How to be a Successful Organic Chemist

3 INTRODUCTION I am a firm believer that organic chemistry can save the world. Or at least, make it better.Within the realm of organic chemistry is endless opportunity for innovation that has undoubtedly made its mark on our civilization. It is my pleasure to introduce you to practical organic chemistry here at PSU. The following text will outline key features of the labs and my hope is that it will help your lab experience be as fulfilling as possible. Speaking from the experience, I have seen many students struggle through the organic chemistry labs. My primary motivation in writing this text, was to make sure all our students had the answers to the ques- tions nobody really asked (or were too afraid to ask).Why did my recrystallization not give me any crystals? How do I analyze my data? How do I find the necessary safety data on the chemicals I will be working with? The text is divided into three parts. Preparation, execution and analysis. Chapter 1 – 3 is all about the preparation. We will cover how to prepare for the labs, all the important safety features of working in a lab environment, and the most important laboratory techiques encountered. Chapter 4 is about the execution of the experiment.We will investigate why experiments fail, and how to reach a deeper understanding in the labs. Chapter 5 and 6 is all about the analysis.We will look at data, how to interpret data, and how to put it all together in a logical and scientifically sound way. I am thankful the Portland State University Library for generously funding this project, and I especially want to thank Karen Bjork for all her excellent technical assistance. I am especially proud to be part of a project that is open access, to ensure that information is available to all, free of charge. I want to thank my four student readers, Carlee Moser, Monica Joseph, Daniel Gaynor, and Antonio Montano. The student perspective was very much appreciated. I would like to thank Sarah Bartlett for amazing assistance with the preparation of the manuscript. I would also like to thank my excellent peer reviewers Prof. Alan Shusterman (Reed College) and Prof. Louis Kuo (Lewis and Clark College). Their thoughts and comments lifted the manuscript immensely. Lastly I would like to thank Ryan Brewer for his assistance with the type setting of the manuscript. Dr. Alexander H. Sandtorv, August 2017