This project enabled the institution to acquire a Hewlett-Packard High Performance Liquid Chromatograph, complete with diode array and refractive index detectors, PC, monitor, plotter, software packages and columns. They have made extensive use of the instrumentation in Organic Chemistry and upper division laboratories. In Organic Chemistry laboratories, students are introduced to HPLC techniques of separating natural materials such as dopamine and norepinephrine, nucleosides, and polypeptides. Students are also introduced to the determination of polymer molecular weights by gel permeation phase chromatography. Theory and practice of liquid normal and reverse phase chromatography are introduced in Analytical Chemistry and more fully developed in Instrumental Methods, and Industrial Chemistry. Since significant portions of Advanced Laboratory Techniques and student research courses are devoted to the study of polymers and biomolecules, the instrument finds extensive used in these laboratories. In Advanced Laboratory Techniques, students prepare a Universal Calibration curve for determining molecular weights of polymers and then complete a series of experiments from which they may formulate relationships between polymer molecular weight, catalyst concentration and polymerization temperature. Several ongoing student research projects use this instrument for polymer molecular weight determination and for separation and characterization of biomolecules, such as nucleotides and nucleosides. The institution has contributed to this project in an amount equal to the NSF funds.
