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Michael Barfield, Department of Chemistry, The University of Arizona
Photo of Michael Barfield

Michael Barfield


Professor Emeritus of Chemistry
barfield@u.arizona.edu
Old Chemistry 234
Phone: (520) 621-6348
Fax: (520) 621-8407

Honors


  • Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Arizona, 1998
  • U. S. Senior Scientist Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 1986-1987
  • Welch Foundation Lecturer, 1981
  • Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship, 1976-1977

Education and Appointments


  • B.A. 1957, San Diego State College
  • Ph.D 1962, University of Utah

Research Summary

NMR Spectroscopy

Research interests are in the general area of nuclear magnetic resonance. Specific interests include the relationships of magnetic resonance parameters to conformational, substituent, and electronic effects. Recently, our attention has been directed to density functional theory (DFT) studies of scalar coupling and magnetic shieldings as probes of organic and bioorganic stereochemistry. It is now possible to accurately calculate magnetic resonance parameters in molecules which are large enough to be chemically interesting. These include studies of base pairs, proteins, synthetic polymers, carbohydrates, and polyhedral carboranes.

For example, recent studies have been concerned with the structural factors implicated in nuclear spin-spin coupling across the interresidue hydrogen bonds in DNA triplexes and proteins. The recent observations of these coupling constants provide a powerful tool for investigations of nucleic acids and proteins.



Selected Publications

  • A. J. Dingley, J. E. Masse, R. D. Peterson, M. Barfield, J. Feigon, and S. Grzesiek, "Internucleotide Scalar Couplings across Hydrogen Bonds in Watson-Crick and Hoogsteen Base Pairs of a DNA Triplex," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1999, 121, 6019-6027.

  • M. Barfield., A. J. Dingley, J. Feigon, and S. Grzesiek, "A DFT Study of the Interresidue Dependencies of Scalar J-Coupling and Magnetic Shielding in the Hydrogen-Bonding Regions of a DNA Triplex J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2001, 123, 4014-4022.

  • M. Barfield, "Strucutral Dependencies of Interresidue Scalar Coupling in the Hydrogen-Bonding Regions of Proteins " J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 4158-4168.

  • F. Cordier, M. Barfield M, and S. Grzesiek, “Direct observation of Cα-Hα···O=C hydrogen bonds in proteins by interresidue (h3)J(CαC') scalar couplings,” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2003, 125, 15750-15751.

  • M. Barfield, “DFT/FPT studies of the structural dependencies of long-range 1H-1H coupling over four bonds 4J(H,H') in propanic and allylic systems,” Magn. Reson. Chem., 2003, 41, 344-358.

  • S. Grzesiek, F. Cordier, V. Jaravine, and M. Barfield, “Insights Into Biomolecular Hydrogen Bonds from Hydrogen Bond Scalar Couplings,” Prog. NMR Spectrosc., 2004, 45, 275-300.