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Facilities Update
X-Ray Crystallography
Dr. Jim Britten reports that McMaster researchers now have access to
synchrotron beam lines at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY and at the Advanced Photon Source in Argonne, outside of Chicago. Synchrotron radiation is extremely useful in X-Ray structural work because of its high intensity for protein, microcrystallography and surface studies, and because we can precisely tune the wavelength. Presently, there is no comparable facility in Canada, but one is under construction at the University of Saskatchewan. The 2.9GeV Canadian Light Source should be in operation before the end of 2003. See "The Canadian Light Source" on page 7.
A new low temperature accessory will be installed which extends the operating range of the departmental instrument to 80-375K.
Dr. Jim Britten is our resident X-Ray Crystallographer.
Optical Spectroscopy and EPR
New Cary 400 and Cary 50 UV/VIS spectrophotometers have been installed in the Optical Spectroscopy Lab in place of the old Perkin-Elmer Lambda 9 and Hewlett-Packard 8451 instruments. The Lambda 9 will be kept in service in a basement lab since it also has near IR capability.
George Timmins administers the optical and EPR labs.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
The NMR lab features a Bruker DRX 500 MHz spectrometer, an older model AC300, and two AC200's. Unfortunately, the 500 is currently down due to magnet problems. In addition to losing the high field, we have lost inverse-experiment capability. Research in all areas has been seriously impeded by these developments. Two NSERC grant proposals have been submitted to remedy the situation. We have applied for a new shielded magnet for the 500, and a console upgrade for the 300. Both of these are desperately needed.
Brian Sayer and Dr. Don Hughes run the NMR facility.
Mass Spectrometry
An HP1090 liquid chromatograph (a kind gift from Xerox Canada Research) has been interfaced to the Quattro LC triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, making LC/MS analysis a routine affair. Dr. Kirk Green has completed his first year in the position of manager of the facility, and was heartened to hear from Dr. McGlinchey that "If nobody screams, that means that you're doing an excellent job!".
Dr. M. Kirk Green is the Manager of the McMaster Regional Center for Mass Spectrometry
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