Chandigarh, 26 March: The Postgraduate Department of Chemistry at Mehr Chand Mahajan DAV College for Women, in collaboration with the R&D Cell/Climate Cell of the Institution’s Innovation Council and under the aegis of DST-CURIE, organised a lecture-cum-workshop on spectroscopic instruments. The initiative aimed to provide hands-on training on advanced analytical tools such as UV-Visible, IR, and NMR spectrophotometers, while sensitising students to their crucial role in the identification, characterisation, and quantitative estimation of organic and inorganic compounds. The workshop underscored the relevance of these techniques in research laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in the synthesis of vital drug molecules.
The programme featured Prof. Anant R. Kapdi, Assistant Professor at ICT Mumbai, Maharashtra, who delivered an insightful lecture on ‘Laboratory to Market: Catalysts, Reagents for Solving Key Research Problems’. He elaborated on mechanism-based functional probes and their applications in pharmaceutical drug development. Highlighting sustainable innovation, Prof. Kapdi discussed the synthesis of environment friendly green solvents as viable alternatives to hazardous conventional organic solvents. He also emphasised collaborative research in the preparation of biomarkers with pharmaceutical industries such as Rasayan, and introduced the concept of unnatural amino acids for peptide-based solutions in organic synthesis. Further enriching the session, Prof. Kapdi engaged students in developing critical problem-solving skills through the interpretation of NMR spectra of significant amino acids and drug molecules. The lecture was followed by an intensive hands-on training session, where students gained practical exposure to IR, UV-Vis, and NMR instruments at the Department’s Central Instrumentation Laboratory.
Officiating Principal Ms. Neena Sharma lauded the efforts of the Postgraduate Department of Chemistry for organising such a meaningful and skill-oriented programme. She highlighted the importance of scientific innovation and technological advancement in everyday life, encouraging students to actively engage in research-driven learning.