Chemistry Department News
Chemistry Department News
U CHEM
A
Buchtel College
Department of Chemistry
January 2011
Volume 3, issue 1
Department Instrument Centers Expand
Special points of
interest:
•
Instrument Labs
Expand
•
Highlights from
the 240th ACS
National Meeting
•
Summer, Fall
2010 Graduates
•
Research News
The Department of Chemistry
has always been noted for the
quality of its major research instrumentation. We share our
expertise with many departments across campus and regional industries. Within the
past two years, the department
has acquired a new mass spectrometer, an upgrade to the
NMR Center, and a new x-ray
diffractometer with a total value
of $1.2M. These add significantly to the instrument capabilities of the department. The new
instruments were purchased
with funds from NSF and the
NMR endowment.
Mass Spectrometry Center
Inside this issue:
240th ACS National
Meeting
Summer, Fall UG
and Grad Degrees
Faculty, Staff,
Graduate Student
Grants, Contracts
and Patents
2
3
4
4
The Mass Spectrometry Center
houses six state-of-the art instruments. The choice of ionization methods includes matrixassisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI), electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI),
and analysis of solids at ambient
pressure (ASAP). Liquid chromatography (HPLC, UPLC,
nano-LC) is also available for
the separation of mixtures. Instruments can be used for surface imaging; instrument and
traveling wave ion mobility mass
spectrometry (TWIM-MS) experiments (which help to differentiate conformations and
architectures and assess their
relative stabilities); and all instruments allow for tandem mass
spectrometry (MS/MS and MSn)
studies. The instruments in the
center are:
Bruker UltraFlex III MALDIToF/ToF -tandem time-of-flight)
mass spectrometer;
Waters Ultima MALDI-Q/ToF -
quadrupole / time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometer;
Bruker HCT ultra ETD nanoLC ion trap - high capacity ion
trap with the capability to perform MSn experiments by collision-activated dissociation
(CAD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD);
Waters UPLC Synapt HDMS Q/
ToF - Q/ToF mass spectrometer
coupled with ultrahigh pressure
LC and equipped with a traveling wave device between Q and
ToF that permits CID and ion
mobility studies.
Bruker Esquire-LC quadrupole ion trap equipped with ESI
and APCI; and
Waters Breeze SEC instrument,
used for the fractionation of
polydisperse polymers and the
determination of the molecular
weight distributions of such polymers.
The Mass Spectrometry Center
focuses on synthetic polymers,
biopolymers, biomaterials, and
polymer-biopolymer conjugates.
Procedures for the characterization of specific analytes are continuously developed, depending
on the substances submitted to
the Center. Dr. Xiaopeng Li is
the lab supervisor under the
direction of Dr. Chrys Wesdemiotis.
Magnetic Resonance Center
The Magnetic Resonance Center (MRC) consists of seven
NMR systems for solution and
solid state NMR experiments,
with resonance frequencies
ranging from 200 MHz to 750
MHz, as well as an X-band EPR.
The facility is operated as a resource to support research and
development at the University of
Akron and at regional academic
and industrial institutions. The
center collects over $100,000
annually to cover day-to-day
operating expenses.
NMR instruments include:
Varian INOVA 750 A new console will be installed in the
spring of 2011 to provide greater
capabilities in biological NMR.
Two Varian NMRS 500. One of
these instruments is equipped
for both solids and liquids. The
second instrument is equipped
with a robotic sample changer.
Varian INOVA 400 The instrument is intended for multinuclear
NMR
Two Varian Mercury 300 for
1
H/19F and 13C/31P.
Varian INOVA 200 Solids NMR.
The Center is supported by the
dedicated work of three professional staff members: Dr. Ming
(Continued on page 5)
Below, the Magnetic Resonance Center
team, (l to r) Simon Stakleff, Peter Rinaldi,
Ming Ming Guo, Venkat Dudipala
Page 2
Volume 3, issue 1
Chemistry Department Well Represented at the 240th ACS National Meeting
More than 40 current and past
department members presented
research at the National ACS
meeting held in Boston last August. The titles of the presentations and some photos of the
participants follow.
