MRI: Acquisition of a Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Instrument for Research and Teaching in the Sciences at Union College

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, the Department of Chemistry at Union College will acquire a Liquid Chromatography-Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry instrument (LC-MS/MS) to enable sophisticated analysis of a variety of nonvolatile organic chemicals and biomolecules, which will advance multiple areas of current research, primarily in the Departments of Chemistry and Biology, as well as in the Biochemistry and Environmental Studies programs. A variety of research projects will be pursued including: 1) studies of the environmental fate, transport, and bioaccumulation of ultraviolet filter chemicals, perfluorochemicals, and other emerging environmental contaminants; 2) molecular recognition investigations of biological macromolecules; 3) the identification of isolated natural products; 4) the structural identification of cell wall polysaccharides to study the relationship between net photosynthesis and polyuronic acid production in moss species; and 5) identification of potentially novel antifungal compounds produced by bacteria.Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique used to identify the chemical composition of a sample and to determine its purity by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample. Liquid chromatography is a separation technique that precedes the mass spectrometry analysis. It separates a mixture into its several constituent chemicals which are then analyzed and identified by the mass spectrometer. It is one of the fastest growing and most widely used analytical instrumentation techniques. Because of this, it is important for undergraduate students to be trained in the technique. In addition to enhancing research projects, the acquisition of an LC-MS/MS will transform several undergraduate laboratories, as it will be incorporated into Organic Chemistry, Quantitative Analysis, Chemical Instrumentation, Forensic Chemistry, and Biochemistry laboratories