Janet Asper, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Mary Washington, was awarded a $50,000 grant from the American Chemical Society Petroluem Research Fund (ACS PRF) for her research project titled “New Reagents for the Solution Phase Synthesis of Alkylguanidines.”
The research will investigate whether molecules that contain a specific arrangement of carbon and nitrogen atoms can be made without using any organic solvents. If this approach is successful, it will provide a more environmentally friendly way to prepare biologically relevant molecules.
ACS PRF awards grants for advanced scientific education and fundamental research in the petroleum field, including chemistry, the earth sciences, chemical and petroleum engineering and related fields such as polymers and materials science.
Dr. Asper’s grant will be used to purchase new laboratory equipment and supplies, including a microwave synthesizer, and will fund summer stipends for her and her undergraduate research students.
An expert in molecular recognition and organic synthesis, Dr. Asper earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and zoology from Ohio University and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include organic and bioorganic chemistry, new methods of synthesizing biologically relevant molecules, and the structure and biosynthesis of the cell wall of M. tuberculosis.
She is the co-author of the online publication “Periodic Acid” in e-Reagents for Organic Syntheses, and she was awarded Supplemental Faculty Development and Professional Activity grants from UMW in 2006. She is chair of the Virginia Local Section’s Younger Chemists Committee and a former chair of the Colorado Local Section of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Asper also is a member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, Phi Lambda Upsilon National Chemistry Fraternity and Virginia Academy of Science, as well as the Chemical Education and Organic divisions of the American Chemical Society.