David Hamilton '09 (Middleton, Mass.) is working on a collaborative project with Ian Rosenstein, associate professor of chemistry, and Camille Jones, assistant professor of chemistry. Professor Jones had previously been studying propylene oxide, a molecule she uses as a guest in hydrate inclusion compounds, with quasi-elastic neutron scattering. Due to the presence of three different hydrogen atoms in propylene oxide, however, she obtained confusing results from this analysis. In order to cut back on some of the noise in her data and make it easier to read, she needed three different derivatives of the guest molecule that differed only in which hydrogen atoms were deuterated and non-deuterated. (Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen that has one neutron. A normal hydrogen atom has no neutrons.) Since propylene oxide is an organic compound, Hamilton has been working with Professor Rosenstein to synthesize these three derivatives.
Other researchers have synthesized two of the three derivatives, so Hamilton spends part of his time in the lab making them using established procedures. The remainder of his time is devoted to trying to make the third derivative, which has never been synthesized before. A seasoned veteran with two summers of research already under his belt, Hamilton, a chemistry major and math minor, says that the most challenging aspect of his current project has been dealing with the unexpected as well as with the experiments that go wrong or simply do not work as expected. When not synthesizing compounds in the lab, he manages to participate in many campus activities. Hamilton is a member of the Hamiltones and serves as captain of the curling team. He also enjoys ultimate Frisbee.
-- by Nick Berry '09
Other researchers have synthesized two of the three derivatives, so Hamilton spends part of his time in the lab making them using established procedures. The remainder of his time is devoted to trying to make the third derivative, which has never been synthesized before. A seasoned veteran with two summers of research already under his belt, Hamilton, a chemistry major and math minor, says that the most challenging aspect of his current project has been dealing with the unexpected as well as with the experiments that go wrong or simply do not work as expected. When not synthesizing compounds in the lab, he manages to participate in many campus activities. Hamilton is a member of the Hamiltones and serves as captain of the curling team. He also enjoys ultimate Frisbee.
-- by Nick Berry '09
