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ERIC Number: EJ1269302
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Aug
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Teaching Crystallography by Determining Small Molecule Structures and 3-D Printing: An Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Module
Brannon, Jacob P.; Ramirez, Isaac; Williams, DaShawn; Barding, Gregory A., Jr.; Liu, Yan; McCulloch, Kathryn M.; Chandrasekaran, Perumalreddy; Stieber, S. Chantal E.
Journal of Chemical Education, v97 n8 p2273-2279 Aug 2020
Experimental methods for determining 3-D atomic structures, such as crystallography, are rarely taught in the undergraduate curriculum, yet are considered to be the norm for 3-D structure determination in a research setting. Although a fully physical understanding of crystallography takes years of practice, practical applications and basic interpretation of small-molecule crystallography can be readily integrated into undergraduate curricula to give students a research-like laboratory experience. Three 1-h crystallography laboratory modules were developed using the free Olex[superscript 2] software to determine the structure of (dithiolene)[subscript 2]Co(1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane)·dichloroethane, while introducing basic crystallography knowledge, crystal evaluation through microscopy, practical structure determination skills, and spatial awareness through 3-D printing. Following implementation in an advanced instrumental analysis class composed of 14 Master's and undergraduate students, the increase of topical knowledge of small molecule crystallography was 18-30% based on tailored assessment surveys, and student feedback was highly positive. This suggests that students without a prior background in crystallography were able to learn and retain information about small molecule crystallography from these laboratory modules.
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A