Many living organisms have developed mechanisms that protect them from extremeenvironmental stresses such as freezing and pressure. One common mechanism involvesaccumulation of sugars, known as protecting osmolytes. Glycerol, a sugar alcohol with threehydroxyl groups, is one such protecting osmolyte and is ubiquitous in living systems where it playsa role in stabilizing proteins against adverse environmental conditions. In this proposal we willexplore the structural properties of the amino acid glutamine in pure glycerol and two aqueousglycerol solutions. Our initial experiments on aqueous glycerol were very successful and allowedus to characterize the structural properties of this important system. By extending the system toinclude a biological molecule we can now begin to study the hydrogen bonding and cryoprotectiveproperties of a model biological system.