Organic Acids, Catalysts, and Mass Spectrometry

美国国家科学基金会化学部的化学结构、动力学和机理计划支持明尼苏达双城大学的Steven Kass教授对新的酸碱反应、氢键催化剂和气相活性中间体进行IR和MS联合研究。这项工作的目标是建立一系列生物启发的催化酸和碱的结构-反应性关系，并了解一类新的手性酸和碱可以用于不对称反应的基本原理。这些研究将包括确定电离氨基酸和多肽结构、非键相互作用、氢-重离子交换位置，以及“移动质子争议”。这项研究将具有广泛的影响，从药物开发和纳米材料的制造，到更好地理解酶催化的反应。研究的广泛影响包括为学生提供从实验到理论，从有机合成到质谱学的跨学科培训机会。这项研究与科学的许多实际方面交织在一起，可能会带来巨大的社会效益，例如制备新药和开发针对人类疾病的非侵入性检测方法。PI通过REU计划和明尼苏达超级计算机研究所的暑期研究计划，直接和深入地参与本科生的培训。

The Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation supports Professor Steven Kass of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, for combined IR and MS investigations of new acids and base reactivity, H-bonding catalysts, and gas phase reactive intermediates. The goals of this work are to develop structure-reactivity relationships for a wide range of bioinspired catalytic acids and bases, and to understand the fundamental principles by which a new class of chiral acids and bases can be used for enantioselective reactions. These investigations will include the determination of ionized amino acids and peptide structures, non-bonding interactions, hydrogen-deuterium exchange sites, and the "mobile proton controversy." The research will have broad ranging implications from pharmaceutical development and the fabrication of nanomaterials, to a better understanding of enzyme catalyzed reactions.Broader impacts of the research include interdisciplinary training opportunities for students, from experiment to theory and from organic synthesis to mass spectrometry. The research is intertwined with many practical aspects of science that could lead to huge societal benefits such as the preparation of new medicines and the development of noninvasive detection methods for human diseases. The PI is directly and intensely involved with the training of undergraduates through an REU program, and through a summer research program at the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute.