Small organic molecules offer a rich opportunity to discuss the interplay of chemical structure with properties such as the melting point and phenomena such as glass formation and can form the basis of fundamental considerations of structure-property relationships in macromolecules. Of particular importance are thermal transitions, specifically…

In this experiment, the students explore the synthesis of a crystalline solid-state material, barium zirconate (BaZrO3) by two different synthetic methods: (a) the wet chemical method using BaCl[subscript 2]·2H[subscript 2]O and ZrOCl[subscript 2]·8H[subscript 2]O as the precursors, and (b) the solid-state reaction from BaCO[subscript 3] and…

A multi-instrument approach has been applied to the efficient identification of polymers in an upper-division undergraduate instrumental analysis laboratory course. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) is used in conjunction with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to identify 18 polymer samples and…

Almost all commercial quadrupole ICP-MS instruments use collision/reaction cells to either attenuate spectral interferences or shift the analyte of interest to an interference-free "m/z" (e.g., by O addition). A laboratory practical was developed to introduce the students to the basic operating principles of ICP-MS using a hands-on…

Solubility is frequently introduced at the high school and introductory college levels through the symbolic domain using net ionic equations and solubility product constants. Students may become proficient with spectator ion cancellation and skilled with algorithmic mathematical applications of solubility without obtaining a deeper understanding…

This laboratory experiment provides undergraduate students enrolled in organic chemistry the opportunity to design and synthesize their own peptide, which is then tested for antimicrobial activity. After reading a primary scientific paper on antimicrobial peptides, students design and synthesize their own hexapeptide that they hypothesize will…

A simple capacitive cell for dielectric constant measurement in liquids is presented. As an illustrative application, the cell is used for measuring the degradation of overheated edible oil through the evaluation of their dielectric constant.

A research project for senior undergraduates of chemistry has been developed to introduce syntheses of a series of monodispersed semiconductor PbS quantum dots (QDs) and their characterization methodologies. In this paper, we report the preparation of monodispersed semiconductor PbS QDs with sizes smaller than the exciton Bohr radius using a…

This communication is a collection of additions and modifications to two previously published classic inorganic synthesis laboratory experiments. The experimental protocol for the synthesis and isolation of enantiomerically enriched ?- (or ?-)Co(en)[subscript 3]I[subscript 3] has been modified to increase reproducibility, yield, and enantiomeric…

A multiday laboratory experiment was designed to integrate inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in the context of protein quantification into an advanced practical course in analytical and environmental chemistry. Graduate students were familiar with the analytical methods employed, whereas the combination of bioanalytical assays…

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful experimental technique, yet it is often missing from the undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory curriculum. Tetrachloromethane (CCl[subscript 4]) is the ideal molecule for an introductory vibrational spectroscopy experiment and the symmetric stretch vibration contains fine structure due to isotopic variations…

When irreducible representations are given in diagrammatic form, it is possible to show direct products pictorially. By giving a similar description of the electric vector associated with a light wave, group-theoretical selection rules (the requirement of a totally symmetric direct product) can also be shown in pictorial form. The [upsilon](CO)…

A modification of the mixed-aldol synthesis of dibenzylideneacetone, prepared from acetone and benzaldehyde, is described wherein acetone is replaced with a series of cyclic ketones with ring sizes of 5-7 carbons. The structural variations in the resulting conjugated ketones produce regular variations in the UV-vis absorption spectra. The choice…