UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #895

Submission information
Submission Number: 895
Submission ID: 15101
Submission UUID: 4ebb31ee-d317-4fcb-851d-960d83c2647e

Created: Mon, 08/19/2024 - 04:27 PM
Completed: Mon, 08/19/2024 - 04:27 PM
Changed: Mon, 08/26/2024 - 02:01 PM

Remote IP address: 144.174.214.46
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
Primary Research Mentor Name Rob Schurko
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific? Prof.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) rschurko@fsu.edu
Position Title Faculty
FSU College (if applicable) Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Headshot (optional)
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above)
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated)
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable)
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated)
Title of the Project Mechanochemical Synthesis of Co-crystals of Drug Products and their Characterization with Ultra-High Field Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy
Project Keywords pharmaceuticals, drugs, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, mechanochemistry
Are you currently looking for research assistants? Yes
Number of Research Assistants Needed 1
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s) chemistry, physics
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s): In-person
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work? 7
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work? Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description Synopsis
An undergraduate project is available for students in chemistry or physics that are interested in the use of ultra-high magnetic field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to characterize solid forms of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Required background: undergraduate chemistry or physics students, completed 2 years of study minimum. Locations: NMR spectroscopy at MagLab; Synthesis, X-ray, Computation at FSU

Experience and benefits to the student
Undergraduate researchers will learn techniques in solid-state mechanochemical synthesis (ball milling and related solid-state methods), multinuclear solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectroscopy (1H, 2H, 13C, 14N, 15N, 17O, 23Na, 35Cl, and others), powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD), and basic quantum computational methods like density functional theory (DFT) as applied to NMR crystallography. This introductory research project will provide strong grounding in solid-state chemistry and/or physics, with a flexible set of project options available.

Project details
Most drug products, or active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), are synthesized, manufactured as dosage forms, stored, and ingested as solid materials. Of these, the majority are formulated as hydrochloride (HCl) salts, for purposes of increasing solubility, stability, and bioavailability. Numerous structural forms of the same drug, known as polymorphs, can have markedly different properties, and also represent unique intellectual property. Furthermore, new solid forms, produced as multi-component crystals, are currently of great interest in the pharmaceutical and crystal engineering communities, due to the possibility of tuning the materials to have desirable pharmaceutical properties. Paramount to the successful crystal engineering is our ability to characterize molecular level structure, and also to predict molecular structure using spectroscopic, diffraction, and computational methods. Undergraduate researchers will work under the supervision of the PI and senior graduate students/post-docs on this project.

In the proposed undergraduate research project, mechanochemical ball milling will be used to synthesize an array of multi-component cocrystals that involve HCl salts of several APIs and pharmaceutically acceptable coformers. Careful consideration in the crystal engineering of these systems will be undertaken. Starting reagents and final products will be characterized with SSNMR and pXRD. This experimental data will be used in a plane-wave DFT framework to solve the crystal structures of these systems. Aspects of this work will involve collaborations with other scientists from around the world, and several major pharmaceutical companies.
Research Tasks synthesis of cocrystals of drugs, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, basic instrumental analysis techniques, data analysis, literature review
Skills that research assistant(s) may need: undergraduate chemistry or physics students, completed 2 years of study minimum.
No experience in NMR is necessary; students will be trained
Mentoring Philosophy The best way for a student to figure out if they are interested in research is to actively get involved in cutting edge research programs. Undergraduate students in my research group will be trained in technical skills (NMR, X-ray diffraction, mechanochemical synthesis) and other research related skills (literature reviews, data analysis, presenting/writing about their research) under the direct supervision of myself and a senior Ph.D. graduate student. We will provide desk space, research training, and access to some of the best people and instrumentation associated with NMR spectroscopy in the world.
Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable): https://www.chem.fsu.edu/~schurko/
Please add any additional information here (if applicable):
Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable? Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links Tuesday Sep. 3 from 10AM to 12PM
https://fsu.zoom.us/j/6618884541
Roundtable Info
Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation Yes
Materials Grant Yes
UROP Poster Presentation Yes
Year 2024