Last updated: July 26, 2001 @ 08:30AM
Chemistry
Chair
Ian D. Brindle
Professors Emeriti
Martin S. Gibson, Richard R. Hiatt, David C. Moule
Professors
Ian D. Brindle, J. Stephen Hartman, Herbert L. Holland, Jack M. Miller, Mary Frances Richardson, Stuart M. Rothstein
Associate Professors
Jeffrey K. Atkinson, Alfredo Capretta, James McNulty, Andrew G. Reynolds
Assistant Professors
Heather Gordon, Art van der Est
Research Professor (honorary)
Mikio Chiba
Adjunct Professor
Klaus Kaiser
Senior Demonstrators
Gail Neff, Donna Vukmanic
Co-ordinator, Analytical Services
T.R.B. Jones
Master of Science Program
Administrative Assistant
Chris Skorski, extension 3406
Mackenzie Chown E206
http://www.brocku.ca/chemistry/etc/gradchem.html
The department provides facilities for students intending to work toward their master's degree and for postdoctoral research students.
Admission Requirements
Candidates with either an honours or a pass BA or BSc degree in Chemistry may apply to the Chair of the Department for entry into the program described below. Admission may be on either a full-time or a part-time basis. Candidates holding a pass degree will be required to take a qualifying year, similar to year 4 of the undergraduate honours program, before formally enrolling for the MSc degree. Candidates may be required to write Graduate Record Aptitude and Advanced Chemistry Examinations. Candidates holding a four-year degree with adequate academic standing but lacking sufficient concentration in Chemistry will be considered for admission to the qualifying year program.
Program Requirements
Candidates with an honours degree or who have completed a qualifying year, require a minimum of one year of full-time study. The program must include CHEM 5F90; two 5(alpha)00 level half credits; two half credits (or one credit) which may be at either the 4(alpha)00 or 5(alpha)00 level; and one seminar on a topic approved by the candidate's Supervisor.
Additional credits may be required of candidates with insufficient preparation in their area of research specialization. As part of CHEM 5F90 every MSc candidate must prepare and defend a thesis which demonstrates a capacity for independent work of acceptable scientific calibre
Doctoral Studies
Students who have graduated from the MSc program may apply for PhD studies under a Brock supervisor through an agreement between Brock University and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Research Fields
The following research fields are currently represented:
Inorganic chemistry
Nuclear magnetic resonance both in solution and in the solid state; halogen redistribution and ionic-covalent equilibria in boron trihalide adducts. Magic Angle Spinning NMR of inorganic solids including silicon carbide, silicate minerals, supported catalysts, and fluorides. Synthesis and mass spectroscopy of organometallic compounds, including perhalogenoaromatic compounds and donor-acceptor adducts, supported catalysts and reagents; sol-gel synthesis of catalyst supports. Fast Atom Bombardment mass spectroscopy; strong hydrogen bonding to fluoride; polytypism and solid-state phase transitions; molecular modelling.
Organic chemistry
Synthesis of heterocyclic, aromatic and aliphatic systems, benzocyclobutenes, Diels-Adler synthesis of five- and six-membered carbocyclic and heterocyclic rings, pyrimidinophanes new approaches in natural product synthesis; asymmetric catalysis; molecular rearrangements; fungal, bacterial and mammalian cell biotransformation; model systems for biochemical processes; mechanism of biological reactions; biosynthetic pathways; anticancer compounds; the chemistry of plant-insect interactions; affinity labelling; Friedel-Crafts and related reactions on supported catalysts.
Physical and theoretical chemistry
Rovibronic analysis of electronic band spectra of polyatomic molecules; Franck-Condon calculation of geometry changes on electronic excitation; quantum mechanical methods; atomic and molecular structure, applied statistics; photophysics of biologically relevant probes. Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations of biological molecules. Quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR). Electron spin resonance for the study of photosynthetic reaction centres.
Analytical chemistry
Development of analytical methods for pesticides and their degradation compounds; studies on the fate of pesticides in plants, insects and the environment. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance applied to environmental problems. Trace and ultra-trace determination of elements in complex matrices. Applications of FAB mass spectrometry in analytical chemistry.
