In a shaded courtyard room in the Mellon Institute sits a sprawling assemblage of stainless steel containers, electronics, and wires. The machinery vibrates, hisses, and sends a chill into the air. They are two M枚ssbauer spectrometers鈥攗ncommon research tools that Carnegie Mellon chemistry professor Eckard M眉nck uses to understand some of life鈥檚 most basic functions.
Professor M眉nck has become what MIT chemistry professor Stephen Lippard calls 鈥渢he acknowledged worldwide leader鈥� in M枚ssbauer spectroscopy because of his ability to interpret the complex information the technique produces. M眉nck is able to infer from and ultimately understand the geometric and electronic structures of the iron-containing proteins that are his specialty.
These days, the M眉nck lab is examining synthetic molecules, some of them created by Carnegie Mellon chemistry professor Terry Collins. The M枚ssbauer technique allows the team to focus on the 鈥渂usiness center鈥� of the molecules, usually an iron atom, to learn how chemical transformations are performed. Those results help scientists understand naturally occurring chemical functions鈥攁nd also help with the design of new synthetic complexes with uses such as creating new drugs, combating river water pollution, and killing pathogens such as anthrax.
M眉nck鈥檚 30 years of work with M枚ssbauer spectroscopy鈥攁ll of it funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation鈥攈ave been recognized by the American Chemical Society, which has presented M眉nck with its prestigious 2007 Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic Chemistry.
