Engineering hydrophilic/amphiphilic Vitamin B6-based super antioxidant dendrimers for controlling chronic inflammation

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Project Summary Funds are requested to purchase a new Advion CMS Expression-L Electrospray Ionization (ESI) Mass Spectrometer (MS) with a Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) reader, which will be installed in the lab 343A of the Dow Science building at Central Michigan University (CMU). Electrospray Ionization (ESI) Mass Spectrometer (MS) measures molecular weights (MW) of molecules. For dendrons/dendrimers synthesis, molecular weight is the most critical information for molecular identification because other analytical techniques, such as NMR, cannot readily distinguish between the target dendrimer and incomplete reaction intermediates and dendrimers in different generations. Electrospray ionization (ESI) is a soft ionization technique, causing little to no fragmentation, which is an important criterion for analysis of dendrons and dendrimers with high molecular weights. Without an ESI instrument, our current grant- funded research will be greatly impacted because MS data is required at each intermediate step to move towards the target molecule synthesis. Currently there is no reliable, well-functioning ESI MS in the entire CMU community. The TLC plate reader measures molecular weight of each spot on the TLC plate and help locate the target dendrons (dendrimers) rapidly, contributing to enhancing work efficiency and saving overall cost and time in purification. In summary, (i) ESI MS is the most important analytical instrument for monitoring synthesis reactions of dendrimers/dendrons. (ii) This supplementary funding will allow us to train undergraduate/graduate research students. We believe that procurement of a state-of-the-art analytical instrument (ESI MS spectrometer) with this Administrative Supplement will help accelerate the pace of the proposed research as well as help students acquire a cornerstone MS technique, which is a desirable skill for future employment and graduate school.