Mission Completed!

That's right ladies and gents! I have officially found a pair of cowgirl boots. My friends Nichole and Mary rode with me through the rain and the traffic to get to our boot destination. The shopping excursion made for a hectic afternoon, but it was worth it! Both Nicole and I found boots that we liked for the low price of $43. I realize that spending $43 on a souvenir item seems a bit absurd, but, considering other boot prices, I feel like I made out like a bandit.

Although uncovering the perfect pair of boots was exciting, I was part of far more interesting activities this week. Today was the final day of the three day chirality workshop hosted by my mentor, Dr. Prasad Polavarapu. The focus of the conference was discussing the different instruments used to determine the absolute conformation of molecules: Optical Rotary Dispersion, Electronic Circular Dichroism, Vibrational Circular Dichroism, and Raman Optical Activity. There was also a presentation on the Chiral HPLC and Supercritical Fluid Chromatography instruments used at Vanderbilt for isolation of enantiomers. Given my background in HPLC, I was most intrigued by the HPLC demonstration. I never realized how much could be accomplished with an HPLC and I was given advice about how to better my own results. (Dale, I thought you would be glad to hear that the expert I spoke with here believes that the water pump on the instrument is most likely faulty. I will have to run some tests when I get home because I didn't get the chance before I left. Hopefully, I will be able to eliminate the drift in my chromatograms).

Due to my lack of knowledge about circular dichroism I found some of the lecture material a little difficult, but the instrument demonstrations were really impressive. Many people from industry attended the conference and told us a bit about how far their instruments had come. The Vibrational Circular Dichroism (VCD) instrument is fairly new to the market. The instrument we have in our lab was the second instrument ever made and it was installed in June of 1998. In 2005 the instrument was updated with the addition of a second photoelastic modulator. The instrument is now considered a Dual PEM VCD. PEM is simply an acronym for photoelastic modulator. Having two PEM's rather than one reduces the number of artifacts and the background noise. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such advanced instruments and I am sure I am going to learn a lot.

I am also looking forward to learning about computational methods. An important facet of the conference was discussing the quantum mechanical calculations that are being used to predict molecule conformations. All spectra from the instruments measured are compared to computationally produced results in order to identify the absolute configuration. If the experimental and the computational results correspond well, a correct configuration has likely been uncovered. It is important to mention that one should never use just one method for measuring chirality, but instead use multiple instruments to increase the possibility for correct identification. This summer I will have the opportunity to be trained on two computer programs called Linux and Gauss View and I will be able to use the super computer on campus for calculations.

I truly feel blessed to be exposed to so many new things. Different comments made at the conference made me realize that Dr. Polavarapu is truly on the cutting edge of chirality studies. He also has connections with people from various industries and countries. Companies like Jasco, Biotools, Amgen, and Hinds Instruments were all represented at the conference and there were attendants from France, India, Poland, and Guatemala, just to name a few. Having Dr. Polavarapu as my mentor means that I will be working with the best! As I learn more about the instruments I will try to tell you all more. Some of the information is difficult to explain without diagrams, but I'll do my best. Maybe I can attach a diagram to my blog. I still haven't figured out all the fancy tricks. Either way, I'll keep you all updated. Thanks for reading!

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I forgot my camera cord at home, but luckily Lisa has offered to ship it to me! I'll try to post some pictures soon!