The Department of Chemistry at the University of Iowa will use this award from the Chemistry Instrumentation and Facilities Program to help purchase a state-of-the-art mass spectrometer with capabilities not currently available. The areas of chemical research that will be enhanced by the acquisition include the following: synthesis and characterization of polyfluorinated phosphonate polymers, structural studies of novel natural products from fungi, characterization of transition metal complexes and polymers produced by reactions they catalyze, identification of lipids present in inseparable mixtures, identification of enzyme metabolites, and characterization of novel nucleoside phosphonates. Mass Spectrometry (MS) is a technique used to probe intimate structural details and to obtain the molecular compositions of a vast array of organic, bioorganic and organometallic molecules. The acquisition of a mass spectrometer is essential for the prosecution of frontier research in many fields in chemistry, and a modern data handling system improves the instrument control and the efficiency of the facility.
