Acquisition of a Carbon-Hydrogen-Nitrogen-Sulfur Element Analyzer

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A grant has been awarded to Northern Kentucky University under the direction of Dr. Richard L. Boyce for partial support of the acquisition of an element analyzer for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur (C, H, N and S). This instrument, with associated equipment for sample preparation, will be used for research in a number of areas in both biology and chemistry. These include the analysis of C and N in tree foliage for projects conducted in Colorado and Kentucky; the quantity of C and N in potential food resources eaten by tadpoles and the amount they assimilate from the food they eat; the C, N and S content of water and sediment samples from diatom studies being conducted on the Ohio River and from lakes in equatorial South America; the design of fullerene-transition metal dyads and new linear multimetallic chains; and the Bergman cyclization of arenediynes and the incorporation of arenediyenes into novel push-pull annulenes. This instrument will be used to train a number of undergraduate students each year. As Northern Kentucky University is primarily an undergraduate institution, and none of the PIs are in departments with graduate programs, all of these studies involve and train undergraduates. The speed and safety of the element analyzer will allow the PIs to involve even more undergraduates in research. It is anticipated that this instrument will be used in the chemistry and biology upper-division courses. Acquisition of this instrument will allow Northern Kentucky University to involve more women and members of under-represented groups in research. The majority of biology and chemistry majors at Northern Kentucky University are first-generation university students. More than half of the biology and chemistry majors are involved in research; this instrument will allow the university to train even more of these under-represented groups in research, thus building the research infrastructure of the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region. Acquisition of this equipment will also allow the PIs to carry out aspects of their research that cannot be done at present, as current instrumentation does not analyze C and is too slow for the volume of samples generated by these studies.