An adipic acid esterification experiment suitable for graduate students has been developed to describe the industrial manufacture of plasticizers. Students first follow the progress of the reaction with simple acid/base titration enabling measurement of the acid number. During the workup of the reaction mixture, they learn how to manage the…

A laboratory experiment was developed to introduce undergraduate chemistry students to the chemical characterization of agroindustrial waste extracts by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC--MS). The students prepared hexane and dichloromethane extracts from black pepper ("Piper nigrum" L.) waste. GC--MS analysis revealed the…

Experimental teaching is an important part of postgraduate training in basic and clinical medicine. While primary cell isolation and identification are among the most important research techniques for medical graduate students, most graduate students do not understand and master these techniques before starting their research experience. In…

This experiment combines analytical techniques of solid-phase extraction (SPE) and gas chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-QTOF-MS) to determine organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in river water as a means to develop and improve student understanding of the use of GC-QTOF-MS for qualitative and quantitative analysis. In…

Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) is one of the most commonly used analytical techniques for the measurement of metals in environmental matrices. However, one of the drawbacks of ICP-OES is interference, viz., spectral and nonspectral (due to transport effects) interference. In this simple laboratory experiment,…

In order to introduce students to the fascinating field of femtochemistry, we propose here a practical laboratory training course conceived for second-year master's students in chemistry. We describe the use of a broadband femtosecond transient absorption (pump-probe) experiment for monitoring a fast light-triggered chemical reaction in solution.…

X-ray crystallography provides structural information of molecules at the atomic level, being a central technique at the forefront of science and technology. However, crystallography teaching is not usually implemented in biochemistry lab classes due to its complex execution by nonexpert users. Here, we report the basic step-by-step workflow…

Ubiquitin is essential for eukaryotic life and varies in only 3 amino acid positions between yeast and humans. However, recent deep sequencing studies indicate that ubiquitin is highly tolerant to single mutations. We hypothesized that this tolerance would be reduced by chemically induced physiologic perturbations. To test this hypothesis, a class…

This lab experiment describes a complete method to fabricate an enzymatic glucose electroanalytical biosensor by students. Using miniaturized and disposable screen-printed electrodes (SPEs), students learn how to use them as transducers and understand the importance SPEs have acquired in sensor development during the last years. Students can also…

In this work, a laboratory experiment to introduce graduate students to nanotechnology is described. Students prepared poly(lactic-"co"-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles using two different synthesis procedures, a single and a double emulsion-solvent evaporation method. The students also performed a physicochemical characterization of…

High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) features both high resolution and high mass accuracy and is a powerful tool for the analysis and quantitation of compounds, determination of elemental compositions, and identification of unknowns. A hands-on laboratory experiment for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students to investigate HRMS is…

An experiment for the identification of synthetic polymers and copolymers by analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) was developed and performed in the polymer analysis courses for third-year undergraduate students of chemistry with material sciences, and for first-year postgraduate students of polymer sciences. In…

This computational experiment presents qualitative molecular orbital (QMO) and computational quantum chemistry exercises of NO, NO[superscript+], and NO[superscript-]. Initially students explore several properties of the target molecules by Lewis diagrams and the QMO theory. Then, they compare qualitative conclusions with EHT and DFT calculations…

NMR spectroscopy has great potential as an instrumental method for environmental chemistry research and monitoring but may be underused in teaching laboratories because of its complexity and the level of expertise required in operating the instrument and interpreting data. This laboratory experiment introduces environmental NMR spectroscopy to…

Numerous nanoparticle (NP) fabrication methodologies employ "bottom-up" syntheses, which may result in heterogeneous mixtures of NPs or may require toxic capping agents to reduce NP polydispersity. Tangential flow filtration (TFF) is an alternative "green" technique for the purification, concentration, and size-selection of…