The Department of Chemistry is implementing the use of a gas chromatograph-mass (GCMS) capable of electron impact (EI) and chemical ionization (CI) modes and capable of tandem mass spectrometry (MSMS). This instrument is an important analytical tool for use in chemistry, especially in environmental, pharmaceutical, and biochemical applications. This instrument is being used to support experiments in the fields of organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry and is impacting four undergraduate courses including materials exchange between courses and a cross-course collaboration between the sophomore organic and physical chemistry laboratories. Students are carrying out kinetic isotope effects in a chemical reaction, regioselectivity in the Bayer Villager oxidation, selective reduction of limonene with Wilkinson's Catalyst, chemical ionization MS and Tandem Mass Spectrometry, and enantioselective epoxidation using Jacobsen's catalyst. The instrument also is used in undergraduate research for projects that include natural product isolation and synthesis and organic synthesis. These projects involve 5-10 undergraduate research students per year, while the course-related projects involve 90-120 undergraduate students per year. Students from a neighboring women's college, Saint Mary of the Woods College, which does not have an instrument of its own, also use the instrument. Further, high school teachers from nearby schools participate with students in a program involving GCMS headspace analysis of fruit candy and mint leaves as a chemical "sniffer." Intellectual Merit. The use of hands-on GCMS in the curriculum introduces the undergraduate students to this common analytical tool for chemical analysis and allows students to address scientific questions from an early point in their learning. The outreach programs to high school students illustrate the use of GCMS as a tool to identify volatile substances. GCMS practice and theory is introduced in Sophomore Organic laboratory for analysis of isotopic labeling and structure elucidation. Advanced applications of chemical ionization and tandem mass spectrometry are introduced in the Advanced Organic laboratory. Organic and physical chemistry students collaborate via exchange of materials and data from isotopic labeling and kinetic isotope effect experiments including presentations by students to each group. Exchanges take place between the Sophomore Organic and the Inorganic laboratories, as well as between the Inorganic and Advanced Organic laboratories, from materials that are passed between courses. These interactions promote ownership of materials and data as well as conceptual connections between the courses, including the idea that compounds can be isolated or synthesized for pragmatic purposes, as well as for answering chemical questions (regioselectivity/reaction mechanism). The expected outcome of this experience is students who are more engaged by seeing the connections between content in their courses and its importance. Also, students are expected to be more prepared by hands on experience, obtaining needed skills for graduate and professional studies or industrial chemical careers. Broader Impacts. The use of this instrument is having a significant impact on the educational and research infrastructure of the department and the institution. Access to modern state-of-the-art instrumentation is critical to curricular and research training in the department. The department has a long history of undergraduate research and nearly all of the graduates have been involved in some form of undergraduate research. Indiana State University has the second largest percentage of minority students in Indiana and serves a large proportion of female students.
With this CCLI/TUES (Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement/Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science) grant, the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Indiana State University purchased a new gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) to replace an older failed instrument that was deemed irreparable. This new state-of-the-art instrument separates complex mixtures, and provides chemical identification of each compound within that mixture. It is used for experiments in multiple courses ensuring that our students are well-grounded in its theory and operation. This provides our students hands-on experience and competencies with modern instrumentation used in chemical, pharmaceutical and forensic laboratories, giving them an advantage when entering the workforce or applying for graduate and professional schools. A key objective of this project is to demonstrate the important connections between the different areas of chemistry by providing collaborative experiences across chemistry courses. The discipline of chemistry consists of five main areas or subdisciplines: physical, analytical, organic, inorganic, and biological chemistry (Figure 1). Physical chemistry is concerned with applying the principles of physics to understand chemistry, including the rates and energetics of chemical reactions. Analytical chemistry seeks answers to the "what" and "how much" of substances, identifying components and determining quantities of each component in a sample, for example contaminants in a water or air sample for environmental applications. Organic chemistry is focused on carbon-containing compounds, such as pharmaceuticals, polymers/plastics, petroleum, fine chemicals and flavors and fragrances (natural products). Inorganic chemistry includes the rest of the elements, particularly metals which may serve as specialized materials and catalysts, for example catalytic converters, nanoparticles and nonlinear optics. Biochemistry applies the above principals to important biological processes (fermentation, metabolism) and molecules (enzymes, proteins, carbohydrates, DNA/RNA). Of course, there is much overlap and interplay between the areas of chemistry. However, students are often busy learning the most basic aspects of a discipline and so they may not readily see the interplay and interdependence of the different areas of chemistry (Figure 1). To help our students see these interconnections, this project incorporates joint experiments conducted by two or more classes in the chemistry department at ISU. In all cases, the GC-MS purchased by this grant made possible the experiments. For example, students in an organic chemistry class synthesize a compound labeled with deuterium a heavy, nonradioactive isotope of hydrogen (Figure 2). This compound is then studied by the students in the physical chemistry class to see how the heavy atom affects the rate of a chemical reaction and what that tells them about the mechanism of the reaction (Figure 3). The physical chemistry students are aware of the organic students’ contribution, having been in the class previously. When finished, the students in the physical chemistry class report their findings back to the organic students. This is a unique experiment, which few students in the country perform. Yet isotopic labeling and uses in kinetics and tracking of atom movement are responsible for much of our modern knowledge of organic reaction mechanisms. These interactions promote ownership of materials and data as well as conceptual connections between the courses/subdisciplines, including the idea that compounds are isolated or synthesized for a purpose. In this case, the purpose is to answer a chemical question ("How does a reaction work?" in the physical chemistry class). However, many other purposes can be illustrated ("What makes a molecule a good enzyme inhibitor?" in the biochemistry laboratory). These and other collaborations between the subdisciplines of chemistry are in development in our department. The expected outcome of this experience is students who are more engaged and who understand the connections between content in their courses and its importance to the practice of chemistry in real-world settings. In the three years of this project, we have faced and overcome challenges, including changes in curriculum, schedule and personnel. Five experiments were proposed and we have so far had success with three (Figure 4). Alhough NSF funding has ended, work continues on these and other new experiments. A total of 341 undergraduate students have participated (273 sophomore organic, 6 inorganic, 5 advanced organic, and 57 physical), as well as 6 high school students in a summer honors course. This project has produced new experiments for the organic, inorganic and physical chemistry laboratory classes, as well as collaborative experiments (organic-physical and inorganic-organic). This project has been presented at two national conferences (American Chemical Society and AAAS/NSF PI conferences). Research enabled by this instrument has involved 30 undergraduate, 2 graduate and 1 high school student at ISU, resulting in four presentations at national scientific conferences. In addition, a manuscript on the joint organic/physical chemistry experiment is in preparation for the Journal of Chemical Education and two manuscripts including undergraduate research are in preparation for scientific journals (natural products and chemical ecology).
