Analytical techniques are used by almost all experimental chemists in their research, to answer questions such as:

• What is this composition of this substance?
• What is this material's structure?
• How much of it is there?

At Washington University, research in analytical chemistry is
concentrated in mass spectrometry and surface analysis. At the
Washington University Center for Biomedical and Bioorganic Mass Spectrometry, Prof. Gross's group concentrate on developing mass spectrometric methods to determine the structure and sequence of native and modified biopolymers (oligonucleotides and peptides), and ion-chemistry mechanisms. In the Walker group, surface science techniques, in particular time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, are used to investigate molecular electronic devices and circuits and to image biological samples.