Cell Culture

A secure Cell Culture laboratory was established in 2007 in the Chemistry Research building by Professor M. R. Nichols and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. This facility is solely for cell culture use and houses 3 Nuaire laminar flow hoods, a refrigerator/freezer, a manual defrost freezer, four water-jacketed CO2 incubators, a liquid N2 cryosystem for box storage of frozen cell lines, a swinging bucket centrifuge, and two inverted microscopes (one is an Olympus CKX41 with an attached digital camera). The facility is outfitted with all necessary items for cell culture, including sterile disposable pipets and filter units, hemocytometers, water baths, power pipettors, etc. A Nexcelom Cellometer Vision Trio brightfield cell profiling system is available for automated cell counting. Dr. Nichols supervises the cell culture facility and oversees its operation and maintenance.

A laboratory of 330 square feet in the Research Wing houses additional instrumentation, including a Jasco J-1500 circular dichroism (CD) spectropolarimeter outfitted with an SFS-492T Peltier thermostatted stopped-flow accessory and a Perkin-Elmer Victor 3 multi-mode absorbance/fluorescence plate reader (with computer). The J-1500 CD instrument also has fluorescence and absorbance capabilities and is run by a dedicated computer system wired to the network for data saving and management. Additional shared equipment includes a BioRad ChemiDoc MP gel imaging system, BioRad CFX96 quantitative real-time PCR instrument with a C1000 thermal cycler, more plate readers, various models of floor and tabletop centrifuges, and a scintillation counter housed and available in either the Biology department which shares the complex with Chemistry & Biochemistry.

Magnetometer

The UMSL Magnetometry Facility contains a Quantum Design Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) instrument that operates at various magnetic fields (0 ≤ ±9 Tesla) and temperatures (1.8 - 400 K). It is equipped with a helium recovery system and a sensitive ACMS-II sample probe, which measures magnetic susceptibility under both static dc and dynamic ac fields and frequencies (0 ≤ Hac ≤ 3 Oe; 0 ≤  ≤ 10 kHz); vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) is also available. Ultra-low field, resistivity, and photomagnetic (280 - 1100 nm, TLS120Xe) measurements are also possible. For more information, please contact Dr. Stephen Holmes.

Mass Spectrometry

The Mass Spectrometry Facility is housed in a 1000 sq. ft laboratory located in the UMSL Research Building R003, and in room R003, where the Maxi Plus is located. In addition to the mass spectrometers described below, there are areas for data processing, instrument maintenance, parts storage, and sample preparation. The instrumentation is used primarily for the support of research and teaching in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. However, in years past, the MS facility has been a resource for the local businesses or academic community members who lacks this instrumentation. For complete details see here.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

The UMSL High Resolution NMR Facility is located in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry on the second floor of the new Science Learning Center (SLB 216) and houses two NMR spectrometers: an Agilent DD2 600 and a Bruker Avance 300. While these instruments serves as a critical resource primarily for the use of the faculty, postdoctoral, and students in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, other users (other universities, companies and organizations) are welcome. The facility staff will provide NMR services as needed. For more information please contact to Dr. Rensheng Luo email to: luor@umsl.edu or at (314) 516-5330.is under reconstruction.  See here, for complete details.

X-Ray Diffraction

X-ray crystal structure determination is an important technique for most inorganic and organic chemists. The X-ray Diffraction Laboratory at UMSL supports crystallographic research conducted globally within numerous academic and industrial research groups. The Laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation and computational facilities for solid-state three-dimensional crystal and molecular structure determinations. The single crystal and powder diffraction facility resides in the west wing of Bentone Hall within what was formerly named the Center for Nanoscience. See here for complete details. For more information please contact Dr. Rajamoni Jagan by email: jrbrm@umsl.edu

The Microscope Imaging and Spectroscopy Technology Laboratory (MIST)

 Micro- and nano-structural characterization is key to development and application of nanotechnology in fields ranging from medicine to crime scene investigation, from materials engineering to catalysis, and from the electronic device industry to the study of extraterrestrial materials and plants. See here for complete details.

Interested in Using our Equipment?

Much of our equipment is available for outside use by industry partners and other organizations on a fee-for-service basis. To learn more information about the kinds of equipment available for use, please contact Tomy Ames, Director of Research Enabled, at Tomy@ResearchEnabled.org.

For technical questions about our capabilities, please contact Keith Stine, kstine@umsl.edu