Instrumental Analytical Chemistry: An Introduction

Analytical chemistry today is almost entirely instrumental analytical chemistry and it is performed by many scientists and engineers who are not chemists. Analytical instrumentation is crucial to research in molecular biology, medicine, geology, food science, materials science, and many other fields. With the growing sophistication of laboratory equipment, there is a danger that analytical instruments can be regarded as ＂black boxes＂ by those using them. The well-known phrase ＂garbage in, garbage out＂ holds true for analytical instrumentation as well as computers. This book serves to provide users of analytical instrumentation with an understanding of their instruments.

This book is written to teach undergraduate students and those working in chemical fields outside analytical chemistry how contemporary analytical instrumentation works, as well as its uses and limitations. Mathematics is kept to a minimum. No background in calculus, physics, or physical chemistry is required. The major fields of modern instrumentation are covered, including applications of each type of instrumental technique.

Each chapter includes:

• A discussion of the fundamental principles underlying each technique
• Detailed descriptions of the instrumentation
• An extensive and up-to-date bibliography
• End of chapter problems
• Suggested experiments appropriate to the technique where relevant

This text uniquely combines instrumental analysis with organic spectral interpretation (IR, NMR, and MS). It provides detailed coverage of sampling, sample handling, sample storage, and sample preparation. In addition, the authors have included many instrument manufacturers’ websites, which contain extensive resources.

James W. Robinson earned his BS (Hons), PhD, and DSc from the University of Birmingham, England. He is professor emeritus of chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, he is the author of 250 professional papers, book ­chapters, and several books including Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Atomic Spectroscopy, first and second editions. He was editor in chief of Spectroscopy Letters and the Journal of Environmental Science and Health (both Marcel Dekker, Inc.); executive editor of Handbook of Spectroscopy Vol. 1 (1974), Vol. 2 (1974), Vol. 3 (1981); and Practical Handbook of Spectroscopy (1991) (all CRC Press). He served on the National University Accreditation Committee from 1970-1971. He was a visiting distinguished professor at University of Colorado in 1972 and University of Sydney, Australia in 1975. He served as the Gordon Conference Chairman in Analytical Chemistry in 1974.

Eileen M. Skelly Frame is adjunct professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, and heads a private consulting firm, Full Spectrum Analytical Consultants. Dr. Skelly Frame has extensive practical experience in the use of instrumental analysis to characterize a wide variety of substances, from biological samples and cosmetics to high-temperature superconductors, polymers, metals, and alloys. Her industrial career included supervisory roles in analytical chemistry labs at GE Corporate R&D Center (now GE Global Research), Stauffer Chemical Corporate R&D, Research Triangle Institute, and in the US Army Medical Service Corps. She is a member of the American Chemical Society and the ASTM International. Dr. Skelly Frame earned her BS in chemistry from Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and her PhD in analytical chemistry from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.

George M. Frame II is a retired scientific director, Chemical Biomonitoring Section of the Wadsworth Laboratory, New York State Department of Health, Albany. He has a wide range of experience in analytical chemistry and has worked at the GE Corporate R&D Center (now GE Global Research), Pfizer Central Research, the US Coast Guard R&D Center, the Maine Medical Center, and in the US Air Force Biomedical Sciences Corps. He is a member of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Frame earned his AB in chemistry from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his PhD in analytical chemistry from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.