Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The McIndoe group's unique facility for performing air- and moisture-sensitive mass spectrometry, a combination electrospray ionization tandem quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry teamed with an inert-atmosphere glovebox, has provided the group, UVic's Department of Chemistry and collaborators from all over the world unprecedented insights into catalytic reaction mechanisms and the solution speciation of inorganic and organometallic compounds. However, the mass spectrometer is at 300% of its expected lifetime, has broken down numerous times this year and is currently broken; the lack of availability of replacement parts for ca. 1999 technology means that the instrument is essentially defunct, and with it all the research it supports. This proposal is the third RTI attempt to secure funding for this replacement instrument. Two other instruments of the same vintage in the department have been scrapped in the last six months and the department currently has no high resolution MS/MS capabilities at all. The department has never had ion mobility instrumentation, so this feature will grant UVic researchers new insights via the ability to discriminate between isomeric species. We're looking to replace the old (2004) instrument with a modern, refurbished instrument with added capability: namely, a high resolution Q-TOF instrument with ion mobility. This replacement instrument will allow us to comprehensively characterize reactions in real-time, under conditions free of oxygen and water, and to distinguish between ions of the same mass but different shapes. It is critical we not just keep up but continue to innovate. The McIndoe group has published dozens of methodology papers over the years that are being increasingly picked up on by research groups around the world. The infrastructure we're seeking will keep us not just competitive but out in front; to date, application of ion mobility technology to catalytic problems has been minimal, and a real opportunity exists to pioneer the technology in this area. Failure to replace this instrument in a timely way will cause critical obstacles to the completion of seven graduate student degrees, two undergraduate theses, halt progress on numerous national and international collaborations, and remove a key departmental resource accessed by synthetic and mechanistic chemists across organic and inorganic disciplines. This proposal has co-applicant support from five colleagues, and the six of us represent over one-third of the HQP numbers and and research output of the Department. All of them have put their own aspirations for equipment on hold in recognition of the urgent need for this infrastructure, which although it resides in the McIndoe group laboratory, is fully accessible to all UVic researchers.