For successful delivery of basic science topics for health-professional students, it is critical to reduce apprehension and illustrate relevance to clinical settings and everyday life. At the beginning of the Biochemistry course for Physician Assistants, a team-based assignment was designed to develop an understanding of the mechanism of action,…

Movies and movie clips have been used by many instructors to teach chemistry. Entire movies based on true chemical stories are used because they provide students with a common experience after which instructors can launch writing lessons about the chemistry, the scientists, or engineers, or even postscripts to the story presented in the film. In…

A wide variety of questions can be asked about the molecules that compose the physical reality around us and constitute biological life. Some of these questions are answered by the science called biology, others find their answer in chemistry, whereas the answers to the most fundamental questions are only to be found in the theories of physics.…

Molecular hydrophobicity (lipophilicity), usually quantified as log "P" where "P" is the partition coefficient, is an important molecular characteristic in medicinal chemistry and drug design. The log "P" coefficient is one of the principal parameters for the estimation of lipophilicity of chemical compounds and pharmacokinetic properties. The…

A safer method for the synthesis of the sulfonamide drug sulfathiazole, for undergraduate classes, is described. This method improves upon procedures currently followed in several undergraduate teaching laboratories for the synthesis of sulfathiazole. Key features of this procedure include the total exclusion of pyridine, which has potential…

This article describes one of the projects in the advanced undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory course concerning the synthesis of two local anesthetic drugs, prilocaine and benzocaine, with a common three-step sequence starting from toluene. Students undertake, in a several-week independent project, the multistep synthesis of a…

A method for the synthesis of ibuprofen in introductory organic chemistry laboratory courses is reported. This experiment requires two 3-h lab sessions. All of the reactions and techniques are a standard part of any introductory organic chemistry course. In the first lab session, students reduce p-isobutylacetophenone to an alcohol and then…

An interdisciplinary approach to education has become more important in the development of science and technology, which requires universities to have graduates with broad knowledge and skills and to apply these skills in solving real-world problems. An interdisciplinary experimental series has been developed for the laboratories in cell and…

Most Tanzanian Higher Education Institutes do not have the materials and technology to give students a significant practical experience in the sciences. In 2013 Tanzania was rated 159th out of 187 countries for "human development" (United Nations Development Program 2014 Report). In order to supplement their current, limited practical…

Experiments in continuous-stirred vessels were proposed to introduce methods in pharmacokinetics and drug transport to chemical engineering students. The activities can be incorporated into the curriculum to illustrate fundamentals learned in the classroom. An appreciation for the role of pharmacokinetics in drug discovery will also be gained…

Differential scanning calorimetry analyses of two easily prepared polymorphs of acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol) are recorded. The density of the forms can be found in the literature. Rules for heats of transition, heats of fusion, and density, as well as methods for determining the solid-solid transition temperature between the forms,…

A new laboratory experiment is described in which students compare two benchtop separation methods to isolate the three active components of the commercial analgesic Excedrin. In the two-week sequence, aspirin, acetaminophen, and caffeine are separated using either a two-base liquid-liquid extraction or silica column chromatography. Students then…

The enantioselective synthesis of drugs is of fundamental importance in the pharmaceutical industry. In this experiment, students synthesize either enantiomer of warfarin, a widely used anticoagulant, in a single step from inexpensive starting materials. Stereoselectivity is induced by a commercial organocatalyst, ("R","R")- or…

Academic staff at universities have become concerned about the decrease in student attendance at lectures and the implication of this on student achievement and learning. Few studies have measured actual lecture attendance in a coherent or comprehensive way. The aim of this study was to measure actual lecture attendance of students over two year…

Background: The need to evolve with our ever-changing student bodies has never been as great as it is today, particularly given the advanced technological aptitude of today's students. Purpose: This retrospective study evaluates student outcomes as they relate to overall course score and composite quiz and examination scores from a basic…