EXPERIMENTS IN SYNCHRONOUS FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY FOR THE UNDERGRADUATE INSTRUMENTAL CHEMISTRY COURSE

We believe that synchronous fluorescence experiments should be considered for the undergraduate instrumental analysis laboratory because they illustrate how the chemist can often modify a more conventional method to improve selectivity (synchronous fluorescence with small Δλ) or increase information content for qualitative analysis (synchronous fluorescence with large Δλ). In addition, synchronous fluorescence spectra help to solidify the student's understanding of the origin of conventional fluorescence excitation and emission spectra. Other forms of synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy have been developed such as constant energy synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy in which the frequency difference in the light passed by the two monochromators is kept constant.4 This method apparently offers improvement in selectivity over that where Δλ is kept constant. However, this technique is less useful for the typical undergraduate laboratory since it requires a modified fluorometer. Two review articles on synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy have appeared which discuss this technique in more detail and which mention several of its applications.1,2.