Chemistry Instrumentation & Resources
The Chemistry Department at Whitman College offers an immersive undergraduate experience, blending rigorous chemical education with extensive hands-on research. Our students gain practical skills using state-of-the-art instrumentation, ensuring they are career-ready or prepared for graduate school. The department receives generous support, including from organizations like the National Science Foundation and the Murdock Charitable Trust.
Explore Whitman’s chemistry instrumentation and find resources to support your studies.
Chromatography
Chromatography is central to both analytical and environmental chemistry. Unlike many instruments that analyze relatively pure samples, chromatography systems are specifically designed to handle complex sample matrices containing multiple analytes. We offer several liquid and gas chromatographic systems for use in the classroom and senior research, listed below.
Features: This system features an autosampler, a capillary split/splitless injector, and both flame ionization and electron capture detectors. Used for the quantitative analysis of hydrocarbon mixtures in water, sediment/soil, and gas samples.
Fund: Alden Foundation.
Features: This is our analytical/environmental grade GC-MS, equipped with an autosampler and both EI and CI ionization systems. Used for analysis of organic or other analytes.
Fund: M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Whitman College, and Whitman Alumni.
Features: Programmed oven temperatures from 50 oC/min up to 300 oC and 20 oC/min from 300 oC to 450 oC. PeakSimple Software for Windows with built-in 4 channel serial data system. Electronic pressure controls (EPC) maintains flat baselines over full temperature range, with highly stable retention times. Performs research quality analyses under rigorous lab conditions.
Fund: Whitman College
Spectroscopy
There are many forms of atomic and molecular spectroscopy and we have a variety of instruments in our labs.
Features: This instrument is used for analyzing trace metal concentrations in water. It is equipped with an air-acetylene flame burner and can measure part-per-million levels for most metals. It also has a hydride generation system that allows for detection of arsenic, antimony, mercury, bismuth, tellurium and selenium.
Features: This instrument is used to measure isotopic concentrations in aqueous samples or digested solid samples. It is used in research and instrumental methods of analysis.
Fund: M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Whitman College, and Whitman Alumni.
Features:The Jasco V-550 is a dual-beam UV-Vis spectrophotometer with temperature-controlled cells, ideal for teaching and research. It provides accurate absorbance and transmittance measurements, supports kinetic analysis, spectrum scanning, and multi-component analysis, and delivers reliable results for chemistry, biology, and materials science applications.
Fund: Whitman College
Features:The Jasco V-550 is a dual-beam UV-Vis spectrophotometer with temperature-controlled cells, ideal for teaching and research. It provides accurate absorbance and transmittance measurements, supports kinetic analysis, spectrum scanning, and multi-component analysis, and delivers reliable results for chemistry, biology, and materials science applications.
Fund: Whitman College
Features: These compact photodiode array spectrophotometers (190-900 nm) are used in Advanced General Chemistry, Quantitative Analysis labs, and research. They provide precise UV-Vis absorbance and transmittance measurements with a high-resolution CCD detector, fast data acquisition, and user-friendly software, ensuring reliable performance for environmental monitoring, chemical analysis, and material characterization.
Fund: Whitman College
Features: These versatile and compact Vernier LabQuest devices feature photodiode array spectrophotometers and pH sensors, making them essential tools in General Chemistry laboratories. They enable real-time data collection and analysis with an intuitive touchscreen interface, versatile connectivity, and advanced graphing capabilities. Ideal for teaching and research
Fund: Whitman College
Features: A compact photodiode array NIR spectrophotometers (880-1850 nm)that is used in the Quantitative Analysis laboratory as well as for research.
Features: The Thermo Nicolet Avatar 360 FT-IR is a versatile and reliable spectrometer designed for precise molecular analysis. It features a wide spectral range, multiple sampling accessories (ATR, transmission, and reflectance), and high sensitivity for accurate identification and quantification of materials. Ideal for diverse applications, including polymers, pharmaceuticals, and environmental analysis, its user-friendly design ensures consistent performance and seamless operation.
Fund: Whitman College
Features: This is a compact Benchtop EPR Spectrometer designed for precise detection and analysis of paramagnetic species. It features a high-sensitivity detector, wide field range, and user-friendly software for efficient data acquisition and analysis. With capabilities including characterization of free radicals, transition metal complexes, and reaction kinetics, the ESR-5000 is ideal for applications in chemistry, materials science, and biology, offering robust performance in a space-saving design.It contains an ARS LTR-3 Liquid Helium Flow Cryostat and a traditional liquid N2 finger dewar for low-temperature work. Used for research and teaching.