Facilities
The equipment available in the Mackenzie Chown Complex is actively used for both teaching and research. Graduate students gain hands-on experience in operating modern equipment for separating of complex mixtures, determining molecular structures, and making quantitative measurements. Newer equipment is computer-controlled and is connected to the University's Ethernet backbone. The department also has a variety of computers and UNIX workstations for advanced computation, data interpretation, and molecular modelling.
Specific instrumentation includes 200-and 300-MHz NMR cryospectrometers for solution and high resolution solid studies. A high resolution double focussing magnetic mass spectrometer, interfaced to a data aquisition system, allows for acquisition of positive and negative ion spectra with EI, CI, FAB and dynamic FAB sources. GC, LC (particle beam and dynamic FAB) and linked scanning are available, along with a dedicated HP quadrupole GC/MSD; HPLC MS (Ion Trap) system with ESI and APCI sources. The instrumentation laboratories also include uv/visible spectrophotometers, FT IR spectrophotometers; preparative and analytical gas chromatographs, lasers, high pressure liquid chromatographs with data stations, research AA's and ICP's and DCP's, an ion chromatograph and an auto-polarimeter, high-sensitivity spectrofluorimeter and laser-based fiber-optic fluorimeter, electron spin resonance spectrometer.
Undergraduate Courses
Fourth-year courses can be taken for credit by graduate students. The year 4 courses are listed in the undergraduate calendar.
Course Descriptions
The following, all but one of which are half credit courses, are available in the department. A selection of these, determined in part by students' interests, will be offered each year. Further information about the courses to be offered in any year may be obtained from the Chair of the Department.
CHEM 5F90
MSc Research and Thesis
Theoretical and/or experimental research. An external examiner will participate in the evaluation of the student's performance in this course.
CHEM 5P00
Quantum Chemistry: Theory
(also offered as PHYS 5P00)
Self-consistent-field (SCF) method; configuration interaction; basis functions; electron correlation; physical properties of atoms, diatomic and polyatomic molecules.
CHEM 5P01
Quantum Chemistry: Applications
Application of ab initio molecular orbital theories to problems in atomic and molecular structure, to intermolecular forces and to chemical reactivity.
CHEM 5P02
Chemistry in Cyberspace
The use of the personal computer and workstation as a tool for organic and inorganic chemistry. Topics include the use of the internet as a source of basic information, interactive computation, and software; the use of molecular mechanics/modeling packages; and a comparison of the use of semi-empirical and ab initio computational chemistry packages designed for the experimental chemist to supplement, interpret or predict lab data. The ease of use and accuracy of results of various programs will be explored.
CHEM 5P05
Molecular Spectroscopy: Theory
Selected topics in advanced molecular spectroscopy, such as rotational-vibrational Hamiltonian, Coriolis coupling, Herzberg-Teller, Renner, Jahn-Teller effects, inversion dynamics, overtone spectra, infrared and Raman intensities, molecular structure and conformation.
CHEM 5P06
Molecular Spectroscopy: Applications
Design of grating instruments; calibration and operation of Raman, infrared and ultraviolet spectrophotometers; analysis of spectra.
CHEM 5P11
Special Topics in Physical Chemistry
Topics may include aspects of chemical dynamics, molecular spectroscopy, statistical mechanics and quantum theory.
CHEM 5P13
Biophysical photochemistry
(also offered as BTEC 5P13)
The principles of light induced processes such as electron, energy and signal transfer and their role in biological systems. Marcus theory, Dexter and Foester mechanisms of energy transfer. The optical and magnetic resonance spectroscopy of excited states.
CHEM 5P14
Computational Chemistry: Applications in Biotechnology
(also offered as BTEC 5P14)
Structure-based drug design; molecular modelling; conformational search techniques; secondary and tertiary protein structure prediction; quantitative structure activity relationships; bioinformatics.
CHEM 5P15
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy
Applications of high-resolution NMR spectroscopy to chemical systems. Theory of chemical shifts, coupling constants and relaxation times; instrumentation, including an introduction to pulse and Fourier Transform techniques and two-dimensional NMR; structure determination by NMR; chemical exchange effects.
