Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

We request funds to purchase a high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometer (HR-ESI-MS). This HR-ESI-MS will be operated and maintained in the UBC Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility, where it will replace a 19 year old, faltering instrument. This previous instrument has been unusable for 4 months in 2017 due to repairs, and many replacement parts are no longer available. It is only a matter of time before one catastrophic failure renders the instrument no longer repairable. The loss of this instrument would affect the research progress of 20 research groups and over 150 HQP, stalling progress across our entire department, including both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, and affecting research groups at TRIUMF and beyond. The new instrument will be equipped with (1) an ESI ion source, an ideal soft ionization technique for polar organic molecules and metallocomplexes; (2) a time-of-flight mass spectrometer that can provide high mass resolving power (20,000) and high mass accuracy (1 ppm) for compounds ranging from 100 10,000 Da; (3) a high performance liquid chromatograph to enable separation of mixtures and allow self-serve by trained HQP; (4) advanced software to allow rapid molecular formula determination. This instrument will be used for experiments across our department, including accurate mass measurement for elemental composition for polar organic compounds and metal complexes derived from synthetic and biochemical studies; structure elucidation of natural products; molecular weight determination of mid-sized molecules; and analysis of reaction mixtures. Because these experiments are critical to research groups across the department, UBC Chemistry has deemed this purchase its highest priority equipment purchase and will contribute substantial funds beyond the $150,000 requested from the NSERC RTI Program. Applicants and co-applicants supporting this application are Raymond Andersen (natural products isolation), Marco Ciufolini (synthetic chemistry), Gregory Dake (synthetic chemistry), Frederic Menard (UBC-Okanagan, synthetic chemistry and neurobiology), Christopher Orvig (medicinal inorganic chemistry), Katherine Ryan (biosynthesis), Paul Schaffer (TRIUMF, radiotracer imaging), and Stephen Withers (glycochemistry and biology). Collectively, we currently train 80 trainees in our individual groups, supported by NSERC Discovery, NSERC Create, NSERC-CIHR CHRP, and other grants. The purchase of this instrument is critical to the success of our research programs.