Independent Synthesis Projects in the Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratories: Bridging the Gap Between Student and Researcher

Abstract

Science educators strive to teach students how to be well-rounded scientists with the ability to problem solve, anticipate errors, and adapt to unexpected roadblocks. Traditional organic chemistry experiments seldom teach these skills, no matter how novel or contemporary the subject material. This paper reports on the success of a quarter-long organic chemistry laboratory experiment that takes the form of a research project designed to teach these real-life skills. Students took a three-step synthetic sequence from a literature source, and changed parameters to improve the yield. This involved library research and two levels of proposals, followed by a written report and a poster presentation. The goal was to simulate the different aspects of a research lab, from literature searches to problemsolving to presenting results. The students experienced unexpected difficulties and were graded on how they overcame these obstacles, rather than on how much they improved the yields.

Fuming Chemicals Inc.—An Entrepreneurial Activity in Organic Chemistry

“…Particular examples in our review came across the implementation of alternative laboratory pedagogy, deploying technologies such as clickers and simulations, , incentivizing engagement through role-playing and the gamification of chemistry concepts. − We also identified faculty trying to implement concepts of social justice into chemistry courses . Additional articles cited examined the rationale in promoting subject matter expertise and higher ordered/critical thinking and its effectiveness. − Taking an approach similar to that of Kilgour et al we wanted to design our own creative solution toward student engagement targeting the most difficult aspect of Organic Chemistry II, multistep synthesis. We were interested to see if students in organic chemistry could benefit and would improve their retention of key concepts through the use of entrepreneurial role-play to analyze, create and design, and evaluate (critical thinking) key learning objectives in an Organic Chemistry II course.…”

An idea to explore: A collaboration and cross training in an extended classroom‐based undergraduate research experience between primarily undergraduate and research‐intensive institutions

“…Courses can extend the learning experience by having students perform a literature search, design the synthetic scheme, and evaluate their performance . A few of these have become much closer to an independent research experience (similar to CUREs) where written reports and presentations are part of the laboratory design . Finally, CUREs have been developed that connect synthesis directly to drug discovery and testing .…”

Synthesis of substituted N-phenylmaleimides and use in a Diels–Alder reaction: a green multi-step synthesis for an undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory

“…The commitment of faculty to incorporating synthesis into the curriculum is evident in a large number of multi-step syntheses in Mayo's classic laboratory textbook (5) and the multitude of synthesis experiments found in the literature. These experiments provide a variety of approaches to teaching synthesis in the sophomore organic chemistry curriculum with most of them focusing on the synthesis of a biologically (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) or commercially (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) relevant target while some are designed for pedagogical (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37) reasons. The complexity of the syntheses differ greatly and range from two (6, 7, 11-13, 16, 18, 20, 22, 27, 31, 36), three (8, 10, 14, 15, 17, 21, 23, 25, 28-30, 34, 37), four (9,26,33,38), five (19,32), six (24,39), and eight (40) step processes.…”