First Advisor

Michael Mosher

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Document Type

Thesis

Date Created

5-1-2020

Department

College of Natural and Health Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Chemistry and Biochemistry Student Work

Abstract

In the brewing industry, there are four main ingredients that are required to produce beer: water, yeast, barley, and hops. Hops are used in many different stages of brewing. The key reason for their use is the conversion of humulone (a-acids) during the boiling process to cis- and trans-iso-humulone (iso-a-acid). These compounds are the main contributors to the bitterness in beer. Humulone undergoes an acyloin condensation to form a 5-membered ring. Magnesium ion concentration and the pH of the solution are important mediators of this reaction. We envisioned exploration of this mechanism using UV-vis spectroscopy and polarimetry to determine the binding constant of metals to the humulone. The results, coupled with computational analysis, indicated that Mg2+ binds to the anion of humulone resulting in structural changes that promote the rearrangement.

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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