May 5, 2011 - 12:18pm
NIH has granted a $1.62 million award to a multi-investigator team to purchase a state-of-the-art High Frequency Pulsed Electron Spin Resonance Spectrometer. The new spectrometer, which operates at resonance frequencies of ~95 GHz and 9.5 GHz, will significantly enhance the ability to routinely perform modern multidimensional and double resonance Electron Spin Resonance experiments. The spectrometer will be used to determine protein structure and dynamics, as well as electron transfer processes in chemical and biological materials. The high frequency spectrometer will: (a) allow sensitive measurement of fast dynamics in proteins and macromolecules; (b) enable high resolution measurement of nanometer range distances in biomolecules in order to determine constraints on macromolecular structure and conformational dynamics; (c) allow measurement of electron-nuclear distances in order to reveal metal-ion coordination in macromolecules; (d) monitor electron transfer and charge transfer processes in chemical and biological materials; and (e) enable enhanced resolution to the identity of transient radicals in order to elucidate organic reaction mechanisms. Prof. Sunil Saxena is the PI on the NIH proposal.