11/10/2021
Research at Eau Claire
Hello! A lot has happened in the past month with my schoolwork and journey to get ready for graduate school. Since starting McNair, I have been getting more involved in non-academic activities. Some of these activities, such as my research, are directly connected to the McNair program. The availability of undergraduate research is one of the main reasons I applied to UW Eau Claire. This is also a great thing since one of the biggest parts of the McNair program is undergraduate research.
Dr. Dahl’s Team
I have written previously about my mentor, Dr. Dahl, and how he offered to let me join his research team. Dr. Dahl has a research team dedicated to organic synthesis, which I realized was the area of chemistry that interests me career wise. This is why I was more than happy to join Dr. Dahl’s team when he approached me.
My Research Topic
The project I am working on involves organic synthesis to create four new Biaryl Lactone Molecular Switches with Amine Donors. Basically, these are advanced pH indicators. Almost all pH indicators used today are considered two state. This means they have an on state (colored) and an off state (not colored/visible difference from on state). Our theorized molecules are three state switches, so they have two off states and one on state. Our results will allow for more precise measurements of pH and can be used in various applications.
The On and Off States of a pH indicator
My Work So Far
The work I am currently doing involves a lot of trial and error type reactions, which can be quite frustrating. Very few of the reactions I have done worked as expected, so I have learned to accept failure and to keep moving forward. This allows me to still have hope, which has yielded some good results! We have recently synthesized one of the more difficult compounds, which was a big accomplishment. This is also something that prompted Dr. Dahl to recommend presenting our research at a conference this upcoming year.
NCUR
We plan to take what we have learned so far and present at NCUR. I am thankful for the opportunity, but I'm also nervous. I am not a very extroverted person, so presenting in front of people has been an issue in the past. I know I have to change this about myself and I have talked to Dr. Dahl about it recently. Getting used to speaking in front of people is one of the reasons he is encouraging my research team to present. Being in the chemistry field does require good people skills, so presenting on something I know well will be a good stepping stone to breaking out of my shell.
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