Lab and Fume Hoods    

The group's research is performed in a 2000 ft² (200 m²) state-of-the-art lab-space.  Each group member performs his or her tasks in a six foot wide fume hood (left).  Safety is our primary concern: all chemicals are stored in cabinets (middle) with liquid compounds placed in plastic containers.  Solvents and odorous compounds are stored in special ventilated cabinets (right).  

GC/MS and Chiral GC

    Our group owns a Hewlett Packard GC/MS system: a 6890 plus GC system combined with a 5973 mass selective detector.  The MSD is capable of detecting mass from 1.6 to 800 amu.  The GC system is comprised of two capillary columns, with an FID detector available on the second column.  The system also utilizes an HP 7683 automatic injector, which can accommodate up to 8 samples providing perfect reproducibility of retention times.  The system includes Agilent's ChemStation to analyze and display sample results as well as a database which has over 150,000 mass spectra of known compounds. In addition, the group owns a HP 5890 GC system equipped with a chiral column.

Solvent purification system

    Our new solvent purification system allows to produce up to four anhydrous solvents and keep them at oxygen-free conditions ready for immediate use.

FT-IR

     The group has a Nicolet 800 FT-IR, used to record infrared spectra in the range of 400 to 4000 cm^-1.  

UV-Vis

      For recording spectra in the UV and visible regions, we have a Hitachi U-2000 UV-Vis spectrophotometer that works in the range 1100 to 190 nm. 

HPLC 

    In addition to GC/MS for column chromatography, our lab also has three HPLC systems.  The Hitachi system is composed of an L-4000 UV detector, an L-6200 Intelligent Pump, and an HP 3395 integrator.  The HPLC setup for normal phase separation of relatively low polarity compounds.  The second HPLC system is setup for reverse phase separation of polar compounds.  Additionally, we have assembled a third HPLC system, equipped with a chiral column.

Glove Box

    For working with various hygroscopic and other air-sensitive chemicals. The glove box is a 60 cubic foot, argon filled apparatus designed to keep chemicals isolated from oxygen, moisture, and other unwanted nuisances.  The box is equipped with a Sartorius analytical balance, IKA magnetic stirrer, a vacuum pump inlet, two side chambers (one for large unit entry, one for small), a Plexiglas clear window in the front, and two pairs of thick rubber gloves to allow the user to work within the box, all of which is necessary for synthetic operation within the glove box. 

Rotary Evaporators

    The group also possesses 7 rotary evaporators, which means there is a rotovap for every two people.  Each unit is equipped with a variable temperature water bath and a 10 Torr teflon vacuum pump.  The rotovaps allow for the rapid evaporation of solvents off of nonvolatile compounds.  To increase lab safety, each system is equipped with an additional condensation system for the evaporated solvent and all vapors not condensed are disposed of into fume hood.

Kugelrohr

    The group owns a B-580 Buchi glass oven distillation apparatus, also known as a kugelrohr.  The unit is comprised of the glass oven, a series of bulbs for distillations, a rotary unit for the rotation of these bulbs, and a vacuum adapter to perform distillations at reduced pressures.  The kugelrohr is used in the distillation of small amounts of compounds, where a simple distillation apparatus would be inefficient at best.  Using various vacuum pumps connected to the unit, far more effective distillations may be performed on small scale.

Fraction Collectors

    To aid in the collection of samples from chromatography columns, we have several fraction collectors.  The machines are programmed to change test tubes automatically, allowing for other tasks to be performed while running the column.

Thermostate

    The VWR thermostate allows for the maintaining of temperature reactions, both inside the thermostate and in the external reaction vessel, in the interval of -26°C to 260°C with an accuracy of 0.1°C.

Syringe Pump

    The pump can accommodate variable sizes of syringes and possesses the ability to control the actual rate that the liquid is added.  This is extremely useful for the slow addition of reactants to preserve an essential excess of one reactant versus another or to maintain extremely low concentrations of substrates.

Balances

    In addition to regular lab balances, the group also has a Sartorius BP211 D analytical balance capable of measuring masses up to 210g.  The model has an accuracy of 0.01mg up to 80g and 0.1mg up to 210g.  We also have an Ohaus analytical balance with 0.1mg accuracy and can measure masses up to 120g.

Coffee Makers

    Perhaps the most important and most frequently used piece of equipment in our chemistry lab is the coffee maker.  Fortunately, should tragedy one day strike our coffee maker, we also have an espresso maker as well. Also available are refrigerators, microwaves and water boilers, all invaluable pieces of machinery, as well.