Chemistry Department Facilities

Instrument suite
Chemistry Department Mass Spectrometry Facility The facility is staffed by Dr Marie Squire (pictured right). The Mass Spectrometry Facility of the Department of Chemistry provides analytical services for the researchers in the School of Chemistry, other researchers in the University of Canterbury and users outside the University.
Bruker maXis 3G Newly installed mid 2010, this instrument is the first and best of its kind in a New Zealand University. This is an Ultra High Resolution Time of Flight (UHR-TOF) tandem mass spectrometer offering accurate mass analysis, high resolution and high sensitivity across the entire dynamic range. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) facilities are also available.
Micromass LCT Classic This is a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer. It operates in both positive and negative ionisation modes (medium-high resolution) with accurate mass capability. The ionisation techniques available are electrospray (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) facilities are also available.
Shimadzu GC-MS This instrument is a ‘hands-on’ spectrometer and is available to all trained research workers. It is well set up for automated analyses. The NIST commercial library is available for assistance with identification of unknowns. A matching GC-FID is also available.
Chemistry Department Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Facility The facility is staffed by Dr Marie Squire.
The Department of Chemistry operates two NMR spectrometers Varian INOVA 300 - equipped with a broad-band variable temperature probe. Varian VNMR 500 - equipped with variable temperature broad-band and indirect detection PFG probes. The Department also has a capillary NMR facility, operating a Protasis CapNMRTM Probe, that is available for very small sample quantities. These instruments are ‘hands-on’ spectrometers and are available to all trained research workers and provide routine 1D and 2D NMR characterisation based on 1H, 13C, 19F and 31P NMR. They are also available to those wanting multinuclear NMR analysis and variable temperature studies.

X-Ray Crystallography Small molecule X-ray crystallography has been a feature of research activity at Canterbury since 1954. Current equipment includes a Bruker CCD/SMART area detector, excellent ethernet access to a Pentium Pro and four 486DX PC computers, 3 IBM RISC6000 plus one VAX ALPHA fast processors. All data are collected using a low temperature dry nitrogen stream as coolant. Around 400 intensity data sets are collected annually. Half of these relate to research inside the department and a further third underpin research in three other New Zealand Universities and one industrial research laboratory. The remaining capacity is used to collect data for research groups around the world e.g. Malaysia, Ireland, USA, Australia, and in several research collaborations with scientists mainly in India and China. *Pictured:* Lab Manager, Dr Jan Wikaira, using the microscope eyepiece to centre a mounted crystal on the diffrectometer prior to the data collection.
University of Canterbury ICP-MS Facility ICP-MS isan analytical technique for simultaneously measuring low concentrations of metals in a wide range ofmatrices. The instrument is a joint initiative between the Colleges of Science and Engineering. This service is available to all researchers within the University of Canterbury and the wider community. For further information about the ICP-MS service please contact Rob Stainthorpe or Sally Gaw or visit the ICP-MS Learn page (for UC staff and students only).