The project will purchase computer equipment to introduce computer-aided molecular modeling into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Students will develop the ability to view and manipulate 3-dimensional molecular structures in a variety of formats as applied to organic and biomolecular structure. Ultimately, the approach will extend throughout the curriculum. In the context of discovery-based problem and laboratory assignments, students will build molecular models on these systems and submit the data files over the network for computational analysis. They will employ the workstations' graphics capabilities to analyze their results. In the process, they will put this tool to the same exploratory uses as does the research chemist: to better understand structure, and to predict and rationalize molecular reactivities.
