3rd Annual Academic Symposium - Aditya Singaraju

Lipids form an essential constituent of our biological system as the cell membranes are made up of phospholipids. Phospholipids are also used in the manufacturing of liposomes which aid in enhancing the solubility of water insoluble drugs. One such phospholipid is 1, 2-dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), the compound of interest in my research. It is of utmost importance that we understand the thermal behavior of these phospholipids since these thermal properties can affect the manufacturing process of liposomes. Studies conducted by Dr.Chapman and Bharath Gowdempally suggested a complex thermal behavior for DPPC. So an attempt is made to analyze the thermal transitions of DPPC using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy attached to an Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) unit, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). It also would be important to analyze DPPC devoid of moisture in order to evaluate if the structural complexity in the molecular form is due to the presence of moisture.