Office: Chemistry C205
Phone: (970) 491-1331
Website: https://levingerlab.colostate.edu/
Curriculum Vitae: http://levingerlab.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/NEL-CV-2018-short.pdf
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C6&q=nancy+levinger&btnG=&oq=nancy
Education
- Ph.D., University of Colorado
- B.A., Northwestern University, Integrated Science and Physics
About
Research in the Levinger group has two main thrusts: dynamics of molecules in confined environments and fundamental processes governing cell cryopreservation.
Dynamics in nanoconfinement
For many years, we have explored the role of nanoconfinement on the structure and dynamics of molecules in the condensed phase. We are particularly interested in learning how the heterogeneous environment at liquid interfaces influences molecules residing there and the chemistry that then occurs. We have used reverse micelles as a model system to prepare well defined liquid droplets on the nanoscale. Reverse micelles form in ternary or higher order mixtures of polar, nonpolar and amphiphilic molecules. Most often, the polar solvent used is water but we have also explored a range of non-aqueous polar solvents for these systems including ordinary organic solvents such as ethylene glycol, DMSO, formamide, etc. as well as novel room temperature ionic liquids. We have utilized the workhorse surfactant, AOT, for many of our studies as well as phospholipids, cationic and nonionic surfactants. We have utilized a range of experimental techniques, including steady state and ultrafast time-resolved laser spectroscopies, 1D, 2D and multinuclear NMR, and neutron scattering.
Fundamental processes governing cell cryopreservation
A new thrust for the Levinger group explores how and why some cells can withstand freezing conditions that would normally kill them. We are embarking on a project to explore the role of permeating cryopreservation agents, e.g., glycerol, DMSO. This project aims to uncover how these small molecules cross cell membranes, where they reside in cells and how they protect cells from cold.
Publications
- How to Characterize Amorphous Shapes: The Tale of a Reverse Micelle The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, American Chemical Society, 4, 2022.
- Urea disrupts AOT reverse micelle structure at low temperatures Langmuir, American Chemical Society.
- Nanoconfinement Raises the Energy Barrier to Hydrogen Atom Exchange between Water and Glucose Journal of Physical Chemistry B, American Chemical Society, 13, 2021.
- Localization and Visualization of Dimethyl Sulfoxide In Mentha X Piperita Shoot Tips Cryobiology, Academic Press, 170, 2021.
- Non-Uniform Distribution of Cryoprotecting Agents in Rice Culture Cells Measured by CARS Microscopy Plants, Basel, 589.
- Celebrating Debbie C. Crans on the event of her ACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry, 2019 JOURNAL OF INORGANIC BIOCHEMISTRY, 2020.
- Journal of inorganic biochemistry - Crans special issue Preface JOURNAL OF INORGANIC BIOCHEMISTRY, 2020.
- Coordination Chemistry of a Controlled Burst of Zn2+ in Bulk Aqueous and Nanosized Water Droplets with a Zincon Chelator INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, 1, 2020.
- Coordination Chemistry of a Controlled Burst of Zn2+ in Bulk Aqueous and Nanosized Water Droplets with a Zincon Chelator Inorganic Chemistry , 1, 2020.
- Photophysical characterization of metal ion burst: Photolytic decarboxylation of Zn(II)-nitrilotriacetate cage to release a burst of Zn(II) ions and retrieval by Zincon within AOT-isooctane reverse micelles Langmuir.
- ConfChem Conference on Mathematics in Undergraduate Chemistry Instruction: Applied Mathematics for Chemistry Majors JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION, 8, 2018.
- Sweet Confinement: Glucose and Carbohydrate Osmolytes in Reverse Micelles JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B, 41, 2018.
- Sweet confinement: Interactions of sugars confined at molecular interfaces ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 2018.
- Tribute to Veronica Vaida JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A, 5, 2018.
- So you have an interview...now what?Will be published as a YouTube Video for the Univ MN Community of Chemistry Graduate Students series http://ccgs.chem.umn.edu/surviving-and-thriving-higher-education.
