Facilities
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is housed in the Chemistry Building on the McNichols Campus. Built in 1926, the building has undergone several renovations to laboratory and office space, with further renovation planned in the immediate future.
As part of the ongoing renovation, the department has been updating available instrumentation for both graduate and undergraduate use. Many of these instruments were acquired through the National Science Foundations ILI and CCLI programs, others were generous donations.
Available instruments include:
- Gas-Chromatographs
- Gas-Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS)
- Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR)
- X-ray-fluoresence spectrometer(XRF)
- X-ray powder diffractometer(XRD)
- luminescence spectrophotometer
- computer controlled densitometer
- multinuclear 300 MHz fourier transform NMR spectrometer
- liquid chromatograph-ion trap mass spectrometer
- Photodiode Array Spectrophtometry (UV/vis)
Further details of some of these instruments are presented below.
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Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry |
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Infrared Spectrophotometry The Perkin-Elmer Spectrum 2000 FTIR spectrophotometer was purchased in 1997 with an ILI grant from the National Science Foundation. In addtion to transmittance measurements, the spectrometer is equipped for horizontal attenuated total reflectance (HATR) and diffuse reflectance measurements. The spectrometer is used extensively by both teaching laboratories and researchers for routine characterization and quantitation. |
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Electron Spin Resonance Spectrometry Two Bruker X-band electron spin resonance spectrometers are located in the laboratory of Shulamith Schlick. The spectrometers are used for routine ESR measurements and ESR imaging experiments. |
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X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry
Purchased with funds from an NSF- ILI grant in 1999, the Spectrace QuanX energy dispersive X-ray fluorimeter provides rapid analysis of solid and liquid samples for elements heavier than sodium. We are currently using the instrument to analyse the metal content of Chinese coins. Future uses include further artifact analysis in collaboration with the Detroit Institute of Art, and analysis of soil and water samples associated with mining operations. |
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X-Ray Powder Diffranction |
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Luminescence Spectrophotometry The department purchased a Perkin-Elmer FL-50B luminescence spectrophotometer in the spring of 1999 through an NSF-ILI grant. In addition to standard solution phase luminescence measurements, the spectrometer is equipped for solid state luminescence, kinetic measurements and also has a well-plate reader. |
| Unclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry
A JEOL Eclipse300+ FT-NMR Spectrometer was installed in the spring of 2001. This instrument features a broadband multinuclear probe with variable temperature control and pulsed field gradients. It is used extensively in the organic teaching laboratories and in research. |
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Liquid Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometry
An Agilent Ion-Trap LC-MS system was installed in the spring of 2002, and is used for characterization of peptides, large metal ligand clusters, and other supramolecular species |
| Computer Controlled Densitometer
The Molecular Dynamics Personal Densitometer is a laser densitometer equipped with ImageQuant software. Thisinstrument can be used for a wide variety of applications such as scanning biological images from X-ray films or polyacrylamide/agarose gels. The software allows discrete regions of a biological image to be scanned and the pixel density of the image determined. |
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Photodiode Array Spectrophotometry (UV/vis)
This Hewlett Packard 8452A instrument is the most broadly-used spanning from freshman up to senior level courses. It is used in teaching and research for quantitation and kinetics. |
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