CAREER: An Integrated Program of Research Focused on Understanding Chiral Recognition of Branched Amino Acid Based Molecular Micelles, Mentorship, Outreach, & Faculty Develop

德克萨斯州A M大学科珀斯克里斯蒂分校的尤金·比略特教授得到化学系分析和表面化学项目的支持，研究和阐明了在毛细管电泳中专门设计用作手性假固定相的介质的手性识别因素。 重点是开发和表征手性氨基酸基表面活性剂（分子胶束）用于对映体分离。 为了加快发现过程，分子建模用于开发定量结构-性质关系，可用于评估新材料作为手性选择剂的有效性，并更好地了解这些材料的手性识别发生在何处以及如何发生。 教育部分的总体目标是：（1）通过本科生早期参与科学研究，增加代表性不足和经济困难的学生追求科学事业的人数，（2）增加本科生对当地K-12学校社区外联的参与，和（3）通过举办一系列旨在帮助“新”教师成为更有效的教师、研究人员和导师的研讨会和讲习班来促进教师的发展。大量重要的药物是手性的，并且在许多情况下，已知两种立体异构体具有不同的生物活性。因此，开发改进的手性分离方法具有相当大的兴趣。

Professor Eugene Billiot of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program in the Chemistry Division to investigate and elucidate the factors responsible for chiral recognition with media specifically designed for use as chiral pseudostationary phases in capillary electrophoresis. The focus is to develop and characterize chiral amino acid-based surfactants (molecular micelles) for use in enantiomeric separarations. To expedite the discovery process, molecular modeling is used to develop quantitative structure-property relationships that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the new materials as chiral selectors and to gain a better understanding of where and how chiral discrimination takes place on these materials. The overall objectives of the educational components are, (1) to increase the number of underrepresented and economically challenged students pursuing careers in science through early involvement of undergraduates in scientific research, (2) to increase the participation of undergraduate students in community outreach to the local K-12 schools, and (3) to facilitate faculty development by conducting a series of seminars and workshops designed to help "new" faculty become more effective teachers, researchers, and mentors.A large number of important pharmaceuticals are chiral, and in many cases the two stereoisomers are known to have different biological activity. There is thus considerable interest in developing improved methods for chiral separations.