We describe experiments on Benard-Marangoni convection which permit a useful understanding of the main concepts involved in this phenomenon such as, for example, Benard cells, aspect ratio, Rayleigh and Marangoni numbers, Crispation number and critical conditions. In spite of the complexity of convection theory, we carry out a simple and…

An upper-division forensic chemistry experiment is described. It involves using glycolic acid and sodium glycolate as analogs of [gamma]-hydroxybutyric acid and its sodium salt. The experiment shows the use of silylation in GC-MS analysis and gives students the opportunity to work with a commonly used silylating reagent,…

An electrochemical synthesis of copper(II) carboxylates has been developed and used in the general chemistry laboratory course for chemistry majors. This synthesis, using nonaqueous solutions, supplements the strategy of providing experiences in synthetic chemistry described by Yoder et al. ("J. Chem. Educ." 1995, 72, 267). (Contains 1 table.)

In this course, students encounter reactions and mechanisms in the context of landmark syntheses of biologically important molecules. Students closely examine pairs of syntheses of related or identical molecules to facilitate their appreciation for synthetic strategy. They then write short, creative papers that critically compare the two synthetic…

We report the development of a 3-week laboratory activity for an undergraduate molecular biology course. This activity introduces students to the practice of basic molecular techniques such as restriction enzyme digestion, agarose gel electrophoresis, cloning, plasmid DNA purification, Southern blotting, and sequencing. Students learn how to carry…

The selective syntheses of the cyclic monoterpenoids alpha-terpineol or alpha-cyclogeraniol from the acyclic monoterpenoid nerol using p-toluenesulfonic acid or chlorosulfonic acid as cyclizing agents, respectively, are described. The different behavior of nerol under diverse experimental conditions such as nature of the acid agents, solvents, and…

Dipyrromethanes (or dipyrrilmethanes) are important building blocks for many of the structures of interest in the areas of porphyrins, materials science, optics, and medicine. A variety of conditions have been established for the synthesis of dipyrromethanes of diverse structures, from substituted pyrroles to unsubstituted pyrrole and carbonyl…

The basic properties of extensive air showers of particles produced in the interaction of a high-energy primary cosmic ray in the Earth's atmosphere are discussed in the context of educational cosmic ray projects involving undergraduate students and high-school teams. Simulation results produced by an air shower development code were made…

Kinetics constitutes a core topic in both the lecture and laboratory components of lower- level chemistry courses. While textbook examples can ignore issues of time, temperature and safety, the laboratory can not. Reactions must occur slowly enough to be detected by students, occur rapidly enough for data collection in the few hours assigned to a…

The stereoselective synthesis of an aryl vinyl bromide is accomplished in a rapid microscale reaction of "trans"-4-methoxycinnamic acid with N-bromosuccinimide in dichloromethane. The product is purified by dry column vacuum chromatography and its stereochemistry is determined by [superscript 1]H NMR. TLC, GC and GC-MSD can also be used. This…

Astronomy and astronomy-related topics have sufficient appeal and depth that they can be used to motivate students, illustrate important chemical concepts, and demonstrate that chemistry and chemists are concerned with all parts of nature. In this article some recent developments in astrochemistry are suggested as examples for the teaching of…

This paper reports on a student summer project performed in 2006 at the University of Frankfurt. It is addressed to undergraduate students familiar with the basic principles of relativistic quantum mechanics and general relativity. The aim of the project was to study the Dirac equation in curved spacetime. To obtain the general relativistic Dirac…

Stereospecific synthesis of a geometrical isomer is not a common topic for the introductory organic chemistry laboratory. We have developed and tested an experiment for the synthesis of (Z) and (E) isomers that has been performed successfully by undergraduate students. The experiment is presented to the students as a puzzle in which they must…

An experiment related to the measurement of fluorescence lifetime for an undergraduate instrumental analysis or physical chemistry laboratory that highlights relative rates of electronic transitions in molecules and introduces students to data collection of a pulsed signal is illustrated. The experiment of the long fluorescence lifetime of…

Synthetic polymers are prepared and tested in a study for their molecular recognition properties of an adenine derivative, ethyl adenine-9-acetate (EA9A), within two laboratory periods. The procedure introduces undergraduate chemistry students to noncovalent molecular imprinting as well as the analytical techniques for assessing their recognition…