Full Stream Name: Supramolecular Sensors

Research Educator: Diana Zamora-Olivares

Principal Investigator: Eric V. Anslyn

Credit Options: Spring & Fall

During the last decade, organic chemistry in combination with analytical chemistry and have led to the development of chemical tools to study molecules of biological interest in complex mixtures. The Supra Sensors Stream (SMS) uses the differential sensing approach, which has been widely used for the detection of small molecules and biomolecules such as nucleotides, peptides, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and more. This sensing method has been applied to many fields such as homeland security, food industry, environmental science, and clinical diagnostics. This sensing method uses the interactions between target analytes and a library of cross-reactive sensors to create a response pattern that is unique for individual analytes or different mixtures thereof. The signaling protocol for detecting these interactions is based on spectroscopy techniques. Using this pattern recognition method, one obtains a distinct fingerprint of composite signals produced by the sensor elements allowing for classification of different relevant compounds of interest.

Students will acquire the following knowledge and skillsets including 1) learning how to identify and write complex organic chemical structures, 2) understanding how to design and synthesize peptide-based sensors, 3) understanding what differential sensing is and how is implemented, 4) learning how to quantify sensor-analyte interactions (e.g., absorption and mass spectrometry) 5) learning how to purify and characterize synthesized sensors and metabolites (e.g., liquid chromatography mass spectrometry) and 6) learning how to process and analyze multivariate datasets using chemometrics/machine learning. 

Visit our stream website for more information.