Acquisition of a 600 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer

该合同将资助采购一台600兆赫固体核磁共振（NMR）光谱仪，用于研究项目，涵盖从材料科学到信号事件化学再到大分子结构的确定等多种问题。核磁共振利用的原理是大多数原子的原子核就像微小的磁铁。这些磁铁与磁场平行或反平行排列，并在这样做时发射或吸收射频能量。发射能量的大小，以及该技术的灵敏度，取决于使用尽可能高的场。因为大多数核都是磁性的，所以核磁共振是一种可以应用于从矿物质到人体组织（如核磁共振成像）的广泛材料的技术。该奖项将加强九项已确定的研究项目：了解农作物对光的反应、重要工业催化剂的机制、产生甲烷的细菌酶、新型有机磁铁的潜在材料、蛋白质与DNA结合的机制、维生素B6的工作原理、含氟原子的新型药物的结构原理、致病真菌如何相互传递信号，以及氯和锌在蛋白质结构和功能中的作用。所要求的光谱仪是一种最先进的仪器，能够对溶液中的小分子和蛋白质以及固体进行全面的现代多维梯度辅助核磁共振实验。该仪器将具有14特斯拉的电场。这将是对内布拉斯加州大学现有仪器的重大改进，它将是该州和该地区最强大的核磁共振光谱仪。新仪器将使在生物化学领域雇用一名新的教员成为可能。内布拉斯加州大学的这名教员的存在将与生物化学和合成化学领域的其他教员研究人员产生协同作用，将为生物物理化学的研究生提供重要的培训机会，并将补充David L. Smith（质谱）和Gerard Harbison（固态核磁共振）的结构生物学研究工作。本科生和研究生的整合，特别是那些迄今为止未被充分代表的群体，实现了国家科学基金会战略计划的主要目标之一，也是内布拉斯加大学和该奖项研究的一个核心方面。化学系有20名教职员工从事研究工作，研究生人数约为100人。我们的大多数毕业生都在化工行业工作；越来越多的人在生物技术和制药公司找到了工作。内布拉斯加大学也有积极的本科生研究工作。通常情况下，五名化学专业的学生和大约同等数量的生物化学专业的学生继续进行化学或生物化学的研究生研究。化学系举办了一个夏季REU项目，让来自其他大学的本科生获得研究经验。在去年项目的22名参与者中，有4名是非裔美国人，2名西班牙裔和1名印第安人。在社区学院层面，UNL与内布拉斯加州印第安社区学院和新墨西哥州温尼贝戈的小祭司部落学院的关系日益密切。这些机构的研究人员有机会在UNL进行夏季和/或休假研究，并将受益于仪器。

This award will fund the acquisition of a 600 MHz solids-capable nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer for research projects that span a diversity of problems, from materials science through the chemistry of signaling events to the determination of macromolecular structure. NMR uses the principle that the nuclei of most atoms act as tiny magnets. These magnets line up parallel or anti-parallel to a magnetic field, and emit or absorb radio-frequency energy when they do so. The amount of energy emitted, and therefore the sensitivity of the technique, depends on using the highest possible field. Because most nuclei are magnetic, NMR is a technique that can be applied to a broad range of materials, ranging from minerals to human tissue (as in MRI). This award will enhance nine identified research projects: to understand the responses of crop-plants to light, the mechanism of important industrial catalysts, the bacterial enzymes that generate methane, potential materials for new, organic magnets, the mechanisms by which proteins bind to DNA, how vitamin B6 works, the structural principles of new classes of drugs incorporating fluorine atoms, how disease-causing fungi signal to each other, and the role of chloride and zinc in protein structure and function. The requested spectrometer is a state-of-the art instrument capable of carrying out the full repertory of modern, multidimensional gradient-assisted NMR experiments, on small molecules and proteins in solution, and on solids. The instrument will have a field of 14 Tesla. It will be a major improvement on existing instrumentation at the University of Nebraska, and it will be the most powerful NMR spectrometer in the state and the region. The new instrument will enable the hiring of a new faculty member in the area of biological chemistry. The presence of this faculty member at the University of Nebraska will create synergistic interactions with other faculty researchers in the areas of biochemistry and synthetic chemistry, will provide a significant training opportunity for graduates students in biophysical chemistry, and will complement the structural biology research efforts of David L. Smith (mass spectrometry) and Gerard Harbison (solid state NMR). The integration of undergraduate and graduate students, particularly those from hitherto underrepresented groups, fulfills one of the major goals of NSF's strategic plan, and is a central aspect of research at the University of Nebraska and of this award. The Department of Chemistry has 20 faculty members active in research and a graduate student population of approximately 100. Most of our graduates work in the chemical industry; an increasing number have found employment in biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The University of Nebraska also has a vigorous undergraduate research effort. Typically, five chemistry majors and about an equal number of biochemistry majors continue into graduate research in chemistry or biochemistry. The Department of Chemistry hosts a summer REU program, in which undergraduates from other universities gain research experience. Of the 22 participants in last year's program, four were African-American, two were Hispanic and one was Native American. At the community college level, UNL has growing ties with Nebraska Indian Community College and Little Priest Tribal College at Winnebago, NE. Investigators at these institutions have the opportunity to conduct summer and/or sabbatical research at UNL, and will benefit from the instrumentation.