Friedli/Howard/Stewart/Dunlap/Kline/Patterson

afriedli@mtsu.edu

Earl Pearson

Chemistry

Discipline specific equipment

DSB 202

Replacement of Existing Technology

No other equipment is more defining of the academic level of a chemistry department than is the ubiquitous NMR spectrometer, an instrument so fundamental that its presence is essential for maintaining our accreditation. The MTSU Department of Chemistry currently operates an aging Bruker 200 MHz NMR spectrometer having multinuclear capabilities. Despite good maintenance and responsible use, we are increasingly encountering field and sensitivity limitations, frequent shutdowns, and failures of essential features (such as the acquisition of carbon-13 spectra) that cannot be repaired. We have investigated the feasibility of completely overhauling this instrument; however, this would cost as much as buying a new instrument of this kind, which is now regarded as archaic by the standards of modern chemistry departments. Total Project: $289,800 400 MHz NMR $128,200 Solids Analysis Module $15,000 Renovation of DSB 202 Total cost: $433,000 Department TAF Request: Bruker AVANCE 400 High Performance Digital 400 MHz NMR Spectrometer $200,000 Other Available Funds: Department TAF Request: Bruker AVANCE 400 High Performance Digital 400 MHz NMR Spectrometer and Partial renovation costs $100,000 Chem. Dept. Funds: Partial renovation costs $4,800 Request to External Funding Agency (NSF): Solid State Module $128,200 Notes: The first three budget items are necessary to make the project viable. The solids module may be added when external funds are obtained. Renovation estimate by Watson Hannah 2/14/02. Dean Cheatham has committed to requesting College TAF funds separately.

This proposal describes a joint effort by the Department of Chemistry, the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, and the Technology Access Fees Committee to purchase a 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. Over half the faculty of the Department of Chemistry will use this new instrument as a critical component of their research and, as a natural consequence, will emphasize this activity throughout the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. A team of six chemistry faculty submitted an unsuccessful NSF grant proposal for a 400 MHz NMR spectrometer last summer, and it is uncertain when we will be competitive in obtaining external funding for this instrument. A high field instrument will permit the characterization of compounds and studies of dynamic phenomena that require greater NMR sensitivity and/or resolution than we currently have. For example, structures of complex biomolecules and pharmacologically active compounds will be analyzed using smaller quantities of materials and less instrument time per sample. This will expose graduate and undergraduate chemists to modern instrumentation and will increase productivity in student research due to the user-friendly procedures and advanced operations. The NMR spectrometer will also be used for experiments in undergraduate laboratories, and several activities are presently being planned.