Calzone Synthesis

During the second day of chemistry Collaborations Workshops & Community of Scholars (cCWCS) participants performed an aldol condensation between a substituted benzaldehyde and a substituted acetophenone. This experiment was recently published in JCE in an article entitled “Synthesis and Hydrogenation of Disubstituted Chalcones. A Guided-Inquiry Organic Chemistry Project.” We used a least 7 different combinations […]

Fat Bases Want the Aisle Seat

During the chemistry Collaborations Workshops & Community of Scholars (cCWCS) participants performed an elimination reaction with 2-bromoheptane and two different bases: sodium methoxide and potassium t-butoxide. The overall goal was to compare the product ratios of the resulting alkenes: 1-heptene, E-2-heptene, and Z-2-heptene which can be separated on a GC column. According to most textbook […]

Where are the …?

This past week I had the opportunity to become an organic laboratory student for two days. I attended the NSF-sponsored chemistry Collaborations Workshops & Community of Scholars (cCWCS) on teaching guided inquiry organic chemistry labs. During the first two days of the workshop participants performed three organic chemistry experiments in the U of MN student […]