Acquisition of a Raman Microscope

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With support from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Hamilton College will acquire a dispersive Raman spectrometer equipped with a confocal Raman microscope and a macro sampling chamber. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas: a) Raman probe of enzyme mechanism and active site structure; b) studies of biological transformations of iron oxide minerals by dissimilative iron reducing bacteria; and c) maintaining biofunctionality of microcontact printed protein nanostructures. Raman spectroscopy provides a powerful probe of molecular information. Raman scattering is complementary to infrared absorption in that it probes fundamentally different types of molecular vibrational modes. For biological samples, Raman scattering is the preferred method because it is not affected by the polar water environment that absorbs strongly in the infrared. The Raman effect is enhanced when coupled to a charge-transfer transition or when samples are adsorbed on a metal surface. These enhancement mechanisms can lead to a million-fold increase in signal intensity. This instrument will be used not only for research but also for a number of courses at this undergraduate institution.