Scott Handy

shandy@mtsu.edu

Amy Phelps

Chemistry

Discipline specific equipment

SCI 3032

N/A

N/A

The Department of Chemistry requests an upgrade to an existing 500 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer (NMR) to meet the instructional needs of over 300 students each semester spread across >4 classes as well as undergraduate and graduate research classes. NMR is an essential instrument for Chemistry and Biochemistry graduates and has been an integral strength of these programs for years. Even in the summer, over 100 students use this instrument in classes and 30 or more students use it for research projects. Currently, the primary instructional instrument is a 300 MHz NMR that is 18 years old. Parts are no longer readily available for this instrument and failures are increasingly common and lengthy to resolve. There is no possible upgrade for this instrument. The other NMR, a 500 MHz instrument, is equally old, but can be upgraded with current software and new and more efficient probes and instrument architecture, which would extend the lifetime of this instrument by at least 15 years. This would enable the department to maintain heavy usage and avoid the catastrophic elimination of our accreditation by the American Chemical Society as well as much of our core curriculum that is critical for Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, and pre-Health students. In terms of use, the following are yearly averages over the last five years: CHEM 1121 (Honors): 32 students; CHEM 2031: 86 students; CHEM 3011: 362 students; CHEM 3021: 218 students; CHEM 4100/5100: 5 students; and CHEM 6640, 4880, 3880, 2880: 64 students. The proposal requested total is actually $342,865.