MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of a Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Quadrupole Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer for Central Michigan University

该奖项由主要研究仪器计划和化学研究仪器计划资助。李春英教授和其他7名教员（博士）中密歇根大学（CMU）化学与生物化学系的Benjamin Swarts、Anja Muller、Bradley Fahlman、Anton Jensen、Douglas Swanson、Janice Tomasik和Dale LeCaptain获得了一台电喷雾电离(ESI)-四极杆飞行时间（QTOF）质谱仪（MS），该质谱仪配备了两个软电离源（ESI用于易电离分子，大气压力化学电离用于不易电离分子）、高效液相色谱、一个二极管阵列检测器和一个自动进样器。质谱（MS）是一种重要的分析方法，用于通过精确的质量测量来帮助识别和表征复杂样品中的未知化学物质。因此，它的可用性对合成新分子的化学家至关重要。该系的研究优势在于先进材料的合成，如树突分子、碳水化合物、聚合物和电池材料。因此，质谱可以提供广泛的分子量信息，并使用软电离技术，允许完整的分子被检测而不经历破碎，将有助于在该部门制造的各种大型复杂分子的精确质量测量。获得最先进的ESI-QTOF质谱将使CMU化学和生物化学系的研究人员能够高效地进行研究，并培训本科生/研究生使用尖端仪器，帮助他们获得在研究生学习或就业中取得成功的技能。颁发ESI-QTOF质谱奖旨在加强各级的研究和教育。ESI-QTOF质谱提供了广泛的质量检测范围、准确的质量、高分辨率/灵敏度和广泛的实验能力，将促进和影响中密歇根大学的各种前沿研究项目。它尤其影响到化学、生物化学和聚合物/材料科学中涉及新分子合成的领域。ESI-QTOF仪器将用于分析(i)通过化学反应合成的新型强大的生物相关大分子抗氧化剂树突和树状大分子；（ii）以碳水化合物和脂质为基础的化学探针，用于研究富含糖脂的分枝杆菌细胞包膜和了解分枝杆菌生理学；（iii）为各种应用而设计的聚合物，如废水处理、烧伤患者的皮肤支架和燃料电池膜；（四）用于储能应用的新型电池材料的合成；(v)黄素和烯之间的酶催化反应，以便更好地了解它们的作用机制；（六）将药物分子偶联到PAMAM树状大分子或包封物上合成纳米药物，以克服目前小药物分子存在的问题。具有MS/MS功能的ESI-QTOF MS仪器还将允许该部门进行蛋白质组学和代谢组学研究，以及确定大分子（如树状大分子和聚合物材料）的断裂/降解模式。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded by the Major Research Instrumentation Program and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program. Professor Choon Young Lee and 7 other faculty (Drs. Benjamin Swarts, Anja Muller, Bradley Fahlman, Anton Jensen, Douglas Swanson, Janice Tomasik and Dale LeCaptain) from the Chemistry and Biochemistry department at Central Michigan University (CMU) are acquiring an Electrospray Ionization (ESI)-Quadrupole Time of Flight (QTOF) Mass Spectrometer (MS) that is equipped with two soft ionization sources (ESI for readily ionizable molecules and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization for not readily ionizable molecules), an HPLC, a Diode Array Detector, and an autosampler. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an essential analytical method used to help identify and characterize unknown chemical species in complex samples through accurate mass measurement. Hence, its availability is vital to chemists who synthesize new molecules. The department’s research strength lies in advanced materials synthesis, such as dendritic molecules, carbohydrates, polymers, and battery materials. Therefore, an MS that can provide a wide range of molecular weight information and that uses soft ionization techniques allowing the intact molecules to be detected without undergoing fragmentation, will facilitate the accurate mass measurements of various large complex molecules made in the department. Acquisition of the state-of-art ESI-QTOF MS will enable researchers in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at CMU to be efficient in their research and train undergraduate/graduate students on a cutting-edge instrument that will help them acquire skills to succeed in post-graduate study or employment. The award of the ESI-QTOF MS is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. The ESI-QTOF MS that offers a broad mass detection range, accurate mass, high resolution/sensitivity, and broad experimental capabilities, will facilitate and impact diverse leading-edge research projects at Central Michigan University. It especially impacts areas involving synthesis of new molecules in chemistry, biochemistry and polymer/materials science. The award of an ESI-QTOF instrument will be used in the analyses of (i) novel powerful, biorelevant macromolecular antioxidant dendrons and dendrimers synthesized through chemical reactions; (ii) carbohydrate- and lipid-based chemical probes that are synthesized to study the glycolipid rich mycobacterial cell envelope and understand mycobacterial physiology; (iii) polymers designed for a variety of applications, such as waste-water treatment, skin scaffolds for burn victims, and fuel cell membranes; (iv) new battery materials synthesized for energy storing applications; (v) enzyme-catalyzed reactions between flavins and enes to better understand their mechanisms of action; and (vi) nano-drugs synthesized by conjugating drug molecules to PAMAM dendrimers or encapsulations to overcome the current problems small drug molecules have. The ESI-QTOF MS instrumentation with MS/MS function also will allow the department to perform proteomic and metabolomic studies as well as determine fragmentation/degradation patterns for the large molecules like dendrimers and polymeric materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.