A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study of the Physical Properties of Undecanyl-Phenylalanine Micelles — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study of the Physical Properties of Undecanyl-Phenylalanine Micelles

Name: Chelsea Reuter
Major: Chemistry
Hometown: Lodi, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Kevin Morris
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) was used to study the physical properties of micelles formed by the surfactant undecanyl-phenylalanine (UND-Phe). Micelles consist of roughly 50-100 surfactant molecules which have aggregated together. Surfactants contain polar head groups and non-polar tails. In a micelle, the tails points toward the center of the spherical aggregrate and the head groups point toward the surface. NMR spectra were collected as a function of pH to determine how pH affected the size of the micelles and their ability to bind cationic arginine and lysine amino acids. It was found that as pH increased, less of the amino acid counterions bound to the micelle. Further, viscosity measurements were made with solutions of UND-Phe and NaHCO₃ as a function of pHs. These experiments showed that pH had a minimal effect on solution viscosity. Finally, the peaks in the UND-Phe spectrum were assigned and then two-dimensional NMR was used to study the orientation of the surfactant’s aromatic ring relative of its hydrocarbon chain.

Poster file