Renovations are underway in a 6,000 square foot area on the second floor of Noyes Laboratory where the Department of Chemistry is revitalizing its advanced organic and inorganic lab courses with upgraded facilities and equipment to better prepare its students for successful careers.

One half of this state-of-the-art facility in Noyes will include an advanced organic synthesis lab for chemistry majors specializing in organic chemistry and an inorganic synthesis lab for chemistry majors and graduate students specializing in inorganic chemistry. The new facilities will not only meet up-to-date safety standards but will be more efficient and better equipped to provide students with high-tech experiential learning opportunities that prepare them for a successful career in chemistry.

An Illinois chemistry alum, Prof. Catherine Murphy (BS, '86) said she is always excited about ways to improve the undergraduate experience at Illinois and recalls being a student in one of the same courses that will be offered in this newly renovated space.

"I always loved being in the lab. I am excited that we will be able to offer brand-new, upgraded space for our chemistry majors for upper-level laboratory courses that involve both synthesis and analysis," Murphy said. 

In addition to bringing in new equipment that is essential to a modern chemistry education, a planned instrument room with a glass wall will allow visitors and prospective students to observe state-of-the-art chemistry in action, providing a unique opportunity to improve undergraduate chemistry major recruiting. In addition, a new hallway will connect the east and west side of the building to improve accessibility (including ADA), routes of egress, and overall circulation in this building that accommodates thousands of students every day.

New experiments have been added to the courses that will be held in this space (CHEM 437 Organic Chemistry Lab, CHEM 317 Inorganic Chemistry Lab, and CHEM 517 Advanced Inorganic Chem Lab) that reflect the importance of modern topics such as asymmetric catalysis and organometallic mediated cross-coupling reactions. The department plans to increase the number of such experiments and introduce new analytical methods and spectroscopic tools used to monitor reactions and characterize both organic and inorganic compounds.