Chemistry (MSc)

Master of Science in Chemistry

Program Website: Chemistry

Field(s) of Specialization

• Organic Chemistry
• Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
• Physical and Computational Methods

Faculty and Administration

For a listing of program faculty and administrative contacts, please visit the program directory.

Program Description

The Department provides facilities for students intending to work towards their Master’s and/or Doctoral degrees in Chemistry. Faculty members specialize in Organic/Bio-organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Physical/Theoretical Chemistry. The Department also supports MSc and PhD degrees in Biotechnology.

The following research fields are currently represented, and are described in detail on our department website.

• Organic Chemistry: Synthesis of biologically active and medicinally important compounds including carbohydrates; antimicrobial compounds, macrocyclic peptides, including bioconjugation methods. Enzymatic synthesis of natural and silicone analogues of lipids; chiral synthon production; isotopically labelled compounds; fluorescent nucleic acids and lipids for bioanalytical applications and microscopy; affinity labels and bioconjugates; protein and nucleic acid chemistry and biochemistry, protein-membrane interactions. Organocatalysis and photocatalysis, design, synthesis and computational analysis of novel superbases and hydrogen bond catalysts. Enantioselective synthesis, including synthesis of chiral ligands, chiral auxiliaries; organometallic catalyst design and synthesis; methodology and synthesis of biologically active compounds.
• Inorganic Chemistry: Current research emphasis lies at the interface of coordination chemistry, structural chemistry, and molecular magnetism, and is aimed at the synthesis of dual property single molecule magnets (SMMs), spin crossover complexes, Ln-based metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and MRI contrast agents. Other areas of interest include the synthesis and study of organosulfur compounds as the semi-conducting components of organic electronic devices, and emissive compounds for solid-state light emitting devices. Synthesis of redox-active ligands and switchable coordination complexes featuring reversible ligand to metal electron transfer reactions and semiconducting properties toward new molecular spintronic materials. In the organometallic/catalysis stream, the research emphasis is placed on the design of new ligand platforms for stabilization of main-group compounds in very low oxidation states for applications in activation of small molecules and molecular catalysis. Research in analytical chemistry includes methodological development for characterizing organic matter and quantifying environmental pollutants using mass spectrometry-based techniques.
• Physical and Computational Methods: Research includes modern time-resolved electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy to study the structure and function of photosynthetic reaction centres and porphyrin-based model systems. Other areas include optical and electrical property of nanostructured materials characterized by advanced laser spectroscopy and microscopy; synthesis of nanostructured organic and inorganic semiconductors and their applications in solar energy, catalysts, optoelectronics. Computational research focuses on theoretical studies to understand charge and energy transfer reactions in photosynthetic proteins.

