Research projects in Hawkes Group
In our research group, we investigate complex environmental mixtures of organic compounds, referred to as ‘dissolved organic matter’, or DOM. DOM is so complex that even the most high resolution separation, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques cannot resolve the mixture into individual compounds. Instead we work with general chemical patterns and statistical approaches to investigate the source and fate of these mixtures in the environment.
Our interest in DOM stems from its importance in the global carbon cycle and ecosystem health. DOM plays an important role in mobilising and transporting heavy metals and other contaminants in soil and water. Therefore we regularly collaborate with ecologists and local drinking water producers in our research projects.
Improvement of analytical techniques
We work on developing and improving different techniques for analysing DOM. By combining chromatography and mass spectrometry and using different detectors, we try to get as comprehensive a picture of the chemical composition as possible. In addition, we investigate the chemical structure of the constituents using gas phase fragmentation experiments. We also work with nuclear magnetic resonance at the NMR Uppsala center, and use preparative fractionation to simplify the complex mixtures into chemically distinct parts.
Photo: Jeffrey Hawkes
Synthesis and preparation of novel reference materials
We use synthetic chemistry and large-scale preparative techniques to provide the community with new compounds and reference mixtures for analytical development. We recently published the first paper to investigate the characteristics of pure compounds of ‘carboyxlate rich alicyclic molecules’, which are proposed to be one of the most abundant compound classes in water on the planet. We have also recently prepared the only commercially available marine reference DOM mixture, named TRM-0522.
Data analysis techniques
We develop software routines to investigate DOM data, and share these algorithms freely with academic institutions.
