Fluency in both the construction and interpretation of molecular structures is a critical learning objective in the second-year organic chemistry curriculum. With the introduction of PerkinElmer's ChemDraw structure drawing tool into undergraduate laboratory courses, students are challenged to develop fundamental molecular drawing skills using…

Discusses modifications in the fatty acid monolayer experiment to reduce the inaccurate moleculary data students usually obtain. Copies of the experimental procedure used and a Pascal computer program to work up the data are available from the authors. (JN)

Provided is an empirical method to train students to avoid physical disaster in their work experience. Discussed is a computer program, CHETAH, which can be used in advance of synthesis to classify the possible explosive nature of the products. Plosophoric and auxoplosive weights of many organic groups are listed. (MVL)