Franchino
Lab
LAB
Lab space
The Franchino group occupies a 6-fume hood bay in lab CG104, on the first floor of the Chemistry Department. Each fume hood is equipped with a custom-made Schlenk line, a high-vacuum oil pump and a pressure reader. Additionally, each one features water, inert gas, compressed air and house vacuum lines, plus an automatic fire suppression system.
Our lab has everything necessary for standard organic and inorganic synthesis, including a rich chemical inventory (>2000 chemicals), 4 rotavapors, 3 balances, an oven, a UV lamp and a Biotage initiator microwave synthesiser.
We thank Durham University, UKRI, the Royal Society, and the generosity of the group of Prof. Martin Bryce, former occupants of lab CG104.
360° view of our space
left side
rotavap cabinet
right side
Instrument room and equipment
Right next to our bay there is a large atrium where the group instruments, fridges and freezers are located. They include an MBraun LabStar argon-operated glovebox with a freezer, an Agilent 1260 Infinity II analytical HPLC system with chiral columns, and a UV-visible spectrometer. In addition, the Department offers a suite of staffed analytical services on the ground floor. The most relevant for our research are solution-state NMR (400–700 MHz, 6 spectrometers), mass spectrometry (HRMS, open-access LC-MS and GC-MS), elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Moreover, the Department hosts chromatography, spectroscopy and thermal analysis support units, as well as glassblowing, electrical and mechanical workshops.
instrument bay
Write-up area
The write-up room is located at the opposite end of the lab compared to the instrument bay. It features 15 desks, and a snack area with a sink, a fridge and the group coffee machine. We share this space with the Walton (organometallic and inorganic chemistry) and Borsley (supramolecular and system chemistry) groups.
snack area
write-up room