Beckman Scholars Program - UofC Scholars
2009
 Jason Hao
|
This project proposes to use the methods of diversity oriented synthesis (DOS) to produce a library of compounds aimed at the discovery of new bioactive chemotypes. The chemical scheme begins with a 1,6-enyne, which through catalyst enabled diversification and selective [4+2] Diels Alder reactions may yield 25 cycloadducts, all of which have an unsaturated double-bond suitable for epoxidation. This project intends to further diversify these adducts via two possible pathways. In the first scheme, read more... |
 Vasilios Kalas
|
Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is a metalloprotease that demonstrates a remarkable ability to recognize and degrade functionally and structurally diverse bioactive peptides such as insulin and amyloid-beta (Aβ) yet exhibits high selectivity and affinity to the targeted substrates. While many of this protease’s unique structural properties have been studied extensively in understanding its catalytic versatility, the mechanism by which IDE binds and degrades structurally diverse peptides remains elusive. To gain a better understanding of this intriguing mechanism, this project will investigate two read more... |
2008
 Carl Brozek
|
While early-metal oxo complexes (M=O) are common and demonstrate interesting reactivity, late metal complexes are unobserved. Recently, the Hillhouse group synthesized the d8 imido complex 1,2-bis(di-tert-butylphosphino) ethane)Ni=NAr. Attempts to synthesize the analogous d8 oxo led to rapid decomposition to an oxidized phosphine. Though unsuccessful, these results strongly suggested a Ni(II) oxo intermediate. This project will focus on the isolation of a Ni=O complex by introducing a more rigid backbone in the chelated phosphino ligand to prevent intramolecular migration of phosphorus to oxygen. read more... |
 Dan Houle
|
In order to prevent mutagenic damage to the genome by cellular or environmental alkylating agents, many organisms have evolved a set of DNA repair proteins that search for and repair these covalent modifications. Escherichia Coli N-Ada is an exemplary DNA repair protein, serving a dual role in methylation resistance: it first acts to repair methyl phosphotriester damage by directly transferring a methyl group from the DNA backbone to its tetrathiolate zinc(II) active site. Upon this methylation, N-Adas affinity to DNA increases 100-1000 fold, allowing it to bind sequence specifically to the ada promoter, initiating transcription of a collection of methylation resistance proteins. read more... |
2007
 Donnie Bungum
|
Mossbauer Spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools available for characterization of metal-containing compounds. Based on a Nobel Prize winning principle of high-energy physics discovered by Dr. Rudolf Mossbauer, this technique allows researchers to determine the oxidation state, electronic environment, spin state, symmetry, and magnetic properties of compounds containing one of the 100 or so Mossbauer-active metals. Nearly 90% of the literature on Mossbauer spectroscopy published to date concerns Fe species, as this isotope of iron can be studied in a wide range of chemical environments under varied experimental conditions. |
 Emily Jane Glassman |
The reactions of the CH3SO2 and CH3OSO radicals are particularly important processes to understand in the fields of combustion and atmospheric chemistry. As coal-burning technologies expand, it becomes imperative to understand the dynamics of reactions involving sulfur, one of the major components of coal. The radicals and their products, CH3, CH3O, SO, and SO2 play a significant role in the atmospheric oxidation cascade of dimethyl sulfide, a major natural source of sulfur. However, the energy barriers for the unimolecular dissociations of CH3OSO and CH3SO2 have never been positively determined. read more... |
2006
 John Anderson |
My research is focused on using nickel systems involving the chelating ditertbutylphosphinoethane (dtbpe) ligand system to reproduce some proposed biological intermediates in the laboratory. This system has already been used extensively to explore a number of interesting nickel complexes ranging in oxidation state from zero to three. I will be studying nickel one in particular due to the biological significance of this oxidation state. Nickel is believed to be an important oxidation state in both the acetyl coenzyme a synthase/carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (ACS/CODH) and the nickel superoxide dismutase (NiSOD) enzymes. read more... |
 James Fitzgerald |
Our overall goal is to create an energy function to address currently inaccessible problems in protein folding and binding. Statistical potentials specify the "energy" of a protein structure based upon statistics obtained from a library of protein structures. The energy is assigned according to the Boltzmann distribution. The benefits of this approach are immediately clear. Rather than explicitly including physical interactions between atoms or groups of atoms, statistical mechanical concepts are used to relate the probability of occurrence to the energy, so the precise forms of the interaction potentials are irrelevant. Moreover, by using a statistical potential, realistic modeling of the solvent becomes unnecessary, thereby providing another enormous computational simplification. However, in order for statistical potentials to be computationally useful, the read more... |
 Amy Winans |
My works focuses on how the addition of gangliosides (specifically monosialic ganglioside: GM1) and cholesterol to a model cell membrane mediates the interaction between the membrane and the amyloid-β protein. (A-β). A-β has been identified as the protein composing the amyloid plaques found deposited in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Under physiological conditions, the A-β protein folds into a random coil. In amyloid plaques however, A-β is found deposited in cross-linked β-sheet conformation. A growing body of research has provided evidence for a link between cell membranes and A-β aggregation into β-sheet fibrils. Interaction with the cell membrane may also be the way in which A-β exerts its neurotoxic effects. read more... |
2005
 Doran Bennett |
The vinoxy radical (CH2CHO) has shown itself to be of both practical and theoretical interest. Its practical interest arises from combustion chemistry where vinoxy is an intermediate for a number of important reactions:
These reactions are important because they are commonly found in the mechanisms for the combustion of larger aliphatic and aromatic compounds. The research I propose will probe the dissociation dynamics of the vinoxy radical by way of the potential energy surface (PES), illuminating the role vinoxy pays in the overall combustion process. Vinoxy is of theoretical interest because it exhibits nonadiabatic effects in its ground state. Often in textbooks the read more... |
 Michelle Rengarajan |
A vast body of protein structural data and sequence information has in recent years been made available for a wide variety of organisms. Before attempts to process this information experimentally, molecular modeling can be a powerful tool to mine and utilize this otherwise overwhelming body of data. In particular, molecular modeling of proteins can be used to search for structural components conserved across species or components which, if mutated, result in a compensatory mutation in an interacting partner. I propose to use ab initio modeling, homology modeling and structural screens to search for inhibitors of Cdc28 Saccharomyces cerevisiae cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK), which is involved in the transition between the G1 and S phases of the cell cycle. read more... |
2004
 Joshua D. Tice Graduation Date: 2005 Current Institution: University of Illinois, Urbana, Champaign Program: Ph.D. in Chemistry |
Growing high-quality crystals of proteins and other biological macromolecules plays an important role in the determination of tertiary structure. Crystallization conditions are usually identified by screening a large number of assays with variable ratios of solutions of the protein, precipitants, and other additives. Microfluidic technology presents an opportunity to improve this process by reducing the amount of protein needed, reducing labor, and making it economically feasible for use in individual laboratories. A microfluidic system, comprising a network of channels fabricated in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and a glass x-ray capillary, was used to perform protein crystallization trials in nanoliter-sized droplets. |