Aims

This course is designed to give the students a broad experience in the theory and application of spectroscopic instrumentation (Ultraviolet-Visible, Infra Red, Fluorescence, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Mass Spectrometry) and chromatographic procedures (Thin Layer Chromatography, High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Gas Chromatography, Capillary Electrophoresis) and to relate these procedures to the typical laboratory activities such as the assay of drugs and biological substances derived from manufacturing, research and testing institutions (For example, medical labs, pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing operations). The principles underlying common instrumental methods will be discussed in lectures, specifically instrument development and components, operation and application, and their advantages and limitations. The accompanying laboratory course provides an opportunity for hands-on experience. The labs will be investigative in nature where students are required to use the Internet and the Chemical literature to explore practical ways of using instruments for solving chemical problems qualitatively and quantitatively.

Students will become familiar with the importance of instrumental methods in ensuring the quality and quality related to safety and efficacy of manufactured and natural products.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. understand and appreciate the basis of chromatographic and spectroscopy.
2. understand the theoretical concepts behind each instrument.
3. operate, manipulate, and generate data using chromatographic and spectroscopic methods.
4. appreciate the connectivity between math, physics, chemistry, and biology in this course.
5. solve quantitative and qualitative chemical problems with appropriate instrumentations.
6. appreciate the complexity of each instrument, its strength, and its limitation.
7. explore the use of Internet as an educational source in instrumentation

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this subject, students will be able to:
(i) detail the steps associated with quantifying an analyte in a sample;
(ii) describe the criteria used for selecting a particular instrumental method;
(iii) outline the principles behind signal generation in some commonly used instrumental methods;
(iv) understand the basic operation of each class of instrument and the chemical or physical property they measure;
(v) explain the advantages and disadvantages of these methods for a particular sample;
(vi) use the literature to investigate the development of instrumental methods for specific sample types;
(vii) be able to suggest suitable instrumental methods for selected analytical problems.

Lecture Topics