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April 21, 2004

Wooster Participants at the 2004 National American Chemical Society Meeting.

WOOSTER, Ohio - Thirteen students from The College of Wooster presented research posters at the 227th National American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in Anaheim, Calif., March 28-April 1. The students were accompanied by assistant professor Mark Snider and associate professor Judy Amburgey-Peters from the department of chemistry.

Nine seniors - Karl Bluemel, Marshall Buckley, Charmaine Chan, Rachel Cofta, Jimmy Ellinger, Dena Freeman, Adam Garlock, Joe Hall, and Ben Swarts - presented research conducted in fulfillment of their Senior Independent Study project. They were joined by juniors Sarah Mickley and Stacey Dean as well as sophomore Colleen Burkett, who presented results from their summer research at Wooster. In addition, junior Matt Linman presented results from his summer research conducted at Bowling Green State University.

"We are very fortunate to have an incredible level of support from the College as well as a high level of interest and research activity on the part of the students," said Amburgey-Peters. "It really is a pivotal experience in a college student's career to have an opportunity to present their research at a national conference with more than 20,000 chemists in attendance."

The research presented by the students included synthesis, biochemistry, and analytical chemistry projects. Amburgey-Peters supervised the studies of Bluemel, Garlock, Mickley and Swarts. Bluemel's poster was titled "Synthesis of Cyclohexyl Phosphoryl Compounds as Potential Phospholipid Analogs;" Garlock presented "The Siloxymethylation of Glucose and Glucuronide: Progress Toward the Synthesis of C-Retinoyl-beta-glucuronide;" Mickley shared the results of "Synthesis of a Phosphatidylserine Analog: trans-Cyclohexane-1,2-diol-bis((CBZ-L-Ser-Bzl) Phosphate;" and Swarts discussed "Synthesis of Cyclohexylphospho-L-serine."

Snider directed research conducted by Buckley, Chan, Ellinger, Freeman, and Hall. Buckley investigated "Progress Towards Determining the Rate of the Spontaneous Phosphoryl Transfer Between ATP and Creatine;" Chan researched "Progress Towards Determining Primary 18O Kinetic Isotope Effects of Phosphate Transfer by Creatine Kinase;" Ellinger studied "Determining the Rate Limiting step of the Arginine Kinase Reaction by Viscosity Variation;" Freeman addressed the question, "Is Creatine Kinase Catalytically Promiscuous?" and Hall looked at "Biochemical Characterization of a Novel Caenorhabditis elegans Arginine Kinase Through Linked Enzyme Kinetic Assay Analysis."

Cofta, Dean, and Burkett, conducted research with Paul Edmiston, assistant professor of chemistry at Wooster. Cofta focused on "Exploring the Role of Dimerization in Phosphagen Kinases: Generating a Dimeric Horseshoe Crab Arginine Kinase from a Native Monomer;" Dean researched "Characterization of Molecularly Imprinted Sol-gel Materials by Nitrogen Adsorption-Desorption;" and Burkett examined "Selective Binding of Nitroaromatic Compounds by Molecularly Imprinted Sol-Gel Materials: Progress Towards a Chemical Sensor for TNT."

Linman presented work conducted this past summer with Professor Michael Y. Ogawa and graduate student Olesya A. Kharenko, in the Department of Chemistry and Center for Photochemical Sciences at Bowling Green. His poster was titled, "Design of Hg(II)-Peptide Nanoassemblies."

The students had to submit abstracts in November and were notified of their acceptance in January. The trip was funded by The College of Wooster Student Research and Leadership Office, the College's Faculty Travel Benefit, and the Wooster Local Section of the American Chemical Society.

The American Chemical Society is the largest scientific organization in the world, with more than 163,000 members. Founded in 1876 and chartered by Congress in 1937, the organization provides educational resources, career development, and other information to chemists, chemical engineers and technicians. ACS also publishes journals, magazines, and books. In addition, its Chemical Abstract Service provides access to an online database of more than 21 million research summaries.