PIPages
Labs

Christopher Palmer

University of Montana, MT·Chemistry

Liquid chromatography is a standard tool for working out what is in a mixture. It separates molecules by how strongly they stick to a packed material, called the stationary phase, as liquid flows past.

Fields

Chemistry

Materials Science

Topics

halogen bonding

liquid chromatography

stationary phase

Grants
1 known grant, through Jul 2027

What they work on

  1. Design and synthesize liquid chromatography stationary phases that retain molecules through halogen bonding, using well-characterized halogen bond donors in monodentate (one-site) and bidentate (two-site) forms.
  2. Characterize the structure and properties of the new halogen bond-donating stationary phase materials.
  3. Measure the chromatographic performance and separation selectivity of halogen bonding phases, and compare them with traditional separation mechanisms, as a first step toward analyzing pharmaceuticals, peptides, and proteins.

More about the research

It is used to check food and drug safety and in environmental analysis, clinical medicine, defense, and materials engineering. Most stationary phases rely on familiar attractions, such as oil-loving or charge-based interactions. Mixtures that these attractions cannot separate well remain a challenge. This project, a collaboration between the Palmer and Berryman groups, explores a different attraction: halogen bonding.

Why it matters

New halogen bonding materials could give analytical chemists separation selectivity that existing columns lack. This could help laboratories that check the quality and safety of foods and drugs, monitor the environment, or analyze clinical samples. In the future, it could also improve the separation of pharmaceuticals, peptides, and proteins.

Known grants

From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.

Halogen Bonding Chromatography

NSF · Aug 2023 – Jul 2027

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The school

University of Montana: 3 labs on PI Pages, $144M a year on research, 74 research doctorates a year.

More about University of Montana

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