| Research Summary:
Characterization of unknown compounds from extremely complex mixtures remains one of the major challenges in modern analytical chemistry. Complex mixtures in themselves are not necessarily crippling if enough is known about the components allowing for the design of highly specific separation techniques (this is generally taken advantage of for biological samples). True unkowns are somewhat more difficult, but can generally be structurally identified as long as enough information-rich data are compiled (e.g. NMR, IR, X-ray crystallography and mass spectra). The combination of complexity and true unkowns is, however, still a large stumbling block.
Mixtures too complex to be fractionated into individual components are relatively common in nature. Humic substances (the condensation and degradation products of dead and decaying plant and animal matter) are one such example. Humics are ubiquitous in nature and of great agricultural and environmental importance. More recently biomedical uses for these compounds (particularly as antiviral agents) have also been identified.
In this research group we are using chromatography and mass spectrometry to characterize humic substances on the molecular level. Research goals involve the development of pre-fractionation methods that reduce the overall complexity of humic mixtures; identification of structural components for individual humic molecules through tandem MS techniques; and mimicking of humic substances through synthetic standards.
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