Acquisition of Supercritical Fluid Extraction and Countercurrent Chromatography Equipment for the Development of a "Green" Natural Products Isolation Laboratory

梅萨州立学院化学系将从主要研究仪器(MRI)计划获得这一奖项，以获得制备级超临界流体(SCF)提取设备、带有UV检测器的制备级离心式逆流色谱分析(CCC)设备以及附件。这项设备将加强下列领域的研究：a)作为热带森林群落营养相互作用媒介的植物次生代谢产物；b)对隐生生物结皮的植物化学调查及其据称与非本地牧草的化感作用；c)与cenocladum有关的新热带胡椒物种的植物化学及其在抵御外来物种侵袭中的作用；d)哥斯达黎加热带雨林中的毛虫；e)紫花苜蓿营养级联的化学调节及其对生物防治的影响；f)开发利用超临界二氧化碳作为反应溶剂的方法。利用该设备开发的天然产物分离的绿色方法是及时的，将使学生在未来的就业中受益。此外，这些技术对拉丁美洲发展中国家的科学家来说可能非常有价值，这些国家巨大的生物多样性代表着大量具有巨大潜力的未发现的自然产品。因此，原本无法获得SCF和CCC设备的拉丁美洲科学家将与PI合作。

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Mesa State College will acquire preparative scale supercritical fluid (SCF) extraction equipment, preparative scale centrifugal countercurrent chromatography (CCC) equipment with UV detector, and accessories . This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas: a) plant secondary metabolites as mediators of trophic interactions in a tropical forest community; b) phytochemical investigation of cryptobiotic crusts and their alleged allelopathic interaction with non-native grasses; c) phytochemistry of neotropical piper species related to piper cenocladum and their role in defense against attine ant species; d) caterpillars of the Costa Rican rain forest; e) chemical mediation of trophic cascades in alfalfa and implications for biological control; and f) development of methodologies utilizing supercritical CO2 as a reaction solvent. The green approach to natural products isolation that will be developed with this equipment is timely and will benefit students in their future employment. In addition, these techniques could be of great value to scientists in the developing nations of Latin America whose immense biodiversity represents a wealth of undiscovered natural products of enormous potential. Therefore, scientists from Latin America who would otherwise not have access to SCF and CCC equipment will collaborate with the PI.