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Projects in the Burdette group start with synthesis. We use an array of synthetic techniques to make light-reactive small molecule metal ion chelators (photocages), and an equally wide number of analytical techniques to characterize the metal binding properties and photochemistry of those complexes. We also make and modify metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with solvothermal and other methods. Both photocages and MOFs can be applied to a variety of applications from human health to functional chemical tools.
One focus for the photocages we design and make is to map cellular metal ion signaling pathways as well as to understand the pathologies of neurodegenerative diseases. The group has developed zinc photocages that have been used to probe the connections between zinc and dopamine in model systems for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. In addition to organic and inorganic synthesis, students learn techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, isothermal titration calorimetry, confocal fluorescence microscopy as well as many other methods.
The MOF project emphasizes trapping and releasing guest molecules inside the porous materials. Both standard and novel MOFs are subjected to postsynthetic surface modification to connect capping groups directly to surface metal centers, or to a metal-bound ligand like an oxide or hydroxide group. Working with Prof. MacDonald and Prof. Grimm, we have modified a zinc-MOF with carboxylates, characterized the surface with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and investigated light-mediated guest release with a light-reactive capping group. In addition to organic and inorganic synthesis, students learn techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, XPS as well as many other methods.
Shawn Burdette was born in Charleston, WV, and earned his BS in chemistry in 1997 from Case Western Reserve University where he worked for Prof. John D. Protasiewicz on multiple bonding between main group elements. He earned his PhD in 2003 under the direction of Stephen J. Lippard at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working on zinc metalloneurochemistry and fluorescent sensors. As an NIH postdoctoral fellow in the laboratories of Jean Fréchet at the University of California, Berkeley, he worked on the design of catalytic dendrimers. Shawn began his independent career in 2005 and moved to WPI in 2011. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 and Professor in 2022.
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Projects in the Burdette group start with synthesis. We use an array of synthetic techniques to make light-reactive small molecule metal ion chelators (photocages), and an equally wide number of analytical techniques to characterize the metal binding properties and photochemistry of those complexes. We also make and modify metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with solvothermal and other methods. Both photocages and MOFs can be applied to a variety of applications from human health to functional chemical tools.
One focus for the photocages we design and make is to map cellular metal ion signaling pathways as well as to understand the pathologies of neurodegenerative diseases. The group has developed zinc photocages that have been used to probe the connections between zinc and dopamine in model systems for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. In addition to organic and inorganic synthesis, students learn techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, isothermal titration calorimetry, confocal fluorescence microscopy as well as many other methods.
The MOF project emphasizes trapping and releasing guest molecules inside the porous materials. Both standard and novel MOFs are subjected to postsynthetic surface modification to connect capping groups directly to surface metal centers, or to a metal-bound ligand like an oxide or hydroxide group. Working with Prof. MacDonald and Prof. Grimm, we have modified a zinc-MOF with carboxylates, characterized the surface with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and investigated light-mediated guest release with a light-reactive capping group. In addition to organic and inorganic synthesis, students learn techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, XPS as well as many other methods.
Shawn Burdette was born in Charleston, WV, and earned his BS in chemistry in 1997 from Case Western Reserve University where he worked for Prof. John D. Protasiewicz on multiple bonding between main group elements. He earned his PhD in 2003 under the direction of Stephen J. Lippard at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working on zinc metalloneurochemistry and fluorescent sensors. As an NIH postdoctoral fellow in the laboratories of Jean Fréchet at the University of California, Berkeley, he worked on the design of catalytic dendrimers. Shawn began his independent career in 2005 and moved to WPI in 2011. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 and Professor in 2022.