With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, the Chemistry Department at Spelman College will acquire a multi-dimensional gas chromatograph with time-of-flight mass spectrometry detection (GCxGC-TOF MS) for use in research and education. The instrumentation will be used in various research projects in organic, physical and analytical chemistry as well as biology/biochemistry and chemometrics. One project involves the systematic characterization of a large number of possible gas chromatography column combinations to establish the fingerprints of each type of column set under standard operating procedures and various operating temperatures. The GC/MS equipment will be used to determine the thermodynamics of partitioning of the analytes in the mixture for each individual column in order to build a database for use in column selection studies through predictive multi-dimensional retention modeling. The ability to predict two-dimensional chromatograms from one-dimensional GC data will enable potential users of the technology to evaluate the merits of GCxGC with their current instrumentation. Another project involves the use of GCxGC/MS to assist in the characterization of a wide variety of organic molecules that are being developed through the use of novel microwave-assisted organic synthetic protocols that target an implementation of Green Chemistry. One of the two interdisciplinary projects involves the development of data mining and pattern recognition algorithms for use in multi-dimensional chromatography. The other interdisciplinary project will involve the use of multi-dimensional gas chromatography for the analysis of small molecular weight biomolecules.
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique used by chemists and biochemists to identify the chemical composition of a sample and its purity by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample. Chromatography is an isolation 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. Multi-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) employs two separation columns with different separation characteristics to better analyze complicated mixtures. This modern instrumentation will improve the education and training of undergraduate students in research. It will also be used in several upper-level courses in the chemistry department. New laboratory exercises will be developed to take advantage of the multi-dimensional chemical data produced by the instrumentation.
