Chemistry & Biochemistry Professor’s Grant Proposal Funded by the NSF
Dr. Mark Heitz and co-PIs submitted a grant proposal to the NSF-Major Research Instruments program that was selected for funding. The proposal for $310,000 was awarded for the purchase of a state-of-the-art femtosecond laser and detection system to study ultrafast molecular dynamics in novel solvent systems.
The proposal included several projects centered around the study of molecular solvation in several basic chemical systems. In collaboration with Professor Josh Blose the team will study the effects of imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) on a series of self-complimentary, 14 base pair synthetic DNA oligomers to increase our understanding of structural motif effects in drug-DNA binding mechanisms to improve better drug delivery system designs.
A second collaboration with Professor Dave McCamant (University of Rochester) will study the effects of IL systems on the photoelectron transfer chemistry used in (solar) hydrogen production strategies.
A third collaborative project with Professor Paschalis Alexandridis (University at Buffalo) will determine the dynamical impacts of ILs on a nearly ubiquitous model polysaccharide, xanthan gum.