Chemistry Program

Facilities

The chemistry facilities at Berea College include:

  • a Mattson Research Series Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer,
  • a Thermal-Nicolet Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (model 380, 2007),
  • a Perkin-Elmer LS55 Luminescence Spectrometer,
  • a Perkin Elmer Lambda 35 UV/Vis Spectrometer,
  • a Finnigan LCQ Deca XP Max Electrospray Mass Spectrometer with Finnigan Surveyor Autosampler/HPLC interface,
  • an HP 5890 GC with a 5972 Mass Spectrometer Detector, an HP 5890 GC with TCD detector,
  • a Waters 1525/2487 HPLC with column heater and dual wavelength detector,
  • a Unicam 929 Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer,
  • a Perkin Elmer 2400 CHNS/O Elemental Analyzer,
  • an EG&G 273A Potentiostat/Galvanostat,
  • an EG&G 264A Polarograph/Stripping Voltammeter,
  • Six different I86 based LINUX workstations running GAUSSIAN98 and SIMPSON packages (among others),
  • an SGI O2 for molecular modeling applications,
  • two undergraduate research facilities (4th floor science building),
  • one large laboratory for underclassmen (general and organic chemistry) with 32 individual hoods,
  • and one smaller laboratory for upperclassmen (advanced lab sequence) with 16 individual hoods.

We currently own a 300 MHz JEOL Eclipse ECX Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer which is equipped with a z-field gradient amplifier, a gradient probe, multinuclear capability, a 1.0 kW AMT 10-130 MHz power amplifier, a Jakobsen MAS probe supplied through Varian and a variety of other accessories. We use this instrument in research as well as for various laboratory experiments in our undergraduate curriculum.

The kinds of experiments we have used the instrument for so far include:

  • Internal conformational exchange of N,N-dimethyl amide
  • Chemical ligand exchange of a bis collidine bromine(I) bromide salt
  • Structural studies of steriods using 2D NMR (progesterone, prednisone, cortisone acetate)
  • Chain length characterization of polyphosphate glasses using selective decoupling
  • Reaction substitution characterization of a cyclohexanone/cyclohexanol conversion
  • Measurement of molecular motion parameters using T1 inversion recovery experiments
  • Measurement of dipolar coupling constants and j-constants in acetone dissolved in a liquid crystal (providing a partial alignment of the acetone molecule)
  • Solvent suppression using z-gradients to simplify spectral interpretation in the presence of a large solvent peak (often times water)