This work further implements the "elements of inquiry" approach in a first-year undergraduate laboratory course, in a two-part inquiry sequence. In the first part of the sequence, students iteratively develop a "best-practice" TLC procedure. In the second part, students iteratively optimize a simple organic reaction using TLC,…

The American Chemical Society advocates a shift from rule-based to risk-based safety education for chemistry graduates, emphasizing meaningful student engagement in the risk assessment process for laboratory work. To implement this paradigm shift, we introduced RAMP (Recognize Hazards, Assess Risk, Minimize Risk, and Prevent Emergencies)-based…

Both lecture and laboratory courses of biochemistry are important professional courses for undergraduates with biology related majors. Course optimization and update is crucial but challenging, especially for the laboratory course. Although taught separately, here we showed a strategy to bridge the two courses and promote the improvement of both.…

The thermal equilibration of himic anhydride [IUPAC (2-"endo,"3-"endo")-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid anhydride] to (2-"exo,"3-"exo")-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid anhydride and subsequent recrystallization of the "exo"-product can be performed as a standard…

In this supplement to our second-year supercapacitor lab (Bringing Real-World Energy-Storage Research into a Second-Year Physical-Chemistry Lab Using a MnO[subscript 2]-Based Supercapacitor. "J. Chem. Educ." 2018, 95 (11), 2028-2033), we incorporate a color indicator as indirect evidence for the manganese oxide's pseudocapacitive…

A six-laboratory session biofilm-focused biochemistry laboratory module is described. Through just six four-hour laboratory sessions over three weeks, students first master background knowledge and fundamental experimental techniques to explore questions involving bacterial biofilms at the interface of microbiology and biochemistry and then…

A laboratory exercise on the interaction between the herbicide pendimethalin (PM) and goat serum albumin (GSA), a carrier protein present in mammalian blood circulation, is described. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to study the binding reaction between PM and GSA. Titration of a constant amount of the protein (GSA) with increasing ligand (PM)…

Hydrogen production from electrochemical water splitting via hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) powered by sustainable energy has been recognized as one of the most promising alternatives to traditional fossil fuels. To integrate the fundamental knowledge of chemistry, electrochemistry, and materials science with practical application and…

We developed a single crystal X-ray crystallography experiment based on the crystal structure of sucrose (table sugar), and a more challenging experiment using Epsom salt. Both crystals are readily available in X-ray quality crystalline form. In these experiments, students mounted a crystal on a MiTeGen loop and analyzed it using a Rigaku XtaLAB…

Owing to the global spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), education has shifted to distance online learning, whereas some face-to-face courses have been resumed with the improvement of the outbreak prevention and management situation, including a laboratory course for senior undergraduate students in chemical biology. Here, we present…

To understand critical problems associated with solid waste and its consequences for the environment, a laboratory experiment is presented on the synthesis of aluminum-based metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-53(Al) from household waste (PET bottles and aluminum foil/can), for undergraduate students of chemistry. This work is designed to teach…

In the activity described in this communication, the authors present a simple experiment that can be implemented with moderate operational costs and that allows students to acquire the manipulative skills necessary for chromatographic analysis of a familiar fuel that still plays a fundamental role in providing energy for transport of passengers…

A laboratory experiment is detailed that entails the separation and derivatization of the artificial sweetener sucralose from a commercially available sweetener mixture. The experiment utilizes 1 g packets of a sucralose-based artificial sweetener and involves the separation of the synthetic sweetener from the more polar bulk additives by…

In order to fix some important concepts of Fundamental Physics, either because they are not usually discussed in depth in theoretical classes and much less at laboratories, or because they are not sufficiently developed in textbooks, it is more effective not to tackle them directly, but to propose a mental or practical experiment to attract the…

In this laboratory exercise, students have an opportunity to evaluate the potential endocrine disrupting abilities of environmental chemicals of their choice using human cell culture. Over the course of 9 weeks, students learn how to aseptically handle and manipulate cells, perform and analyze a cytotoxicity assay and an enzyme-linked…