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MAURITA JONES
NSF Graduate Fellow
bainmaur@isu.edu |
Thesis Title: Synthesis of asymmetric 2,2'-bipyridines Research Advisor: Lyle Castle Teacher Partner: Lynette Smith Degree Sought: Masters of Science University Department and/or Lab: Chemistry Research Focus: Asymmetric 2,2'-bipyridines as ligands in ruthenium complexes for use in cleavage of double-stranded DNA. Description of Research: The emphasis of this research is to synthesize asymmetric mono-substituted bipyridines for use as components of bridging ligands. Some direct applications for compounds of this type include solar energy conversion, sensors, and DNA intercalator devices. The double-stranded DNA cleavers proposed in this research are composed of an intercalator moiety and two bidentate ligands coordinated with Ru2+. This geometry allows the intercalator moiety to slide between the base pairs of DNA, thus placing each ruthenium complex near the sugar phosphate backbone of double-stranded DNA. With this geometry in place, a photo-oxidation reaction may be used to cleave both strands of double-stranded DNA simultaneously. With both strands of DNA cleaved, enzymatic repair will not be possible. Compounds of this nature may lead to application such as gene isolation, DNA sequence determination, recombinant DNA manipulation, and DNA repair. |
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