Heavy metal pollution has been causing problems with the purity of our fresh water supplies. A history of mining has led to heavy-metal contamination of both ground and surface water in many areas of the United States1. Small molecule receptors that bind cations in aqueous solution may have potential as a water purification technique. Dipicolinic acid (DPA) is a small molecule formed in bacteria spores and is known to chelate calcium. DPA, which has been found to aid in heat resistance for the bacteria endospores2,may also have potential as a small molecule that binds larger heavy metal cations. Our research focuses on the structure activity relationship of DPA and DPA derivatives to determine the fundamental binding characteristics of DPA:cation interactions in aqueous solution.References:1. �Ground-Water Contamination by Heavy Metals - Tar Creek, Oklahoma.' Ground-Water Contamination by Heavy Metals. U.S. Geological Survey, 10 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 Sept. 2013.2. Gerhardt, P., and R. E. Marquis. Spore thermoresistance mechanisms, p.43�63. In I. Smith, R. A. Slepecky, and P. Setlow (ed.), Regulation of prokaryotic development. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C. 1989.

Synthesis of small molecule receptors for binding cations

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.