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Department of Chemistry

Dr. George Barnes

Chemistry Department Chair & Professor
Chemistry
Office
JH Julian Hall 214
Office Hours
Wed. & Fri. 1-2 pm or by appointment
Office Phone
(309) 438-7661office
phone
Email
glbarn3@ilstu.eduemail
  • About
  • Education
  • Research

Current Courses

299.002Independent Honor Study In Chemistry

499.002Independent Research For The Master's Thesis

290.002Research in Chemistry

490.002Research In Chemistry

499.101Independent Research For The Master's Thesis Last Term

Research Interests & Areas

My research focuses on modeling chemical reactions that occur in experimental tandem mass spectrometry, with a particular emphasis on elucidating the dissociation mechanisms of polypeptides. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal atomistic details concerning the reaction mechanism for peptide fragmentation in these high-energy collision systems. Graph theory is then employed to elucidate reaction mechanisms. In particular, the Barnes group has shown that proton motion and non-covalent complexes play a crucial role in the dynamics and the overall products formed during dissociation events.

PhD Chemistry

University of Wisconsin, Madison
Madison, WI

BS Chemistry

University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV

Journal Article

Kenneth Lucas, Amy Chen, Megan Schubmehl, Kristopher J. Kolonko, and George L. Barnes† "Exploring the effects of methylation on the CID of protonated lysine: A combined experimental and computational approach" J. Am. Soc Mass Spectrom., 32, 2675 (2021).
Emilio Martinez-Nunez, George L. Barnes, David R. Glowacki, Sabine Kopec, Daniel Pelaez, Aurelio Rodriguez, Roberto Rodriguez-Fernandez, Robin J. Shannon, James J. P. Stewart, Pablo G. Tahoces, and Saulo A. Vazquez "AutoMeKin2021: An open-source program for automated reaction discovery", J. Comput. Chem., 42, 2036 (2021).
George L. Barnes, Jean H. Futrell, and Julia Laskin, "Editorial - William L. Hase memorial issue" Int. J. Mass Spectrom., 116489 (2020).
George L. Barnes†, Amanda Shlaferman, and Monica Strain, " Fast Fragmentation During Surface-Induced Dissociation: An Examination of Peptide Size and Structure" Chem. Phys. Letters, 754, 137716 (2020).
Kenneth Lucas and George L. Barnes†, " Modeling the Effects of O-sulfonation on the CID of Serine " J. Am. Soc Mass Spectrom. 31, 1114 (2020).