Pub Date : 2024-06-27DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00336
George Lisensky, Corbin Livingston
Lead chloride has a moderate solubility, allowing small, but quantifiable, amounts to be used in a lab experiment studying solubility. Two gravimetric methods are compared by each student. The first method involves weighing excess lead chloride before and after dissolution. The second method precipitates dissolved lead ion from a saturated solution. The most common error in both methods, not collecting all of the solid, results in high solubility values in the first method and low solubility values in the second. This can lead to rich student discussion and evaluation of these techniques. Using sulfate as the precipitating agent is greener than using chromate as the precipitating agent; similar results are obtained, and the importance of green chemistry can be introduced. To further enrich the chemistry content exploration in this lab experiment, each student measures solubility in a different sodium chloride concentration, leading to observable common ion and complexation effects. This laboratory experiment is done in one 3 h lab period in an analytical chemistry course that has a heavy emphasis on chemical equilibria and is followed up by additional calculations later in the course.
{"title":"Solubility of Lead Chloride: Common Ion and Complexation Effects in a Greener Laboratory Experiment","authors":"George Lisensky, Corbin Livingston","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00336","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00336","url":null,"abstract":"Lead chloride has a moderate solubility, allowing small, but quantifiable, amounts to be used in a lab experiment studying solubility. Two gravimetric methods are compared by each student. The first method involves weighing excess lead chloride before and after dissolution. The second method precipitates dissolved lead ion from a saturated solution. The most common error in both methods, not collecting all of the solid, results in high solubility values in the first method and low solubility values in the second. This can lead to rich student discussion and evaluation of these techniques. Using sulfate as the precipitating agent is greener than using chromate as the precipitating agent; similar results are obtained, and the importance of green chemistry can be introduced. To further enrich the chemistry content exploration in this lab experiment, each student measures solubility in a different sodium chloride concentration, leading to observable common ion and complexation effects. This laboratory experiment is done in one 3 h lab period in an analytical chemistry course that has a heavy emphasis on chemical equilibria and is followed up by additional calculations later in the course.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141522484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-26DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00138
Eman A. Alasadi, Carlos R. Baiz
The introduction of multimodal capabilities in large language models (LLMs) marks a significant advancement in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, the ability to process and interpret visual data, including complex graphs and plots frequently encountered in chemistry, expands the potential of these models. This integration of text and image processing allows multimodal AI to tackle a broader range of problems, especially in areas where visual information is central to understanding and solving problems. This study provides an examination of GPT-4’s image input capabilities, specifically targeting its efficacy in interpreting and solving chemistry problems that require graphical information. This study evaluates GPT-4’s image input feature, focusing on its accuracy in interpreting chemical diagrams, structures, and tabular data, and its utility as an interactive, conversational tutor in chemistry education. The research assesses the consistency of the AI’s responses to visual data of varying quality and its ability to parse handwritten problems and answers. Further, the study examines GPT-4’s capacity for molecular structure analysis and spectral data interpretation, vital for advanced problem-solving in chemistry. Through analysis, we demonstrate how the image processing capabilities of GPT-4 could be leveraged for pedagogical purposes, particularly in undergraduate chemistry courses. In addition, we provide advice for prompt development to improve response quality.
{"title":"Multimodal Generative Artificial Intelligence Tackles Visual Problems in Chemistry","authors":"Eman A. Alasadi, Carlos R. Baiz","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00138","url":null,"abstract":"The introduction of multimodal capabilities in large language models (LLMs) marks a significant advancement in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, the ability to process and interpret visual data, including complex graphs and plots frequently encountered in chemistry, expands the potential of these models. This integration of text and image processing allows multimodal AI to tackle a broader range of problems, especially in areas where visual information is central to understanding and solving problems. This study provides an examination of GPT-4’s image input capabilities, specifically targeting its efficacy in interpreting and solving chemistry problems that require graphical information. This study evaluates GPT-4’s image input feature, focusing on its accuracy in interpreting chemical diagrams, structures, and tabular data, and its utility as an interactive, conversational tutor in chemistry education. The research assesses the consistency of the AI’s responses to visual data of varying quality and its ability to parse handwritten problems and answers. Further, the study examines GPT-4’s capacity for molecular structure analysis and spectral data interpretation, vital for advanced problem-solving in chemistry. Through analysis, we demonstrate how the image processing capabilities of GPT-4 could be leveraged for pedagogical purposes, particularly in undergraduate chemistry courses. In addition, we provide advice for prompt development to improve response quality.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141502676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-26DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00294
Infal Iqbal, Nazra Nawaz, Sajida Noureen, Maqsood Ahmed
A laboratory experiment has been designed for undergraduate students with a major in biology to provide experience-based learning in solid-state chemistry and powder X-ray diffraction using human kidney stones. In this laboratory experiment, students will learn sample preparation, gain hands-on experience with a powder X-ray diffractometer, monitor the factors that affect a diffractogram, and do some basic calculations. In addition to practical experience, the introduction and use of a powder X-ray diffraction database were used for this experiment. Students will gain insight into the phase-matching process, which involves matching the diffractograms of kidney stones with those of known phases from the database. Overall, this laboratory experience will provide a fundamental understanding of powder X-ray diffraction with a practical example of kidney stones. Beginning with sample preparation and ending with phase determination, students will develop a keen interest in solid-state chemistry by using human pathological samples in real-world applications of powder X-ray diffraction.
