Natural gas is a cleaner alternative to energy production; it also has 50% less carbon dioxide emissions than burning coal. However, a major downside to natural gas is the method by which it is obtained, which produces solutions of super saturated alkaline earth metals into the ground. Previous works have shown that a natural molecule 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acid (DPA) is an efficient molecule for binding and removing alkaline earth metals, such as calcium, barium, and strontium, but only marginal binding to magnesium. As a result of DPA binding, these metals are precipitated out of solution. Our research is to synthesize novel DPA derivatives by coupling amino acids as to increase solubility and binding affinity for larger metals. The methods used include NMR to confirm structure, flame atomic absorption spectroscopy to quantify metal removal, UV spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry to confirm association between the DPA derivative and metal.

Synthesis of amino acids coupled to 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acid, and evaluation of their affinity towards metals

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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