This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program will assist the Department of Chemistry at Howard University to acquire a 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas such as the following: (1) organic synthetic method development, (2) studies of guest-host, coordination and charge-transfer complexes, (3) studies of new synthetic polymers and surfactants, (4) studies of relaxation behavior in paramagnetic systems, and (5) the study of novel biomaterials. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the most powerful tool available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. In addition to serving the needs of researchers at Howard University, the instrument will also be used for collaborative efforts with researchers at Morgan State University in Baltimore MD and at George Washington University. The instrument will be made available for solid-state and/or high field NMR studies to as many as 4 other universities in the Washington DC area without these capabilities.
Howard University continues to be the largest of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that possesses a Research Level I certification. The Chemistry Department is one of the largest producers of African American Ph.D.s in Chemistry in the world. The acquisition of this instrument will insure that training for all of its students is up to today's academic and industrial standards. Students involved in the new NSF sponsored Howard University Science Engineering and Mathematics Program (HUSEM) will utilize the instrument as part of the undergraduate experience. The HUSEM program is designed to increase retention in undergraduate training and to increase the number of African American students going on to graduate training.
