An HPLC for Improved Instruction in Chemistry

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The quality of scientific training offered to students is being improved with the purchase of a high pressure liquid chromatography instrument for use in five laboratory courses. This is allowing the department to include as a part of the students' scientific training the principles and practice of HPLC - the most versatile method for separating and quantitating the variety of complex mixtures which chemists encounter. Introduction of the HPLC into the Chemistry Department's laboratory curriculum is enabling students to work with a wider range of mixtures - especially those containing non-volatile solids or thermally sensitive compounds - than was previously possible with the departmental instrumentation. For instance, the students are doing experiments involving the separation and quantitation of proteins in a mixture or determining the lipid composition of a cellular membrane. Including these new experiments in the laboratory program of the department is significant because it is enhancing the ability of the science students to investigate chemical systems and solve chemical problems. The grantee is matching the award from non-Federal sources.