Research

Research projects involving chemistry faculty and students:


Pamela Kistler:
Trapping of printing ink residues (sludge) in concrete/cement, with the goal of strengthening the concrete and reducing environmental landfill contaminations.

Dick Rauner:
(1) studies on regulators of pigment formation in citrus fruits; preparation of a series of bioregulator molecules and testing their abilities to generate pigmentation.
(2) Oxidation of catechols to quinones: in pigmentation pathways and antibiotic activity.
(3) Separations of flavors and fragrances using chromatographic methods.

Dick Rauner and Marianne Staretz:
Cytochrome P-450 inhibition by phenylisothiocyanate: a naturally-occurring cancer preventative agent.

Marianne Staretz:
(1) Studies of the anti-cancer mechanism of organoselenium compounds
(2) Analysis of antioxidants in domestic and European wines

John Griswold:
(1) synthesis of compounds containing the pyrone structure, and formation of pyrylium salts: mechanisms leading to intense biopigmentations
(2) Amine reactions with substituted quinones: neurotransmitters
(3) Dehydrations of cyclic alcohols resulting from Grignard pathways: product distributions as indicators of relative product stability.

Larry Quarino:
"see forensics concentration"

 

Students may also suggest a research topic, and upon approval and consultation with a faculty member, pursue that project.

Students have presented papers at regional science conferences, American Chemical Society meetings, and have in some cases co-authored research papers. We also encourage corporate internships and summer research fellowships at sponsoring research universities. These experiences usually lead to job offers and full graduate school assistantships.