Suggested lists of preparations

Before commencing a course in practical organic chemistry, the student should have a definite list of preparations to follow. These should be arranged in increasing order of difficulty, and in such a way that, as far as possible, each preparation leads naturally to the next. Where several students are working in the laboratory, the best results are obtained when each works through a different fist and compares notes with his neighbour. 

More advanced students should work through a synthesis involving several steps, e.g., Collidine, and should also attempt the preparation of homologues of some of the substances given in detail. In the lists given above, several preparations of industrial importance are included. 

These preparations should be prefaced by exercises in fractional crystallisation and fractional distillation (pp. 13, 22, 24). 

Tests on groups of organic compounds, such as those outlined in Chapter XLIII, should be interspersed during the preparation exercises. 

---