MRI: Acquisition of a Mössbauer Spectrometer for Research and Training in Iron based Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Material Systems

该奖项由主要研究仪器计划支持。 纽约市立大学斯塔顿岛学院（CSI）正在购买一台穆斯堡尔谱仪，以支持CSI的Rupal Gupta教授、巴纳德学院的Rachel Austin和Michael坎贝尔以及布法罗的纽约州立大学的大卫Lacy的研究。 该光谱仪依赖于伽马射线与化学元素铁的相互作用，允许在各种领域进行研究，例如负责碳循环的非血红素铁双加氧酶的功能和结构研究，确定烷烃单加氧酶（AlkB）中的活性位点结构功能关系，研究具有氧化还原活性配体的铁金属有机框架中的电子开关，了解双铁酶的进化优化，研究铁在潜在的多铁性钙钛矿氧化物中的行为，并进行II型铁双加氧酶的机理研究。 一般来说，穆斯堡尔谱是探测分子的化学环境和反应性的有力工具，探测铁原子的环境提供了有关分子其余部分的化学信息。 获得这种类型的设备对于在生物化学和材料科学等不同领域进行尖端研究的化学家来说非常重要。 该仪器是纽约市地区唯一的一台此类仪器，它是本科生、硕士生和博士生教学和研究的一个组成部分。该奖项旨在加强各个层次的研究和教育。 它特别影响到CSI（一所为西班牙裔服务的机构）和Barnard学院（一所女子学院）的各种学生团体，该工具被纳入这两所学院的课程工作，并被纳入高中学生的讲习班。 该仪器特别提供了感兴趣的化学样品中Fe中心的量、氧化态以及电子和核性质的完整和详细的描述，由于铁在化学中的普遍存在，使得这项技术适用于由多个研究人员共享的仪器。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估来支持和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This award is supported by the Major Research Instrumentation program. The City University of New York College of Staten Island (CSI) is acquiring a Mössbauer spectrometer to support the research of Professor Rupal Gupta at CSI and colleagues Rachel Austin and Michael Campbell from Barnard College and David Lacy from the State University of New York University at Buffalo. This spectrometer, which relies on interactions of gamma rays with the chemical element iron, allows research in a variety of fields such as functional and structural studies of non-heme iron dioxygenases responsible for carbon cycling, determining active site structure function relationships in alkane monooxygenase (AlkB), investigating electronic switching in iron metal–organic frameworks with redox-active ligands, understanding the evolutionary optimization of diiron enzymes, studying the behavior of iron in potentially multiferroic perovskite oxides, and carrying out mechanistic studies of the type II iron dioxygenases. In general, Mössbauer spectroscopy is a powerful tool to probe the chemical environments and reactivities of molecules, where probing the environments of iron atoms provides information about the chemistry of the rest of the molecule. Access to this type of equipment is important to chemists carrying out cutting edge research in fields as diverse as biochemistry and materials science. This instrument is the only one of its type in the New York City region, and it is an integral part of teaching as well as research at undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. levels, with faculty from nearby institutions joining CSI in utilizing it for both research and teaching.The award of the Mössbauer spectrometer is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. It especially impacts the diverse student bodies at both CSI, a Hispanic-serving institution, and Barnard College, a women’s college, and the instrument is incorporated into course work at both colleges, as well as being incorporated into a workshop for high school students. The instrument particularly provides a complete and detailed description of the amount, oxidation state and the electronic and nuclear properties of Fe centers in chemical samples of interest, with the ubiquity of iron in chemistry making this technique appropriate for instrumentation that is shared by multiple researchers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.