MRI: Acquisition of a Multiwavelength Raman Spectroscopy Facility for Catalysis, Biological, Nanoscale and Materials Research

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With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI)program and support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation (CRIF) program, Professor Michael Neidig and collaborators from the University of Rochester will acquire a multiwavelength Raman spectrometer built around a triple spectrometer with multiple laser lines to allow collection of Raman data from the near-IR to near-UV regions. Raman spectroscopy in this region is used to measure the vibrational frequencies of a material. This provides information on the chemical composition and structure of substances. It is a widely used tool to understand the properties of chemical and biological systems and in materials research. The instrument will be a multi-user facility open to users at the university and in the Rochester area including faculty at St. John Fisher College and SUNY-Geneseo. It will advance the training of students in their research and course work at all levels. The award is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels, especially in areas such as (a) investigating structure, bonding and mechanism in non-precious metal catalysis for organic syntheses; (b) carrying out ultrafast photochemistry probed by femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy; (c) analyzing biological specimens at the cell and tissue level; (d) studying second-sphere effects in heme proteins and engineered metalloproteins for energy conversion; (e) analyzing compounded prescriptions; (f) elucidating binding conformation of A-beta peptides over gold nanocolloids; and (g) studying hollow microneedles for gene delivery in living cells.