Siciliano, Tammy J.; Deblock,
Michael C.; Hindi, Khadijah M.;
Durmus, Semih; Panzner, Matthew J.; Tessier, Claire A.;
Youngs, Wiley J. Anticancer
properties of gold(I)-Nheterocyclic carbene complexes
and their silver(I) precursors.
Bowers, David J.; Baughman,
Jessi; Scionti, Vincenzo; Panzner, Matthew J.; Wesdemiotis,
Chrys; Espe, Matthew;
Youngs, Wiley J.; Tessier,
Claire A. Investigation of the
byproducts of the ring opening
polymerization of [PCl2N]3.
Tun, Zin-Min; Panzner, Matthew J.; Medvetz, Doug A.;
Wright, Brian D.; Li, Linlin;
Savant, Deepa; Scionti, Vincenzo; Wesdemiotis, Chrys;
Rinaldi, Peter L.; Youngs,
Wiley J.; Tessier, Claire A.
Reactions of [PCl2N]3 with electrophiles.
Ekanayake, Sujeewani K.;
Moolsin, Supat; Panzner, Matthew J.; Tessier, Claire A.;
Youngs, Wiley J. N-benzylazole
and hydroxypyridine substituted
polyphosphazenes to be used as
proton exchange membranes in
fuel cells.
Li, X.; Chan, Y.-T.; Newkome,
G.R.; Wesdemiotis, C. Charac-
terization of terpyridine-based
metallomacrocycles using ion
mobility mass spectrometry.
Beres, J.M.; Leigh, A.M.; Panzner, M.J.; Scionti, V.; Wright,
B.D.; Wesdemiotis, C.;Youngs,
W.J.; Tessier, C.A. Use of group
6 carbonyl reagents to stabilize
phosphonium and siliconium
cationic species
Li, X.; Chan, Y.-T.; Newkome,
G.R.; Wesdemiotis, C. Traveling wave ion mobility mass spectrometry analysis of selfassembled terpyridine-based Ru
(II)-Fe(II) macrocycles
Robishaw, Nikki K.; Panzner,
Matthew J.; Besse, David M.;
Deblock, Michael; Ditto, Andrew J.; Yun, Yang H.; Youngs,
Wiley J. Encapsulation of Ag(I)
N-heterocyclic carbene complexes with poly(lactic-co-glycolic
acid) (PLGA) and polyethylene
glycol (PEG) using nanoprecipitation methods and studying
effects on cancer cell lines,
Knapp, Amanda R.; Panzner,
Matthew J.; Youngs, Wiley J.;
Cannon, Carolyn L.; Leid, Jeff
G. Synthesis, characterization,
and antimicrobial properties of
silver carbene complexes encapsulated in polyethylene glycolpolylactic acid micelles
Deblock, Michael C.;
Robishaw, Nikki; Knapp,
Amanda; Panzner, Mathew J.;
Gupta, Anirban Sen; Youngs,
Wiley J. In vitro and in vivo studies on the effectiveness of free
drug and nanoparticle encapsu-
lated silver carbene complexes
on H460 lung cancer,
Bilinovich, Stephanie M.; Panzner, Matthew J.; Deblock,
Michael C.; Youngs, Wiley J.;
Leeper, Thomas C., Proteomic
profiling to determine the antineoplastic mechanism of silver
carbenes
Butler, Adessa and Donovan,
William, Effectiveness of Guided
Inquiry on student’s comprehension of chemistry concepts in a
non-science majors’ course,
A.M. Lineberry and M.J.
Taschner, Synthesis of chiral
amino acid based pyrrolidine
thioethers,
T.L. Walker, M.J Taschner, W
Malassi, S. Bhide, and T.
Parker, Synthesis and characterization of 1,8-dithia-4,11diazacyclotetradecane,
R.S Costa and Chris Ziegler,
Synthesis, characterization, and
metalation of phthalocyanine
analogs with phenol and resorcinol units.
W. Chen and Yi Pang, Highly
selective fluorescent sensor for
pyrophosphate in aqueous solution based on ESIPT turn-on.
