Results from an employer survey that examines the skills gap that exists for students majoring in chemistry are presented. Employers expect candidates with technical abilities but desire those who possess strong interprofessional skills. Although employers do not expect students to have had explicit teaching and application of interprofessional skills, employers wish that chemistry programs incorporated them. The results show which particular skills, specific to chemists and in relation to other fields, make up the skills gap and are in demand. Employers of chemistry majors utilize grade-point average as an initial metric to rank candidates, much like other STEM and non-STEM employers, but unlike most other fields, they choose candidates who have had team experiences specifically related to chemistry topics. The discussion illustrates how and when chemistry candidates can best highlight their acquired skill sets. These results will be of interest to those who develop and implement chemistry curricula and to B.S. Chemistry students.

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A survey was conducted of companies from the chemical industry with an emphasis on the organic division. The data include results from 377 respondents from more than 100 different companies. More than half of all undergraduates gain fulltime work in the chemical industry or government after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. This article sheds light on these topics: (i) the current chemical methods, techniques, and instrumentation used in industry; (ii) which attributes or abilities chemical companies desire in newly minted bachelor’s-level chemists; and (iii) how the survey data compare to the current focus on academic training in the United States. Industrial viewpoints of chemical safety are also probed. These results provide insight and guidance as to what should be included in the organic laboratory curricula for those students planning on entering industry and government with bachelor’s degrees.

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Appropriately substituted nonracemic allyl alcohols, readily prepared from the corresponding enones by application of the CBS methodology, were converted to optically active cycloheptenone derivatives with almost complete transfer of chirality via an efficient “one-pot”, cycloisomerization/Claisen rearrangement process. This methodology was directly applied to the expedient total synthesis of (−)-frondosin B.