This project has acquired a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer which is being used throughout the college's chemistry program, beginning with introductory Organic Chemistry. The instrument is central to the new junior-level laboratory course, in which students do several extensive projects, each of which is instrumentally oriented and modeled on original, published research. The equipment is also playing an important role in student-faculty research project in organic synthesis in progress in the Department. More than half of the students who graduate from Swarthmore College with a major in Chemistry or Biochemistry go on to careers in scientific research. The principal goal of the Department of Chemistry is to provide these students with the best possible experimental training for such a career. A crucial component of this preparation is the hands-on use of modern instrumentation in the context of chemically interesting laboratory projects. The addition of experience in gas chromatography/mass spectrometry is significantly enriching the education of this very talented group of future scientists. The Department of Chemistry is publishing a description of their new junior-level lab course with the expectation that is will be a useful model for the chemistry curricula of other institutions. The institution has matched the NSF award with an equal amount of funds.
