Pssst! Hey molecule, come here!

Local chemist coaxes molecules to help make many processes better

Horse whisperers, dog whisperers, ghost, pipe and wood whisperers, make room for the … Molecule Whisperer?

Terry Isbell, a research chemist at the Peoria Ag Lab, enjoys a career of figuring out how he wants a molecule to behave and then getting it to oblige. Pretty good for someone who went to college to get an accounting degree.

“I intended to study accounting so I could run my own cabinet-making business. I only took a chemistry class my first year to meet a requirement,” Isbell confessed. “When the professor drew a molecular structure on the board I realized everything is based on a molecule. Anything you could imagine, you could go about synthesizing and making. I was hooked.”

For a creative mind attracted to a challenge, that recognition was a turning point for Isbell and he changed his academic focus to organic chemistry. The Elmwood native and resident completed his BS degree at Bradley University and in 1991 earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. His dissertation focused on the active functional component of an anti-malaria compound. “I predicted what the molecule needed to do and then figured out the synthesis that was needed to make it work,” he said.

Isbell ended up with a new molecular reaction, and his doctorate degree.

Isbell continued making molecular predictions, using his knowledge and skills to make them happen. He moved to a focus on lactones, a type of chemical compound. That work was probably his most academic effort since it dealt with the concept of getting a molecule to “go against its nature” to make the complex compound he envisioned. Lactones were the foundation for his later work to synthesize patented compounds that have been widely used in cosmetics and personal care items.

The lactone project also led to an ongoing research project focused on estolides, which are chemical compounds derived from plants such as lesquerella, canola, safflower and sunflower that contain naturally occurring esters.

In the 1990s Isbell developed a method to synthesize estolides and, along with colleague Steve Cermak, continued to refine the technology and to study it. They pioneered using estolides as biodegradable engine lubricants, cosmetic components, hydraulic fluids, coatings and more. Isbell and Cermak eventually partnered with a start-up company to transfer and commercialize the estolide technology; today that company has agreements with industry giants BP and Monsanto for licensing, supply and continued developments.

Meanwhile, Isbell and Cermak continue to work on the transfer of the chemistry behind the technology.

Isbell described his job of organic chemist as “Looking at the real world, seeing a problem, imagining a solution at the molecular level and then figuring out how to do it.” He expects the estolide lubricants to be on store shelves in the near future. “That’s when you know you’ve made a difference,” he said. “Publishing papers and having your research cited by other scientists is great, but not as exciting as when your technology is actually used on a daily basis.”

Researchers are driven by curiosity and Isbell is no exception in the quest to understand how something works. Once he has that knowledge, however, he isn’t finished; he’s just beginning. “That’s what agricultural research is all about and what makes it so unique,” he said. “You don’t stop at the knowledge that comes from basic research. You keep pushing and asking, what can I do with this and what problem can I solve with it?”

The Ag Lab where Isbell is employed is officially known as the USDA ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR). With a research program that includes both basic and applied research, it is a good fit for Isbell’s matching range of interests and expertise.

Looking beyond the knowledge for a use has driven Isbell’s work with pennycress, a plant he and most farmers once considered to be a weed and a bane to soybean farmers. “I was walking through a field one day, picked up some pennycress and wondered how much oil would be in those tiny seeds,” he said. “So I brought it back to the lab and tested it; turned out the seeds had a higher percentage of oil than soybeans.”

Now pennycress is being developed into a source for biodiesel, which has grown as petroleum prices have grown.

Between the active estolide and pennycress projects, Isbell’s lab is nearly always filled with something bubbling, shaking or stirring – and students. “Students bring a level of energy to the lab. It’s important to train the next generation. It gives them a chance to experience a real lab and, in the end, we benefit by getting well trained scientists.”

By “we” Isbell referred to the scientific community. He has hosted about two dozen students throughout the course of his career. While some have come back to work at Peoria’s USDA lab, others have gone on to science careers in academia, the private sector and other government agencies.

Beyond research, Isbell enjoys fishing and running. He cites Heartland Outdoors, a local publication out of Elmwood as “probably the most informative outdoor magazine published.” In high school and college, he ran track and cross country and he still tries to find time to run. It may help that he has plenty of company.

“I’m pretty proud of my children; all five have state cross country medals,” he said. “We have a photo of all six of us with our medals; it’s pretty special to me.”

Six? Apparently, the modest Isbell is as reluctant to talk about his personal accolades as his professional ones. His daughters were running on the track team for a couple of years before they even knew Dad had been a runner. “The day they got their state medals was the first they knew I’d been an All-Stater.”

Unsurprisingly, Isbell prefers the lab bench to the paperwork that seems to take up more and more of his time. “It’s pretty cool to have an idea, test it out, make it work and get paid for it. It’s fun.” He enjoys a similar process at home — not in a lab for wages but in his woodworking shop where, sans accounting degree, he continues to make cabinets and furniture. “All the way from cutting the tree to sawing, drying and planing the wood into the final form where it is used on the same land where it grew.”

For Isbell, it is a familiar, full-circle pattern in his life: See the potential in something common, study it and envision a use for it. Then combine knowledge and skills with a unique understanding to “whisper” the potential into reality.

 

Kate O’Hara is NCAUR Deputy Director, External Relations. She is based at the Peoria Ag Lab.

Terry Isbell, a chemist at the Peoria Ag Lab, and his children all are runners, a hobby they enjoy together.