Creating novel chemical reaction is collaboration's goal

Concordia, UCI, UC Riverside working on experiment

IRVINE World News

By Peggy Blizzard

December 12,2002

It's like trying to coax a very shy wallflower to dance with the very charming Fred Astaire.

That's how Concordia University professor of chemistry and chemical physics John Kenney describes an experiment under way to form a chemical reaction between an extremely unreactive xenon gas atom and a highly reactive hemoglobin-like, custom-built molecule.

The experiment is part of a collaboration with chemistry professors Ara Apkarian of UC Irvine and Chris Reed of UC Riverside.

If it is possible to make such a novel chemical reaction take place, "it opens up new possibilities" which could impact the fields of technology, medicine and industry, said Kenney.

Such a bonding could create a new compound that could involve the creation of stronger materials for construction and even new medical procedures.

Although it is just a theory, these are the possibilities, said Kenney, noting no one really knows what the practical applications are of such a bonding.

For example, he said, "Magnetic resonance engineering started in the 40s with physicists doing what they thought was fundamental research. At the time no one knew this would be in every bar code reader in America."

The hoped-for chemical reaction is similar to the reaction that takes place between oxygen molecules and hemoglobin molecules in blood when we breathe in air, according to Kenney.

The collaboration on the experiment began in the summer of 2001 shortly after Kenney came to Concordia from Eastern New Mexico University where he had been a professor for 19 years.

Kenney noted he had met Apkarian "a number of years ago" when Kenney was a visiting researcher at Edwards Air Force Base.

"We heard each other's scientific papers and asked questions of each other. When I was looking at Concordia the first thing I did was e-mail him and asked 'If I come would you have anything I could work on with you?'"

That's when Apkarian told Kenney about the novel chemical reaction research.

In his UCI lab, Apkarian specializes in the nature of light and its interaction with atoms and molecules. Reed, at his UC Riverside lab, specializes in chemical research.

Kenney, a chemical physicist, has expertise in both areas.

A National Science Foundation Summer Grant at UC Riverside and a student grant at UCI have provided funding for the collaborative research.

At Concordia, the research involves the designing and building of specialized equipment, something that Kenney is very familiar with.

"One of the reasons the project is interesting is you are dealing with highly reactive molecules that have to be handled very carefully," said Kenney. "They have to be sealed off because these molecules react with air. I have expertise in building these chambers to hold these molecules."

Working with Kenney at Concordia are three of his students, Jennifer Demel, Nate Imus and Evan Neidholdt. They are helping him in building the needed equipment as well as with conducting the experiments.

Neidholdt said he came to Concordia with plans to be a high school teacher and was taking a chemistry course when Kenney asked if he would like to be part of the research. He went with Kenney to UCI to see the research under way there and was so impressed he became hooked on the project.

Also essential to the research is the use of spectroscopy or the measurement of how much infared light is being absorbed by molecules.

In looking at how light is remitted, reflected or scattered, that is how the scientists tells "what that molecule is really doing," said Kenney.

He likened it to the process of cooking.

"We do it all the time when we cook meat. It goes from red to brown, toast from white to brown. I am just doing the exact same thing as a cook would do but at a more precise level using laser beam sophisticated light detection instruments to detect those color cheanges.

"I can put in an osmium porph molecule in the instrument and the way the light is absobed I can tell if the xenon has attached to it or not."

If the experiment works, it "will form an entirely new class of noble gas, a xenon compound," said Kenney.

The idea is to get the two different entities "to react and stay around."

Fond of movie comparisons, Kenney likened it to a 1950s romantic comedy where "people are bumping around on a subway but if you get them alone in a room maybe they will fall in love."

He even used his own personal experience as an example, noting he met his wife, Inga, also a chemistry professor at Concordia, when they were the only two working in a lab one summer.

"We met in a lab and chemistry occurred," said Kenney.

With any scientific process there are likely to be failures as different attempts are made, said Kenney.

"Research has its own time table. You have to be very patient, to systematically rule out alternatives. It's like the princess kissing the frog. She has to kiss a thousand frogs until she kisses the one that turns into the prince."

Kenney said he is particularly pleased to be so close to universities with such "outstanding scientific" research capabilities.

As far as working with UCI and UC Riverside, Kenney said, "We are not going to duplicate what they do. We will have unique capabilities that will be different from the others. Each of the three labs will have unique things. That is the plan."

In the meantime, Kenney is pleased with the opportunity to launch new programs from scratch at Concordia as he did at Eastern New Mexico.

"We are on a dynamic acceleration curve to build up the science department. We've put in a new chemistry major. We didn't have one. We're building research labs so we can make major contributions to this project and others. Our best university graduates need exposure at this level in active research."

Added Kenney, The most exciting thing is that great science is creating great new scientists. Being on the very edge of new knowledge is very challenging for faculty and students. It teaches you humility.

"When you are on the very edge you realize how little you know and to be willing to make mistakes and be willing to learn. It's certainly important for my best students to feel that.

"There's nothing like the thrill of discovery. It's like climbing Mt. Everest. There are miles and miles of difficult hiking under adverse conditions to get to that summit."