| |
Our research areas are bioinorganic chemistry, biophysical chemistry, and environmental chemistry. We study the involvement of inorganic elements such as iron, copper, and manganese in biological and environmental processes.
Biological molecules are compared with synthetic analogues using spectroscopic methods, particularly resonance Raman spectroscopy, which allows analysis of light scattered from a sample that is illuminated in an absorption band. The resonance Raman spectrum contains vibrational modes of the light-absorbing part of the molecule and provides a means of monitoring structural features of specific sites in complex systems.
In addition, the use of pulsed lasers allows us to monitor transient species in real time, using photolysis or heat (T-jump) pulses to initiate reactions of interest. We are applying these techniques to protein dynamics, examining how proteins unfold, and how they change their shape in response to ligand binding (allostery). |