B.M. Hirsch, C,A. Gallo, Z. Du,
Z. Wang, W. Zheng, Discovery
of a potent, proteolytically stable,
and cell permeable human
SIRT1 and SIRT2 peptidomimetic inhibitor containing Nεthioacetyl-lysine.
Top to bottom, L to R: Stephanie Bilinovich,
Amanda Knapp, Joanna Beres, Sue Ekanayake, David Bowers, Brett Hirsch, Bill Donovan,
Nikki Robishaw. Below, L to R: Adessa Butler,
Zin Min Tun, Aaron Lineberry, Tia Walker,
Claire Tessier, Roshinee Costa.
Page 3
Volume 3, issue 1
December 2010 Graduates
This past fall semester, two undergraduates
earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry. The
new chemistry alumni:
Jonathan Spikerman BA
Steve Placko BS
Congratulations to both of them.
Graduate Students Earn Degrees
Summer and Fall ‘10
Five new PhD alums and one MS
alum received degrees at the 2010
Summer or Fall Commencement.
We congratulate all for their hard
work and thank them for their contributions to the department.
Nathaniel Beres, PhD, “The Synthesis and Characteristics of a Novel
Hydrogel Based on Linear Polyethylenimine”, is currently a Visiting
Assistant Professor at UA
Jirapun Paraboon, PhD,
“Biomedical Application of Nanofiber”, is currently working at
Top row, L to R: Saovalak Sirothongnak,
Wongwit Wongwitwichote, Nate Beres. Bottom row, L to R: Cody Anderson, Rashid
Altamimi, Jacob Weingart
Saovalak Sirpothongnak, PhD,
“The Metal Binding Chemistry of the
Carbahemiporphyrazines”, is currently employed in industry in Thailand
Rashid Altamimi, PhD, “Synthesis
and Photophysical Properties of
Porphyrin-Containing Supramolecular Systems”, is currently a research
associate at KAUST
Jacob Weingart, PhD, “Synthesis
and Interfacial Chemistry of Supramolecular Assemblies” , is currently a post-doc at CSU
Wongit Wongwitwichote, PhD,
“Synthesis and Spectroscopy of Cofacial Distilbenes and Aggregated 9Substituted Anthracenes” will be
returning home to Thailand
Cody Anderson, MS, “Sampling of
BTEX and Gasoline” is currently
employed in industry
Page 4
Volume 3, issue 1
Faculty and Graduate Student News
Faculty News
David Perry was selected by
Ohio Magazine’s December
issue as one of three University of Akron faculty recognized as an outstanding educator. David has served as
chair of the chemistry department, chairman of the Akron
Section of
the American
Chemical
Society,
member of
the Advisory Board
of the
McNair
Scholars Program, and mentor
for Project SEED high school
researchers.
darelli and his collaborator
Jon Parquette was featured on
the cover of a November
Angewandt
Chemie.
The article,
“Amphiphilic
SelfAssembly of
an n-Type
Nanotube”
is a result of
the laser
spectroscopy that David has
been doing.
Chris Ziegler’s manuscript,
Reactions of [Re(CO)3]+ with
histidylhistidine and modified
histidines, was the basis for
the cover illustration of the
September 2010 issue of the
European Journal of Inorganic
Chemistry.
The research of David Mo-
Yi Pang’s manuscript, A fluorescent bis(benzoxazole)
ligand: Toward binuclear Zn(II)
-Zn(II)assembly, was one of
the top ten most downloaded
articles from Dalton Transactions for May 2010.
Yi Pang was appointed editor
of a special issue for Journal
of Analytical and Bioanalytical
Techniques
mas Educational Support Services of Akron. The organization’s goal is to help students
excel in high school reading,
math, and science.
Brett Hirsch was awarded a
travel grant from the Medicinal
Chemistry division of the ACS
to attend the ACS national
meeting in Boston last August.
Weiping Zheng was invited to
submit an article for the
themed issue on Protein Posttranslational Modifications
published in Molecular Biosystems last fall.
