Dr. Masood Parvez

Research Interests
X-ray crystallography is one of the most powerful methods to determine the molecular structures of crystalline materials. It reveals a three-dimensional build-up of the chemical compounds at the atomic level that cannot be matched with any other physical method of structural analysis. From the X-ray diffraction data, the positions of individual atoms, the distances between atoms, bond angles, molecular conformations, and the packing of atoms and molecules in the solid state are determined with high accuracy.

Dr. Parvez is involved in X-ray crystallographic studies of natural products, synthetic inter-mediates, organometallic and inorganic complexes in collaboration with other research groups in our department. Our X-ray Crystallography Laboratory is equipped with a Rigaku AFC6S diffractometer and a state-of-the-art Nonius KappaCCD diffractometer. Both instruments are equipped with liquid nitrogen cryogenics systems for cooling the crystals to below 100 K temperatures during data collection.

Dr. Parvez is also investigating the molecular structures of physiologically active compounds with anti-allergic activities. These compounds are the active ingredients of over-the-counter antihistaminic drugs, have molecular similarity with histamine, and are believed to compete with histamine to interact with the “receptor-sites”, thus blocking the effect of histamine. X-ray crystallographic studies of these drugs reveal the more precise picture of their conformation and molecular geometry, leading to a better understanding of their reactivity with the receptor, thus leading to the discovery of more effective drugs.

Teaching Interests
A graduate course (CHEM 681) in X-ray crystallography is offered in the department that covers a general introduction to X-ray diffraction with hands-on-experience in mounting crystals, data collection, symmetry and space group determination, data processing, methods of structure solution, refinements, analysis of derived results and preparation of reports.