辅助核磁共振实验。该乐器的射程为14特斯拉。这将是对内布拉斯加州大学现有仪器的重大改进，它将成为该州和该地区最强大的核磁共振光谱仪。这台新仪器将能够在生物化学领域招聘一名新的教员。这位教员在内布拉斯加大学的存在将与生物化学和合成化学领域的其他教职研究人员建立协同互动，将为生物物理化学研究生提供重要的培训机会，并将补充David L.Smith(质谱学)和Gerard Harbison(固态核磁共振)的结构生物学研究工作。本科生和研究生的融合，特别是那些来自迄今代表性不足的群体的学生，实现了NSF战略计划的主要目标之一，也是内布拉斯加大学研究和该奖项的一个核心方面。化学系有20名活跃在研究领域的教职员工和大约100名研究生。我们的毕业生大多在化工行业工作，越来越多的人在生物技术和制药公司找到了工作。内布拉斯加大学也有一项积极的本科生研究工作。通常情况下，五个化学专业的学生和大约相同数量的生物化学专业的学生会继续进行化学或生物化学的研究生研究。化学系主办了一个暑期REU项目，来自其他大学的本科生可以在这个项目中获得研究经验。在去年项目的22名参与者中，4名是非洲裔美国人，2名是西班牙裔，1名是美洲原住民。在社区学院层面，UNL与内布拉斯加州印第安人社区学院和内布拉斯加州温尼贝戈的小牧师部落学院的联系日益密切。这些机构的调查人员有机会在联合国后勤基地进行暑期和/或休假研究，并将从仪器设备中受益。

This award will fund the acquisition of a 600 MHz solids-capable nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer for research projects that span a diversity of problems, from materials science through the chemistry of signaling events to the determination of macromolecular structure. NMR uses the principle that the nuclei of most atoms act as tiny magnets. These magnets line up parallel or anti-parallel to a magnetic field, and emit or absorb radio-frequency energy when they do so. The amount of energy emitted, and therefore the sensitivity of the technique, depends on using the highest possible field. Because most nuclei are magnetic, NMR is a technique that can be applied to a broad range of materials, ranging from minerals to human tissue (as in MRI). This award will enhance nine identified research projects: to understand the responses of crop-plants to light, the mechanism of important industrial catalysts, the bacterial enzymes that generate methane, potential materials for new, organic magnets, the mechanisms by which proteins bind to DNA, how vitamin B6 works, the structural principles of new classes of drugs incorporating fluorine atoms, how disease-causing fungi signal to each other, and the role of chloride and zinc in protein structure and function. The requested spectrometer is a state-of-the art instrument capable of carrying out the full repertory of modern, multidimensional gradient-assisted NMR experiments, on small molecules and proteins in solution, and on solids. The instrument will have a field of 14 Tesla. It will be a major improvement on existing instrumentation at the University of Nebraska, and it will be the most powerful NMR spectrometer in the state and the region. The new instrument will enable the hiring of a new faculty member in the area of biological chemistry. The presence of this faculty member at the University of Nebraska will create synergistic interactions with other faculty researchers in the areas of biochemistry and synthetic chemistry, will provide a significant training opportunity for graduates students in biophysical chemistry, and will complement the structural biology research efforts of David L. Smith (mass spectrometry) and Gerard Harbison (solid state NMR). The integration of undergraduate and graduate students, particularly those from hitherto underrepresented groups, fulfills one of the major goals of NSF's strategic plan, and is a central aspect of research at the University of Nebraska and of this award. The Department of Chemistry has 20 faculty members active in research and a graduate student population of approximately 100. Most of our graduates work in the chemical industry; an increasing number have found employment in biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The University of Nebraska also has a vigorous undergraduate research effort. Typically, five chemistry majors and about an equal number of biochemistry majors continue into graduate research in chemistry or biochemistry. The Department of Chemistry hosts a summer REU program, in which undergraduates from other universities gain research experience. Of the 22 participants in last year's program, four were African-American, two were Hispanic and one was Native American. At the community college level, UNL has growing ties with Nebraska Indian Community College and Little Priest Tribal College at Winnebago, NE. Investigators at these institutions have the opportunity to conduct summer and/or sabbatical research at UNL, and will benefit from the instrumentation.