Incorporating Gas-Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) into a Teaching and Faculty-Mentored Student Research Curriculum

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Chemistry (12)Gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is a fundamental instrumental technique used by modern chemists. The Chemistry faculty are adapting experiments from many sources to incorporate GC/MS into their teaching laboratories and faculty-mentored student research program. GC/MS is introduced in the Organic Chemistry two-course sequence as a tool for chemical separations, compound identification, and quantitative work. In Quantitative Analysis, students explore practical GC/MS instrumental concerns and perform more intensive quantification experiments. After completing Quantitative Analysis, students move into several upper division courses, each using GC/MS, such as analysis of a complex organic mixture using GC/MS, FTIR, and NMR in Organic Spectroscopy. In Environmental Chemistry laboratory, students rotate through a series of experiments where they explore aspects of GC/MS in environmental analysis. The final rotation involves student-designed, original investigations of pollutants in local soil/water samples. Students also utilize GC/MS to investigate pesticide/herbicide levels in local soil/water samples as part of a comprehensive environmental management plan in the Environmental Science Practicum. In designated research courses, students use GC/MS to study organic pollution, analyze reaction mixtures of new dendrimers and complex ions to optimize conditions for the synthesis of nanoparticles, investigate DNA damage by removal of nucleobases via hydrolysis, and expand existing methodologies of GC/MS analysis of lipids found in ancient bone/pottery for the analysis of ancient rock paintings (petroglyphs).