CAREER: Synthesis and Characterization of Metal-Containing PNA

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This CAREER award by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program is to support Professor Catalina Achim at Carnegie-Mellon University to create supramolecules that contain transition metal ions and are based on peptide nucleic acids (PNAs), which are synthetic analogues of DNA. Ligand substitution of nucleobases in PNA duplexes confer affinity for metal ions and direct the metal ion binding to predetermined positions in these duplexes. The proposed research involves the synthesis of new PNA monomers that contain ligands, preparation of the PNA oligomers and duplexes, and the characterization of the metal-PNAs by spectroscopic methods. The primary goals of the research is to delineate the factors that influence the formation and stability of PNA structures in which the transition metal ions are incorporated. Information obtained from these studies will be used to achieve the long-term goal of rational design of metal-based devices for molecular electronics. The proposed research is developed at the interface between bio-organic and -inorganic chemistry and offers students a unique opportunity to garner a wide perspective of chemistry. New interdisciplinary courses that bridge this field with Supramolecular Chemistry and with Art will also be developed. A project-oriented approach will be used as pedagogic tool in these courses and some of the projects created by the students will be used to disseminate chemical science to the general public.