Detecting Trace Metals in Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules. ICPMS for a Multi-User Facility in Chemistry

该提案要求为将安装在UBC化学系的电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（ICPMS）提供资金。该仪器将用于测量各种样品中所谓痕量或超痕量水平的金属含量。 痕量浓度可以低至十亿分之一。 在世界人口中搜索6个特定的人相当于十亿分之一。 超痕量水平的浓度要低一千倍。 ICPMS仪器有能力进行诸如此类的灵敏测量，并且能够准确地进行测量。*在申请人的实验室或UBC的化学系中，没有具有类似能力的仪器。所要求的仪器将具有当前研究所需的性能，例如减少干扰原子/分子的信号，对“脏”样品的高容忍度以及一次测量单个颗粒的能力。新仪器将主要由隶属于UBC化学系的研究人员使用：功能化聚合物合成领域的研究人员（Schafer，Gates，Mehrkhodavandi）以及生物化学领域的科学家，如酶，蛋白质和肽（Brumer，Murphy，Perrin）等大分子需要使用这种仪器来检测和量化这些材料中的痕量金属。 * 拟议的ICPMS仪器将使这些研究人员和UBC的其他人能够进一步了解化学反应中亚微观尺度上发生的事情，这种基础设施将支持开发改进的方法来分离和纯化这些材料。这将使该研究能够在顶级科学期刊上发表，并为这些创新的商业应用提供潜在用户所要求的关键数据。 * ICPMS将位于现有的多用户设施中，并制定了用户费用、管理和维护协议，以确保仪器的寿命。 专业的设施管理人员将确保大量的年轻科学家能够接受培训，使用拟议的尖端ICPMS仪器，从而学习在我们的社会中非常广泛适用的痕量金属分析技能。

This proposal requests funding for an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS) to be installed in the Department of Chemistry at UBC. The instrument will be used to measure the presence of metals in a variety of samples, at so-called trace or ultra-trace levels. Trace concentrations can be as low as 1 part per billion. Searching for 6 specific people within the world's population is an analogy for 1 part per billion. Ultra-trace levels are one thousand times lower in concentration. ICPMS instruments have the capability to make sensitive measurements such as these, and to do so accurately.***No instrument with similar capability exists in any of the applicants' laboratories or in the Chemistry Department at UBC. The requested instrument will have the performance required for current research such as the reduction of signal from interfering atoms/molecules, high tolerance for 'dirty' samples and the ability to measure single particles at a time.***The new instrument will be used primarily by researchers affiliated with the Chemistry department at UBC: researchers in the field of functionalized polymer synthesis (Schafer, Gates, Mehrkhodavandi) as well as scientists in the field of biological chemistry working with macromolecules like enzymes, proteins and peptides (Brumer, Murphy, Perrin) require access to such instrumentation to detect and quantify trace metals in these aterials. ***The proposed ICPMS instrument will allow these researchers, and others at UBC, to advance understanding of what's happening at the sub-microscopic scale in chemical reactions and this infrastructure will support the development of improved ways to isolate and purify these materials. This will allow the research to be published in top scientific journals and will provide critical data requested by potential users of these innovations for commercial applications. ***The ICPMS will be located in an existing multi-user facility with user-fee, management and maintenance protocols in place to ensure longevity of the instrument. Expert facility managers will ensure that significant numbers of young scientists can be trained to use the proposed cutting-edge ICPMS instrument, thereby learning trace metal analysis skills that are very widely applicable in our society.**