This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, the Department of Chemistry at the University of Central Arkansas will acquire a liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometer and a time-of-flight mass spectrometer for non-chromatographable materials and for in situ analysis. A variety of research projects will be investigated including: Reactivity, Spectroscopic, and Sensing Properties of Nickel Complexes on Solid Organic Supports; Photolabile Amino Acid Radical Precursors; Synthesis and Oxygen Transport Properties of Highly Fluorinated Dendrimers; Retinoid Metabolism in the Presence of Thiazolidinediones; Analysis of Lipids from Bacterial Growth Media and their Potential in Taxonomy; Laser Desorption Studies of Aromatic Nanofilms Adsorbed on Evaporated Metal Films and Metal Powders; and the Characterization of Organic Binders in Ancient Cave Paints.
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique used to identify the chemical composition of a sample and to determine its purity by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample. Liquid chromatography is a separation technique that precedes the mass spectrometry analysis. It separates a mixture into its several constituent chemicals which are then analyzed and identified by the mass spectrometer. Mass spectrometry is one of the most widely used analytical instrumentation techniques. Because of this, it is important for undergraduate students to be trained in the technique on modern instrumentation as they participate in research projects such as those mentioned above.
