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Chemistry and Biochemistry |
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
Chair: Francis R. Nordmeyer
Graduate Coordinator: Milton L. Lee
C-100 BNSN
Provo, UT 84602-4672
(801) 378-4845
Fax: (801) 378-5474
E-mail: Chemgradcat@byu.edu
THE PROGRAM OF STUDIES
Chemistry is fundamental in our physical and biological world. The principles and applications of chemistry are diverse, interesting, and challenging. The graduate program in chemistry and biochemistry at BYU prepares developing scientists to enjoy the excitement of chemistry and to contribute in diverse circumstances where chemical knowledge and skill are needed.
Thirty-four faculty are the foundation of an excellent graduate program. The department recently occupied the new 190,000-square-foot Benson Science Building, which provides comfortable, modern laboratories. Extensive instrumentation is available and constantly being replaced or upgraded to support cutting-edge research.
About sixty graduate students provide an essential and dynamic atmosphere for research progress and stimulating discussion. Twenty postdoctoral students and visiting scientists add depth and diversity to the intellectual atmosphere. About seventy undergraduate research assistants also bring significant strength and enthusiasm to research projects.
Additional information about faculty members and their research interests are found in a color brochure available from the department office at the address and phone number given above.
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry offers four degrees: Chemistry—MS, Biochemistry—MS, Chemistry—PhD, and Biochemistry—PhD.
Areas of emphasis include: Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry.
About 80 percent of the graduate students are in the PhD program, and they complete their work in four to five years. MS program students complete their work in one and a half to two and a half years.
Admission and Entry.
Chemistry—MS
The chemistry MS degree provides specialized study and research on an advanced level. It includes about one year of course work beyond the bachelor's degree and the development of a significant research project presented in a thesis. The MS student will study in one of the four chemistry areas of emphasis or develop, with an advisor, an interdisciplinary program. The added preparation in theory and practice allows the chemical scientist to assume responsibility and supervision beyond that normally given with bachelor's level study. The MS degree is adequate preparation for some junior college teaching positions. This degree also typically brings a salary increase above that for a baccalaureate degree. The master's degree is generally not necessary as a preparatory step for the PhD degree.
Requirements for Degree.
Biochemistry—MS
The biochemistry MS degree provides specialized study on an advanced level. The degree includes about one year of course work beyond the BS degree and a thesis based upon a significant research project. The research will be in areas of biochemical emphasis, such as molecular genetics, enzymology, or protein structure and function. The added preparation in theory and practice allows the MS biochemist to assume responsibility and supervision beyond that normally given a BS or BA biochemist, with a concomitant salary increase above that for a baccalaureate degree. The MS degree is adequate preparation for some junior college teaching positions. It is generally not a prerequisite for a PhD degree program.
Requirements for Degree.
Chemistry—PhD
The chemistry PhD degree prepares a scientist to contribute on the creative front of chemical science. A student's study may fall within one of the chemistry areas of emphasis or it may involve an interdisciplinary focus. Some courses on advanced topics related to the student's professional goals will be taken, but study for the PhD degree is primarily a research experience that is to be reported in a dissertation and in the scientific literature. The PhD chemist is prepared for a wide range of career choices and will be expected to act with considerable independence and enjoy major responsibilities. A new PhD chemist may seek employment in industry, government agencies, or the university or college setting. The PhD will typically bring a substantial salary increase in comparison to a bachelor-level degree.
Requirements for Degree.
Biochemistry—PhD
The biochemistry PhD degree prepares a scientist to perform and to supervise creative research in biochemistry and molecular biology. The PhD degree requires some course work, but the emphasis is primarily on original, creative research leading to a dissertation and to publications in scientific journals. The PhD biochemist is prepared for a wide range of career opportunities that involve independent thinking and supervisory responsibilities in industry, government, or academia. PhD biochemists usually make a substantially higher salary than BS or BA biochemists.
Requirements for Degree.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
All students admitted to the graduate program in the department who request financial aid are granted tuition for all required graduate courses and a graduate assistantship. These awards are granted on a continuing basis as long as satisfactory progress is being made toward the degree. This financial assistance allows students to be involved full-time in their graduate program, which will include research and course work and may also include teaching and laboratory assistant assignments.