- The Window of OpportunityMom the Chemistry Professor: Personal Accounts and Advice from Chemistry Professors who are Mothers Springer International Publishing, 2018.
- Femtosecond to nanosecond dynamics of confined coumarin 343 by ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy: new insights from an established system Journal of Physical Chemistry B.
- 2016 - Nanoconfinement’s Dramatic Impact on Proton Exchange between Glucose and Water Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 22, 2016.
- Size and shape trump charge in interactions of oxovanadates with self-assembled interfaces: application of continuous shape measure analysis to the decavanadate anion New Journal of Chemistry, 2, 2016.
- How Did We Get Here? Teaching Chemistry with a Historical Perspective Journal of Chemical Education, 11, 2015.
- How Did We Get Here? Teaching Chemistry with a Historical Perspective Journal of Chemical Education, 11, 2015.
- Tribute to Branka M. Ladanyi Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 29, 2015.
- Correlation of Insulin-Enhancing Properties of Vanadium-Dipicolinate Complexes in Model Membrane Systems: Phospholipid Langmuir Monolayers and AOT Reverse Micelles Chemistry-a European Journal, 17, 2014.
- Correlating Proton Transfer Dynamics To Probe Location in Confined Environments Journal of the American Chemical Society, 29, 2012.
- Nonaqueous Polar Solvents in Reverse Micelle Systems Chemical Reviews, 8, 2012.
- The Conundrum of pH in Water Nanodroplets: Sensing pH in Reverse Micelle Water Pools Accounts of Chemical Research, 10, 2012.
- Ultrafast Vibrational Dynamics of Water Confined in Phospholipid Reverse Micelles Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 19, 2012.
- Acidification of Reverse Micellar Nanodroplets by Atmospheric Pressure CO2 Journal of the American Chemical Society, 18, 2011.
- Coexisting Aggregates in Mixed Aerosol OT and Cholesterol Microemulsions Langmuir, 3, 2011.
- Cy3 in AOT Reverse Micelles I. Dimer Formation Revealed through Steady-State and Time-Resolved Spectroscopy Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 31, 2011.
- Cy3 in AOT Reverse Micelles II. Probing Intermicellar Interactions Using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 31, 2011.
- Layered Structure of Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids in Microemulsions by Multinuclear NMR Spectroscopic Studies Chemistry-a European Journal, 24, 2011.
- Ultrafast Energy Migration Pathways in Self-Assembled Phospholipids Interacting with Confined Water Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 43, 2011.
- Analysis of Water in Confined Geometries and at InterfacesAnnual Review of Analytical Chemistry, Vol 3 Annual Reviews, 2010.
- Logarithmic based optical delay for time-resolved data collection Review of Scientific Instruments, 9, 2010.
- Responsible Researchers Required SCIENCE, 5968, 2010.
- Impact of confinement and interfaces on coordination chemistry: Using oxovanadate reactions and proton transfer reactions as probes in reverse micelles Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 17-18, 2009.
- Ultrafast Dynamics in Reverse Micelles Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, 2009.
- Water Dynamics and Interactions in Water-Polyether Binary Mixtures Journal of the American Chemical Society, 15, 2009.
- What Is Inside a Nonionic Reverse Micelle? Probing the Interior of Igepal Reverse Micelles Using Decavanadate Langmuir, 10, 2009.
- Do we really teach students what plagiarism is? ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 2009.
- A directed framework for integrating ethics into chemistry curricula and programs using real and fictional case studies Journal of Chemical Education, 6, 2008.
- An investigation of water dynamics in binary mixtures of water and dimethyl sulfoxide Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2, 2008.
- Do probe molecules influence water in confinement? Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 33, 2008.
- Effects of vanadium-containing compounds on membrane lipids and on microdomains used in receptor-mediated signaling Chemistry & Biodiversity!!!, 8, 2008.
- H-1 NMR studies of aerosol-OT reverse micelles with alkali and magnesium counterions: Preparation and analysis of MAOTs Langmuir, 12, 2008.
- Penetration of Negatively Charged Lipid Interfaces by the Doubly Deprotonated Dipicolinate Journal of Organic Chemistry, 24, 2008.
