Organic chemistry, laboratory courses

The following reaction is a common synthesis used in the organic chemistry laboratory course. 

General laboratory safety information particularly applicable to this organic chemistry laboratory course is presented in this chapter. It is not comprehensive. Throughout this text you will find specific cautions and safety information presented as margin notes printed in red. For a relatively brief and more thorough discussion of all of the topics in this chapter you should read the first 35 pages of Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1990. 

In an introductory organic chemistry laboratory course, the student learns how to run organic reactions in cookbook fashion. The transition from this level of achievement to the competence required to carry out a synthesis from a vaguely defined procedure in a research journal or to develop a new synthesis is substantial. The general information given in Secs. 1.1 to 1.7 should help the student to bridge the gap between organic reactions at introductory and advanced levels. It is supplemented in Sec. 1.8 by a series of case studies in which the experimental approaches that were used to solve some special problems are examined. 

We only had one experiment it did not feel drastically different from other labs. It is a new approach for those who have only started on the organic chemistry laboratory course. It also gives students the idea that being aware of the environment is important, even in a laboratory setting. 

Almost all the separatory and clean-up methods relevant to this book are ultimately based on differences in partition coefficients of various compounds between two phases. The concept of a phase in the present context (see also Section 4.3.2e) is that of a portion of matter that is separated from others by a clearly defined boundary thus, solid, liquid and gas phases satisfy this definition, but it is possible to have two distinguishable liquid phases (e.g., water and carbon tetrachloride). A simple example of an application of the latter, that is familiar to anyone who has taken an organic chemistry laboratory course, is liquid-liquid extraction a first step in purification of a desired synthesized compound is often to place the crude... 

An Advanced Organic Chemistry Laboratory Course Incorporating Writing/Reviewing Scientific Manuscripts and Green Chemistry Metrics... 

Modern practice dictates that in laboratories where workers spend most of their time working with chemicals, there should be one exhaust hood for every two people. This precaution is often not possible in the beginning organic chemistry laboratory, however. In this course you will find that for some experiments the hood must be used and for others it is advisable in these instances it may be necessary to schedule experimental work around access to the hoods. 

Simultaneously, numerous academic groups started and even reoriented their activities towards the implantation of solid-phase strategies in their laboratories. Although progress towards fulfillment of the initial great expectations has slowed in recent years, solid-supported chemistry is now a very useful tool in all modern organic chemistry laboratories [11] and, of course, is the method of choice for both research and industrial synthesis of peptides [12] and oligonucleotides [13]. 

In any laboratory course, familiarity with the fundamentals of laboratory safety is critical. Any chemistry laboratory, particularly an organic chemistry laboratory, can be a dangerous place in which to work. Understanding potential hazards will serve you well in minimizing that danger. It is ultimately your responsibility, along with your laboratory instructor s, to make sure that all laboratory work is carried out in a safe manner. 

It will be useful at the very outset to introduce the student to the apparatus that is commonly employed in the organic laboratory. Whether he will personally handle aU the types of apparatus to be described will, of course, depend (i) upon the duration of the course in practical organic chemistry and (ii) upon the facilities provided by the laboratory. Nevertheless, it is deemed advantageous that the student should, at least, know of their existence. 

Classical methods for separation and purifica tion include fractional distillation of liquids and re crystallization of solids and these two methods are routinely included in the early portions of laboratory courses in organic chemistry Because they are capa ble of being adapted to work on a large scale frac tional distillation and recrystallization are the preferred methods for purifying organic substances in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries... 

Not all carbon compounds are derived from living organisms, of course, and chemists over the years have developed a remarkably sophisticated ability to design and synthesize new organic compounds. Medicines, dyes, polymers, food additives, pesticides, and a host of other substances are now prepared in the laboratory. Organic chemistry touches the lives of everyone. Its study is a fascinating undertaking. 

---