Other types of financial aid such as internships, scholarships, and student loans may also be available to students who qualify. More information may be obtained from the department office and from the Financial Aid Office.
The department relies on its graduate students to fill many assignments in laboratory and recitation instruction. Unless excused by the faculty, a graduate student is expected to be a teaching assistant for at least two semesters for twenty hours a week during residency toward the doctoral degree. Master's degree candidates are expected to teach half this amount.
RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES
State Centers of Excellence. The state of Utah has established and funded a number of research and development Centers of Excellence. These centers promote joint efforts between the university and industry in the development of new technologies. The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry houses two of these centers, one for chemical separations and the other for supercritical fluid separation technologies.
Chemical Separations Center of Excellence. The chemical separations group is engaged in designing and building chemical separations systems that can selectively bind specific chemical structures with certain ions or molecules. The group hopes, among other things, to find ways to separate enantiomeric forms of chemical compounds and trace metals from solutions.
Advanced Supercritical Fluid Separation Technologies Center of Excellence. The center is developing and testing instrumentation for the use of supercritical fluids in analytical chemistry applications. Capillary supercritical fluid chromatography was first successfully demonstrated at BYU. Researchers are pursuing improvements to ensure reliability, instrument simplicity, and improved methods of sample introduction, separation, and detection. The center has recently extended research into new analytical detection techniques, including radiofrequency plasma emission spectrometry and time-of-flight mass spectrometry.
Center for Thermodynamics. The center involves chemical thermodynamics research in the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering and also involves faculty and students in other areas such as physics, engineering, biology, and agricultural sciences. The center facilitates the exchange of ideas and information and coordinates the use of sophisticated instruments used to make thermodynamic measurements. Calorimetry is an especially strong part of this program, which also includes research in phase equilibria, solution thermodynamics, and electrochemistry. Eighteen faculty and other full-time personnel are formally affiliated with the center and are involved in thermodynamic research.
Cancer Research Center. The objective of the BYU Cancer Research Center is to make significant scientific contributions toward the control and cure of cancer. Intense investigations of oncogenes and their relation to the development of cancer represents a major activity within the center. Faculty and students from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and from the College of Biology and Agriculture contribute their expertise.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A color brochure entitled “Graduate Studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry” includes more detailed information about the research programs and interests of each faculty member. This publication also includes a short summary of research instruments and facilities available to graduate students. The department office will provide this brochure and additional information about admission to the graduate program and the work of graduate students as students progress toward an advanced degree. We invite you to contact us by letter, fax, or e-mail. (Please see preceding address information.)
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
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501. Chemical Handling and Safe Laboratory Practices. (0.5)
Survey of appropriate methods in handling hazardous materials and disposing of waste. Legal rights and requirements. Safety in chemistry laboratory work.
514. Inorganic Chemistry. (3)
Prerequisite: Chem 461, 462; or 461, 468.
In-depth treatment of theoretical concepts in inorganic chemistry and the descriptive chemistry of some of the elements.
518. Inorganic Synthesis. (2)
Prerequisite: Chem 501 or concurrent registration; Chem 514.
Syntheses that demonstrate a variety of techniques and a range of inorganic materials.
521. Instrumental Analysis Lecture. (2)
Prerequisite: Chem 464 or equivalent; Chem 501 or concurrent registration.
Modern instrumental methods and basic principles of instrumentation.
523. Instrumental Analysis Laboratory. (2)
Prerequisite: Chem 521.
Continuation of Chem 521. Laboratory experience with modern analytical instrumentation. Fee.
524. Analytical Chemistry. (2)
Prerequisite: Chem 523 or equivalent.
Advanced theory of measurements and techniques in chemical analysis.
552. Advanced Organic Chemistry. (3)
Prerequisite: Chem 351, 352; 461, 462.
Emphasizes physical aspects of organic chemistry; mechanisms, reaction intermediates, bonding, stereochemical and stereoelectronic effects, molecular orbital theory, Lewis acidity and basicity.
553. Advanced Organic Chemistry. (3)
Prerequisite: Chem 351, 352.
Synthetic aspects of organic chemistry; oxidations, reductions, concerted reactions, stereoselectivity, synthetic equivalents, protecting groups. Examples of natural product total synthesis.