- Confinement or the nature of the interface? Dynamics of nanoscopic water Journal of the American Chemical Society, 46, 2007.
- Simple oxovanadates as multiparameter probes of reverse micelles Langmuir, 12, 2007.
- Molecular probe location in reverse micelles determined by NMR dipolar interactions Journal of the American Chemical Society, 13, 2006.
- Oxovanadates: a novel probe for studying lipid-water interfaces Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy!!!, 4, 2006.
- Testing the core/shell model of nanoconfined water in reverse micelles using linear and nonlinear IR spectroscopy Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 15, 2006.
- Testing the core/shell model of nanoconfined water in reverse micelles using linear and nonlinear IR spectroscopy (vol 110, pg 4985, 2006) Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 34, 2006.
- Water Mobility in Reverse Micelles Studied by Quasielastic Neutron Scattering and Molecular Dynamics SimulationsMRS Proceedings Materials Research Society, 2006.
- What can you learn from a molecular probe? New insights on the Behavior of C343 in homogeneous solutions and AOT reverse micelles Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 26, 2006.
- What nonlinear-IR experiments can tell you about water that the IR spectrum cannot Journal of the American Chemical Society, 32, 2006.
- When is water not water? Exploring water confined in large reverse micelles using a highly charged inorganic molecular probe Journal of the American Chemical Society, 39, 2006.
- Dynamics of water confined on a nanometer length scale in reverse micelles: Ultrafast infrared vibrational echo spectroscopy Physical Review Letters, 5, 2005.
- Employing popular children’s literature to teach elementary school chemistry: An engaging outreach program Journal of Chemical Education, 10, 2005.
- Interaction of dipicolinatodioxovanadium(V) with polyatomic cations and surfaces in reverse micelles Langmuir, 14, 2005.
- Recovery of time evolving fluorescence spectra via sum-frequency cross-correlation frequency resolved optical gating Applied Physics Letters, 23, 2005.
- Recovery of time evolving fluorescence spectra via sum-frequency cross-correlation frequency resolved optical gating Applied Physics Letters, 23, 2005.
- The effect of the counterion on water mobility in reverse micelles studied by molecular dynamics simulations Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 35, 2005.
- Cosurfactant impact on probe molecule in reverse micelles Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 30, 2004.
- Quasi-elastic neutron scattering study of dimethyl-sulfoxide-water mixtures: Probing molecular mobility in a nonideal solution Journal of Chemical Physics, 24, 2004.
- Water motion in reverse micelles studied by quasielastic neutron scattering and molecular dynamics simulations Journal of Chemical Physics, 16, 2004.
- Exploiting real and invented case studies: Integrating ethics into undergraduate courses and research programs. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 1, 2004.
- Dynamics of polar solvation in quaternary microemulsions Langmuir, 18, 2003.
- Isomerization and intermolecular solute-solvent interactions of ethyl isocyanate: Ultrafast infrared vibrational echoes and linear vibrational spectroscopy Journal of Chemical Physics, 3, 2003.
- Dynamics of polar solvation in acetonitrile-benzene binary mixtures: Role of dipolar and quadrupolar contributions to solvation Journal of Chemical Physics, 8, 2002.
- Hydrogen bond dissociation and reformation in methanol oligomers following hydroxyl stretch relaxation Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 50, 2002.
- Water in confinement Science, 5599, 2002.
- Solvent Dynamics at Liquid InterfacesLiquid Interfaces in Chemical, Biological, and Pharmaceutical Applications Marcel Dekker, Inc, 2001.
- Vibrational relaxation of the free terminal hydroxyl stretch in methanol oligomers: Indirect pathway to hydrogen bond breaking Journal of Chemical Physics, 20, 2001.
- Influence of morphology on polar solvation dynamics in lecithin reverse micelles Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 47, 2000.
- Polar solvation dynamics in nonionic reverse micelles and model polymer solutions Langmuir, 26, 2000.
- Reverse micelles solubilizing DMSO and DMSO/water mixtures Chemical Physics Letters, 6, 2000.