Facilities

• Mass Spectrometry Facility: (i) Thermo DFS High Resolution GC/MS system (Spring 2014).  The system is equipped with dual polarity EI, CI and FAB sources and a Thermo Trace series capillary GC. The XCalibur data system contains a sophisticated suite of programs for data acquisition and processing. Sample library searches may be carried out using the NIST database; (ii) Bruker Esquire HCTUltra LC/MS/MS fitted with electrospray (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) sources. Sample interface is via an Agilent 1100 HPLC system or by syringe pump infusion. The data system runs Bruker Compass and Agilent Chemstation software on a networked PC platform. (iii) Bruker Autoflex MALDI/TOF/TOF system for large molecule, polymer, protein and peptide work. The system is capable of MS/MS for protein sequencing and identification using Bruker Compass software on a networked PC platform.
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility: (i) 600 NMR: Bruker Avance NEO 600 Digital NMR spectrometer with a 14.1 Tesla Ultrashield Plus magnet. The 2-channel system is equipped with double resonance iBBO Z-gradient ATMA probehead which covers the tuning range 109Ag through 19F with proton decoupling. The probe has full VT capability. The system runs on Windows 11 platform using Bruker Topspin 4.4 software.  (ii) 400 NMR: Bruker Avance III HD 400 Digital NMR spectrometer with a 9.4 Tesla Ascend Magnet. The system is equipped for double resonance and includes a BBFO Z-gradient ATMA probehead which covers the tuning range 109Ag through 19F with proton decoupling. The system is equipped for VT. The 400 system runs on a Microsoft Windows 11 platform using Bruker TOPSPIN 3.7 software for data acquisition and analysis. (iii) 300 NMR: Bruker Avance AV 300 Digital NMR spectrometer with a 7.05 Tesla Ultrashield magnet. The system is equipped for double resonance and includes a BBFO Z-gradient ATMA probehead which covers the tuning range 109Ag through 19F. The system is equipped for VT. It run in a Microsoft Windows 7 Professional environment using Bruker TOPSPIN 2.1 software for data acquisition and analysis.  Two TOPSPIN data processing and archives workstations running Bruker Topspin 4.4 are also part of the NMR facility. They are located in “Cairns Family” Biosciences Research Complex and in Mackenzie Chown H block complex.
• Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Facility: (i) Bruker ElexSys E580 X-band (9 GHz) EPR spectrometer operating in both cw and pulsed modes. The instrument runs using the Bruxer XEPR software package. (ii) Bruker E-siries Q-band (35 GHz) spectrometer for continuous-wave and transient experiments. All three instruments can be operated with a CF950 cryostat for temperature control between 5K and 300K and they are designed with optical excitation capability using a Continuum Surelite pulsed NdYAG Laser.
• Computing Facilities: The University is a member of Canada’s Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET). Students and faculty researchers have access to cluster platform systems, housed at Brock and at other SHARCNET academic institutions.
• Spectroscopy: (i) Thermo-Mattson RS-1 infrared spectrometer, equipped with various sampling accessories including normal transmission mode, ATR and DRIFT units. Software acquisition and processing is handled with a PC running WinFirst software. Basic library search facilities are available; (ii) Bomem MB100 FTIR, controlled by a PC/Grams based data acquisition and processing system; (iii) Thermo-Spectronic(ATI/Unicam) UV4 ultraviolet/visible spectrometer, controlled by a PC running Vision-32 acquisition and processing software; (iv) Photon Technology International Fluorescence Spectrometer, interfaced to a PC for acquisition and processing; (v) Molecular Devices SpectraMax microplate spectrofluorometer for direct plate scans. A PC controls data collection and processing; (vi) ICP/MS spectrometry; (vii) Cary 4000 UV/VIS spectrophotometer.
• Chromatography: (i) Agilent 6890 research GC system with a Gerstel prep/autosampler, controlled by an extended version of Chemstation running on a PC; (ii) Waters 600 series LC systems running under PC based Millenium software; (iii) Dionex 3000 ionic chromatography; (iv) Bio-Rad Duoflow FPLC.
• Polarimeter: Rudolph Autopol III polarimeter for optical rotation measurements.
• Bioanalytical: (i) Biotek enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA); () Analight-200 dual polarization interferometer from Farfield Scientific (UK) for surface adsorption and molecular association measurements.
• Biochemistry/Biotechnology Unit: (i) Biosafety cabinet; (ii) Shaking incubator; (iii) PCR thermocycler; (iv) Freeze-dryer; (v)-80C to -30C freezers; (vi) FPLC; (vii) DNA synthesizers; (viii) centrifuges
• X-ray Crystallography Facility: A Bruker Apex II CCD single crystal X-ray diffractometer with a Kappa goniometer, equipped with an Oxford Cryostream Plus system suitable for variable temperature measurements is available in the laboratory of M. Pilkington. In 2017 the Mo source was upgraded to an INCOATEC microfocus source for the measurement of very small single crystals. The system is suitable for structure determination of small molecules and larger supramolecular systems. Bruker software is available for structure solution and refinement.

Admission Requirements

Successful completion of an Honours Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent, in Chemistry or a cognate discipline such as Biochemistry or Biotechnology normally with an average of not less than 78%.

• Agreement from a faculty supervisor to supervise the student is required for admission to the program.
• Those lacking sufficient background preparation may be required to complete a qualifying term/year to upgrade their applications. Completion of a qualifying term/year does not guarantee acceptance into the program.
• The Departmental Graduate Committee will review all applications and recommend for admission a limited number of candidates.
• Students interested in part-time study at the MSc level should consult the Graduate Program Director.