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By Rachel Hergett, MSU News Service

BOZEMAN — An organic chemist focusing on metal catalysts is the latest Montana State University researcher to have their work recognized and funded through a National Institutes of Health program with an emphasis on investigating broad scientific questions.

Sharon Neufeldt, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in MSU’s College of Letters and Science, received the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award through the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences in September to support her fundamental research into developing and increasing the efficiency of organic chemical reactions.

While simply creating unique reactions may be cause for celebration among her students and fellow scientists, Neufeldt said the NIH support affirms that this line of research holds possibilities for broader implications to public health.

“One always wants to feel like the work they’re doing is meaningful to somebody other than themselves,” she said.

In practical terms, creating more efficient reactions could translate into quicker development of new pharmaceuticals and potentially lower costs for consumers, Neufeldt said.

“A lot of the work that my group has ended up doing and being interested in is relevant to the NIH,” Neufeldt explained. “What we’re trying to do is ultimately develop new ways to make molecules.”

For the type of chemistry studied in Neufeldt's lab, a pair of organic molecules in the presence of a metal catalyst will normally react in a predictable way. However, Neufeldt’s research group is engineering catalysts to alter the outcome of the reaction to result in unconventional products, hoping to develop ways to increase the yield or decrease the steps needed to create compounds. These catalysts comprised individual metal atoms ringed by small organic molecules called ligands that tune which properties are expressed in chemical reactions. By altering these ligands, Neufeldt's group can influence what happens in metal-catalyzed reactions.

“Metals respond pretty dramatically to what is attached to them,” Neufeldt said. These attached molecules will change properties of the metals “like how reactive they are, how much they want to give up or accept electrons, or how easily they can squeeze into crowded spaces around other molecules.”

Neufeldt uses the example of a molecule with known cancer-fighting properties that takes 10 steps to synthesize. “We would look at it and say, ‘Can we do this in four steps by developing a new reaction?’” she said.

Some of the work is computational, with computer models of molecular structure to aid in design. In the lab, the group tests catalysts to see what compounds are created when added to the organic reactants. Then they attempt to adjust the conditions to maximize the desired outcome. They primarily study palladium and nickel catalysts but will also use the MIRA to research cobalt and iron.

“These are metals we’re just starting to look at, but we hope can do some different things with them,” Neufeldt said.

The MIRA is noted for its versatility and ability to create consistent funding for research groups. Unlike most grants which fund specific projects, the award can be applied to an investigator’s entire research program. According to the program website, the funding provides both early stage and established investigators “with greater stability and flexibility, thereby enhancing scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs.”

Neufeldt’s MIRA grant will provide $1.7 million over five years and will support four graduate students in her research group every year.

According to Joan Broderick, head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Neufeldt is the fourth researcher at Montana State granted a MIRA since it was first offered in 2016. Of those, three have been women in the department. Broderick herself was first, receiving a $1.7 million award for her continued work on radical initiation in radical SAM enzymes. Earlier this year, Jen DuBois received an award worth $1.8 million for research into how bacteria contribute to iron metabolism.

“We are thrilled to have three of these NIH MIRA awards in our department, as it reflects our longstanding commitment to outstanding faculty and to impactful fundamental research at the interface of chemistry and biology,” Broderick said.

Blake Wiedenheft, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in MSU's College of Agriculture, also received $2.5 million in funding through the MIRA program this year for his work studying the complex interactions between bacteria and the viruses that attack them.