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Lauren Wood '13 is shown running a sample on the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) machine. The NMR was purchased with the help of grants from the National Science Foundation and the W.M. Keck Foundation. |
For
Lauren Wood ’13, conducting research this summer at R-MC is something that was meant to happen.
“I didn’t choose this research project, it chose me,” she says. The
psychology major with a burgeoning appreciation for chemistry was twice asked by
Chemistry Professor Serge Schreiner if she’d consider conducting research with him in conjunction with the college’s Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship (
SURF) program. And twice she said no.
“I know that chemistry is something I want in my life, and have contemplated being a double major, but chemistry and psychology are two very intense majors,” explains Wood. “Then one day, after our third test of the semester, I realized that I really was passionate about chemistry. I told Dr. Schreiner that I would love to do research with him because I wanted to keep chemistry a part of my experience at R-MC.”
The Norfolk, Virginia native sat down with Schreiner and mapped out a research project based, in part, on research done by Sheri Bettis ’97, who was also a student of Schreiner’s. “He handed me Sheri’s senior project and said, ‘Read this,’” says Wood. “I did not understand much, but I highlighted a bunch of things and asked a lot of questions. Most were answered; some are still unanswered, as the answers lie in my research. Conducting research is a fabulous experience, and I love each day.”
Wood is researching the activation of small molecules by platinum phosphinoferrocene ligands. “A ligand is an ion, molecule or functional group that binds to another chemical entity to form a larger complex,” she explains. “I am taking four ligands—dipFe OR [Bis(di-i-propyl-phosphino)ferrocene], dcpFe OR [Bis(di-cyclohexyl-phosphino)ferrocene], dtpFe OR [Bis(di-tert-butyl-phosphino)ferrocene] and pppFe [Bis(phenylphosphinidene)ferrocene]—and trying to bind them to platinum to make a platinum complex. It is my hope to use this platinum complex to bind carbon monoxide molecules terminally (at the end) to make a dicarbonyl complex of each ligand. I can then use these carbonyls to explore the reactivity of the platinum complexes I am making.”
Wood is excited to expand her knowledge of chemistry through hands-on research and is blogging about her experiences. “I have learned many new techniques for performing reactions,” she says. “I have been able to synthesize new compounds from two or three starting materials. I have done things I would never have known about if I had only gone as far as general chemistry. As a psychology major, chemistry enhances my education. This kind of experience is enriching and makes me a well-rounded student, which is the whole point of a liberal arts education.”
Wood, who won the Excellence in First-Year Chemistry Award her freshman year, has also learned some important things about herself this summer. “I am determined to find a way to be a chemistry and psychology double major, with a minor in education,” she says. “Dr. Schreiner and Dr. Lambert (psychology) are helping me to figure out how to make that happen.”
To read Lauren’s blog, visit http://news.rmc.edu/summer/.