Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

This proposal is to obtain a high resolution EI mass spectrometer for the analysis of non-polar organic compounds and organometallics. Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical technique that is used to identify unknown compounds, to quantify known compounds, and to elucidate the structure and chemical properties of molecules. Mass spectrometry has been used in many areas including drug discovery and material chemistry. It is an analytical technique used in not only chemistry area but very broader areas. It has been used by synthetic chemists to confirm their chemical synthesis of new compounds and natural product chemists for structure elucidation of natural products. A mass spectrometer is an instrument that can measure the masses of individual molecules that have been converted into ions. It can be viewed as a machine used to weigh molecules. A compound can be identified by measuring the mass using mass spectrometer and matching with the theoretical mass of the compound. Different ionization techniques and mass analyzers are available for analyzing different type of compounds. Non-polar small molecule are best ionized by electron impact (EI) ionization. A high resolution mass spectrometer with electron impact (EI) ionization source is particularly useful for providing mass measurements at very high accuracy for non-polar compounds. Accurate mass data with enough accuracy are used to confirm or determine the elemental composition (EC) of the compounds. Elemental composition determination is a critical step for synthetic compound identification or structure elucidation of novel natural product. This instrument will replace a 42 year old workhorse instrument that is currently failing. The new instrument is critically needed to advance the research of the PI and co-applicants as well as other users from UBC and the region. This instrument will be used by 12 research groups in the Chemistry Department and many others from broader community in BC.