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Chemistry Department has recently established a new Center for Interdisciplinary
Chemical Synthesis. The goal of the Center is to provide a campus
focal point for interdisciplinary studies involving chemical synthesis.
The primary focus of the Center is to create new, synthesis-based
interdisciplinary research alliances with Engineering, Biological
Sciences, Medicine, and to provide new research infrastructure. A Campus-wide Resource Research
programs in many units of the UCI campus have the goal of discovering
chemical compounds that regulate a biological process or exhibit
a particular structural, electronic, or magnetic property. The introduction
of new chemical compounds or materials into medicine or commerce
typically has two key components: (a) identifying a lead compound
or material having some of the desired properties through screening
of libraries of novel chemical entities, and (b) optimization of
efficacy or function by refining (and developing fundamental understanding
of) structure–activity, or structure–function relationships.
The UCI synthetic chemistry program prepares to play a seminal role
in both of these critical phases of diverse research activities
on the UCI campus and in allied commercial sectors. First, the UCI
synthetic chemists have archived >10,000 novel chemical compounds
that constitute a unique and valuable screening resource. Secondly,
this group has the ability to design and prepare new compounds required
in the optimization/understanding phase. New
Research Infrastructure
Sample repository. This facility will collect and catalog, on a continuing basis, research samples from members of the Center. The objective is to have this compound library in a form amenable to ready distribution for screening and to create a data base searchable by chemical fragment structure. Access of this library to UCI researchers and marketing the library to industry is part of the plan. Synthesis
Facility. This facility will carry out service synthesis,
combinatorial or parallel, and will provide support for the routine
analysis of synthesis products. It will also serve as a training
facility for undergrads, graduate students, and postdoctorals who
intend to pursue careers in the pharmaceutical, biotech, or polymer
industries. In addition, it will perform routine/repetitive syntheses
that may not be suitable as academic training and will also be available
to other campus researchers and companies. The facility will house
a number of pieces of equipment, currently not available anywhere
on campus, for preparing libraries of small molecules, and it will
be staffed by a PhD-level Director. |
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