Modernization of the Institutional Laboratory of Spectroscopy (LISPEC) at IQ-UNICAMP: Acquisition of a Circularly Polarized Luminescence and Circular Dichroism spectrometer

• Grant number: 23/16828-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Infrastructure Program - Small Medium Sized
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Aparecido Sigoli
• Grantee: Fernando Aparecido Sigoli
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Carlos Henrique Inacio Ramos ; Raghuvir Krishnaswamy Arni

Abstract

The Institute of Chemistry-UNICAMP (IQ-UNICAMP) is requesting Circularly Polarized Luminescence and Circular Dichroism (JASCO) equipment, unprecedented in Latin America, which will allow the modernization of the Institutional Spectroscopy Laboratory (LISPEC), enabling scientific investigations of chiral active substances under circularly polarized light. The acquisition of this EMU equipment will allow the research groups to continue investigating chiral compounds, using both the characteristics of the ground state (CD) and the excited states (CPL). The equipment will constitute a new fundamental characterization tool for Brazilian research groups, from state and private institutions, working in the areas of luminescent materials, lanthanide ion complexes and nanoparticles, bacterial cellulose, synthesis of chiral organic molecules, synthesis of complexes for asymmetric catalysis, development of chiral LEDs, biomedicine, including studies of amino acids, aptamers, proteins, enzymes RNA, DNA and their interactions. Furthermore, it will serve researchers working in the development of chiral drugs, as well as those in the area of bioinorganic in the development of metallic complexes applied to pharmaceutical area. The CD module is advanced and is already prepared to attach various accessories developed by JASCO for the study of biomolecules. In addition to the obvious experimental advancement, such equipment will also play a role in modernizing the LISPEC, which currently has a Circular Dichroism equipment (JASCO) acquired in 1999 used for more than 1000 hours per year and, unfortunately, it no longer has spare parts, being, therefore, obsolete after 24 years of use. The LISPEC has four higher-level technicians hired by UNICAMP, three of them hold a doctorate in chemistry or physics. The technicians are highly trained to carry out daily validations of equipment, carry out minor maintenance and meet the demand and training of internal and external users. Therefore, they have qualified technical knowledge to operate the equipment requested in this proposal and to train all users. The LISPEC has 13 equipments of different spectroscopic techniques, 5 of which were acquired between 2007 and 2016, using FAPESP resources. The Multi-User Laboratory is used by around 70 research groups and has electronic access control, allowing community access 24 hours a day, 7 days/week, all year round. Several chemical and pharmaceutical industries and researchers from Unicamp and other research institutions use LISPEC equipment by the services offered by the IQ Analytical Center. Today, the LISPEC has around 200 postgraduate students and researchers trained and authorized to operate its equipment. The management of the resources collected, via charging for analyzes on the LISPEC equipments, is the responsibility of the IQ Research Committee. Between 2017 and 2021, the LISPEC raised R$248,847.6. These resources are allocated to maintaining refrigeration systems, replacing computers, maintaining equipments and purchasing consumables. The professor responsible for this proposal has experience in coordinating and managing multi-user equipment (03) from LISPEC that were acquired with FAPESP and CAPES resources. Since 2011, the coordinator has been dedicated to maintaining state-of-the-art equipment and technicians with up-to-date knowledge provide quality training to users. All with the general objective of optimizing the scheduling of equipment use and, therefore, reducing the vegetative cost of analyses. Therefore, this proposal has all the necessary premises to update the LISPEC with the acquisition of this unprecedented instrument in Latin America and with high potential for use by researchers in the State of São Paulo and Brazil. (AU)