Organic Special Projects Laboratory
Chemistry 336
Spring 1996

Office: Rieke Science Center 241
Phone: 206-535-8314
Email: fryhle@u.washington.edu

About the Organic Special Projects Laboratory:

• Overview

• Schedule

• Notebook Format

• Paper Format

• Poster and Oral Presentation Style

• Grading

The Organic Special Projects Lab meets on Friday afternoons between 1:00 and 5:30 PM. Since there is usually much to do during that period, you should carefully plan in advance what you will need to accomplish each Friday. Prior preparations typically i nclude familiarizing yourself with procedures to be carried out, setting up your notebook with preliminary information and calculations, preparing glassware,etc. It will occasionally be necessary to work at other times than Friday (especially for those o f you with class conflicts). For example, you may need to purify a reagent, obtain a spectrum of one sort or another, or measure a physical constant. It is imperative that you inform the Open Lab instructor when you arrive to do work and also when you d epart. Lab work during unsupervised times is not allowed, except after securing my permission to obtain spectral data from an instrument.

Each Friday I will try to set aside a time when we can all gather together as a group. We'll take a break from our individual lab work for a moment in order to discuss some things of general interest to the group. Also, in order to make your overall tim e in the lab as productive as posible and to help me keep abreast of what each person is working on (this is quite a challenge!), I expect each of you will take it upon youself to keep me informed of your activities each week and to discuss the status of your current project with me. Sometimes a simple email message from you will suffice (fryhle@u.washington.edu). At other times, an office appointment may be helpful. All projects are to be thoroughly documented in your lab notebook. Suggestions on notebook style are provided below in the section entitled Notebook Format. Use a black soft-cover bound notebook with quadrilled pages. Write ba lanced equations for all pertinent reactions. Use a stencil to draw structures if possible. Use your notebook as a record of exactly what you do as you are doing it, such that someone else could repeat your work and obtain comparable results by f ollowing your notes. In general, be thorough and as neat as you can, all the while using your notebook as a "living document". The lab notebook will be turned in for grading periodically throughout the semester (see the section below regarding theschedule for specific dates).

Throughout the semester reaction products are to be fully characterized by appropriate spectroscopic methods and useful physical constants (e.g. mp or bp). Spectra for each experiment should be catalogued in file folders and given reference numbers relat ing to your notebook entries. Spectra are to be turned in with the notebook for grading.

The first project will be graded solely on the basis of your lab notes and data. The second project will be reported as a formal paper in the format of an article in the Journal of Organic Chemistry. A draft of this paper will be due several week s before the final version. An evaluation of the draft will be worth 10% of the overall grade for the paper (5% from me, 5% from your peer). A sample paper from the Journal of Organic Chemistry will be provided for your guidance.

At the end of the semester a mini-symposium will be held at which time you will be able to present the work from your third project. Our class symposium will be combined with the Division of Natural Sciences' Celebration of Science Symposium, May 3 a nd 4 (Friday and Saturday). Your presentations there may take the format of either a brief oral presentation or a poster.

The Organic Special Projects Laboratory is a course quite atypical of sophomore lab courses. If you invest your time, creativity, and initiative in this course you will have much to gain from it.

Laboratory Notebook Style and Information

From years of our own experience, we find that the following format works well:

• Date -- Important reference point that should be noted along with the page number in later references to the notebook.

• Title -- Use a one line title at the top of the page.

• Table of reagents and solvents -- include molecular weights, pertinent physical constants (e.g. bp, d), and a brief word on hazards or handling precautions. When a chemical reaction is being run, a "reaction table" under the balanced equation works very well as a means for organizing molecular weights, actual amounts of material used (by weight or volume), moles, and molar equivalents.

• Description of experimental procedure and results -- must have all relevant experimental detail and be written in past tense using the passive voice. Beware of overwriting because it wastes time. In checking or revising someone's work, a copy of the reported work can be stapled onto one page of the notebook leaving the opposite page for comments and changes. The extent of prelab preparation and documentation will vary with the person and the experiment.

• Time -- note the time of each operation or entry next to it in the left margin.

• Data tables -- when taking numerical data, organize them into neat labeled tables so that later on it will be obvious what the data means.

• Calculations -- include the actual calculations in the notebook, in a clear fashion, so that they can be easily understood and checked at a later date.

• Use ink -- it is neater than pencil and helps to prevent erasing. Notes are never erased. If it is necessary to make a correction, make a single line or cross through it, and a short statement as to why it is being crossed out.

• Use an open format for all of the above -- don't crowd notes together. Leave room for insertion of comments. It helps to use a different color of ink for comments.

• Spectroscopic data -- all spectra (NMR, IR, GCMS, UV/VIS, etc.) should be labeled fully on the spectrum, including the date and page number from the notebook, indicating the origin of the sample. Interpretation of the spectral data should be written in the notebook, as well as on the spectrum itself if appropriate. Store spectra neatly in a binder or folders.