CAREER: Cyclodextrin-Promoted Energy Transfer: From Fundamental Molecular Interactions to Complex System Performance

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Dr. Mindy Levine of the University of Rhode Island studies how molecules interact with each other when they are in close proximity, but are not physically contacted, and investigates how such interactions affect the transfer of energy from one molecule to another. This knowledge is fundamentally important and is useful for the design and optimization of systems for sensitive detection of analytes (e.g., sensing of metabolites in biological fluids) or environmental remediation (e.g., extraction of toxic substances in water from oil spills). Additional broader impacts of this project include: 1) training of graduate and undergraduate students in interdisciplinary research; 2) education of high school girls in Rhode Island about the importance of science through the outreach programs on the "Sugar Science Day"; 3) education of the general public by sharing the videos of "Sugar Science Day" at YouTube; and 4) research opportunities for high school girls through paid science internships.With this award from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Chemistry Division, Dr. Levine's research group studies fluorescence energy transfer from a variety of aromatic energy donors to small molecule fluorophore acceptors, when both the donor and acceptor are held in close proximity by cyclodextrins or cyclodextrin derivatives in solution. Isothermal calorimetry, 2-D NMR analyses, and X-ray crystallography are employed to determine the binding affinities and geometries of the donors and acceptors in the ternary complexes. To enable the development of applications requiring solid-state immobilization of cyclodextrins, the researchers further investigate the effect of surface immobilization of cyclodextrins on binding affinities and fluorescence energy transfer. This research also aims to generate a cyclodextrin-based system for the extraction and detection of polyaromatic hydrocarbons from complex oils.