In recent years, nanomaterials have entered our daily lives via consumer products; thus, it has become increasingly important to implement activities to introduce these novel materials into chemistry curricula. Here we introduce a newly developed fluorescent nanomaterial, carbon dots, as a more environmentally friendly alternative to heavy-metal semiconductor quantum dots to be used as a model nanomaterial for experiments at multiple educational levels ranging from high school to upper-division college laboratories. These dots, which are polymeric in nature, can be made from a variety of carbon precursors and a cross-linker such as ethylenediamine. The synthesis, which involves heating in a conventional microwave, is quick and straightforward and can be carried out in typical high school chemistry laboratories. The resulting solution is fluorescent without further purification. To increase the complexity for entry-level college students, absorption and emission spectra of the carbon dot solution can be collected as an introduction to spectroscopy. In more advanced undergraduate lab courses, the quantum yield can be determined with a standard reference fluorescent material such as quinine sulfate. Atomic force microscopy or transmission electron microscopy images can also be collected to illustrate the morphology of these particles where such specialty instruments are accessible.

The concentration of a pharmaceutical drug or bioactive metabolite within the target organelle influences the effects elicited by the drug or metabolite. Although the relative concentrations of many compounds of interest within subcellular compartments have been measured, measurements of absolute concentrations in the organelle remain elusive. In this Perspective, we discuss a significant advance in using nano secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS) to measure the absolute concentration of a 13C-labeled metabolite within secretory vesicles, as reported by Thomen et al. in the April issue of ACS Nano.