- Ultrafast dynamics in reverse micelles, microemulsions, and vesicles Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science!!!, 1-2, 2000.
- Polar solvation dynamics of H2O and D2O at the surface of zirconia nanoparticles Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 37, 1999.
- Dynamics of polar solvation at the surface of a ZrO2 nanoparticle Chemical Physics Letters, 1-2, 1998.
- Dynamics of polar solvation in lecithin/water/cyclohexane reverse micelles Journal of the American Chemical Society, 17, 1998.
- Formamide in reverse micelles: Restricted environment effects on molecular motion Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 41, 1998.
- Impact of counterion on water motion in aerosol OT reverse Micelles Journal of the American Chemical Society, 24, 1998.
- Influence of restricted environment and ionic interactions on water solvation dynamics Journal of Chemical Physics, 22, 1998.
- Solvation Dynamics in Restricted Environments: Solvent Immobilization in Reverse MicellesUltrafast Phenomena XI Springer Verlag, 1998.
- Water immobilization at surfactant interfaces in reverse micelles Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 15, 1998.
- Novel reverse micelles partitioning nonaqueous polar solvents in a hydrocarbon continuous phase Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 41, 1997.
- Transient thermal phase grating spectroscopy and the calorimetry of reaction centers Biophysical Journal, 2, 1997.
- White light continuum as a tunable radiation source for second-harmonic generation experiments Review of Scientific Instruments, 9, 1997.
- Spectroscopy at Liquid InterfacesLaser Techniques for Surface Science II SPIE Proceedings, 1995.
- Experimental and theoretical-study of inhomogeneous electron-transfer in betaine - comparisons of measured and predicted spectral dynamics Chemical Physics, 2-3, 1993.
- Femtosecond experiments and absolute rate calculations on intervalence electron-transfer of mixed-valence compounds Journal of Chemical Physics, 2, 1993.
- Interplay of solvent motion and vibrational-excitation in electron-transfer kinetics - experiment and theory Journal of Physical Chemistry, 9, 1992.
- Photodissociation and recombination dynamics of I2- in water and alcohols Journal of Physical Chemistry, 20, 1992.
- Specific excitation of the solvent coordinate in the S3 -> S1 and S1 -> S0 radiationless decay of the betaines Chemical Physics Letters, 1-2, 1992.
- Temperature-dependence of the inverted regime electron-transfer kinetics of betaine-30 and the role of molecular-modes Journal of Chemical Physics, 10, 1992.
- Ultrafast experiments on the role of vibrational-modes in electron-transfer Pure and Applied Chemistry, 9, 1992.
- Ultrafast studies on electron transfer in the betaines: Evidence for local heatingOptical Methods in Time- and State-resolved Chemistry SPIE Proceedings, 1992.
- ULTRAFAST STUDIES ON ELECTRON-TRANSFER IN THE BETAINES - EVIDENCE FOR LOCAL HEATINGOptical Methods for Time and State-Resolved Chemistry1992.
- Photodissociation and geminate recombination dynamics of I2- in mass-selected I2-(CO2)n cluster ions Journal of Physical Chemistry, 21, 1991.
- Time-resolved measurements of the photodissociation and recombination dynamics of I-2- in mass selected cluster ions Journal of Chemical Physics, 10, 1989.
- Photoabsorption and photofragmentation studies of Arn+ cluster ions Journal of Chemical Physics, 9, 1988.
- Recombination of Br2-photodissociated within mass selected ionic clusters Journal of Chemical Physics, 10, 1988.
- The visible photoabsorption spectrum of Ar-3+ Journal of Chemical Physics, 1, 1988.
- Photodissociation of mass-selected (CO¬2)n- clusters - evaporation leading to magic numbers in fragment-ion distributions Physical Review Letters, 8, 1986.
- Surface-enhanced resonance Raman-spectroscopy of adsorbates on semiconductor electrode surfaces .2. In situ studies of transition-metal (Fe and Ru) complexes on Ag/GaAs and Ag/Si Journal of Physical Chemistry, 19, 1985.
- Computer-simulation of Raman-scattering from molecular fluids Journal of Chemical Physics, 6, 1984.