Three different experiments that allow the synthesis of the drug paracetamol are described; such experiments were designed for their implementation in undergraduate organic chemistry courses, considering the medical and economic importance of paracetamol. The experience wants to show the students some "real world" applications of organic…

A new undergraduate organic laboratory experiment has been developed and implemented for the Ugi three-component synthesis of the topical anesthetic lidocaine with excellent atom economy. Paraformaldehyde, diethylamine, and 2,6-dimethylphenyl isocyanide were combined and conveniently stirred at room temperature for a week in methanol with acetic…

Undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory courses act as a baseline for introductory scientific experimentation. These courses provide students with the knowledge and skills for their future careers. The traditional lab is conducted by providing a structured protocol of the experiment for the students to follow and reproduce the assigned task…

A new undergraduate organic laboratory experiment has been developed for amide bond formation between biorenewable 2-furoic acid and either of two substituted piperazines to prepare medicinally relevant amide products using a procedure with industrial significance. The reactions proceeded smoothly under ambient conditions using the combination of…

In all fields of chemistry, it has become essential to use quantum chemical calculations and machine learning for explaining and predicting chemical phenomena. However, it is challenging to apply textbook knowledge to practical research. In this study, we developed teaching material based on computational chemistry to promote the integration of…

Active engagement is critical to student success in Organic Chemistry. In this paper, I trace the trajectory of student engagement in an introductory organic chemistry lecture series over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. I detail my approach to cultivating student engagement in an online environment, evaluate the success of these approaches…

Organic chemistry is notorious for being difficult to learn. Herein we describe a two-pronged approach to engage students in the ability to afford successful knowledge building. We have drawn on focus group interviews with students to show that the approach is appreciated by the students. The two prongs comprise peer learning in small groups and…

The benzoin condensation of benzaldehyde is a staple of the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory, introducing the current topic of nucleophilic carbene organocatalysis. Our procedure makes notable improvements to current practice, including the elimination of solvent waste and an "18-fold reduction of reaction time." We have…

The [2 + 2] photocycloaddition reaction of olefins is an effective, atom-economical approach to produce cyclobutane compounds in organic synthetic chemistry, and they usually exhibit high regioselectivity and stereoselectivity. Here we devised a solid-state [2 + 2] photocycloaddition experiment that introduces senior undergraduate students with…

The practical two-step synthesis of 1-phenylthiourea is reported here as an undergraduate experiment for the organic synthesis laboratory. The reactions involved in 1-phenylthiourea preparation are very useful didactic examples to illustrate concepts relating to carbonyl substitution and addition, the effect of pH on solubility of organic…

A one-pot regio- and stereoselective synthesis of a dipyrromethane and a bis(indolyl)methane based on two consecutive reactions of nitrosoalkenes with pyrrole or indole, respectively, is described as an experiment to be carried out by upper-division undergraduate students in a laboratory classroom. Importantly, the ability of electrophilic…

This commentary provides an overview of abduction, also known as Inference to the Best Explanation, and argues that the term and relevant problem-solving methods should be adopted by chemistry educators. Abductive reasoning, especially within the context of science and medicine, continues to be an active area of exploration for philosophers and…

This study is a follow up to two earlier studies characterizing student real-time use of mechanistic arrows. In these previous studies, students were asked to predict a product by drawing a curved arrow mechanism using an interface that allowed recording and replay of student actions. In the present study two different student cohorts responded to…

There has been dramatic growth in interest and research regarding organic photochromism in recent decades. Despite this, the topic is seldom addressed in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Herein, we present a straightforward and robust experiment for the second semester organic chemistry laboratory curriculum which combines multistep…

A fast, operationally simple, and reproducible synthetic protocol for anthraquinone dyes (AQDs), suitable for upper-division undergraduate industrial and organic chemistry laboratory courses, has been developed. This experiment is composed of three stages; the first step deals with the synthesis of AQDs, followed by a purification step, and…