我们为生物专业的本科生设计了一个实验室实验，利用人体肾结石为他们提供固态化学和粉末 X 射线衍射方面的体验式学习。在这个实验室实验中，学生将学习样品制备，获得粉末 X 射线衍射仪的实际操作经验，监测影响衍射图的因素，并进行一些基本计算。除实践经验外，本实验还使用了粉末 X 射线衍射数据库的介绍和使用。学生将深入了解相匹配过程，包括将肾结石的衍射图与数据库中已知相的衍射图进行匹配。总之，这次实验室体验将通过肾结石的实际例子，让学生对粉末 X 射线衍射有一个基本的了解。从样品制备开始到相测定结束，学生将通过在粉末 X 射线衍射的实际应用中使用人体病理样品，培养对固态化学的浓厚兴趣。
{"title":"Enhancing Undergraduate Student’s Interest in Solid State Chemistry by Characterizing Kidney Stones Using Powder X-ray Diffraction","authors":"Infal Iqbal, Nazra Nawaz, Sajida Noureen, Maqsood Ahmed","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00294","url":null,"abstract":"A laboratory experiment has been designed for undergraduate students with a major in biology to provide experience-based learning in solid-state chemistry and powder X-ray diffraction using human kidney stones. In this laboratory experiment, students will learn sample preparation, gain hands-on experience with a powder X-ray diffractometer, monitor the factors that affect a diffractogram, and do some basic calculations. In addition to practical experience, the introduction and use of a powder X-ray diffraction database were used for this experiment. Students will gain insight into the phase-matching process, which involves matching the diffractograms of kidney stones with those of known phases from the database. Overall, this laboratory experience will provide a fundamental understanding of powder X-ray diffraction with a practical example of kidney stones. Beginning with sample preparation and ending with phase determination, students will develop a keen interest in solid-state chemistry by using human pathological samples in real-world applications of powder X-ray diffraction.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141522486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-24DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00322
Qianhui Xu, Zixuan Lv, Yizhong Zhu, Danyang Li, Hang Zhang, Yang Yang, Dandan Cui, Guangchao Li, Weichang Hao, Yi Du
Pollution and its treatment have been major challenges for society over the past few decades. We designed a laboratory experiment for junior and senior undergraduates who major in physics, chemistry engineering, or material science, aiming to improve students’ interests in material exploration and photocatalyst development and characterization. In order to ensure that students can understand systematic learning, our entire experiment includes sample synthesis and characterization. We introduced the students to an experiment to develop a method to fabricate cobalt-doped aluminum hydroxide aerogels by using liquid metal as the precursor and sacrificial agent, which is extremely simple and environmentally green compared to conventional aerogel synthesis methods. The physical properties of the synthesized samples are studied by various characterization methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–visible light spectroscopy. The degradation results of our samples under different conditions illustrate the photocatalytic mechanism of cobalt-doped aluminum hydroxide aerogels and show that the photocatalytic efficiency can be significantly enhanced by a moderate doping ratio of cobalt. This interdisciplinary experiment provides students with design ideas for efficient photocatalytic materials and provides a new way to familiarize themselves with the general process of material synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic degradation. It is also a good training for shaping students’ ability of literature reading, hands-on experiments, data collection, and their analyzing ability of fundamental mechanisms beneath the experimental phenomena.