Graduate Student
News
Sylvester Twagirayezu has
taken a lead role in the Kan-
Grants, Contracts, and Patents
Yi Pang, Air Force Office of
Scientific Research, Separation of Armchair SWNTs by
Using Polymer Conformation
Guided Assembly, $140,001
William J. Donovan, National
Science Foundation through Ohio
State University Ohio Consortium
for Undergraduate Research,
$4,000
Kim Calvo, OMNOVA Solutions
Foundation, Advanced Teaching
Lab upgrade, $40,000
David Perry, US Department
of Energy, Dynamics of Large
Amplitude Motion in Energized Molecules, $122,000
Chrys Wesdemiotis, National
Science Foundation, Mass Spectrometry Methods for the Characterization of Polymer Composition, Structure, and Architecture,
$437,000
Daniel J. Smith, Surfactantnitrite NO releasing materials
Wiley J. Youngs, DHHS NIH
through Washington University in
St. Louis, Adhesin-Based Nanotherapeutics in Urinary Tract
Infection, $53,460
Yi Pang, Furan counterpart of
poly(butylenesterephthalate by
direct transesterificaiton of furan2,5 dicarboxylate and 1,4 butanediol
Peter Rinaldi, Multiple Corporate Sponsors *Testing,
$15,368
Matthew P Espe, David A.
Modarelli, Hendrik Heinz,
Air Force Office of Scientific
Research, Organic and Hybrid Organic Solid-State
Photovoltaic Materials and
Devices, $187,500
Weiping Zheng, National
Institutes of Health, Peptidomimetic Human SIRT1
Enzyme Inhibitors, $371,250
Wiley Youngs, U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE), Protic Salt
Polymer Membranes: High Temperature Water-Free Proton Conductors, $37,500
Claire Tessier, ICL-IP America,
Improved Synthesis of {PCI2N]3.,
$66,271
Patents
Chris Ziegler and Richard Herrick, Tripodal Rhenium compounds as x-ray contrast agents
Dan Smith and Darrell Reneker,
Non-woven fiber assemblies
Jun Hu and Jiang Zhe, Dynamic
Modulation for Multiplexation of
Microfluidic and Nanofluidic
Based Biosensors
Page 5
Volume 3, issue 1
Instrument Centers Expand
(Continued from page 1)
Ming Guo is the solid state
NMR expert. Dr. Venkat
Dudipala is the solutions
NMR expert. Mr. Simon
Stakleff, NMR Engineer, is an
expert in the hardware aspects of all the instruments.
The Center director is Dr. Peter Rinaldi.
X-Ray Center
The X-ray Center at the University of Akron currently
houses two single crystal Xray diffractometers. Instrumentation includes a Bruker
SMART Apex equipped with a
2 kW sealed tube Mo radiation
source and graphite monochromator and a new Bruker
Apex Duo with comounted Mo
and Cu microfocus radiation
sources. The Center averages
greater than 350 structures
per year for UA faculty, federal
agencies, and regional industry.
The X-ray Center is maintained by a graduate research
assistant who performs structure determinations and keeps
the instruments working. The
Center director is Dr. Wiley
Youngs.
Although long used for the
characterization of synthetic
polymers—for which Akron is
famous– the Mass Spectrometry, Magnetic Resonance, and
X-ray centers are expanding
their focus to include biomedical applications. A proteomics focus in the Mass
Spectrometry Center allows
researchers to identify proteins
expressed only under specific
conditions in cells. With the
new upgrade to the Magnetic
Resonance Center, capabilities for biological structure
determination will be enhanced. The new x-ray diffractometer allows small
protein crystal structure determinations.
diffractometers. There are
more than 300 researchers
and students who rely on data
from the instruments in the
three centers. Combined,
these researchers contribute
more than 200 papers and
conference presentations per
year and have more than $4M
in funding from federal and
state agencies and industrial
organizations.
Without question, the instrument centers in the Department of Chemistry are essential to the research and instructional activity of the campus
and the region.
All of the instrument centers
are used by faculty across UA
and by regional universities
and industry. The Centers
also allow undergraduates the
opportunity to learn first-hand
how to obtain and interpret
data from the mass spectrometers, NMRs, and x-ray
L to R, Dr. Xiaopeng Li Mass Spec Lab
supervisor, Dr. Mat Panzer co-PI on grant
to purchase the diffractometer