MRI: Acquisition of an LC/MSn

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With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Professor Ralph N. Mead and colleague Pamela J. Seaton from the University of North Carolina Wilmington will acquire a liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometer with capabilities for mass spectrometry to the nth degree (LC/MSn). The instrument will be used in a variety of research projects including characterization of photoproducts generated from the destruction of emerging contaminates in natural waters, acyl chain characterization of bacterial lipids, characterization of fossil fuel derived organic matter, binding of DNA methylating agents, structure elucidation of microbial antioxidants from hog waste, and characterization of brevetoxin photoproducts. An LC-MS combines the physical separation capability of liquid chromatography with the mass analysis ability of mass spectrometry. The liquid chromatograph separates a mixture into its molecular components. These components flow into a mass spectrometer where they are ionized into the parent ion and its fragment ions and their masses are measured. This highly sensitive technique allows detection and determination of the structure of molecules in a complex mixture. An instrument with MSn capability provides additional structural identification power through further fragmentation of ions produced in the spectrometer. The instrumentation provided by this award will provide faculty and students in several departments the opportunity to pursue research projects using modern instrumentation not heretofore available at the institution. It will also be used in several laboratory courses to train significant numbers of students in the use of this important analytical technique.