过去几十年来，污染及其治理一直是社会面临的重大挑战。我们为物理、化学工程或材料科学专业的大三和大四本科生设计了一个实验，旨在提高学生对材料探索和光催化剂开发与表征的兴趣。为了确保学生能够理解系统性学习，我们的整个实验包括样品合成和表征。我们在实验中向学生介绍了一种以液态金属为前驱体和牺牲剂来制备掺钴氢氧化铝气凝胶的方法，与传统的气凝胶合成方法相比，这种方法极其简单，而且绿色环保。通过 X 射线衍射 (XRD)、扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 和紫外可见光光谱等多种表征方法研究了合成样品的物理性质。样品在不同条件下的降解结果说明了掺钴氢氧化铝气凝胶的光催化机理，并表明适度的钴掺杂比例可显著提高光催化效率。这一跨学科实验为学生提供了高效光催化材料的设计思路，为他们熟悉材料合成、表征和光催化降解的一般过程提供了新的途径。同时，这也是对学生文献阅读能力、实验动手能力、数据收集能力以及对实验现象背后基本机理分析能力的良好训练。
{"title":"Cobalt-Doped Aluminum Aerogels as Photocatalyst Fabricated by a Liquid Metal Reaction Method in the Laboratory","authors":"Qianhui Xu, Zixuan Lv, Yizhong Zhu, Danyang Li, Hang Zhang, Yang Yang, Dandan Cui, Guangchao Li, Weichang Hao, Yi Du","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00322","url":null,"abstract":"Pollution and its treatment have been major challenges for society over the past few decades. We designed a laboratory experiment for junior and senior undergraduates who major in physics, chemistry engineering, or material science, aiming to improve students’ interests in material exploration and photocatalyst development and characterization. In order to ensure that students can understand systematic learning, our entire experiment includes sample synthesis and characterization. We introduced the students to an experiment to develop a method to fabricate cobalt-doped aluminum hydroxide aerogels by using liquid metal as the precursor and sacrificial agent, which is extremely simple and environmentally green compared to conventional aerogel synthesis methods. The physical properties of the synthesized samples are studied by various characterization methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–visible light spectroscopy. The degradation results of our samples under different conditions illustrate the photocatalytic mechanism of cobalt-doped aluminum hydroxide aerogels and show that the photocatalytic efficiency can be significantly enhanced by a moderate doping ratio of cobalt. This interdisciplinary experiment provides students with design ideas for efficient photocatalytic materials and provides a new way to familiarize themselves with the general process of material synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic degradation. It is also a good training for shaping students’ ability of literature reading, hands-on experiments, data collection, and their analyzing ability of fundamental mechanisms beneath the experimental phenomena.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141528792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-22DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01117
David L. Jakeman
New assessment approaches for medicinal chemistry in an introductory course within the pharmacy curriculum are presented. A required introductory pharmaceutical sciences course specific for first year entry-to-practice pharmacy (PharmD) students was developed concurrently within the mandated online learning environment of COVID19. Instead of in-person or online examinations for the medicinal chemistry section, students were required to complete online assignments over the semester. The first series of assignments involved interpretation of a series of specific drug-target PDB structures, using molecular viewing software, to devise new drug analogues, and to rationalize the structural modifications based on proposing specific molecular interactions with the target, with structures being submitted to an online portal as SMILES codes. The final assignment required students to create an online 3 min video describing a specific drug–target interaction, the mechanism of action, structure–activity and additional considerations (adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity) relevant to the specific drug. In subsequent academic years, the same course was delivered in-person to the first year pharmacy students and quantitative feedback collected. Specific questions were posed in addition to those evaluating the instructor, to better understand the student perspective on the assignments. Initial qualitative feedback was highly supportive of the assignment-based assessment strategy. In subsequent years the student feedback was quantified, and the data indicated that the students preferred the assignments over multiple choice or short answer examination assessment.
