Our Introduction to Research Methods course is a first-year majors course built around the idea of helping students learn to work like chemists, write like chemists, and think like chemists. We have developed this course as a hybrid hands-on/ lecture experience built around instrumentation use and report preparation. We take the product from one…

Dissociating motoric and motivational effects of pharmacological manipulations on operant behavior is a substantial challenge. To address this problem, we applied a response-bout analysis to data from rats trained to lever press for sucrose on variable-interval (VI) schedules of reinforcement. Motoric, motivational, and schedule factors (effort…

This general chemistry laboratory uses differences in solubility to separate a mixture of caffeine and aspirin while introducing the instrumental analysis methods of GCMS and FTIR. The drug mixture is separated by partitioning aspirin and caffeine between dichloromethane and aqueous base. TLC and reference standards are used to identify aspirin…

There is growing interest in measuring social disability as a core element of autism spectrum disorders in medication trials. We conducted a secondary analysis on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Social Withdrawal subscale using data from two federally-funded, multi-site, randomized trials with risperidone. Study 1 included 52 subjects assigned to…

To develop information literacy skills in chemistry and biochemistry majors at a primarily undergraduate institution, a multiyear collaboration between chemistry faculty and librarians has resulted in the establishment of a semester-long capstone project for Organic Chemistry II. Information literacy skills were instilled via a progressive…

The impetus to incorporate instruction on the efficient and responsible practice of chemical information literacy into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum has become exceptionally urgent. At Rider University, Chemical Information Instruction (CII) has accordingly evolved from face-to-face sessions into online modules to embed information…

Salicylic acid and its derivative, acetylsalicylic acid, are often encountered in introductory organic chemistry experiments, and mention is often made that salicylic acid was originally isolated from the bark of the willow tree. This biological connection, however, is typically not further pursued, leaving students with an impression that biology…

A clear understanding and appreciation of noncovalent interactions, especially hydrogen bonding, are vitally important to students of chemistry and the life sciences, including biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and medicine. The opportunities afforded by the IsoStar knowledge base of intermolecular interactions to enhance the…

Psychotropic medications are increasingly used to treat children and adolescents with mental health conditions. Between the years 1994 and 2001, there was a 191.7% increase in number of office visits resulting in a psychotropic medication prescription among children and adolescents. Many drugs are prescribed to children "off-label", whereby they…

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,…

Operant extinction contingencies can undermine the discriminative stimulus effects of drugs. Here, nicotine (0.4 mg/kg) and ethanol (0.8 g/kg) first functioned as either an S[superscript D] or S[superscript Delta], in a counterbalanced one-lever go/no-go (across sessions) operant drug discrimination procedure. Pavlovian extinction in the training…

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…