FSU chemist named to first group of ACS fellows

[parent2noles]

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The honors continue to stack up for one of The Florida State University’s best-known scientists.</p>

<p>Alan G. Marshall, the Robert O. Lawton Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State and director of the Ion Cyclotron Resonance Program at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, has been named to the first group of fellows selected by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest member-driven scientific organization.</p>

<p>Marshall is widely recognized as having revolutionized the field of chemical analysis. He co-invented and continues to develop Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry, a powerful analytical procedure capable of resolving and identifying thousands of different chemical components in complex mixtures ranging from petroleum to biological fluids. Since its invention, more than 750 FT-ICR instruments, with a replacement value of approximately $425 million, have been installed in laboratories worldwide.</p>

<p>In recent years, Marshall’s research group has received a great deal of attention for its development of “petroleomics,” an entirely new branch of chemistry that seeks to predict the properties and behavior of petroleum and its products. Using FT-ICR mass spectrometry, his team has been able to simultaneously separate and identify thousands of separate chemical constituents within a single crude oil sample. In so doing, it has compiled the largest database of petroleum compounds in the world — priceless information for some of the world’s richest companies.</p>

<p>“Thanks to Professor Marshall’s innovations, FT-ICR mass spectrometry is now an invaluable routine analytical procedure in areas ranging from industrial chemical analysis (e.g., oil exploration) through environmental and ecological science (e.g., atmospheric gas analysis) to medical prognosis (e.g., personalized medicine),” said Harold Kroto, Florida State’s Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry and a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996. "The technical and computational advances have resulted in the ultimate high sensitivity and, most importantly, the resolution needed for use in the field.

See: [FSU</a> News](<a href=“http://fsu.edu/news/2009/07/27/marshall.acs/]FSU”>FSU News) </p>

<p>Nice achievement for Dr. Marshall!</p>

<p>Go 'Noles!</p>