{"title":"Introductory Medicinal Chemistry for Pharmacy Students: An Assignment-Based Online Assessment Strategy","authors":"David L. Jakeman","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01117","url":null,"abstract":"New assessment approaches for medicinal chemistry in an introductory course within the pharmacy curriculum are presented. A required introductory pharmaceutical sciences course specific for first year entry-to-practice pharmacy (PharmD) students was developed concurrently within the mandated online learning environment of COVID19. Instead of in-person or online examinations for the medicinal chemistry section, students were required to complete online assignments over the semester. The first series of assignments involved interpretation of a series of specific drug-target PDB structures, using molecular viewing software, to devise new drug analogues, and to rationalize the structural modifications based on proposing specific molecular interactions with the target, with structures being submitted to an online portal as SMILES codes. The final assignment required students to create an online 3 min video describing a specific drug–target interaction, the mechanism of action, structure–activity and additional considerations (adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity) relevant to the specific drug. In subsequent academic years, the same course was delivered in-person to the first year pharmacy students and quantitative feedback collected. Specific questions were posed in addition to those evaluating the instructor, to better understand the student perspective on the assignments. Initial qualitative feedback was highly supportive of the assignment-based assessment strategy. In subsequent years the student feedback was quantified, and the data indicated that the students preferred the assignments over multiple choice or short answer examination assessment.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141522489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-21DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00072
Felix Leibetseder, Lukas Göpperl, Marco Orthofer, Roland Obermüller, Klaus Bretterbauer
Free radical polymerization is a common tool in industry to produce a vast array of different useful polymers. The convenient polymerization reaction known for decades is carried out industrially on a multiton scale and is also known to be very safety-critical. The self-accelerating nature of free radical polymerization demands control and careful reaction design to avoid thermal runaway. Herein, a student experiment for a practical lab course is presented, which uses free radical polymerization as a convenient model for a process safety-relevant reaction. The homopolymerization of butyl acrylate is conducted with different setups to show what happens if evaporative cooling is correctly applied, if cooling of the reaction fails, and if no evaporative cooling is applied at all. The experimental plan is versatile and can be conducted by the students themselves in a time frame of one lab day or as a shortened variation of 3–4 h. If necessary, the experiment can also be prepared in advance by a supervisor and shown to a classroom in approximately 1 h. The costs for the needed chemicals and solvents are very low, and the equipment needed can be varied from a standard preparative organic chemistry setup to online digital temperature recording and monitoring. The described polymerization of butyl acrylate is a model system to teach the concept of reaction heat and evaporative cooling, shows the usefulness of reaction calorimetry, and improves the awareness of process safety and critical thinking during the design of new experiments.
{"title":"From Controlled Reactions to the Thermal Runaway: Radical Polymerization as an Undergrad Lab Course Exercise for Enhanced Process Safety Awareness","authors":"Felix Leibetseder, Lukas Göpperl, Marco Orthofer, Roland Obermüller, Klaus Bretterbauer","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00072","url":null,"abstract":"Free radical polymerization is a common tool in industry to produce a vast array of different useful polymers. The convenient polymerization reaction known for decades is carried out industrially on a multiton scale and is also known to be very safety-critical. The self-accelerating nature of free radical polymerization demands control and careful reaction design to avoid thermal runaway. Herein, a student experiment for a practical lab course is presented, which uses free radical polymerization as a convenient model for a process safety-relevant reaction. The homopolymerization of butyl acrylate is conducted with different setups to show what happens if evaporative cooling is correctly applied, if cooling of the reaction fails, and if no evaporative cooling is applied at all. The experimental plan is versatile and can be conducted by the students themselves in a time frame of one lab day or as a shortened variation of 3–4 h. If necessary, the experiment can also be prepared in advance by a supervisor and shown to a classroom in approximately 1 h. The costs for the needed chemicals and solvents are very low, and the equipment needed can be varied from a standard preparative organic chemistry setup to online digital temperature recording and monitoring. The described polymerization of butyl acrylate is a model system to teach the concept of reaction heat and evaporative cooling, shows the usefulness of reaction calorimetry, and improves the awareness of process safety and critical thinking during the design of new experiments.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141522490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
For the first-year undergraduates, electronegativity, molecular polarity, dipole moment, etc. are all relatively abstract concepts and have been covered in inorganic chemistry or general chemistry courses. In fact, the piezoelectric effect is the macroscopic expression of electric dipole moments and molecular polarity in solids, which is the ability to convert mechanical stress into electricity or vice versa. Based on recent research findings in molecular-based piezoelectric materials, we designed a laboratory experiment including the synthesis of molecular-based piezoelectric material N(CH3)4GaCl4, the fabrication of piezoelectric devices, and the demonstration of piezoelectric effects by illuminating LEDs in order to help the first-year undergraduates to understand these concepts. This experiment enhances students’ comprehension of relatively abstract concepts such as molecular polarity, dipole moment, and the piezoelectric effect. And this experiment not only bridges the gap between cutting-edge research and basic chemistry laboratory teaching but also effectively integrates fundamental principles, methods, and experimental skills related to the inorganic compound preparation and separation, piezoelectric effect generation, and piezoelectric device fabrication. It is a multidisciplinary experiment that covers chemistry, materials science, physics, and energy-related themes, fosters students’ interest in hands-on experimentation, and cultivates their ability to apply theoretical knowledge in practical circumstances. The experiment was carried out successfully in 1 round by 350 first-year undergraduates majoring in chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science and engineering at Xiamen University and was well received by students and teachers.
