The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Chemistry and Biochemistry Hall

The Chemistry & Biochemistry Department offices and laboratories are located on the third and fourth floors of the Science Addition. The Departmental Office and Chair can be found in room A330. The Chemistry & Biochemistry Department also maintains a stockroom and NMR laboratory.

Typical Classroom

We have various sizes of classrooms from the largest, which is designed to hold about 90 students, to the two main lecture halls, which are designed for about 60 students. The Chemistry Department also uses smaller classrooms and quiz rooms that seat about 20 students. All classrooms are equipped with multimedia projection systems.

General Chemistry Laboratory

Chemistry is an experimental science. Thus, the laboratory portion of General Chemistry (CHEM 110) allows students to experimentally investigate topics that are covered in the classroom, including fundamental concepts of inorganic chemistry, properties of solutions, kinetics, equilibria, thermodynamics, and electrochemistry. The labs are designed so that students, working in small groups, will learn important techniques and develop the necessary skills to support them as they move into upper level Chemistry or Biochemistry courses and independent research projects with faculty.

Organic Chemistry Laboratory

The laboratory used for Organic Chemistry is equipped with twelve six-foot hoods, each shared by a pair of students. Each student has their own glassware, both standard and microscale organic ground glassware. Organic laboratory sections meet four hours once a week.

Learning Objectives for the Organic Chemistry I Laboratory

Students should be able to:

1. Use basic organic chemistry lab techniques to purify organic molecules: distillation, recrystallization, extraction, filtration. Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Learning Objective IV.
2. Determine physical and chemical properties of organic molecules, using these techniques or instrumental methods: melting point, boiling point, polarimetry, infrared spectroscopy, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectroscopy, gas chromatography, thin layer chromatography. Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Learning Objective IV.
3. Set up and run a simple organic reaction and isolate the products of the reaction. Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Learning Objective IV.
4. Understand the reasons behind techniques used, reaction conditions, isolation methods, and be able to correctly interpret the data from physical and chemical measurements. Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Learning Objectives II & IV.
5. Use the chemical literature to find physical and chemical properties of organic molecules. Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Learning Objective III.
6. Safely work in the laboratory by understanding the hazards and using proper precautions with chemicals and laboratory equipment and using proper chemical disposal procedures. Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Learning Objective IV.

Biochemistry Laboratory

The biochemistry laboratory is used for both Biochemistry I and II labs. The lab is equipped with three six-foot hoods and can accommodate up to twelve students per lab section. Biochemistry lab equipment includes an ultracentrifuge, refrigerated centrifuge, various microcentrifuges, spectrophotometers, protein and nucleic acid gel electrophoresis equipment, thermal cycler, speed vac concentrator, -80ºC freezer, autoclave, luminometer, shaker/incubator and UV crosslinker. Biochemistry lab sections meet four hours per week.

Research Laboratory

Our students have the opportunity to experience the phenomenon of undergraduate research in a meaningful way. Each research lab is equipped to provide a safe, resource-rich environment for student learning. The synthetic research labs contain various new and upgraded equipment: two state-of-the-art glove boxes for air-sensitive experiments, Parr-hydrogenation apparatus, specialty glassware (e.g., Schlenk lines), and powerful air ventilation systems comprised of high-quality hoods.