Applications of Photochemistry and Spin Chemistry to Challenges in Magnetic Resonance, Chemical Biology and Materials Sciences

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The Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation supports Professor Nicholas Turro of Columbia University, who will study electronic and nuclear spin pair recognition in supramolecular systems, specifically hydrogen and water molecules encapsulated inside fullerenes ("buckyballs"). The synthetic and spectroscopic investigations in this work will determine how, on the atomic level, two or more small molecules recognize and communicate with each other. The novelty of the approach in this work is to create strong spin polarization in the encapsulated molecules, to enhance the sensitivity of the magnetic resonance signals. Professor Turro's group also plans to label mRNA in living cells in a unique way, with fluorescent quantum dots. Professor Turro has a keen interest in attracting young people to science, and to chemistry in particular. He and his research group have developed websites, instructional videos and books to enhance chemical knowledge across all age groups. He has multiple long-standing collaborations with scientists from all corners of the globe, and he has established a multi-user-friendly shared instrumentation laboratory for spin chemistry and physical organic chemistry studies at Columbia.