对于本科一年级的学生来说，电负性、分子极性、偶极矩等都是比较抽象的概念，在无机化学或普通化学课程中已经有所涉及。事实上，压电效应是电偶极矩和分子极性在固体中的宏观表现，是将机械应力转化为电能或反之亦然的能力。基于分子压电材料的最新研究成果，我们设计了一个实验，包括合成分子压电材料 N(CH3)4GaCl4、制作压电器件以及通过点亮 LED 演示压电效应，以帮助本科一年级学生理解这些概念。该实验增强了学生对分子极性、偶极矩和压电效应等相对抽象的概念的理解。本实验不仅在前沿研究和基础化学实验教学之间架起了一座桥梁，而且有效地整合了与无机化合物制备和分离、压电效应产生和压电器件制作相关的基本原理、方法和实验技能。该实验涉及化学、材料科学、物理学和能源相关主题，是一个多学科实验，培养了学生动手实验的兴趣，培养了学生在实际环境中应用理论知识的能力。该实验由厦门大学化学、化学工程、材料科学与工程等专业的 350 名一年级本科生参与，已成功进行了 1 轮，受到了师生们的一致好评。
{"title":"From Spark to Fire─Preparation of Molecular-Based Piezoelectric Material, Fabrication of Devices, and Demonstration of Piezoelectric Effect: An Innovative Experiment for First-Year Undergraduates","authors":"Zhirui Li, Tongxv Qi, Jiayao Liu, Pijun Su, Zhengxiao Tang, Haixia Zhao, Zhiqiang Dong, Yanping Ren, Lasheng Long, Lansun Zheng","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00113","url":null,"abstract":"For the first-year undergraduates, electronegativity, molecular polarity, dipole moment, etc. are all relatively abstract concepts and have been covered in inorganic chemistry or general chemistry courses. In fact, the piezoelectric effect is the macroscopic expression of electric dipole moments and molecular polarity in solids, which is the ability to convert mechanical stress into electricity or vice versa. Based on recent research findings in molecular-based piezoelectric materials, we designed a laboratory experiment including the synthesis of molecular-based piezoelectric material N(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>4</sub>GaCl<sub>4</sub>, the fabrication of piezoelectric devices, and the demonstration of piezoelectric effects by illuminating LEDs in order to help the first-year undergraduates to understand these concepts. This experiment enhances students’ comprehension of relatively abstract concepts such as molecular polarity, dipole moment, and the piezoelectric effect. And this experiment not only bridges the gap between cutting-edge research and basic chemistry laboratory teaching but also effectively integrates fundamental principles, methods, and experimental skills related to the inorganic compound preparation and separation, piezoelectric effect generation, and piezoelectric device fabrication. It is a multidisciplinary experiment that covers chemistry, materials science, physics, and energy-related themes, fosters students’ interest in hands-on experimentation, and cultivates their ability to apply theoretical knowledge in practical circumstances. The experiment was carried out successfully in 1 round by 350 first-year undergraduates majoring in chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science and engineering at Xiamen University and was well received by students and teachers.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141522491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-20DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00234
Nanette M. Wachter, Evan H. Kreth, Ronald P. D’Amelia
Keto–enol tautomerization is paramount to understanding the mechanisms involved in many organic reactions and biochemical transformations. Isomerization of an enol to a carbonyl compound is typically introduced during the discussion of the acid-catalyzed electrophilic addition of water to alkynes. The tautomerization of carbonyl compounds to enol isomers is discussed in much greater detail when the reactions of carbonyl compounds are examined. This activity highlights the large differences in energies between the isomeric enol and carbonyl forms of simple aldehydes, ketones, esters, and amides. The computed energy values are used to calculate equilibrium constants for keto–enol tautomerization to further underscore the thermodynamic preference for the carbonyl forms. The results from student data support the thermodynamic enol produced by asymmetric ketones and reinforce the reactivity trends for aldehydes, ketones, esters, and amides.
