MRI: Acquisition of a Mössbauer Spectrometer for Research and Training in Iron based Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Material Systems

This award is supported by the Major Research Instrumentation program. The City University of New York College of Staten Island (CSI) is acquiring a Mössbauer spectrometer to support the research of Professor Rupal Gupta at CSI and colleagues Rachel Austin and Michael Campbell from Barnard College and David Lacy from the State University of New York University at Buffalo.

This spectrometer, which relies on interactions of gamma rays with the chemical element iron, allows research in a variety of fields such as functional and structural studies of non-heme iron dioxygenases responsible for carbon cycling, determining active site structure function relationships in alkane monooxygenase (AlkB), investigating electronic switching in iron metal–organic frameworks with redox-active ligands, understanding the evolutionary optimization of diiron enzymes, studying the behavior of iron in potentially multiferroic perovskite oxides, and carrying out mechanistic studies of the type II iron dioxygenases. In general, Mössbauer spectroscopy is a powerful tool to probe the chemical environments and reactivities of molecules, where probing the environments of iron atoms provides information about the chemistry of the rest of the molecule.

Access to this type of equipment is important to chemists carrying out cutting edge research in fields as diverse as biochemistry and materials science. This instrument is the only one of its type in the New York City region, and it is an integral part of teaching as well as research at undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. levels, with faculty from nearby institutions joining CSI in utilizing it for both research and teaching.

The award of the Mössbauer spectrometer is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. It especially impacts the diverse student bodies at both CSI, a Hispanic-serving institution, and Barnard College, a women’s college, and the instrument is incorporated into course work at both colleges, as well as being incorporated into a workshop for high school students.

The instrument particularly provides a complete and detailed description of the amount, oxidation state and the electronic and nuclear properties of Fe centers in chemical samples of interest, with the ubiquity of iron in chemistry making this technique appropriate for instrumentation that is shared by multiple researchers.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.