Faculty Researchers:
The disciplines of analytical and bioanalytical chemistry aim to improve/expand methods and/or develop new instrumentation for chemical and biochemical analyses. These new tools and methods are then applied to new or complex chemical problems to provide qualitative (i.e. what is it?) and quantitative (i.e. how much?) information of analytes within a sample, or to probe the behavior of complex molecular systems in areas such as materials, biomaterials, energy, and biology. In the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at RPI, examples of analytical research projects currently being explored include: i) experimental and computational studies of protein-ligand interactions in chromatographic separations (Cramer), ii) the development of multi-frequency, multi-dimensional, and time-resolved nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy methods to study charge-transfer reactions in natural photosynthetic systems (Lakshmi), iii) probing the genome to find aptamers for highly selective capture, recognition, and sensing of biomolecules (McGown), and iv) development of mass spectrometry to enable real-time, on-site analyses of complex samples (Shelley). Often, the analytical research conducted at RPI is utilized across many disciplines of science and technology. For instance, Professors McGown and Shelley are applying their work in capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, respectively, to better understand the chemical origins of life in realistic early-Earth environments as part of the Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education (RARE) Center. Because of the diverse applicability of the techniques developed at RPI, researchers in this area work at the interface of chemistry, physics, engineering, biology, geology, and materials science.
Related Centers:
- Rensselaer Astrobiology Research and Education (RARE)
- Center and Baruch ’60 Center for Biochemical Solar Energy Research