{"title":"Calculating Thermodynamic Stabilities of Keto–Enol Tautomers of Aldehydes, Ketones, Esters, and Amides","authors":"Nanette M. Wachter, Evan H. Kreth, Ronald P. D’Amelia","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00234","url":null,"abstract":"Keto–enol tautomerization is paramount to understanding the mechanisms involved in many organic reactions and biochemical transformations. Isomerization of an enol to a carbonyl compound is typically introduced during the discussion of the acid-catalyzed electrophilic addition of water to alkynes. The tautomerization of carbonyl compounds to enol isomers is discussed in much greater detail when the reactions of carbonyl compounds are examined. This activity highlights the large differences in energies between the isomeric enol and carbonyl forms of simple aldehydes, ketones, esters, and amides. The computed energy values are used to calculate equilibrium constants for keto–enol tautomerization to further underscore the thermodynamic preference for the carbonyl forms. The results from student data support the thermodynamic enol produced by asymmetric ketones and reinforce the reactivity trends for aldehydes, ketones, esters, and amides.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141522492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-20DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00368
Adrián Matencio, Valentina Brunella, Francesco Trotta
Students’ use of mobile phones has become common during their free time. Moreover, they can allow them to show advanced concepts and expand the capacity of high schools with limited resources. In this activity, high school students have used their mobile phones and two free applications to study the quantification and calibration of a natural extract of betalains obtained by themselves from beetroots. The extract was made after cut, grinding, and separated from the lipidic fraction with petroleum ether. Using a standard, their phones, and various dilutions, the students obtained a calibration plot (R2 ≈ 0.95) and the concentration of the extract. Finally, using the spherification technique in calcium alginate, the concept of controlled release of drugs and/or nutraceuticals was shown with excellent results. This work opens the doors to expand the capabilities of educational centers in their laboratories and the possibility of using colorimetry of complex food matrices.
{"title":"Implementation of Smartphone-Assisted Colorimetric Assay for Metabolite Measurement in Plant Extract: An Example of Controlled Release from a Polymer Matrix","authors":"Adrián Matencio, Valentina Brunella, Francesco Trotta","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00368","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00368","url":null,"abstract":"Students’ use of mobile phones has become common during their free time. Moreover, they can allow them to show advanced concepts and expand the capacity of high schools with limited resources. In this activity, high school students have used their mobile phones and two free applications to study the quantification and calibration of a natural extract of betalains obtained by themselves from beetroots. The extract was made after cut, grinding, and separated from the lipidic fraction with petroleum ether. Using a standard, their phones, and various dilutions, the students obtained a calibration plot (R<sup>2</sup> ≈ 0.95) and the concentration of the extract. Finally, using the spherification technique in calcium alginate, the concept of controlled release of drugs and/or nutraceuticals was shown with excellent results. This work opens the doors to expand the capabilities of educational centers in their laboratories and the possibility of using colorimetry of complex food matrices.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141522487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-19DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00295
Samuel T. Cahill, Joseph E. B. Young, Max Howe, Ryan Clark, Andrew F. Worrall, Malcolm I. Stewart
Machine learning is a set of tools that are increasingly used in the field of chemistry. The introduction of potential uses of machine learning to undergraduate chemistry students should help to increase their comprehension of and interest in machine learning processes and can help support them in their transition into graduate research and industrial environments that use such tools. Herein we present an exercise aimed at introducing machine learning alongside improving students’ general Python coding abilities. The exercise aims to identify the regioisomerism of disubstituted benzene systems solely from infrared spectra, a simple and ubiquitous undergraduate technique. The exercise culminates in students collecting their own spectra of compounds with unknown regioisomerism and predicting the results, allowing them to take ownership of their results and creating a larger database of information to draw upon for machine learning in the future.
{"title":"Assignment of Regioisomers Using Infrared Spectroscopy: A Python Coding Exercise in Data Processing and Machine Learning","authors":"Samuel T. Cahill, Joseph E. B. Young, Max Howe, Ryan Clark, Andrew F. Worrall, Malcolm I. Stewart","doi":"10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00295","url":null,"abstract":"Machine learning is a set of tools that are increasingly used in the field of chemistry. The introduction of potential uses of machine learning to undergraduate chemistry students should help to increase their comprehension of and interest in machine learning processes and can help support them in their transition into graduate research and industrial environments that use such tools. Herein we present an exercise aimed at introducing machine learning alongside improving students’ general Python coding abilities. The exercise aims to identify the regioisomerism of disubstituted benzene systems solely from infrared spectra, a simple and ubiquitous undergraduate technique. The exercise culminates in students collecting their own spectra of compounds with unknown regioisomerism and predicting the results, allowing them to take ownership of their results and creating a larger database of information to draw upon for machine learning in the future.","PeriodicalId":43,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141522446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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