Synthesis of a Mannose Substituted Pyrene Amphiphile

Myongsoo Lee Molecular Assembly Lab, Jilin University
Summer 2017

Skills

Lab: Organic Synthesis, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, Ultraviolet–Visible Spectroscopy, Column Chromatography

Language: Public Speaking, Cross-Cultural Communication

Team

Paired with researcher from State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials

Awards

Rutgers Jilin Honors Chemistry Student Summer Exchange


Final target molecule

Self-assembly is an attractive field especially within applications of targeted release during drug delivery. During this fellowship to Jilin University in Changchun, China I synthesized and characterized a mannose substituted pyrene amphiphile and studied its self-assembling ability.

Aided by State Key Lab graduate students , I conducted the multistep organic synthesis and intermediate silica column chromatography and evaporation purification. The intermediate compounds were also characterized through NMR and TOFMS.

TEM image of the final molecule self assembled into nano-sheet like structures.

The final compound was isolated through HPLC and characterized through UV-Vis in different solvents to determine polarity. The compound was then allowed to self-assemble in an aqueous solution and was imaged through TEM.

Presenting my work and intermediate progress towards the target molecule.

Presenting on American culture to Jilin honors chemistry students.

As part of the partnership between universities I was responsible for several lectures, speeches, and cultural exchanges during the program. These included talks on American culture to Jilin honors students and introductory comments during the university’s summer English camp.


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