Acquisition of a 400 MHz NMR for Research and Training at Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids Community College and Aquinas College

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This award is supported by the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program. With it, Professor Shannon Biros from Grand Valley State University and colleagues have acquired a 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. An NMR spectrometer enables the identification of the atoms (for example, hydrogen, carbon, etc.) in the material. This analytic technique is used to identify chemicals, drugs, proteins or unknown substances. The spectrometer is housed at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and used by their faculty and students, as well as faculty and students at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) and Aquinas College. The instrument advances research on metals important for potential uses in optical materials and biosensors, on protein binding to antibiotic substances and on new materials with applications such as photovoltaics and solar cells. Many students at GVSU and GRCC (40-60%) are the first in their family to attend college. The exposure of these students to cutting edge instrumentation facilitates their development as scientifically literate individuals and contributes to a competitive scientific workforce.The award of the NMR spectrometer is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. It especially impacts investigations of selective f-element extraction agents; studies of bond fission regioselectivity in nucleophilic aromatic substitution of arylsulfonates, the preparations of main group derivatives, and d,f-block metallation of mono- and diphosphines. The instrument also serves researchers investigating the structure lactamase enzymes and studying the relationship between ligand/additive structure and reactivity.