ORGANIC RESEARCHORGANIC RESEARCH
FLUORINE CHEMISTRY
Liza Alarid
I have spent the last year working in Dr. Mel Druelinger's
organic chemistry research lab at the University of Southern Colorado
(Dr. David Dillon-appointed assisting professor while Dr. Druelinger
is on sabbatical with the National Institute of Health). In Dr.
Druelinger's lab, the project on which I am focusing is the fluorination
of alkenyl alcohols with the electrophilic fluorination reagent
F-TEDA. This reaction produces cyclic fluoroethers and other products.
The mechanism and factors of the reaction are being studied. Further
research will include the compounds' bioactivity; testing on yeast
and fungi. I presented a poster of the current research at the
American Chemical Society's National Meeting, March 26-30,2000,
San Fransciso, CA., and at the Annual Southern Colorado Undergraduate
Research Symposium, April 15,2000, Pueblo, CO.
In this lab, I have been learning techniques and systematic approaches
to problem solving: design of the experiment, method of isolation,
and characterization of the compound. I have used the following
instruments in Dr. Druelinger's lab: rotary evaporator, Chromatotron,
Shimadzu GC, GC/MS (HP-5890 series II-column-DB5), and the NMR
(Varian-300MHz-FT-NMR-direct detection wide band probe). All have
been valuable in the project studies and will benefit my future
work performance.
I have been accepted at the Georgia Institute
of Technology for summer research (summer 2000) in the field of
biochemistry. At Georgia Tech, I will learn techniques and theory
to advance my knowledge and prepare me for entrance into a doctoral
program.
LINKS:
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Words of Wisdom
It is not the critic who
counts, not the one who
points out how a strong person stumbles, or
where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belonged to those who are actually in
the arena; whose faces are marred by dust and
sweat and blood; who strive valiantly, who err
and come short again and again; who knows the
great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and
spend themselves in a worthy cause;
Who at the best, know in the end the triumph
of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if
they fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so
that their place shall never be with those cold
and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt