The Chemistry and Biochemistry Department was awarded a grant of $117,515 from the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education. The grant has purchased a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer which will be used to introduce NMR techniques to students throughout the curriculum, beginning with General Chemistry. Funds from the grant and matching funds from the College were used to purchase a JOEL 300 MHz ECX spectrometer, replacing the department's old Bruker and Varian instruments. The grant proposal was prepared by a group of department faculty including Larry Armstrong, Bruce Knauer, Jeremy Miller, and John Schaumloffel. The department plans to use the instrument in General Chemistry II, Organic Chemistry II, Analytical Chemistry II, Physical Chemistry II, and in student research. In General Chemistry students will obtain proton spectra of their organic unknowns to assist them in compound identification. Organic chemistry students will use the instrument in the qualitative organic analysis portion of the course to obtain proton, C-13, DEPT, and two types of 2D correlation spectra, using these spectra to determine the structures of unknown compounds. Students in Analytical Chemistry will use NMR spectra to identify compounds in an environmental chemistry experiments. Physical chemistry students will use the spectrometer to study the internal rotation of N,N-dimethylacetamide.
$800,000 grant in science education!
Five faculty members in chemistry (John Schaumloffel, Jeremy Miller), in physics (Hugh Gallagher, Sunil Labroo), and science education (Paul Bischoff) were awarded a grant of $807,000 from the National Science Foundation to attract Central New York high school students to careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The program is titled "PR2EPS" (Preparation, Recruitment, Retention, and Excellence in the Physical Sciences). It is aimed at high school students in Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie, Chenango, and Herkimer counties.
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer
John Schaumloffel has acquired an inductively coupled plasma emisasion spectrometer (ICP-AES) and microwave digestion system with a recent award of $88,764 from the Division of Earth Sciences of the National Science Foundation. The research carried out with these instruments, both at SUNY-Oneonta and at nearby Hartwick College, involves a wide array of geological, environmental, and chemical studies. These include studies of the elemental composition of metamorphic rock formations in New York and Montana, studies of the cycling of trace elements in environmenteal systems, and specific studies of the accumulation and cycling of mercury in the Adirondack region of New York. A major component of the project is the involvement of undergraduate students in laboratory-based research linked with field work and the analysis of geological features in the field. The acquisition of this instrument greatly enchances our suite of shared analytical instrumentation at SUNY Oneonta, benefitting the research of a number of faculty members and improving undergraduate education.
Textbook, "Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity", 6th edition published.
John Kotz has published the 6th edition of his general chemistry textbook, Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity. Thomson-Brooks/Cole of San Francisco published the 1145-page book. The coauthor was again Professor Paul Treichel of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but Professor Gabriela Weaver of Purdue University also participated. Charles Winters of the Oneonta Art Department was again responsible for a number of new photographs. Although this is the 6th edition, the book was almost completely rewritten and great attention was given to the illustrations. New content on energy, biochemistry, materials chemistry, and environmental chemistry was added in the form of magazine-style articles. A feature unique to this edition, and to the market, is that over 400 of the 2500 end-of-chapter questions are available as interactive and parameterized questions, with tutorials, in the Brooks-Cole ChemistryNow online system and in the widely used OWL online homework system. Professor William Vining of the University of Massachusetts, and an Oneonta alumnus, largely developed this aspect of the book. Finally, Kotz has developed over 100 MB of Powerpoint slides as well as several hundred questions that can be used in the classroom with a Personal Response System. Finally, for the first time the book is available as a single volume or in a 2-volume set. The publisher estimates that over one million students have used the first five editions of the book.