561. Chemical Thermodynamics. (3)
Prerequisite: Chem 461, 462.
Development of the principles of chemical thermodynamics, including laws, pure materials, mixtures, equilibria, and elementary statistical mechanics.
563. Reaction Kinetics. (3)
Prerequisite: Chem 461, 462.
Theoretical aspects of chemical kinetics in the gas phase and in solution. Rates and mechanisms in solution, rapid reactions, and other topics.
564. Nuclear Chemistry and Radiochemistry. (2-3)
Prerequisite: Chem 461, 462.
Introduction to nuclear structure, radioactivity, nuclear spectroscopy, and nuclear reactions, emphasizing applications in chemistry.
565. Introduction to Quantum Chemistry. (3)
Prerequisite: Chem 461, 462.
Introduction to physical and mathematical aspects of quantum theory, emphasizing application of the Schrdinger wave equation to chemical systems.
569. Fundamentals of Spectroscopy. (3)
Prerequisite: Chem 461, 462; or 461, 468; 523 or equivalent).
Atomic and molecular spectroscopy and application of group theoretical concepts. Types of experiments and interpretation of data.
582. Biochemistry of the Nucleic Acids. (3)
Prerequisite: Chem 481.
Second-semester biochemistry. Nucleic acid biochemistry and molecular biology: nucleotide metabolism, chromosome and chromatin structure, DNA structure and replication, RNA transcription and gene expression, protein synthesis and regulation, eukaryotic gene systems.
584. Biochemistry Laboratory. (2)
Prerequisite: Chem 481.
Modern research instrumentation and current biochemical research procedures. Enzyme isolation and characterization, protein sequencing, nucleic acid manipulations..
586. Recombinant DNA. (2)
Prerequisite: Chem 481.
Laboratory course covering major techniques involved in isolation, amplification, and cloning of recombinant DNA. Variety of cloning systems and methods of identification introduced.
594R. General Seminar. (0.5)
Research topics presented by faculty and visiting scientists. Required every semester in residence.
596R. Special Topics in Chemistry. (1-3)
Prerequisite: Chem 351, 352; 367 or 461.
Subjects that may be offered include:
—Atmospheric Chemistry
—Ion Chromatography
—Organic Spectroscopic Identification
619R. Advanced Topics in Inorganic Chemistry. (1-3)
Prerequisite: Chem 514 or equivalent.
The following topics are rotated:
—Chemistry of the Main Group Elements.
—Chemistry of the Transition Elements.
629R. Advanced Topics in Analytical Chemistry. (1-3)
Prerequisite: Chem 523 or equivalent.
The following topics are rotated:
—Separation Methods of Analysis.
—Spectroscopic Methods of Analysis.
659R. Advanced Topics in Organic Chemistry. (1-3)
Prerequisite: Chem 552 or equivalent.
The following topics are rotated:
—Organic Heterocyclic Compounds.
—Organometallic Chemistry.
—Organic Photochemistry.
669R. Advanced Topics in Physical Chemistry. (2-3)
Prerequisite: Chem 561 and/or 565 or equivalent.
The following topics are rotated:
—Advanced Chemical Thermodynamics.
—Quantum Chemistry.
689R. Advanced Topics in Biochemistry. (1-3)
Prerequisite: Chem 582 or equivalent.
The following topics are rotated:
—Biomembranes and Bioenergetics.
—Metabolic Integration.
—Proteins and Enzymes.
697R. Master's Candidate Research. (1-6)
Prerequisite: Chem 501 or concurrent registration.
