Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This proposal requests an automated quaternary High Performance Liquid Chromatrography (HPLC) system with UV/Vis (Ultraviolet/Visible) and ELS (electron light scattering) dectectors, which is essential and urgently needed to support the innovative research programs of three investigators. The research projects of these investigators have as a common theme in the production of building block chemicals from biosourced materials. Specifically, these include the (i) characterization of biomass conversion products and intermediates used in the production of building block monomers and polymers; (ii) evaluation of biomass feedstocks in the recovery of reducing sugars; and (iii) characterization of simple organic products and intermediates in microbiological conversion application. Critical to the success of our programs is the ability to accurately and quickly characterize the products, intermediates and metabolites of various biomass treatment applications. HPLC is the most important analytical tool available in obtaining this information. Due to the nature and frequency of sampling associated with the research conducted by the co-applicants, a large number of samples requiring HPLC analysis are generated. However, we do not have access to equipment that will meet our current and future needs, which imposes a serious limitation to the progress of our research activities as rapid analyses of results are needed to assess performance and to modify the subsequent experimental phases. Hence, this can impact the overall quality of the work accomplished in these innovative research projects. We anticipate that 10-15 Highly Qualified Personnel per annum will benefit from the use of the requested HPLC instrumentation based on our current research activities.