William T. Winter
Professor
Director, Cellulose Research Institute
215 Jahn Laboratory
470-6876
wtwinter@syr.edu
Ph.D., 1974, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Arthritis Foundation Fellow, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 1973-1977; Assistant Professor, 1977; Associate Professor, 1983, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY; Visiting Scientist, CERMAV-CNRS, Grenoble, France, 1984-1985, 1990; AFRC-Norwich, UK, 1989; Visiting Professor, University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France, 1987-1995. Treasurer, Cellulose, Paper & Textile Division, ACS 1990-1992.
William Winter is interested in the molecular architecture of polymer molecules and in using computers and computer networks to explore chemical and biochemical problems. Structural chemists try to understand the interplay of static and dynamic structure with physical properties or biological functions. Our experimental work focuses on biopolymers, particularly polysaccharides. These may, like cellulose, come from plants, or, like heparin, from animals, or from the surfaces of prokaryotic cells.
Current projects deal with the use of NMR to characterize enzyme action patterns on polysaccharides, preparation of cellulose nanocrystals for use in composites,conformational analysis of native celluloses, the molecular dynamics of crosslinking in polysaccharide gels and complexes, and the conformations of bacterial antigens, used in vaccines or as thickeners and stabilizers in foods.
Major analytical tools used in this research are x-ray and electron diffraction and magnetic resonance spectroscopy in liquid and solid phases. Interpretation of such data and visualizing the results utilizes computers, ranging from desktop PCs to large mainframes and supercomputers. Some of the software, which we use, has been developed within the laboratory by Dr. Winter and his associates. This has led to a more general interest in computational chemistry at all levels from information retrieval to image analysis. Increasingly, such activities require extensive use of the Internet, the information superhighway.
Representative Publications
- Crystallography of Highly Substituted Galactomannans: Fenugreek and Lucerne Gums, B.-K. Song and W.T. Winter, Macromolecules 22, 2641-2644 (1989).
- The Crystal and Molecular Structure of VH Amylose by Electron Diffraction Analysis, J. Brisson, H. Chanzy, W.T. Winter, Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 13, 31-39 (1990).
- Structural Consequences of b-(1 >4)-Glycan Modification, W.T. Winter, Cellulose and Wood Chemistry and Technology, 283-293 (1990).
- 13C CP/MAS NMR Spectra of Poly b-D-(1 >4)-Mannose: Mannan, R.H. Marchessault, M.G. Taylor and W.T. Winter, Can. J. Chem. 68, 1192 (1990).
- X-Ray Fibre Diffraction Studies of Chitosan and Chitosan Gels, P. Cairns, M.J. Miles, V.J. Morris, M.J. Ridout, G.J. Brownsey and W.T. Winter, Carbohydr. Res. 235, 23-28 (1992).
- Diffraction Restrained Modeling of Guar-Boron and Guar-Titanium Interactions, W.T. Winter and B. Song, Polymer Preprints 35(1), 755-756 (1994).
- "Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy," W.T. Winter and D.J. Kiemle in The Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology,( ed. M.Howe-Grant), John Wiley & Sons, NY (1995).
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