A deck of cards and a card game have been developed in an effort to make practicing organic chemistry and synthesis more fun for students. The game is played as a variation of rummy, in which players collect sets of similar cards and runs of cards in a synthetic sequence. This card game reviews knowledge of functional groups and reaction types and requires an ability to place many organic transformations in an appropriate order to synthesize target molecules. The game was used as a method to review secondyear organic reactions for third-and fourth-year students at the beginning of a course in advanced organic chemistry. Students enjoyed the game and even gathered to play it outside of class. Additionally, the deck of cards was constructed so it can function to give a variety of classic card games a chemistry theme.

Intramolecular hydroamination of several aminoalkynes catalyzed by silver-phenanthroline complexes is reported. This catalyst system complements previous protocols by employing air- and moisture-stable complexes without compromising activity or reaction control. Some of the hydroamination products are subject to a useful aerobic oxidation. Silver-phenanthroline complexes have successfully demonstrated efficacy in the desymmetrization of a prochiral diyne.

Communication and critical thinking skills are integral to the undergraduate chemistry major. A bookend, two-course model has been implemented to supplement chemistry subfield knowledge with the development of these skills. The third-year course introduces the chemical literature and addresses these skills through the synthesis of a literature review and oral presentation by summarizing and evaluating articles in a self-selected chemical topic. In the fourth-year capstone course, communication and critical thinking are further enhanced by the production of a student-designed research proposal and the dissemination of experimental results of the proposed research through a final manuscript-style report and an oral presentation. A robust assessment plan for communication skills using faculty-designed rubrics and an end-of-semester student symposium are currently in place. Preliminary assessment of authentic student artifacts and student perception, through exit surveys and course evaluations, indicated substantial growth in these areas. The two courses provide the opportunity for chemistry majors to attain the skills necessary to function as scientists whether they plan to attend graduate school, professional school, or enter industry. S kill development is recognized as an important aspect of undergraduate education and a main goal of chemistry programs. 1 As a relatively new program in chemistry, our curriculum was built with the guidelines published by the American Chemical Society's Committee on Professional Training (ACS−CPT) in mind. In addition to the in-depth chemistry courses and electives typical of an ACS-certified program, our program has integrated two major-required, writing-intensive courses that are specifically structured to introduce and develop skills required of professional chemists, namely, written and oral communication and critical thinking. In the first course, students are introduced to the chemical literature as they write and present a literature review of a topic in chemistry, and in the second course, students design a research project, write a proposal, implement the project, and present the results, both orally and in a manuscript-style written report.Chemistry programs are continually addressing the need to improve undergraduate skills by developing a variety of upperlevel courses. In an effort to improve student writing ability, courses or assignments have been created that emphasize writing reviews, 2,3 research article-style laboratory reports, 4 and grant proposals. 5 A desire to improve oral communication has led to the design of courses that focus on improving presentation style and poster creation. 6,7 Student-designed laboratory experiments, which serve to develop skills in critical thinking, problem solving, and safe laboratory technique, have also recently been developed. 4,8 Skill development has been used in multiple upper-level courses before, often with the first course acting as a preparatory prerequisite for a second course in which the assignment is continued or com...

A highly convergent strategy for the synthesis of the natural product (−)‐rubriflordilactone B, and the proposed structure of (−)‐pseudo‐rubriflordilactone B, is described. Late stage coupling of diynes containing the respective natural product FG rings with a common AB ring aldehyde precedes rhodium‐catalyzed [2+2+2] alkyne cyclotrimerization to form the natural product skeleton, with the syntheses completed in just one further operation. This work resolves the uncertainty surrounding the identity of pseudo‐rubriflordilactone B and provides a robust platform for further synthetic and biological investigations.

Ahighly convergent strategy for the synthesis of the natural product (À)-rubriflordilactone B, and the proposed structure of (À)-pseudo-rubriflordilactone B, is described. Late stage coupling of diynes containing the respective natural product FG rings with ac ommon AB ring aldehyde precedes rhodium-catalyzed [2+ +2+ +2] alkyne cyclotrimerization to form the natural product skeleton, with the syntheses completed in just one further operation. This work resolves the uncertainty surrounding the identity of pseudo-rubriflordilactone Ba nd provides arobust platform for further synthetic and biological investigations.