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Chemical Instrumentation Edited by GALEN W. EWING, Seton Hall University,
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So. O r a n g e , N. J. 0 7 0 7 9
These articles, most of which are invited contributions by guest by calling a t h t i o n authors, m e infended to serve the readers of THIS JOURNAL to new developments i n the theory, design, or availability of chemical loboratmy instrumentation, or by presenting useful insights and ezplanations of lopics that are of practical importance lo those who use, or teach the use of, modern inst~umentatwnand instrumental techniques.
XLII. Infrared Equipment for Teaching PAUL A. WILKS, JR., President. Wilks Scientific Corporation, South Norwalk, Connecticut 0 6 8 5 6
THE VALUE OF INFRARED ANALYSIS Aft,er the original work of W.W. Coblentz a t the Carnegie Institution of Washiugton (11, t h e development of infrared spectroscopy became a univenit,y pursuit. During the late thirties and early forties, infrared spectra were. laborionsly hand plotted a t Michigan, Johns Hapkins, Princeton, and elsewhere. I t took t,he impet,osof World War I1 and thesynthetic rubber program to bring the new analytical technique into the industrial laboratory. Since bhst time, infrared spectroscopy has proliferated ivntil there me in the neighharhood of 20,000 instruments in use today in this country. Although one of bhe oldest instrumental techniques, it is est,imated that more money is still spent snnually on infrared equipment and accessories than any other category of instrumenid ( 8 ) . There are three reasons for the continued popularity of infrared analysis: First, the basic information contained in the infrared spectrum provides more clues to the nature of the molecule being examined than that provided by any other analyt,iea.l technique. High resolution mass and nuclear magnetic spect.ra may app~oachinfrayed in their ability t o charncterise a molecule but the complexity of the I R spectrum and the shear volume of infrared data in the literature make it unlikely that i t will ever be surpassed as a source of qualitative information. Second, unlike any other spectrographic technique, i t is possible to obtain an infraxed spectrum on practically any sample, no matter what its phase or condition. Liquids, solutions, gases, solid materials, powdem, coatings and finishes, filmsany sample that can be gotten into the instrument sampling space-and some that can't-can be made to produce an infrared spectrum. NMR and UV for the most part require liquid samples, while t o obtain a. mass spect,mm t,he sample must he vaporized into a vacuum. No other
Bani i n Springfield, IIass. /192:1) and .z graduate of llarvartl Cullegc, Paul A. Wilks, Jr. has been asioeiated with the annlyt,icnl instroment, field, particularly in t,he areas of Infrared Spectroscopy aud Gas Chromatography since joining the PerkinElmer Corpurat,inn i n 1944. TIe participated ill malty phases of the company's instrument devehpment pn> gram. FIe was 1)irector of Marketing whet) hc left Perkin-Elmer in 19.3 to become a co-fwulder of Co~utectiont, Instrtment Corporation. While with CIC, he was responiihle for the c~mmercial introdnctim of several new infrared sampling techniqnes, inchding eqidpment fur s t t,emwted total reflection. When CIC merged wit,h Barnes Engineering Company in 1961, he became Genorel Manager of the Commercial Inrtnlment 1)ivision. In 1063 he left Barnes to form Wilks Scientific Corporstiun, which company cnnt,inrw the development of new techniques and equipment for spectroscopy and chromatography. Mr. Wilks has published a, rn~mbei of papers on Infrared Inst~wnentatior and applicstiow, and has been the editor of several company p~lblicnli
