Magnetic Ionic Liquids as Tunable Solvents for Chemical Analysis

该项目由化学部的化学测量和成像(CMI)计划资助。爱荷华州立大学的Jared L.Anderson教授正在开发新的化学测量方法和平台，利用磁性离子液体(MILs)的物理和化学性质进行化学分离。MILS是一种非分子溶剂，熔点低，粘度可调，可以很容易地使用外加磁场进行操作。拟议的工作有可能提供更多从临床样本中分析核酸的方法，并可能改变包括临床诊断学、生物医学和法医学研究在内的许多跨学科领域。研究生和本科生通过与爱荷华州立大学文理学院院长创新和创业学院开发的模块，在教授和鼓励创新和创业的环境中获得分离科学和生物分析化学方面的培训。高中生通过美国化学学会项目种子项目参与了这项研究。一个社交网络计划被用来向幼儿和普通公众传播科学视频。这项建议侧重于磁性离子液体研究和用于核酸化学测量的三个领域。设计了具有更强磁性的磁性离子液体，并将其应用于生物分析和色谱分离；开发了使用MILS捕获相对于生物样品中其他组分的核酸的方法；研究了使用3D打印的新的化学测量平台，以区分包含单核苷酸多态的核酸序列。3D打印液滴发生器提供了液滴大小和体积的定制，并扩展到在水样中生产均匀的MIL液滴。这项研究提供了关于这些材料的基本新知识，并促进了实现快速和选择性核酸分析的新方法的发展。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is funded by the Chemical Measurement and Imaging (CMI) program in the Division of Chemistry. Professor Jared L. Anderson of Iowa State University is developing new approaches and platforms for chemical measurement that exploit the physical and chemical properties of magnetic ionic liquids (MILs) in chemical separations. MILs are non-molecular solvents that possess low melting points, tunable viscosities, and can be readily manipulated using an applied magnetic field. The proposed work has the potential to provide additional approaches by which nucleic acids are analyzed from clinical samples, and could transform numerous interdisciplinary fields including clinical diagnostics, biomedicine, and forensics research. Graduate and undergraduate students acquire training in separation science and bioanalytical chemistry in an environment that teaches and encourages innovation and entrepreneurship through modules developed with the Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy at Iowa State University. High school students participate in the research through the American Chemical Society Project SEED program. A social networking program is used to disseminate scientific videos to young children and the general public. This proposal focuses on three areas where magnetic ionic liquids are studied and used in the chemical measurement of nucleic acids. Magnetic ionic liquids with stronger magnetic properties are designed and incorporated into bioanalytical assays and chromatographic separations; approaches using MILs for the capture of nucleic acids relative to other components in biological samples are developed; and new chemical measurement platforms using 3D printing are studied to enable differentiation of nucleic acid sequences that contain single-nucleotide polymorphisms. 3D printed droplet generators provide customization of droplet size and volume and are extended to the production of uniform MIL droplets within aqueous samples. This research provides fundamental new knowledge about these materials and catalyzes the development of new approaches for achieving rapid and selective nucleic acid analysis.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.