Fund: M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
Features: The 400 MHz NMR includes a broadband probe tunable from 15N to 19F, with 1H decoupling and a Z-gradient coil, an inverse broadband probe that allows for maximum 1H-observe sensitivity with decoupling that covers the range from 109Ag to 31P and a Z-gradient coil, a variable temperature unit and a 60-slot sample changer.
The primary use of the instrument is to characterize the structure and interactions of complex molecules, ranging from simple 1D experiments for 1H and 13C nuclei to 2D experiments such as DQF-COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, HSQC, HMQC, and HMBC.
This instrument was installed in January 2010 and is used in organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry labs as well as undergraduate research.
Fund: NSF - Major Instrument grant (~ $400K)
Features: Raman spectroscopy is a complementary technique to FT-IR spectroscopy that uses inelastic scattering of photons to detect vibrational modes of molecules or materials. Due to the low efficiency of inelastic scattering, a powerful light source is required; our spectrometer is equipped with a 785 nm StellarNet Ramulaser adjustable power laser (max = 499 mW) with attached 1/2’’ vial holder.
Fund: Whitman College
Computational Facility
The Wilke Family Computational Lab: Equipped with 24 workstations featuring dual-boot capabilities (Windows and Linux OS) and a variety of computational and data processing tools/software [link to list of software available]. This lab is utilized for both teaching and research purposes.
HPC Clusters: Comprising various computational servers with processors ranging from 8 to 32 cores with variable memories, totaling approximately 150 cores. These clusters use Slurm workload managers to request computational resources. Faculty and students can now access this server for their research and teaching needs. For access to our computational servers, please contact hpc_help@whitman.edu.
Fund: $1 million from the Wilke Family.
Other Science Building Instrumentation
Features: The system includes a Cu-K alpha sealed tube X-ray source, focusing optics, two-dimensional ccd (charged-couple device) detector and a cryogenic cooling system for temperature control of the sample. X-ray diffraction data can be collected on both single crystals (both small molecule and protein) and powders. Used for analyzing a wide variety of samples, including protein crystals, small molecule crystals, mixed amorphous and crystalline polyethylene, metal doped sol-gel glasses, liquids and mineral powders.
Fund: NSF grant.
Link: X-Ray Diffraction
Features: This instrument offers precise and efficient crystalline structure analysis. Its compact design delivers high-resolution diffraction data with rapid scanning, versatile sample handling, and advanced software for comprehensive phase identification and quantitative analysis. Paired with the XRD-Mill McCrone for uniform micronized sample preparation, this system ensures exceptional performance and reliability, making it ideal for diverse applications in research and industry.
Features: This instrument offers precise and efficient crystalline structure analysis. Its compact design delivers high-resolution diffraction data with rapid scanning, versatile sample handling, and advanced software for comprehensive phase identification and quantitative analysis. Paired with the XRD-Mill McCrone for uniform micronized sample preparation, this system ensures exceptional performance and reliability, making it ideal for diverse applications in research and industry.
Features: This capillary electrophoresis instrument is nearly identical to the P/ACE MDQ described above, but has an additional laser-induced fluorescence detector (LIF) that can detect specific molecules at very low concentrations. This instrument was donated to Whitman by Seattle Biotech.
Features: These compact electrochemistry systems can be used to run a number of different electrochemical analyses: Cyclic Voltammetry, Staircase Potentiometry, Differential Pulse Voltammetry, Stripping Voltammetry, etc. These systems are used in the Quantitative Analysis Laboratory and in research.
Field Equipment
A variety of field equipment is available for use in environmental chemistry and in student research. This equipment is primarily used in the analysis of stream samples.
- Soil corer
- Van Dorn Water sampler
- Hach and Orion pH meters
- Orion selective ion probes (Chloride, Bromide, Fluoride, Nitrate, Nitrite, and Calcium)
- Hach Conductivity meter
- Orion dissolved oxygen (DO) probe with a 10-meter cable
- Turbidity meter
- Hach DR2010 spectrophotometer
- Hach model 16900 field titration unit
Chemistry Resources
The American Chemical Society Style Guide: A detailed guide on technical writing for ACS journals. Free through Whitman's institutional subscription to ACS journals.
- Penrose Memorial Library Homepage Online pages for the Penrose Memorial Library.
- Chemistry Subject Guide at Penrose - links to literature and database searches available through Penrose (including SciFinder Scholar and Web of Science).
- 3D Drawing Software:
- 3D Viewer for large (bio)molecules
- PyMol (Open source, available for all platforms)
- BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer (Windows and Linux)
- Whitman College Safety Guidelines - Includes links to MSDS Database, Emergency Management Plan, and Safety Policies and Procedures.
- www.GradSchools.com
- Choosing a graduate program (American Chemical Society)