699R. Master's Thesis. (1-9)
719R. Selected Topics in Inorganic Chemistry. (1-3)
Subjects that may be offered include:
—Bioinorganic Chemistry
—Coordination Chemistry
—Environmental Chemistry
729R. Selected Topics in Analytical Chemistry. (1-3)
Subjects that may be offered include:
—Atomic Spectroscopy
—Chromatography
—Electrochemical Methods of Analysis
—Molecular Spectroscopy
—X-Ray Structure Analysis
759R. Selected Topics in Organic Chemistry. (1-3)
Subjects that may be offered include:
—Medicinal Chemistry
—Natural Products
—Nucleoside and Nucleotide Chemistry
—Stereoselective Synthesis
769R. Selected Topics in Physical Chemistry. (1-3)
Subjects that may be offered include:
—Advanced Group Theory
—Advanced Techniques in Magnetic Resonance
—Calorimetry
—Molecular Structure and Spectroscopy
—Solid-State Chemistry
—Statistical Mechanics
789R. Selected Topics in Biochemistry. (1-3)
Subjects that may be offered include:
—Biochemistry of Retroviruses
—Biologically Active Peptides
—Biopolymer Conformational Analysis
—Gene Expression in Higher Plants
—Metabolism
—Molecular Biology of Cancer
—Transmembrane Signalling
797R. Doctoral Candidate Research. (1-9)
Prerequisite: Chem 501 or concurrent registration.
799R. Doctoral Dissertation. (1-9)
FACULTY 
BERGES, DAVID A., Associate Professor. PhD, Indiana University, 1967. Biochemistry; Organic Chemistry.
BILLS, JAMES L., Professor. PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1963. Inorganic Chemistry.
BOERIO-GOATES, JULIANA, Professor. PhD, University of Michigan, 1979. Physical Chemistry.
BRADSHAW, JERALD S., Professor. PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, 1963. Organic Chemistry.
DALLEY, N. KENT, Professor. PhD, University of Texas, Austin, 1968. Analytical Chemistry.
DEARDEN, DAVID V., Associate Professor. PhD, California Institute of Technology, 1989. Analytical/Physical Chemistry.
EATOUGH, DELBERT J., Professor. PhD, Brigham Young University, 1967. Physical and Atmospheric Chemistry.
ELTON, TERRY S., Associate Professor. PhD, Washington State University, 1986. Biochemistry.
FARNSWORTH, PAUL B., Professor. PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1981. Analytical Chemistry.
FLEMING, STEVEN A., Associate Professor. PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1984. Organic Chemistry.
GOATES, STEVEN R., Professor. PhD, University of Michigan, 1981. Analytical Chemistry.
GRANT, DAVID M., Professor. PhD, University of Utah, 1958. Physical Chemistry.
HANSEN, LEE DUANE, Professor. PhD, Brigham Young University, 1965. Inorganic Chemistry.
HARRISON, ROGER G., Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Utah, 1993. Inorganic Chemistry.
KASPAR, ROGER L., Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Washington, 1991. Biochemistry.
LAMB, JOHN D., Professor. PhD, Brigham Young University, 1978. Inorganic Chemistry.
LEE, MILTON L., Professor. PhD, Indiana University, 1975. Analytical Chemistry.
MANGELSON, NOLAN F., Professor. PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1967. Physical Chemistry.
MANGUM, JOHN HARVEY, Professor. PhD, University of Washington, 1963. Biochemistry.
NORDMEYER, FRANCIS R., Professor. PhD, Stanford University, 1967. Inorganic Chemistry.
OTT, J. BEVAN, Professor. PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1959. Physical Chemistry.
OWEN, NOEL L., Professor. PhD, Cambridge University, 1964; DSc, University of Wales, 1983. Physical Chemistry.
PETERSON, MATT A., Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Arizona, 1992. Organic Chemistry.
PUGMIRE, RONALD J., Professor. PhD, University of Utah, 1966. Physical Chemistry.
ROBINS, MORRIS J., Professor. PhD, Arizona State University, 1965. Organic Chemistry.
SAVAGE, PAUL B., Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Wisconsin, 1993. Organic Chemistry.
SHIRTS, RANDALL B., Associate Professor. PhD, Harvard University, 1979. Physical Chemistry.
SIMMONS, DANIEL L., Associate Professor. PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1986. Biochemistry.
THORNE, JAMES M., Professor. PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1966. Physical Chemistry.
WATT, GERALD D., Professor. PhD, Brigham Young University, 1966. Inorganic Chemistry.
WILLARDSON, BARRY M., Assistant Professor. PhD, Purdue University, 1990. Biochemistry.
WOOLLEY, EARL M., Professor. PhD, Brigham Young University, 1969. Analytical/Physical Chemistry.
ZIMMERMAN, S. SCOTT, Associate Professor. PhD, Florida State University, 1973. Biochemistry.
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