Understanding Structural Changes of Anticonvulsants and Their Water Clusters
Welcome to SPECTROSCOPY!!! where we use electromagnetic radiation to interrogate matter.
In my lab we focus on the understanding of the interactions between molecules because the key to understanding a molecule's behavior is to first understand its structure and then how it interacts with its immediate surroundings. Currently we are studying succinimides, a class of molecules that act as anticonvulsants are used to mitigate the effects of absence seizures. The lab is going in two directions and we are excited to have you join either project!
- The role that is played by the phenyl ring in the mechanism of action of certain anticonvulsants is still under active investigation. To probe this phenyl ring more directly we will record ultraviolet spectra of the gas phase molecule at temperatures near absolute zero using our newly built Resonance-enhanced Multiphoton Ionization – Time-of-flight (REMPI-TOF) mass spectrometer. If you choose to join our laser adventures you can be involved with one or more of the following tasks:
- Working with our tunable pulsed laser system and the improving our optics set-up.
- Acquiring and analyzing the electronic spectra of a series of phenylsuccinimides. This includes running electronic structure calculations.
- We will record high resolution rotation spectra of several molecules that contain the succinimide group, and how individual water molecules bind to them. This is a collaboration with Prof. Kyle Crabtree, so part of the experimental work will happen at UC-Davis. For this project students get involved in the experimental work as well analyzing the spectra to determine the molecular structure, which requires learning specialized software. If you choose to join this project, you will learn about rotational spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations, leading to a molecular-scale understanding of the particular molecule and its water-containing clusters.
We are a molecular spectroscopy lab, which means you will gain expertise in a versatile set of skills. We are an experimental group, working with fast electronics, high vacuum, and supersonic expansions that cool the molecules within a few degrees of absolute zero. We analyze our data using quantum principles, existing software, and develop our own analysis programs. We also run electronic structure calculations to aid in the analysis and understanding of our data. You will participate in all of these endeavors, tailor-made to your own interests.
Logistics: You will be actively working in the lab full-time for 10 weeks from May 19th to Friday, July 25. The typical commitment is ~40 hours per week with an approximate schedule of 9 am - 6 pm per day. You will have group meeting for research updates and journal club once a week.
Essay prompt: In 1 page please describe what motivates you to pursue this full-time summer research opportunity.
Our research has its foundation in physical chemistry but uses instrumental methods that stretch far beyond those borders. Thus, students in my lab participate in a multidisciplinary research team, that uses physics, and engineering to study chemically important problems. If you are curious about working with state-of-the-art instrumentation, solving spectroscopic puzzles, and learning how to read literature, MolSpec may be the place for you!