Testing whether the quinolinone is a good inhibitor for the enzyme will allow us to determine the factors responsible for binding of the natural substrate to the enzyme. This summer, Kay is preparing compound II according to a literature procedure. Kay is a senior studying Chemistry at OSU with an additional emphasis in Foreign Language. Luke Lavis has received one of 18 national Synthetic Organic Chemistry Undergraduate Fellowships from Pfizer, Inc., to work with Dr. James White this summer. With significant support from Dr. White and other members of the White research group, Luke developed a synthetic scheme towards the total synthesis of castavinol , a new polyphenolic compound, discovered in 1996 by French scientists.
Red wines contain polyphenols compounds formed during the fermentation process.
In additon to contributing to color changes, these compounds also possess interesting biological activity. Luke's fellowship includes both a stipend and supply funds, and provides for travel to present a poster session at Pfizer Headquarters in Groton, Connecticut in September. Catherine Norris has designed her summer project with Dr. Wei Kong . She designed a device to measure the dipole moment of various nucleic acid bases and amino acids in solution. According to Catherine, the first measurement has been fairly simple, however, measuring the dielectric constant has proved to be much more difficult and has taken the majority of her efforts so far.