Teaching general chemistry, solid-state chemistry and crystallography in one comprehensive undergraduate course: can the effect be synergistic?

Abstract

This contribution describes a 30-year experience of teaching a general course in solid-state chemistry for undergraduates, which introduces at the same time the main concepts of crystallography, gives an introduction to structure analysis techniques, and makes links to courses in inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry. Such a combination can be beneficial for bringing the fundamentals of crystallography (basics and techniques) closer to its 'users'chemists, materials scientists, biologists-and can be considered as an attempt to create a course in 'applied crystallography'. The aim of the course is to teach chemists which chemical information can be retrieved from a crystal structure and how. This is complementary to more generally accepted courses, which teach how to obtain structural information and to describe crystal structures.

Crystallographic education in the 21st century

“…Some examples were presented in contributions to the 27th European Crystallographic Meeting (ECM) in Bergen Losev et al, 2012), ECM28 in Warwick (Losev et al, 2013; and the 23rd IUCr Congress in Montreal . The crystal growth techniques used have been described previously (Rychkov, Arkhipov & Boldyreva, 2014) and the general teaching strategy is close to the one used to teach crystallography to chemists at Novosibirsk State University (Boldyreva, 1993(Boldyreva, , 2010. Each student has to not only plan and perform a series of experiments, being assisted by a senior tutor, but record protocols for all experiments using a laboratory notebook as well as photographic and video recordings, and prepare a presentation and a poster describing the experiments, their results and interpretations.…”

Enriching Undergraduate Students’ Learning with the Wealth of the Cambridge Structural Database

“…These include database mining, data analysis, visualization, critical thinking, technical proficiency, and experimental design. Though some have demonstrated the value of using the CSD in teaching crystallography and solid-state chemistry, − its benefits need not be limited to these areas. Battle et al ,, and others , have described examples that employ the CSD in general, organic, and inorganic chemistry, as well as studying intermolecular interactions.…”

Introducing Students to Energy-Efficient Mechanochemistry of Biopolymers

“…1−6 Mechanochemistry holds a particularly strong position in such chemical niches as selective synthesis of thermodynamically unstable organic molecules, manufacturing of polymeric complexes for drug delivery, polymeric materials for regenerative medicine, and components of therapeutic nutrition. 7−11 The mechanochemical methods are currently successfully used in chemical education to demonstrate the benefits of solvent-free organic 2,12−14 and inorganic 15,16 syntheses, as well as the foundations of solid-state chemistry 17,18 to students. It has been noted 19,20 that students and educators can employ mechanochemical methods to demonstrate distinct facets of eco-friendly chemical transformations (the low-energy inputs, the absence of toxic reagents or solvents, fewer synthesis or purification steps in some cases, etc.).…”

“…The mechanochemical methods are currently successfully used in chemical education to demonstrate the benefits of solvent-free organic ,− and inorganic , syntheses, as well as the foundations of solid-state chemistry , to students. It has been noted , that students and educators can employ mechanochemical methods to demonstrate distinct facets of eco-friendly chemical transformations (the low-energy inputs, the absence of toxic reagents or solvents, fewer synthesis or purification steps in some cases, etc.).…”