CHEM 5P16
Mass Spectroscopy
The theory and practice of modern mass spectroscopy applied to organic, inorganic and organometallic systems; systematic interpretation of organic mass spectra; high resolution mass spectra GC/MS; metastable ions; computerized mass spectrometry.
CHEM 5P17
Special Topics in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy
Selected topics in advanced NMR spectroscopy, emphasizing recent applications in areas such as two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and high-resolution NMR of solids. A continuation of CHEM 5P15.
Prerequisite: CHEM 5P15.
CHEM 5P18
Special Topics in Mass Spectroscopy
Selected topics in advanced mass spectrometry emphasizing instrumentation development, ionization techniques and applications. A continuation of CHEM 5P16.
Prerequisite: CHEM 5P16.
CHEM 5P19
Organic Reaction Mechanisms
The critical study of papers of mechanistic and/or synthetic interest in the recent literature drawing attention to the ways in which mechanisms are established and applied as well as to the mechanisms themselves.
CHEM 5P20
Special Topics in Organic Chemistry
Topics may include organic photochemistry, biotransformation, free radical chemistry, symmetry and stereochemistry and a further study of mechanistic or synthetic organic chemistry.
CHEM 5P21
Advanced Organic Synthesis
Strategies in the design of organic syntheses; examples from the current literature will be used to illustrate new trends in synthetic methodology and approaches to the synthesis of complex of organic molecules and natural products; new reagents in organic synthesis including an examination of organometallics and enzymes.
CHEM 5P23
Enantioselective Syntheses
A survey of the methods available for achieving stereoselectivity including chiral catalysis, asymetric induction via substrate- and reagent-based strategies and the "chiral pool" approach. The application of these the methods to the synthesis of complex organic molecules and natural products will be examined using examples from the current literature.
CHEM 5P24
Natural Products Chemistry
A study of the structural features, synthesis and biosynthesis of natural products selected from the acetogenin, alkaloid, steroid and terpene and other areas.
CHEM 5P25
Medicinal Chemistry
Structure and activity of biologically active organic compounds. Introduction to pharmacology, pharmacodynamics, and receptor theory as a background for a more detailed study of chemistry of drugs such as enzyme inhibitors and receptor antagonists. Rational drug design, combinatorial libraries, screening, and general routes of metabolism.
Prerequisite: CHEM 3P20 and 3P21 or permission of the instructor.
CHEM 5P27
Advanced Enzyme and Co-enzyme Mechanisms
(also offered as BCHM 5P27)
Hydrolytic and other processes catalyzed by enzymes lacking non-protein prosthetic groups; transferase reactions involving biotin, pyridoxal phosphate, thiamine pyrophosphate, folic acid and cobalamin; oxidation mechanisms involving pyridine nucleotides, flavoenzymes, hydroperoxidases and oxygenases.
Students completing this course will forfeit credit in CHEM 4P27.
CHEM 5P31
Special Topics in Inorganic Chemistry
A directed reading course in advanced inorganic chemistry based on a critical approach to the original literature. Topics are to be arranged between the student and instructor.
CHEM 5P33
Chemistry of Organometallic and Co-ordination Compounds
A study of main group and transition metal organometallic and co-ordination compounds with emphasis on synthesis, reactivity, structure and biological properties.
CHEM 5P41
Special Topics in Analytical Chemistry
The course will include topics such as pesticide and residue analysis, advanced chromatographic techniques, chemical analysis applied to environmental and agricultural problems, preconcentration techniques and new analytical techniques.
CHEM 5P45
Atomic Spectrometry
Arcs, sparks, ICP, DCP, AA, will be investigated. Evaluation of advantages and disadvantages of excitation sources and sample introduction techniques. Particular concentration in this course will be the sample and how it is analyzed and some discussion will centre on sample preparation, matrix elimination or minimization. Solid sampling methods such as laser ablation and glow discharge will be reviewed.
CHEM 5P67
Biophysical Techniques
(also offered as BCHM 5P67)
An advanced seminar/lecture course on experimental techniques in biochemistry. The focus is on understanding the theory, applications and limitations of a variety of techniques students will encounter during their graduate studies. Techniques will range from advanced spectroscopy (absorption, fluorescence, NMR, X-ray diffraction) to molecular biochemistry (DNA and protein sequencing, gel electrophoresis, radioisotope labelling).