Work-Up

Yesterday, (January 10th), I went to RPI for my first research day of the second semester! I worked on a work up of the peptide synthesis I helped prep for in December. First, I swelled the pellets with ethanol to re-saturate them. Then, I washed each well with TFA:DCM using a step pipette to remove blocking groups. This was the first time I've ever used a step pipette! It dispenses a specified amount of liquid without exposing the inside of the pipette to caustic chemicals such as TFA:DCM.

After TFA:DCM was added to each well, I waited 30 minutes for it to drain, then repeated the TFA:DCM wash process two more times. While I waited for the TFA:DCM to drain, I washed slides in ethanol and made 100mL of 20% ethanol.

After the TFA:DCM drained, I washed the wells with DMF three times to remove the TFA:DCM. I then hooked the well plate up to a vacuum and used the vacuum to drain the plate as I washed the wells with ethanol three more times to remove any remaining TFA:DCM and DMF.

Once the washes were complete, I added ethanol to the bottom of the wells as well as on top, so the peptides are kept in ethanol until they are needed.

I can't wait to return and continue my work!