Mass spectrometry to underpin synthetic chemistry at Edinburgh

质谱是化学家用来确定化学物质的结构和组成的主要工具之一。质谱仪是大型复杂仪器，像任何复杂仪器（如汽车或电视）一样，它们不能无限期地工作。此外，在过去的20年里，制造商在质谱仪的使用方式上取得了巨大的进步。在爱丁堡大学，我们在20年前购买了最后一台“主力”质谱仪。需要一个新的质谱仪来支持化学的研究工作（见下文）。质谱仪需要由训练有素的技术人员来操作和细心照料，我们还要求在此应用中支付一名高级技术人员的部分工资。爱丁堡大学化学学院拥有大量独立的研究小组，他们都致力于新化学的不同方面，因此这台仪器将支持广泛的科学。这项工作的大部分将涉及制作以前从未制作过的东西-有点像制作一个新的乐高建筑-只是在一个不可否认的小规模。在一个称为“超分子化学”的领域，可以制造新的分子机器，这些机器有助于将它们自己组合在一起（“自组装”）。所有的生物学都是由化学过程控制的，在“生物化学”中，我们提出的项目包括治疗金属络合物，蛋白质分子的折叠，酶的化学和生物合成（生物体如何制造化学品）和生物建模。有机和无机化学的传统方面包括“镜像”反应的催化，自然界中发生的化学品的合成，通过新方法合成小“积木”有机分子，（碳水化合物）种类和设计可以捕获金属离子的新分子（配体）。在所有这些领域中，新的质谱仪将使研究人员能够更有效地监测其反应的化学性质，并确定和鉴定产物，使其达到在最好的国际期刊上发表所需的标准。

Mass spectrometery is one of the main tools which a chemist can use to work out the structure and constitution of chemical species. Mass spectrometers are large, complex instruments and, like any complex instrument (such as a car or a TV) they cannot be expected to work indefinitely. In addition, manufacturers have made enormous improvements over the past 20 years in the ways in which mass spectrometers can be used. Here at the University of Edinburgh, we purchased our last 'work-horse' mass spectrometer exactly 20 years ago. A new mass spectrometer is needed to support the research work in Chemistry (see below). Mass spectrometers need to be operated and carefully looked after by highly trained technicians; we have also asked for part of the salary of a senior technician in this application.The University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry has a large number of independent research groups, all working on different aspects of new chemistry, so a wide range of science will be supported by this instrument. Most of this work will involve making things which have never been made before - sort of like making a new Lego construction -only on an unimaginably tiny scale. In one area called 'supramolecular chemistry' new molecular machines can be made which help to put themselves together ('self-assembly'). All of biology is controlled by chemical processes and in 'biological chemistry' we present projects which include therapeutic metal complexes, the folding of protein molecules, the chemistry of enzymes and biosynthesis (how organisms make chemicals) and biomodelling. Traditional aspects of organic and inorganic chemistry include catalysis of 'mirror image' reactions, synthesis of chemicals which occur in nature, synthesis of small 'building-block' organic molecules by new methods, new routes to unusual sugar (carbohydrate) species and design of new molecules (ligands) which can capture metal ions.In all these areas, a new mass spectrometer will allow research workers to monitor the chemistry of their reactions more efficiently and to identify and characterise the products to a standard required for publication in the best international journals.