Course Objectives:
Fall:
The fall semester of the organic chemistry laboratory course is designed to introduce
modern techniques utilized by organic chemists in the laboratory. Each student will gain
an appreciation for how organic chemistry is actually carried out in the laboratory.
Techniques such as crystallization, distillation, extraction, melting point analysis,
chromatography (LC, TLC, GC), molecular modeling, and spectroscopy (IR, NMR, UV) will be
learned. In addition we will investigate stereochemistry and how simple organic reaction
reactions are performed. The focus, of course, will be on concepts related to what we are
doing in class (e.g. electrophilic addition or nucleophilic substitution). The laboratory
course is specifically designed to complement the "lecture" portion of the
course and to reinforce "lecture" concepts by enabling students to gain hands-on
experience in the study of organic chemistry. By the end of the course, students should be
able to perform routine laboratory tasks and to apply their expertise in order to design
and conduct an authentic experiment in organic chemistry. The student should also be able
to achieve a sufficient level of mastery in order to perform the experiments required in
the second semester of the course.
Spring:
The spring semester of the organic chemistry laboratory course is designed to introduce
modern synthetic techniques in order to perform chemical reactions. Each student is
expected to apply the basic laboratory techniques learned in the first semester such as
crystallization, distillation, extractions, melting point analyses, boiling point
analyses, chromatography (LC, TLC, GC), spectroscopy (IR, NMR, UV), and molecular
modeling. The laboratory course is designed to reinforce concepts introduced in the
lecture by enabling students to gain hands-on experience in the study of organic
chemistry. In particular, the second semester laboratory experience includes a strong
emphasis on elucidating the mechanism of the chemical reaction. The student is expected to
play close attention to aspects of regiochemistry and stereochemistry. By the end of the
course, students should be able to perform routine laboratory tasks and to apply their
expertise to the design and implementation of a project. The student should also be able
to achieve a sufficient level of mastery in order to perform the routine tasks involved in
conducting experiments in synthetic organic chemistry.
