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| Magda Bokiej, Muayad Almahariq, Jay Fitzgerald | Jay Fitzgerald, Muayad Almahariq, Magda Bokiej, Rick Bunt |
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| Magda running the 400 MHz NMR | Jay trying to get things separated |
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| Muayad keeping things clean | Well balanced Magda |
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Class of '99 |
Class of '00 |
Class of '01 |
| Class of '02 Agnes Mwakingwe Ryan Constantine Nicole LeBoeuf [Photos] |
Class of '03
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Class of '04 Paul Armstrong Sarah Goodwin [Photos] |
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Class of '05 |
Class of '06 |
Class of '07 |
Our research is motivated by a desire to understand how catalytic process occur at the detailed molecular level. Catalysis of both traditional "organic" reactions and biological enzyme reactions form the basis for two project described below. Note that the distinction between organic and biological reactions and catalysis is entirely artificial and perhaps even misleading. A combination of organic synthesis, physical organic methods, NMR spectroscopy, and biochemical techniques will be used to study these reactions. However, both projects begin with considerable synthetic organic efforts to make the molecules that we wish to study.
The first project investigates the mechanism of base-flipping by the DNA repair enzyme Uracil DNA Glycosylase (UDG). Modified nucleoside analogs that contain either one or two methyl groups at the 5’-position of the sugar ring will be synthesized and incorporated into short oligonucleotides. The enzyme kinetics, NMR dynamics, and NMR structure of these analogs will be studied. From this data, the role of the enzyme in generating the flipped base will be determined. This issue is of great interest as many DNA repair and recognition enzymes are postulated to function by a base-flipping mechanism.
The second project explores the functioning of chiral ligands in the palladium catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction. Chiral phosphinooxazoline ligands containing electron donating and withdrawing groups on the aryl backbone will be synthesized. The effects of these electronic perturbations will be determined by measuring the enantiomeric excess of the alkylation reaction products by chiral HPLC and by measuring the changes in the 13C NMR chemical shifts of the isolated pi-allylpalladium intermediate complexes on the department's 400 MHz NMR Spectrometer. The observed effects will be correlated to the electronic perturbations via Hammett analysis of the data.
