The five chemistry research groups that will be the principal users of this instrument require NMR as an aid in their organic and inorganic synthetic programs to identify products and to determine product structures. The proposed work requires a modern multinuclear NMR spectrometer with variable temperature and sophisticated pulse control for current and future 2D FTNMR experiments. The current instrument, which is the only research grade NMR on the campus at Kansas State University, is nearly maximally booked, has a limited, obsolete data processing and data storage system, and is encountering increasing difficultes in providing decoupled spectra or in performing DEPT, NOESY, and COSY experiments upon demand. Two of the four principal users are currently supported by awards from the National Science Foundation. Other faculty in the departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Foods and Nutrition and Grain Science will also benefit from this upgrade and they are listed as "other" users. This proposal will assist in the purchase of a modern nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. This instrument is an essential tool for faculty members at Kansas State University engaged in chemical research. The instrument provides important information which in most cases can be used to determine the geometric and/or molecular structure of newly synthesized molecules.This project is integrating nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) theory and practice into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Initial experiments in organic chemistry laboratories focus on the interpretation of H1, C13, and NOE (Nuclear Overhauser Effect) spectra and how to elucidate structure using information obtained from chemical shifts, splitting patterns, coupling constants, and integration ratios. In subsequent coursework and laboratories, the nature of the FT-NMR experiment and instrument operating variables is being examined and problems involving reaction kinetics, magnetic moments of paramagnetic compounds, intramolecular rearrangements, 2-D methods, and other applications are being studied. Instruction of inexperienced undergraduates in the operation of the FT-NMR spectrometer is being augmented by video tapes that describe safety around magnets, sample preparation, instrument setup with step-by-step computer commands for the various experiments, data acquisition and processing, and the presentation of the spectra. The department additionally is conducting an outreach program whereby students at nearby colleges are invited to our campus for NMR workshops and summer research opportunities.
Chemical Instrumentation, Chemistry, Undergrad Instrm & Lab Improve
