Enhancement of Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum by the Incorporation of a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer

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The goal of this project is to enhance the chemistry curriculum at Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC) by incorporating the theory and practice of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in our honors college chemistry course and all of our organic chemistry courses. The incorporation of new instrumentation in our laboratory enhances our chemistry curriculum through hands-on reinforcement of lecture material using state-of-the-art instrumentation. This allows for the modernization of existing experiments (Bishop & Bishop, 1996; Wilcox & Wilcox, 1995) and the introduction of new experiments (Wilson, 1996 and Van Ripwyk, 1997 funded by NSF ILI grants DUE-9252116 and DUE-9350633, respectively). The Physics, Biology, and Mortuary Sciences Departments utilize this equipment to analyze gases, serological samples, and other solids. In addition, the forthcoming incorporation of a Kansas Bureau of Investigations (KBI) Satellite Facility at KCKCC (funded by Senate Bill 481) informs students about many of the uses of FT-IR spectroscopy in forensic science and criminology.The majority of our students who take the chemistry courses affected by this instrumentation transfer to State of Kansas universities and four-year colleges. The addition of this instrumentation in our courses allows our students to be as prepared as the students who take their first two years of chemistry courses from other institutions.